Ephesians 6:16

Verse of the Day Devotion:  Ephesians 6:16 

“In addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.” – Ephesians 6:16

I want to start again with the several verses that introduce this idea Paul is putting forth.  “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm.” Ephesians 6:10-13.  He is telling us to put on the full armor of God for the following reason, that we can stand firmly against the powers of the enemy, namely the sly schemes of the devil. 

The next part of our armor is the shield of faith.  As our focus verse says, “in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.” Ephesians 6:16.  What is meant here is that “over all” take up the shield of faith.  It constitutes a protection over every part of the body, as it can be turned in every direction. The idea is, that as the shield covered or protected the other parts of the armor, so faith has a similar importance in the Christian virtues.

The shield in ancient Rome was made of a lightweight wood or a rim of brass which was covered by several folds of thick and strong animal hide, which was preserved by frequent anointing.  This shield was carried or held by the left arm and was secured by straps which the arm passed through.  The outer surface of the shield was made somewhat rounded from the center to the edge.  It was polished smooth or anointed with oil so that the arrows or darts would glance off or rebounded.  This large oblong oval door-like shield of the Romans was four feet long by two and a half feet wide; not the small round buckler.  It was of great important to a soldier for it provided a blanket of protection which was meant to be taken up in all circumstances.  And they would protect the soldier from fiery darts projected at them.  These darts, known as “falarica” which were headed with lead, in or about which some combustible substance was placed that took fire in the passage of the arrow through the air, and often burnt up the enemy’s engines, ships, etc.  They were made to stick in the shields and set them on fire.

And note that, when used, we will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.  Not that it might but will quench the fiery darts of the enemy.   Paul here no doubt refers to the temptations of the great adversary, and/or those furious suggestions of evil that lures us to sin which he may throw into the mind like fiery darts.  It would also refer to doubts placed in our mind regarding God and the Christian life.   

“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” Hebrews 11:1.  It is one of the three great gifts stated in 1 Corinthians, which are faith, hope and love.  And it is through faith that we are justified.  “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.” Ephesians 2:8-9.  And because we have faith in God, our suffering need not faze us; in fact, we can persevere under it.  All Christians have this promise.  “For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. Who is the one who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?” 1 John 5:4-5.  Faith is a protective barrier between us and the schemes of Satan. When we believe God and take Him at His word, we remain grounded in truth, the lies of the enemy lose their power, and we become overcomers. In that way, faith is our shield.

William Funkhouser MDiv, ThD, Founder and President of True Devotion Ministries. 

Psalms 3:3

(Editor’s Note: Christiaan is writing the devotions for today and tomorrow. Hopefully, William will be able to return to writing on Wednesday from the hospital. We’re bringing him his laptop tomorrow, and we should have an update published soon).

Verse of the Day Devotion – Psalms 3:3 (ESV)

But you, O Lord, are a shield about me, my glory, and the lifter of my head. – Psalms 3:3 (ESV

If you missed last weeks study on Psalm 3:4 please check it out, you’ll learn a lot about the historical and contextual setting for this chapter. In short, David is in hiding from his Absalom (his son who murdered his other son, took the throne, and is hunting David down to murder him). The net is closing around him. As he’s hiding he hears people telling him that no god (neither God or any other deity) will come to rescue him.

Think about it.

David is the King of Israel. He’s been elevated from farm boy to king.. He’s lead the armies of the Lord to fulfill the promise given to Moses. This is the heyday of Israel. It has never been better than it was now and (honestly, probably never will be again until Jesus returns). David has thousands of servants, concubines, and armies so large that by the end of this current situation over twenty thousand people died in a single battle between the armies of israel lead by Absalom and David’s resistance fighters.

But where do we find David?

Alone.

In a cave.

So reviled and with such little authority that at one point he was recognized and an individual who openly cursed him… like old school “a pox upon you and your family” style cursing.

When I think about where David is at this point versus where he was, I think about that line from A Christmas Story when Ralphie has “soap poisoning” and his dad asks him, “What has brought you to this lowly state?” The answer is that we live in a fallen world. It was completely outside of David’s control. It wasn’t punishment for Bathsheba. It wasn’t because God ceased to have David in his favor. It was because there were people doing evil things.

I think that a lot of times we get put in situations completely outside of our control and it’s up to us to decide how we respond to it. In a previous verse of the day I did I looked at the verse about how there’s a season for everything from Ecclesiastes 3:1 (I seem to like the third chapter in books!) Last time we looked at how David cried out to God and God answered him. But today, we look at what he KNEW about God.

God is his shield around David. But Christiaan, you may ask. How is God a shield around David, if God allowed Absalom to murder his brother, pull of a successful military coop-d’etat, and force God’s chosen king into a cave hiding away from the world? The answer is that we live in a fallen world. But David doesn’t lose faith. He doesn’t lose Hope. He knows that God hears the cries of his people. He knows that God is ultimately in control over the situation. He knows that whatever is happening it’s going through God first.

Maybe that medical condition that brought you into the hospital that you thought was the worst thing that could happen, really ended up saving your life. Because they discovered something infinitely worse than anything you could have imagined.

Maybe that job loss that had you eat through your savings, and put you in what seemed to be a hopelessly impossible financial situation leads you to finding your dream job, that may not fully get you out of the financial straits you found yourself in, but you’re in a significantly better place, and you never realized how toxic and draining your other job was.

Who knows, and most of the time we don’t see the positives until they’ve happened to us. We know that as Paul told us in Romans 8:28 that “God causes everything to work together for the Good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.” (NLT) and David’s words reinforce that.

David doesn’t just testify that God is his shield, but also that God is his glory. This word in a transliterated hebrew is kabodi which means, reputation, honor, splendor, distinction – in short, his identity all the things that make him who he is and special. David knows that regardless of what happens to him and what people say about him that ultimately his identity is in God. And regardless if he’s a brilliant military commander (as they say of him in 2nd Samuel – in fact they say he’s worth ten thousand men in battle) if he’s the king of Israel, or if he’s a beleaguered man in a cave hiding from his murderous son… his identity is given to him by God.

The verse finishes at a crescendo of David’s affirmation of God’s role in his life, that God is “the lifter of my head” or in the NLT it says, “the one who holds my head high.” David doesn’t have to be ashamed of these situations that happened. He doesn’t have to sulk in the darkness afraid to be who God created him to be and the role God called him to walk in. The two translations beside each other paint a beautiful picture of our God who lifts our face from being downcast, and then holds it up.

So, may you come to realize that no matter what happens in your life, how scary it is, or how unexpected it is God is your shield, protecting you in some way. May you search for the good things in the midst of the trauma and focus on them. May you find your identity in Christ and not let that shake your confidence in who you were made to be. And finally, may you not struggle against the God whose lifts your head, and helps you to hold you head high!