SHIELD.

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My Saviour is my SHIELD. He says to me what he said to the father of the faithful : “ Fear not, Abram; I am thy shield.” *

Abram was now in a very critical situation. By his successful enterprise against the hostile forces of four neighboring nations, he had acquired a character, very different from that of the pastoral patriarch. His victory, and his rescue of Lot, had been, in good part, miraculous; and he had no sufficient reason to apprehend that the God who had thus wonderfully prospered him, would ever betray his confidence. But Abram, like all his spiritual children, found that it is much easier to “ wrestle with flesh and blood,” han to “fight the good fight of faith.” After he excitement attendant upon victory had subsided, and the pleasure arising from the honor he received at the hands of the king of Sodom, and from his remarkable interview with the mysterious king of Salem, had passed away, the father of the faithful seems to have felt some secret alarm at the position he occupied in the midst of warlike and powerful nations. God is fully aware of the most secret emotions of his people's minds. He observed the rising fear of his servant his friend. The shades of night were round the patriarch's tent, when “the WORD of the Lord,” the second person of the Trinity, vouchsafed to visit him, and allay his dread. He said enough, he said everything, when he came to Abram in a vision, with this invigorating assurance : “ Fear not, Abram ; 1

1; am thy shield.”

The shield was a well-known piece of defensive armor, used in battle for self-protection, and absolutely necessary for every combatant. This at once covered his person from the weapons of his antagonists, and enabled him with greater security to use his own against them. The value of the shield, of course, depended upon the nature of its material. To be effectually serviceable, it must be impenetrable.

Every believer, like Abram, is in a hostile

land, surrounded by subtle, and malicious, and powerful enemies. If he looks to himself, he may well dread them. He recollects, and exclaims, "Mine enemies are lively, and they are strong; and they that hate me wrongfully are multiplied."* They are, in fact, more numerous and more formidable than his timid imagination can picture to itself. But the incarnate Word says, "Fear not, child of faith; I know thy situation in all its bearings; I am perfectly aware of all that excites thine anxieties; and I have made provision against every emergency. Dismiss thy fears; I am thy shield,' I will cover thee in the hour of conflict, As no craft of thy foes can elude my vigilance and wisdom, so no force of theirs can pierce through the protection which I spread over thee. 'No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper.' The weapon that reaches thee, must cut through thy shield. Can this ever happen, while I am thy shield?" How appropriately did the departing lawgiver congratulate his people! "Happy art thou, O Israel!" said Moses; "who is like unto thee, O people saved by the Lord, the shield of thy help?"

*Ps. xxxviii. 19. + Isa. liv. 17.

Deut. xxxiii. 29.

Poor, unpardoned, unreconciled, unprotected sinner! thou art defenceless amidst the hosts of hell, all aiming their deadly shafts at thee. Child of God! thou art safe, and this may be thy song: "Thou, O Lord, art a shield for me; my glory, and the lifter up of my head.”* "The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in him, and I am helped; therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth, and with my song will I praise him." t "Thou hast given me the shield of thy salvation." And he who is thy Shield will both secure thee through the conflict, and bestow on thee the crown. For the Lord God is a sun and shield. The Lord will give grace and glory." He encourages thee onward through the battle: "Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life." ||

What fiery dart, by Satan hurled,
What weapon of this hostile world,
What secret stab of bosom sin,

The foeman dire concealed within,

While o'er me, through the battle-field,
Jehovah is my covering shield ?
With his broad ægis thrown around,
Unmoved shall I maintain my ground :
Though all the fiends of hell combined
To harass and confound my mind,
Onward I press to grasp the crown,
Till death himself I trample down;
Then pass the portal of the sky,
And shout, — “ To grace the victory!"