god's prayer of protection - PSALM 91

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SERVICE AND SACRIFICE     -  

By Synthia Esther

He  sits in quiet peace and prayerful contemplation, with hazy, aged glazed  eyes fixated in deep thought. Memories etched in the deep recesses of  his mind as if they were a dream, he now recalls with sudden clarity. In  war, there is no time to grieve. In service, duty, and sacrifice to  your country, there is not time to question your allegiance. As the  years have passed, his uniform has changed from green army camouflage to  a worn pair of blue jean overalls. But the Bible he carried then  remains as his steadfast resolve, serving as a testimony of faith that  has been tested, tried, and proven true.

Like  an old treasured friend, the words within its pages remain a constant  source of peace while the storm rages on. His withered hands lined with  the traces of time, and plagued with the stiff soreness of painful  arthritis, turn to the 91st Psalm, which he has memorized by heart. Now  more than ever he realizes what  service and sacrifice truly mean. For what father would not take the  place of his child on the battlefield of war, to end the sacrifice. What  mother would not provide the service of protection and take her child's  pain as her own. Calvary and the Cross, God the Father and their Son,  provide steadfast assurance that the service is worth the sacrifice, and  faith is worth the eternal glory of salvation's plan. 

 The  gentle old man knows God the Father understands his grieving heart,  pain, and sorrow. Time has a way of bringing the meaning of life in full  circle with sharp contrast. The sadness of a loved one's death is made  lighter by the birth of another. Wisdom is made known by God through our  past mistakes, trial, and error.

 Such  life lessons are honored, cherished, and deeply understood. It is past  pain that provides a canvas for empathy and the hope of a better  tomorrow. It is past pain that provides all of humanity life lessons  that war itself must not be more horrific than the injustice and crime  it seeks to rectify and correct. A tear runs down the father's check as  he recites in faith the Psalm that gave him strength, courage, and  victory, when the shadow of death stood ever before him.

Psalm  91, He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the  shadow of the Allmightly. I will say of the Lord, "He is my refuge and  my fortress, my God, in whom I trust." Surely He will save you from the  fowler's snare and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with  His feathers, and under His wings you will find refuge; His faithfulness  will be your shield and rampart. You will not fear the terror of night,  nor the plague that destroys at midday.

A  thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it  will not come near you. You will only observe with your eyes and see  the punishment of the wicked. If you make the Most High your dwelling -  even the Lord, who is my refuge - then no harm will befall you, no  disaster will come near your tent. For He will command His angels  concerning you to guard you in all your ways; they will lift you up in  their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.

You  will tread upon the lion and the cobra; you will trample the great lion  and the serpent. "Because he loves me," says the Lord, "I will rescue  him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name. He will call upon  me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver  him and honor him. With long life will I satisfy him and show him my  salvation."

A  spirit of confidence ushered in by God's word and the power of the Holy  Spirit comforts the elderly father's soul. Armed with the word of God  he has once again starved his fear and fed his faith. With confident  assurance he breaths a sigh of relief knowing his children are depending  on the God of their father, reciting the same Psalm when fear looms  ever near.

 In  reverence and awe he rests in God's continual providence and hope, that  no matter the threat and outcome of war, his child will ever still, be  coming home. 

Copyright - 2008-2022,  Synthia Esther. All Rights Reserved.