“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. The Lord is their strength, and he is the saving strength of his anointed. Save thy people, and bless thine inheritance: feed them also, and lift them up for ever.” (Ps. 28:7-9)
How do Christian people stand in troubling days? How do Christians stand firm when the days are dark, when our enemies gather around? How do we stand when we have failed? How do we stand when we feel so weak and powerless? The answer is here. The Lord is our strength and shield. Christians have no other strength, no other shield. The Lord is our strength and shield, and therefore our hearts greatly rejoice. And this strength is the saving strength of His Anointed, which is just another word for Christ. In other words, our safety or security or victory is exactly the same as Christ’s. It’s the same saving strength that held Jesus and raised Him from the dead that holds every child of God. This is our confidence, our boldness, our strength, our blessing: and the sign of that blessing is this table, this meal.
Jesus gave us this meal when He was about to go into the shadow of death for us and for our salvation, and this meal has been the sign ever since that just as God did not abandon Jesus in the grave, neither will He leave or forsake any of those who belong to Him. He feeds us here like a Good Shepherd, reminding you that He is the one who carried you this far. You didn’t get here by accident. It may have been difficult. It may have been very painful. But Jesus carried you all the way here today. And He is the one feeding you this morning, and therefore, you are invited to have every confidence that He will go with you from here.
He says this is the new covenant in His blood. You are renewing covenant, and this means that Jesus is showing you His blood right now which was shed for you, assuring you that He is your strength. He is your shield. Therefore, as you come, come with your hearts rejoicing. Come with songs of praise. The Lord is your shepherd. He feeds you and He carries you forever.
So, come and welcome to Jesus Christ.
Photo by Kyle Loftus on Unsplash
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