“He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress; my God in Him I will trust” Psalm 91: 1 – 2
In the sphere of human activity, the concept of protection has always been given much prominence. Everyone irrespective of the social class seeks to protect himself/herself and guard against damage caused by external forces. Lots of measures have been put in place to ensure security ranging from fire extinguisher at home, in the vehicles and offices, security men at the entrance of houses, organizations even churches are not left out, numerous insurance companies with various insurance policies, diversified armed forces organizations to protect nations, bullet proof cars, doors and what have you and some even go beyond all these to get personal arms and munitions for self-defence while some engages in spiritual activities of various kinds all in a bid to protect themselves. We have
heard series of cases of parents who joined some occult associations in order to protect their children which in the end was a futile effort. Millions of naira is spent in a bid to protect one’s life and valuables.
According to Merriam Webster dictionary, “Protection is defined as the supervision or support of one that is smaller and weaker.” This implies that whoever is to be protected must be smaller and weaker and whoever is to protect on the other side must be greater and mightier i.e whoever is to protect must be superior that the one that is to be protected. There is a man who in a bid to protect his life approached an herbalist in a nearby village for charm to protect him against death. The herbalist then gave him a cream to be applied on his body for three (3) days, after which other process of the protection follows, the man left with the cream and applied as instructed and on his return on the third day to the herbalist’s place he discovered that the herbalist died few minutes after he left his place three days ago. He was shocked to discover that the man who assured him of protection could not deliver himself from the power of death. My dear friend in the Lord, if there is anyone who is
superior, greater and mightier, who can deliver from the power of sickness, death and every forces it is Our Lord Jesus Christ the one who swallowed death in victory, who was the pillar of cloud in the day to the Israelites in the wilderness, and a pillar of fire to them at night, the one who subdued all Kings before them and gave them victory in battles.
However brethren, in order to enjoy divine protection you also have a role to play and this is found in Psalm 91: 1 – 2 and verse 9.
• You need to dwell in the secret place of the Most High – it is in the presence of God that you can enjoy divine protection. If you are not in His secret place you cannot be under the shadow of the Almighty. Dwelling in the secret place of God goes beyond living within the church premises or attending church activities, it means to live within the confine of God’s commandment, loving what He loves, doing those things that are His will and possessing the mind of Christ.
• You must acknowledge God as your refuge, fortress, God and trust solely on Him – you cannot serve God and Mammon. You must choose and declare who your God is and put all of your trust in Him without reservation. Verse 9 of psalm 91 explains the reasons behind the enjoyed protection in verse 3 to 8 and 10 to 16. “Because you have made the Lord, who is my refuge, even the Most High, your dwelling place.” Only if you can put your trust in God then you will be strong like David in Psalm 23: 4 – 5 who said “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 prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup runs over”
Beloved, do not be deceived there is no other god than can protect other than the Almighty God, there is no other name that can deliver if not the name of Jesus, there is no other fold that guarantee your security if not the fold of Christ, there is no one that can keep watch over you securely if not the only true God who never sleeps nor slumbers, there is no superior being whose power supersedes every other powers other than God’s power. Dwell in His secret place and trust in Him alone and your protection is sure.
Have a blessed week as you determine to make the All Powerful God your shepherd and trust in Him alone.’
Your daddy, vicar & Archdeacon
‘Seyi Pirisola.