God is Your Defender - REJOICE!

“But let all those that put their trust in thee rejoice: let them ever shout for joy, because thou defendest them: let them also that love thy name be joyful in thee.  For thou, LORD, wilt bless the righteous; with favor wilt thou compass him as with a shield.”  Psalm 5:11-12 

Seldom do we who are saved stop to thank the Lord for all He has done for us.  People may attend church (once a week for most) and offer praise to God for their salvation.  But the psalmist here in our text uses the word “ever” which means we are to rejoice, to shout for joy all the time, and forever. Why? Because God is our Defender. 

If we love the Lord, we have an adversary, the old devil, Satan, who if not held at bay by the Almighty, would kill us all. And then there are people who oppose us, who even hate us, because we love Jesus (John 15:18).  They try to intimidate and discourage us, but we have a defender; God Himself who protects us from their attempts. 

I love verse 12 that tells us the Lord blesses us and with favor surrounds us “as with a shield”.  You might say we are greatly blessed and highly favored.  Though some may not like that – it’s the truth.  God loves His children. “What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?” Romans 8:31. 

Rejoice my Christian friend. Stop and express your gratitude to the Lord. Do it right now. Just say, “Lord, I thank you that you defend me.” Get in the habit of expressing your joy and gratitude on a regular basis. You and I have plenty of reasons to do so.

 The Pastor’s Pocket

Pastor Bruce Freeman

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Thank You

Image
Hello everyone, Pastor Bruce here with an important announcement regarding our daily devotionals known as “The Pastor’s Pocket.” After today, these will be discontinued.   I am so thankful to each of you who have enjoyed reading these devotionals and I trust the Lord has encouraged you through each one. I challenge you, as Peter does, to “grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18).   It is my desire that you will continue in your own personal study of the word of God. Learn the Word, Love the Word, Live the Word!   There may come a time when I can write these again, but for now, I will devote my time to other areas of ministry and ways to serve Him! “To HIM be all the glory both now and forever. AMEN!”   The Pastor’s Pocket Pastor Bruce Freeman
Read more

From Christmas to Calvary

Image
Matthew 16:21, “From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day.”   From His birth to His death, Jesus suffered. In the scripture verse for today, Christ is preparing His disciples for the suffering. He was about to endure the final stages of His ministry on earth. He describes how He will suffer, how He will die, and then be raised on the third day. All of this was the Father’s plan for our redemption, our salvation. For that plan to be carried out, Jesus had to enter the world. His entrance came through a lowly manger in Bethlehem.   The sufferings of Christ begin with His birth. Jesus left the glories of heaven and subjected Himself to the limitations of time and space. He confined Himself to a body for the first time. If baby Jesus bit His tongue, He experienced pain. He got thirsty for the first time. He experienced h
Read more

Not Home Yet

Image
 As Christians, we’re destined for something much better than what this world has to offer!  As the old song says, “This world is not my home, I’m just a passin’ through, my treasure is laid up somewhere beyond the blue…And I can’t feel at home in this world anymore.” The Bible tells us our time on earth is brief (Psalm 103:15 / James 4:4).  If we’ve trusted Jesus as our Savior, our eternal home is heaven.  Therefore we are seen as pilgrims just passing through here.  We are aliens, strangers to this present, evil world system. Isn’t it silly? We spend so much time trying to “have it all” here and now, when in reality we already have it all “in Christ”.  Abundant life that Jesus told us about doesn’t have anything to do with having an abundance of things.  It has to do with the quality of life we possess with all the spiritual riches that come from knowing Christ. God warns us not to love this world.  We must never get too attached to “stuff”.  The fact is; we will suffer rejection, ex
Read more