The image of God as our shield is one that is probably most associated with the ‘wisdom books’ of the Bible. Reading Psalms and Proverbs, this is not an unusual concept; in fact, we are quite used to hearing verses such as:
“The Lord is my strength and my shield; in him my heart trusts, and I am helped; my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to him.” (Ps 28:7),
“The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.” (Ps 18:2)
“Every word of God proves true; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.” (Prov 30:5)
We most associate these verses (and ones like them) with crying out for help in the midst of difficulty. We probably don’t use them as our ‘go-to’ verses unless we are in a challenging stage of life or in a testing situation. When we are seeking God’s refuge from the difficulties of this life, these verses are comforting and encouraging. But because of this, our understanding of God as our shield is bundled up with the ideas of God as our fortress, our strength and our deliverer. And whilst there is nothing wrong with that – in fact, it is a great foundation for our understanding of God being our shield- there is much more to this than these ideas.
As we continue to look at standing firm in the armour of God in Ephesians 6, we read that we are to,”In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one” (v16).
In spiritual battle, taking up our shield means standing firm in our faith.
Paul Tripp, in his book New Morning Mercies, writes ,”Faith is living in light of what God has said, resting in what he has done, and entrusting the future to his care.” I think this is a really beautiful summary of the aspects of faith to consider, both in our day to day life and in the context of spiritual battle.
Faith in what God has Said and Done
To know what God has said, what he has done, and how these two things intersect (i.e.: God holding true to His promises), we need to look to His Word. Of course one of the biggest overarching themes of the Bible is how God saves his people- whether it be the Israelites in battle, or saving us from our slavery to sin and eternal judgement. And knowing this God of the Bible who has done these things- knowing his gracious and loving character, and his ability to save- is really enough in itself to put out faith in. We see time and time again throughout the Bible a God who is trustworthy to keep His promises, and hence one we can put our faith in during spiritual battles.
However, the Bible also sheds light on the broader ramifications of putting our faith in God, including what His gift of faith has already accomplished. We read in Romans 5:1 that “…since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
We are justified by our faith. By His grace, there is power in trusting and believing in our God. This is really essential for understanding of what it means to take up the shield of faith, as it is resting in what God has already done- which enables us to fully trust our future to his care.
FaIth in God as our protection and refuge
We can find refuge in the truth of Jesus as our salvation. We rest in the knowledge that for our salvation to be achieved, the battle against Satan has already been won. If you are a believer, you can have the same assurance that Jesus is mighty as your shield, as you have that your faith has enabled justification before God.
Taking up our shield of faith means trusting and finding refuge in Jesus, and resting in the knowledge that the same faith that saves us is powerful to keep and protect us.
EXTINGUISHING FLAMING DARTS
As we apply this knowledge to taking up the shield of faith, it is helpful for us to think of this in light of the context of the verse itself. That is, we take up the shield of faith because it can ‘extinguish the flaming darts of the evil one.’
What does that mean? What are these flaming darts? Whilst not specific, we can assume this is in reference to Satan’s attacks. Whether that be emotionally, or through lies or temptation. (You can read more about what the Bible says about how Satan Attacks here).
Whilst all of what we have been talking about in this ‘Stand Firm’ series is in relation to defending ourselves from Satan’s attacks, many of the aspects we have talked about can ‘prophylactic;’ that is, they protect us from experiencing Satan’s attacks in the first place. However, the shield of faith is specifically referred to as being used to extinguish flaming arrows that will inevitably come, making it essential in the midst of spiritual warfare.
We must hold fast to our trust and belief based on God’s Word alone, no matter our circumstances. We must seek peace and protection in the knowledge that God’s promises are true (knowing that we may be tempted to believe the opposite at the time!), and reflect regularly on the incredible gift of faith in what he has already achieved, given to us by God.
Miss Linguine 