Shields Up

Every word of God is tested; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him. Add nothing to his words, lest he reprove you, and you will be exposed as a deceiver.

Two things I ask of you, deny them not to me before I die: Put falsehood and lying far from me, give me neither poverty nor riches; provide me only with the food I need; Lest, being full, I deny you, saying, “Who is the LORD?” Or, being in want, I steal, and profane the name of my God. (Proverb 30: 5-9)

This proverb reminds me of a quote from author Jon Meacham in his 2006 book “American Gospel: God, the Founding Fathers, and the Making of a Nation.” He concluded, “The preservation of American liberty is the most demanding of tasks, requiring unrelenting work and a resilient spirit, but to whom much has been given, much is expected.  Roosevelt closed by quoting words expressing what he called Jefferson’s ‘noblest and most urgent meaning,’ the sentence carved inside the frieze of the marble monument: ‘I have sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man.’ In a voice from the past, a vow worth keeping in our own time, and for all times.”

As noted in the proverb, we must put falsehood and lying far from us.  If not, then we do not swear upon the altar of God eternal hostility against every form of tyranny.  

God is our shield, and we must take refuge in him. As Captains Kirk and Picard of Star Trek fame would say to their starship crews, when under attack from enemies,  “Shields up!”  Otherwise, we are defenseless from falsehood and lying, and we profane the name of our God.

Deacon David Pierce