Wow that little verse from Isaiah has really set me on a journey!
I began thinking about the protection that a husband is to provide for his wife. He is to provide protection physically, spiritually, relationally and emotionally. This is an area that ,as women, we have the most issues. Over time we have rejected protection for several reasons. There is pride, rebellion and fear.
Human husbands fall short so we make their shortcomings excuses for our sinful rejection of Gods provision. We say things like " he makes bad decisions", or "he is abusive! I need protection FROM him, not BY him! " or "if I obey and trust him, he has proven he will let me down" or " he is ungodly and will lead me down a bad path if I follow him"...we feel, and rightly so, at times unprotected. Or we as single women, simply do not have a husband good or bad to protect us. Well, here is the great news!
Psalm 91:14~ "Because he (she) holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him(her). I will protect him (her), because he (she) knows my name. Ladies! This is our Husband!!"
Speaking to the single ladies (and myself, more than any), we have a Husband who NEVER fails. He has no short comings, sinful habits or tendencies. He has no selfish motives or any other excuse we could find in a human. We have no excuse to reject the provision of our Heavenly Husband!!
But look at the psalm...there is a condition to our receiving this protection. It says BECAUSE (the reason) he holds fast to me in love. We must do what any wife should do with her husband...hold fast to Him. Be devoted, loyal, honest, faithful to him. He must be our priority. We must stay close to him. We must not wander away to other things.
We must do this "in love". When we look at what Christ himself said about loving him we see him say "if you love me, you will keep my commands" Here is our protection.
Everything we need for protection is in the love letter our Heavenly Husband has given us. Think of it. The proverbs alone are full of words that will protect us from physical dangers, over spending, being drawn away and enticed by the world into harmful behaviors. It is all there.
But, again, sometimes we need "someone with skin on" so He provides. Our umbrella of protection includes our church family, particularly the Elders. I my case these men have been invaluable! They Shepherd us as "those who will give an account". Seeking their advice along with scripture is amazing protection. Friends and family (if the are committed believers) can also provide accountability and help.
The last part of the Psalm says "because he knows My name". When we marry, we take our husbands name. What does that look like when a single woman is "married to Christ"? In scripture someones name is their character....we must strive to take on the NAME(character) of our Husband.
This is our means of protection. We strive to "hold fast in love" (and all that implies) and we strive to take on the character of our Heavenly Husband (and all that implies). The really good news is that we don't do any of this on our own strength! He supplies the grace, the mercy, the strength, the direction and all of it for our protection and His glory. How encouraging!
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