2 Samuel 22:31 – As for God, His way is perfect; The word of the Lord is proven; He is a shield to all who trust in Him. NKJV
All over Scripture is mention of God’s ways being true, pure, just, right, without error (Deut.32:4, Dan.4:37, Matt.5:48 to name a few).
How fantastic is it that we can rely on God? We can rely on His ways and His words!
His words are proven – meaning exactly that. He has made sure what He has said has come to pass. His word is alive – remember when we started this series? One of our first verses spoke to His words being sharper than any two-edged sword and able to cut through the thoughts and intentions of the heart (Hebrews 4:12).
I hear that question being asked somewhere – “So are you saying all the bad things that happen are God’s ways and are perfect?”
Clearly not. Sin that happens and the hurt and pain in this world are not God’s ways. His ways are not sin’s ways. However evil has a time limit and it just isn’t up yet.
He will use evil’s ways to make things right. He weaves His justice and His mercy and triumph through the pain we endure. This is just a part of His grace and mercy and goodness towards us. All our wrongs will be made right – in fact they already have through Jesus’s work on the cross. Remember, we are walking to our victory that has already been achieved!
This particular verse came from David glorifying God with his praise for the great things He had done for David.
David was meditating here on God’s goodness and his response was praise about the truth of God’s ways, words and protection.
I love how God allows us to “prove” Him. As if just being awesome alone wasn’t enough – He overflows His grace by allowing us to use His words and wait and watch Him to show us we can count on His words being true.
Our walk with Christ is to be just that – one where we know the heart and character of our Father and He knows ours – we walk with calm and confidence knowing that He is working for us.
With this walk we put forth the effort to learn about God by His words and then we get to see Him prove Himself.
He then acts as a shield to those of us who trust Him. I gather that when I learn about God and put into action my faith on those words He must be pleased. So when we trust Him, He acts as our shield.
Are we protected from every bad thing? Of course not. But take a moment and think about all the things you might have been protected from and not even known about!
Just a few hours ago I was just thinking about all the times I should have probably died – that I know of! It was 3 I’m aware of but it could have been many more. I also have seen enough to know what others have been through and that I have been protected from some of their pain and they have been protected from some of mine.
Knowing God is in front of you like a shield – anything that happens to us is allowed but plenty more is prevented. I know that if it’s in my business and happening to me, I know God has allowed it and will see me through it.
This is definitely easier said than felt while in the midst of the hard. But take heart – your Father is protecting you as you trust Him.
