“I will protect Him because he knows my name.”
You don’t have to be a parent to feel the deep sadness and unspeakable loss of the parents in Uvalde, Texas. When evil took over the mind and thoughts of a young man and he took the lives of 19 elementary school children and 2 teachers, all of America took notice—with very different reactions.
Part of my effort to communicate with those who think differently from me on politics and religion is to get my news from a variety of sources. Without exception, every mainstream source I watched or read had one common theme yesterday- a concerted disrespect for prayer and a sovereign God. It was as if someone had texted each anchor and each reporter and said, “Here is the theme of the day- Prayer does not work!”
Oh, it was not blatant; satan’s schemes rarely are. It was subtle and insidious, like a serpent. Comments ranged from conciliatory, such as: “Prayer can help us feel better, but we need action for the long term,” to more self-aggrandizing, such as, “Prayer can’t help us solve this; we will have to do it ourselves.”
If the hellish consequences to these poor people were not so horrific, it might even be funny to think of a frail human thinking he or she could have more power than the God who spoke the world (and them) into existence. I shudder for them and pray for them.
But my strongest emotion after hearing Jehovah God disrespected all day on Wednesday was to be offended for Him. To be sickened by the lack of reverence or even remotest awareness of the awesome and terrible power of the God of the universe and His all-encompassing reach and capacity. I used to explain to the college students I taught that I could not allow them to use the Lord’s name in vain in my class because He is my family. “I would not curse your mother or your father; I would not do that to you. That is the kind of relationship I have with God. Please do not do that to me.” I feel the same way for Him now, jealous for the reverence He is due.
Not that He needs it; He needs nothing from me. But I need Him. I felt very alone in what the Lord was showing me yesterday and needed consolation. Because He is such a good God, my regularly scheduled readings were in Psalms 76-97. There I found myself in good company with Ethan, David, Asaph, and other psalmists who had felt the exact emotions I was feeling, and they felt them just as deeply. Psalm 94:7 speaks of a similar time: “And they said, ‘The Lord does not see; the God of Jacob does not perceive.’”
Psalm 77 says, “I am so troubled that I cannot speak,” and “I cry aloud to God, aloud to God, and He will hear me.” This Psalm gives a nod to God’s terrifying power when it says that “the waters saw you, they were afraid, the deep trembled.” It describes the God of crashing thunder and lightning that can light up the world. Psalm 79 calls out for God to help us “for the glory of your name.” The Psalmist is repelled by the nations that say, “Where is their God?” David prays in Psalm 86 that God will teach him and “unite my heart to fear your name.”
A dozen times in these verses, the Psalmist returns to the theme that God’s love is steadfast. A half dozen times His faithfulness is referred to. He is faithful in May of 2022, even when shootings and carjackings and unkindness abound around us. He is unchanging. The fact that we cannot see where His plan is heading is not evidence that He is not watching, moving, headed to a destination that will bless those who love Him and reveal Himself tragically and fearsomely one day to those who arrogantly refuse to acknowledge Him today.
So if you are discouraged as I was yesterday, remember what He has told you in Psalm 91:14: “… I will protect him because he knows my name.” That is all we need. Just to know Him. He is the one true God. He does not share that title with any other being; He is the sovereign God and not answerable to us. As He works toward the glorious conclusion of this world and prepares our home in the next, it is not our works that will help us. It is simply knowing who He is, Jehovah, Father God, Elohim. Psalm 93:1 reminds us, “The Lord reigns; he is robed in majesty.” He still reigns.
Our hearts, like David’s, may be prompted to praise more in these difficult times. Psalms 91, 92, and 96 will help you do that. In fact, all of the verses in my reading today unite to remind me of the promise summed up in Psalm 94:14-15:
For the Lord will not forsake his people;
he will not abandon his heritage;
for justice will return to the righteous,
and all the upright in heart will follow it.
And if you feel weighed down with discouragement, think of this tender, beautiful reminder your Father has left you to tide you over:
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 on 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 on me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble,
I will deliver him and honor him. Psalm 91:11-15
So though I am tempted to be discouraged over so much that dishonors the One I love best, I think I will follow David’s example in Psalm 95:1-3:
Oh come, let us sing to the Lord;
let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!
2 Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;
let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!
3 For the Lord is a great God,
and a great King above all gods.