But let all those who take refuge and put their trust in You rejoice; let them ever sing and shout for joy, because You make a covering over them and defend them; let those also who love your name be joyful in You and be in high spirits.

For you, Lord, will bless the [uncompromisingly] righteous [him who is upright and in right standing with you]; as with a shield You will surround him with goodwill (pleasure and favor).
(Ps. 5: 11-12 AMP)

Have you ever stopped to realize that when God's shield is over you that you are one of his favorites! If you are surrounded with favor then you are one of his favorites.

Let's look at the definition for favorite: "Anything regarded with special favor or preferred above all others; the contestant considered to be the most likely winner."

When you are waiting in the presence of the Lord, and become shielded by God, you are becoming the most likely contestant to be a winner. It is not because of who you are but because of who He is.

You may have just made the biggest mistake of your life but when you humble yourself and receive his forgiveness you become the most likely candidate to be a winner. Once you have received forgiveness and God surrounds you, the enemy can no longer have entrance to your life for the shield of God now surrounds and protects.

"You have also given me the shield of Your salvation, and Your right hand has held me up; Your gentleness and condescension have made me great" (Ps. 18:35 AMP).

The phrase "shield of salvation actually" means deliverance in this passage. This means that when you have made mistakes and gotten yourself into an area of trouble or difficulty in life that requires His aid, He will be your shield of deliverance and rescue you.

The Many-Sided Shield
Can you imagine the frustration of your enemy when he is trying to approach you and you have this many-sided shield of God surrounding you? It is a shield of:

• Faith (Eph. 6:16)
• Truth (Ps. 91:4)
• Salvation (Ps. 18:35)
• Favor (Ps. 5:12)
• Protection (Ps. 33:20 and Ps. 47:9 KJV)

Can you see how the enemy hopes that you will step out of God's protective place and expose yourself to his flaming darts of evil and wickedness?

Just stay behind God and surrounded in His presence and it will quench every fiery dart that the enemy can fire! You must realize that your enemy knows his limitations and so much of his effort is aimed at your lack of knowledge.

He will many times attack those things around you in order to produce fear and cause you to doubt God. Many of God's people are running behind God in fear of their circumstances instead of in faith. You cannot be in faith and fear at the same time.

God's shields work through faith and when you begin to fear it brings them down and weakens your defense. It only stands to reason that if fear will weaken the shield that surrounds you, Satan will tell you as many lies and try as hard as possible to cause you to fear and doubt in some way.

We must learn to take captive our thoughts and bring them into the obedience of Christ. Stop the fear with God's Word as a shield and then go to God with thanksgiving for His protection and deliverance. We must learn to not respond out of fear but wait until we have a response from our spirit. One of the strongest ways to calm down in a situation is to sing praise to God.

One of the last things we think of, but one of the quickest ways to gain control is through the spirit. The enemy is counting on us to operate from the standpoint of panic instead of wisdom.

We must learn to take a deep breath and praise God and let the peace of God come upon us so that we will not react in fear to the enemy's strategies. We will not be able to walk in the spirit and operate out of our spirits until God is seated in the proper place of our hearts.

You must learn to take time to praise, exalt and lift Him up to his rightful place before the battle. The great stories of victory throughout the Old Testament always have God exalted and held in a place of honor before the children of Israel would win the fight. This principal still holds true today for our victories.

What we will learn to do in God will not fall under in an attack. We will not change positions in life without a battle. The devil will not willingly give up grounds of improvement for us. We must be able to take it by faith and stand secure behind God's shield.

How Do You See Yourself?
If you cannot see yourself as a king or an ambassador of Christ, you will not be able to carry out its lifestyle. If you present yourself as less then God has declared you to be, you will be treated that way by your enemy.

If you will see yourself as God sees you and conduct yourself as one who is shielded, blessed, healthy, and prosperous, your enemy will perceive you as such. You must change the way you talk. Change the way you act. Change your mannerism. You must begin to think like God has declared you to be.

I believe every Christian should develop and build into their lives as a shield and strength Psalm 18 and Psalm 91. Take time to read them and develop the strength that is available through these. I believe that if you will spend time in these psalms that you will develop strength and begin to see your enemy in a weakened state.

You must spend time in God's presence or you will feel inadequate. These psalms are a way that you lift up the truth and the faithfulness of God's shield.

Copyright © 2004 Kingdom Faith Ministries
All rights reserved. Used by permission.