Ultimate Security

This post is third in the Psalm 127 series "Live Like a King."

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Unless the LORD guards the city,
The watchman stays awake in vain.
~ Psalm 127:1 (NKJV)

King Solomon knew peace and security as intimately as his father David knew war and homelessness. David surely wished to assure himself that his son's destiny would be different than his own, and likely took a census near the end of his life in order to assess military strength as the measure of security.

Coming from David, that census must have stung God. More than anyone, David understood that his ultimate security lay not in any might at his disposal, but in the name of YHWH (1 Samuel 17:45; Psalm 20:7).

Throughout Israel's history, this truth played out repeatedly: to turn away from the name of YHWH was to turn away from His protection; to call upon the name of YHWH was to call down His protection in every way. Israel's days of sovereignty opened with dramatic deliverance from Pharaoh at the Red Sea. They drew to a close shortly after King Hezekiah's miraculous deliverance from Sennacherib's siege of Jerusalem, when Hezekiah called upon YHWH and 185,000 Assyrian soldiers mysteriously died overnight.

Of everything else the name of YHWH (Jehovah, Yahweh, "LORD") represents, it especially embodies deliverance from our ever present God.

The same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. For "Whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved."
~ Romans 10:12-13 (NKJV; also see Psalm 91)

In every story, every book, every physical act of the Old Testament lies a spiritual principle taught in the New Testament. The physical protection given to Moses, David and Solomon, Hezekiah, and countless other OT champions came through their willingness to call upon the Lord. As children of the New Covenant, we wage war in spiritual realms. Empowered by the Holy Spirit—God Himself living within us!—we possess spiritual might greater than the whole of America's military strength or any other king's army in history.

We tend to look for physical security first, and may think we have much to fear. Violent crime, economic upheaval, and hostile nations threaten physical security. New diseases and drug-resistant bacteria, environmental deterioration, and sedentary lifestyles menace health. Gross moral decay and spiritual apathy manifest the peril of living in the last days.

"We have nothing to fear but fear itself."
~ Franklin Roosevelt

If we put spiritual security first, we need not fear the above threats, we need not fear death, and we need not fear even fear itself. In contrast to FDR's words, Jesus says our ultimate security is found in fearing only God:

"And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell."
~ Matthew 10:28 (NKJV)

Most High God, Your wings are broad and secure. Please awaken us to Your presence.

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Copyright 2012, Anne Lang Bundy, all rights reserved.