Psalms Of Protection

Several psalms reveal the fact that God is man’s protector. Thus, a Davidic psalm reveals God’s kindness and readiness to protect the believer:

Because of the oppression of the weak
and the groaning of the needy,

I will now arise, says the LORD.
I will protect them from those who malign them. (Ps. 12:5)¹

Accordingly, the believer may plead:

O LORD you will keep us safe
and protect us from such people forever. (Ps. 12:7)

Indeed, it is God who protects and preserves the life of his own. David testifies as to God’s protection by saying:

A righteous man may have many troubles,
but the Lord delivers from them all;

He protects all his bones,
not one of them will be broken. (Ps. 34:20)

So true is this that believers may follow the Lord’s example:

Blessed is he who has regard for the weak,
the LORD delivers him in times of trouble,

The LORD will protect him and preserve his life;
he will bless him in the land
and not surrender him to the desire of his foes. (Ps. 41:1-2)

In many other psalms, we read of the believer’s pleading for God’s protection. For example, we read in the beginning of Psalm 20:

May the LORD answer you when you are in distress;
may the name of the God of Jacob protect you. (v.1)

Often God’s protection is encased with other commendable elements. Thus, in Psalm 25:21, a psalm that praises God for his oversight of his people, David says:

May integrity and uprightness protect me,
because my hope is in you.

This Psalm “begins and ends on a note of trust in the Lord” (vv. 1-3, 21) says Van Gemeren.²

In Psalm 40, David speaks of the blessedness of God’s salvation and his proclamation of the same (vv.1-5) and then tells of his personal commitment to the Lord (vv. 6-10). Therefore, due to his many difficulties he goes on to pray:

Do not withhold your mercy from me, O LORD;
may your love and your truth always protect me. (v. 11)

Similar pleadings are evident in other psalms. In Psalm 64:1, David asks for God’s protection:

Hear me, O God, as I voice my complaint;
protect my life from the threat of the enemy. (cf. Ps. 59:1)

David’s earnest plea is also seen in Psalm 69:29:

I am in pain and distress;
may your salvation, O God, protect me.

Indeed, David is well aware of the fact that the Lord is a faithful believer’s source of protection. Therefore, he prays for God’s help:

Rescue me, O LORD, from evil men;
protect me from men of violence.

…….

Keep me, O LORD, from the hands of the wicked;
protect me from men of violence,
who plan to trip my feet. (Ps. 140:1,4)

Surely what was true for David ought to be paralleled in the lives of today’s believers!

God’s desire to protect his own is seen in other psalms, as well. Thus, we read in Psalm 91:14-16:

Because he loves me, says the LORD, I will rescue him;
I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.

He will call upon me and I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble,
I will deliver him and honor him.

With long life will I satisfy him
and show him my salvation.

Such gives full assurance even to today’s believers.

Surely, all faithful believers may attest to the declaration by yet another psalmist:

The LORD is gracious and righteous;
our God is full of compassion.

The Lord protects the simplehearted;
when I was in great need, he saved me. (Ps. 116:5-6)

As Van Gemeren remarks: “The psalmist is fully aware that the Lord alone can help him, for he is ‘gracious,’ ‘righteous,’ full of ‘compassion,’ so as to protect … the needy.”³

May each believer follow the advice of many psalmists’ assurance of God’s ability and determination to protect his followers. As David declares,

The Lord loves the just
and will not forsake his faithful ones. (Ps. 37:28)

Therefore, he can advise them:

Wait for the LORD
And keep his way.

…….

And then the salvation of the righteous comes from the LORD;
he is their strong hold in time of trouble.

The LORD helps them and delivers them;
he delivers them from the wicked and saves them,
because they take refuge in him. (Ps. 37:34, 39-40)

May each of us follow David’s instructions – even in such matters as our own speech. A familiar proverb points out: “The lips of the wise protect them” (Pr, 14:3b). All of this is in conformity with the assurance of the Lord’s care for the many needs of his own. As Marten, the hymn writer, writes verse 3 of his hymn:

All you may need He will provide, God will take care of you;
Nothing you ask will be denied, God will take care of you.
God will take care of you, throu’ every day, o’er all the way;
He will take care of you. God will take care of you.⁴

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¹ All Scripture referenced is from the NIV.

² Willem. A. Van Gemeren, “Psalms” in the Expositor’s Bible Commentary, revised edition, ed. Tremper Longman III and David E. Garland (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2008), V:264.

³ IBID, 846.

⁴ C.D. Marten, “God Will Take Care of You.”