God our Protector
Throughout Scripture, God reveals Himself as our Protector.
Psalm 121:5 NLT “The Lord himself watches over you! The Lord stands beside you as your protective shade.”
Synonyms for the word Protector: Gatekeeper, Guardian, Look out and Safety Net.
God as our Gatekeeper
A Gatekeeper is the person who controls access to something, or the person who guards the entry point to something to prevent unwanted traffic from coming through.
2 Chronicles 23:19 NIV “He also stationed gatekeepers at the gates of the LORD’s temple so that no one who was in any way unclean might enter.”
Old Testament The Gatekeepers had to guard the temple gates to make sure that no one who is unclean would enter.
New Testament the Word says that WE are the temple of the Lord (1 Cor.3:16). God did not leave our temples unguarded
God sent the Holy Spirit to be our Gatekeeper.
The Holy Spirit cautions us and warns us when anything unclean wants to enter our hearts and minds.
God as our Guardian
A Guardian or Keeper, looks after the welfare (meaning – health, happiness, and fortunes) of a person.
A Guardian could also be referred to as someone standing in a parent role. The role of a parent is to provide proper care, maintenance, education, support, supply food, clothing, shelter etc.
Understanding that God is our Guardian gives us confidence to trust Him for our needs.
Psalm 121: 5 MSG – GOD is your Guardian, right at your side to protect you
God as our Lookout
A Lookout maintains a continuous watch to report any kind of Hazard that can be an obstacle.
Proverbs 15:3 TPT The eyes of the Lord are everywhere and he takes note of everything that happens.
We need to open our spiritual ears so to hear the warning of the Lookout who sees the things that we might overlook. We need to listen as He warns or cautions us against sin and danger.
God as our Safety Net.
The purpose of a safety net is to protect people from injury after falling from a high place, by limiting the distance they fall and deflecting to dissipate the impact energy.
Take note that the purpose of a safety net is NOT to prevent someone FROM falling, but rather to catch them WHEN they fall or to soften the impact of the fall.
Psalm 37:23-24 AMPC “The steps of a [good] man are directed and established by the Lord when He delights in his way [and He busies Himself with his every step](like the Lookout). Though he falls, he shall not be utterly cast down, for the Lord grasps his hand in support and upholds him.”
God has always been a Protector from the very beginning. God protected Adam and Eve, God protected Noah and He also protected the people.
Just because the people CHOSE not to heed God’s warning, does not change the fact that He operated as Protector!!
We hinder God’s protection when we choose not to listen and when we disobey.
God will not override your freewill.
What does God’s protection look like on a practical level in our daily lives:
Protection through His Word by giving us guidance, direction and boundaries.
Protection through the Holy Spirit who will advise and warn.
Protection through other people.
Supernatural Protection.
We see God’s protection over His people right through the Bible even till this day.
Communion a reminder that when God the Father sent His only Son to die for our sins, it was His rescue plan of protection for us.
