the warm embrace of God’s favor
you cover him with favor as with a shield
A little before the New Year began, I was pondering how I should approach reading the Bible in 2022. For most of the last twenty years, I've read through the whole Bible over the course of January to December. But during the last two years, I've been working through smaller portions of Scripture, going deeper and meditating longer in one place. So as January approached, I wondered, "Carry on? Or back to the Whole Story?"
Sometimes it's curious how a decision gets made.
In the midst of my wondering, an email from the BibleProject landed in my inbox. And as I watched a video of some new projects they're tackling, I was reminded how much I enjoyed using their Read Scripture app (and all of the connected resources) to move chronologically through God's grand story of the redemption of humanity.
Decision made.
The Whole Story it is.
Because I was so excited to get going, I actually began the Read Scripture reading plan in the last week of December. As I did, I was reminded that part of the plan, in addition to the main chunk of reading through the Bible, is to read a Psalm every day of the year, because the Psalter helps us work through the emotions of living as humans in a broken world, and guides the way in expressing our feelings through words directed toward the God of the Universe.
I tell you all of that to (1) encourage you to have a plan for reading the Bible this year, like the Read Scripture app, which is a really is a fun way to journey through God's story, and (2) so that you have context for something I'd like to share from my Read Scripture directed Bible reading.
The other morning, I found myself in Psalm 5, reading this:
“ 11 But let all who take refuge
in [God] rejoice;
let them ever sing for joy,
and spread your protection
over them,
that those who love your
name may exult in you.
12 For you bless the
righteous, O Lord;
you cover him with favor
as with a shield. “
That last line hasn't let go of me for three days now.
I can't stop thinking about it.
"You cover him with favor as with a shield."
Do me a favor, would you?
Grab something to write with, and write that sentence on a piece of paper.
Done?
Now I'd like to work through it together, if you'll join me.
C'mon, this'll be fun...
First, underline him.
Who him? Who gets covered?
Well, it is those who take refuge in God, who rejoice in God, who sing for joy about the reality and is-ness of God, who love the name of God, and exult—feel extreme happiness and elation—in God (v. 11).
Now, underline You.
Who you? Who is this you doing this covering?
Why, it is God, that's who. God is the One who David has been addressing since verse one. This God who is the Creator and Sustainer of all things; the all-powerful Ruler of all that is; the One who gives ear to our words, considers our groanings, gives attention to our cries, hears our voice early in the morning, and receives our sacrifices (Ps5:1-3).
Next, circle cover.
What does that look like? What picture is he trying to draw across the canvas of your mind?
The word means to circle on all sides simultaneously. Think of an army being completely surrounded by an opposing force, with absolutely no way out. I give you that picture because the other place this word is used in the Bible is in 1 Samuel 23:26, when Saul and his men were closing in on David, and his way was covered—no way out. That's helpful, because it fills the word with a sense of strength.
But there is another aspect of this word as well. Think of a newborn baby in a delivery room. What does the nurse do after she briefly bathes the child, before handing her to her mother? She wraps her up tightly in a soft, warm blanket, with nothing but that beautiful little face showing.
Covered. Safe. Warm. Protected. Secure.
Ok, we're ready to move down the line to the word favor.
Huh.
What's that about?
Many of us might immediately think of someone else doing us a favor. And there is a certain aspect of that bound up in the word here.
But this is less a particular act, I think, and more a disposition. To favor someone is to extend acceptance, and approval, and welcome; it is when someone expresses their sheer delight and pleasure in another, without condition nor predicated on any thing they've done to earn it.
And who among us doesn't want to feel that?
Before we get to the final phrase, let's look at most of our sentence again,
"You cover him with favor...",
and let's take what we've learned so far and restate it in our own words:
The most powerful reality in all of the universe, God himself,
looks down upon those who love his name, and seek refuge in him, and rejoice in him,
upon those who call out to him and cry to him and lift up their voice to him,
and he completely and fully surrounds them, he covers them
and wraps them up tightly in his acceptance, approval, sheer delight and pleasure—his favor—simply because he wants to,
and not because of anything they have done.
Oh my! That's amazing, isn't it?!
Now let’s turn our attention to the last phrase in the sentence. Go ahead, look at the sentence on your paper for it…
What we now learn is that this act of covering,
and that degree of favor,
from that powerful Protector,
is so strong,
and so impenetrable,
it acts as a shield about us.
Huh.
Have you ever considered how strong the expression of someone's pleasure in you can be?
We know this, don't we?
When someone truly loves us, truly delights in us, truly accepts and welcomes us, takes pleasure in being around us, consistently communicates their approval...doesn't that make you feel strong?
Doesn't that act as a kind of shield around your mind and heart against the rest of the crap that the world, the flesh, and the devil can throw at you?
When all of the other accusations, all the other lies, all the other coldness of such attacks descend upon us, it doesn't matter. We're wrapped up in the warm embrace of welcome, we're covered tightly in the confidence of commendation, we're surrounded by the strength of spoken support.
When we believe someone feels this way about us,
when we believe GOD feels this way about us,
(and he does, dear reader, he does favor you),
it's like a shield,
extinguishing all the flaming darts of dis-favor from the evil one (Ephesians 6:16).
Friend: As I sit here and write today, I'm talking with God about us (Ps5:1-3),
and I'm asking him that we will rejoice and rest greatly in the truth of what we have found here.
I am hoping we will find and accept protection and refuge from what we have seen here.
And that we will take the warm blanket of his favor,
and cuddle in,
and we will put on the strong, resilient shield of his satisfaction in us,
and settle in.
“ Our God will bless the righteous,
he will cover us with favor,
as with a shield. “
