The God Who Protects

By Denise Renner

I remember a long time ago when I was a college student in America, there was a season where we were getting warnings that there were men going around the campus and attacking women. You can imagine that I was pretty afraid of that happening to me, so I avoided walking alone at night whenever I could.

However, I did have one night class, and one night, I was walking back to my dorm, and I was startled by these two very big men who walked up to me. I started wondering, “What’s their purpose? Why are they speaking to me? What’s going to happen?”

As I was going through all those thoughts in my head, they just started stuttering, and all they said to me was, “How tall are you?” 

Well, I told them how tall I was, and then I just turned and went safely back to my dorm room.

In the natural, that probably sounds like a very strange story, but I believe with all my heart that that night, the Lord was protecting me. He had His big, intimidating angels standing there, guarding me from the ill intent that those men had for me, and I think that is such a wonderful example of how He acts as our Shepherd, which is what I want to talk to you about today.

When I think about this attribute of our Lord, I think of Psalm 23:4, because it is all about His protection: “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.”

You know, that first part about walking through the shadow of death reminds me of what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:54-55:

So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.”

“O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?”

Friend, the wonderful thing about the Lord being our Shepherd is that even death is not a threat to Him — He swallowed it up in victory!

Jesus took the blow of death, the horror and pain of it, on Himself for us. He went to hell for us, and because of that, we only have to experience a shadow of death, not the real thing. You don’t have to fear your shadow, so why should you fear when you are passing through the valley of the shadow of death?

Psalm 23:4 actually says, “I will fear no evil,” and it tells us why: “For You are with me.” He is with us, friend. He is right next to us, so we don’t have to fear any kind of evil that might try to harm us, whether it is death looming over us or enemies coming against us.

This makes me think of a few years ago when Rick and I had the privilege of going with a team of people to the site of Noah’s Ark in Turkey. It was such an amazing trip, but as we were making our way to the site, we had to pass through some rugged territory, and it was raining, so everything was a bit slippery and muddy as we were trying to climb, so it was all a little dangerous.

As I walked, I had my stick in my left hand, but on my right hand the whole time was my son Paul. He helped me across streams and up muddy slopes, and I didn’t have to worry about falling, because I knew that he would help me.

Friend, that’s just like the Lord. When we’re in a place that’s slippery, unstable, or dangerous, we can take His hand. Just like I took comfort in Paul holding my hand, we can take comfort in the Lord just being with us in those rugged places. He’s your shepherd, so He won’t let you fall. You don’t have to fear.

What is even more encouraging is that this is not a sometimes kind of promise. It’s not just every now and then or when God feels like it. It is always, because you are where He lives! Even if you wanted to be alone, you couldn’t because you are the very temple of the Holy Spirit, the place where He dwells (see 1 Corinthians 6:19). Friend, the third person of the Godhead has committed Himself — His magnificent, glorious, protecting Self — to living on the inside of you, so He is never going to leave or forsake you, and that means you never have to fear.

This is so amazing to me, that we don’t need to be afraid at all, not of death or of any kind of evil, just because of God’s presence with us, and it gets even better than that. The end of Psalm 23:4 says, “Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me,” and that tells us about the very active side of His protection.

You see, for a shepherd, the rod is a weapon for beating back predators when they try to come and eat the sheep, and that is exactly what God does for us. In fact, He already has done it. We talked about how He has defeated death, and we know that with that victory, He defeated the devil as well. He has used that rod to beat back Satan for you and I, and if that enemy ever tries to attack us again, Jesus can beat him back again. He is active in protecting us from predators and dangers with His rod!

The staff stands for another kind of protection, and that is protection through correction. You’ve probably seen pictures of a shepherd’s staff, which has this shape at the end like a hook, and that hook is very important for when sheep get into dangerous situations. Sheep aren’t very smart animals, so sometimes they will start to wander off or go toward a dangerous place, so then it is the shepherd’s job to reach out with that staff and hook the sheep around the neck or the foot and drag it back to safety.

Doesn’t that just sound like our Shepherd? Has God ever kept you from going the wrong way? When we are being rebellious and trying to go in the wrong direction, or even if we just accidentally put ourselves in danger, He reaches out with the hook of His staff and pulls us back. We’re never too far from His reach, friend. We’re not far from His care.

Whatever struggle you’re in the middle of right now, you don’t have to fear it, friend, because He is with you. Whether it is death looming over you, an enemy attacking you, or the consequences of your own actions rising up against you, you don’t have to worry, because He is protecting you and pulling you back out of danger. Even when the world is saying, “You’re not going to make it. You don’t have enough money. You can’t salvage this relationship,” God is saying, “I’m your shepherd. You’re my sheep. I will take care of you.”

That’s His promise. Let Him take that burden off your shoulders right now — He did not create your shoulders to carry it. He is the one who says, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). Maybe you just need to look at your bills or your relationships or your health and speak peace over them. Instead of listening to what the world says, maybe you just need to say, “The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want” (Psalm 23:1).