To be near unto God - pagina 104

We speak of an escutcheon, by which we mean a shield on which the man who owns it has graved his blazon. This is a sign of personal recognition for those who know him, and it announces who hides behind it. Thus the shield expresses the person and becomes something by Great or It becomes a personification. itself. small powers of resistance are recognized by the shield. And in this way God is the shield of those who put their trust in Him. No human pride has imaged on this shield a lion or a bull's head. But in deep humility, in trustful meekness, in looking away from self and in confidence in his heavenly Father the man of faith puts on this shield nothing but the name of

—

Jehovah.

The Lord

is

my

shield: this is holding

the name of the Lord before the forces of nature and the powers of Satan. It is showing the world, in characters of flame, that we belong to the armies of the living God. That we do not fight alone by ourselves, but that the Hero, who leads us, is the anointed of the Lord. And thereby we proclaim that the highest power of every human soul is ours, even the invincible power of faith. Thus we see that this Scriptural imagery is deeply significant. We already saw it in the confession, that the Lord is the Sun of our life. But here we see that God is our shield and our buckler in the fight for the saving of our life. also learn that it does not mean anything to say: God is my shield. But that the great thing is that in every time of need and in every hour of battle this holy shield is not left hanging on the wall, but that it is put to use by a living, zealous and an heroic faith.

We

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