Psalms 91:4: “He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth [shall be thy] shield and buckler.”
So what is a shield and buckler? What is truth? The word used in the Hebrew for truth is ‘emeth. This word is most often used to express the idea of faithfulness. In fact you will find most of our modern English translations will render this as faithfulness. It also carries the idea of reliability. You can get the idea of truth from these words because faithfulness and reliability both express the idea of certainty which is what truth is. However, I believe the word faithfulness really expresses what the intended meaning of the word ‘emeth is. When we say truth we automatically think of a statement being accurate. What is being expressed is that God is faithful, dependable, trustworthy and stable. If a woman marries a man who is stable we think of one who has high integrity, who will keep his word and who will fulfill his duties. If a woman marries a man who is truthful, we will think that he will at least be honest with her, but that does not mean he will always be dependable.
We know God’s Word is truthful, but that is not what creates the shield for us. The shield lies in the fact that it is dependable to keep us safe. Thus I would find the English word faithfulness, dependability and stability to be a more accurate description of the word ‘emeth in our 21st Century English language.
This dependability is a shield. The word shield is tsinnah which is often used for the English word shield or more accurately a large shield. But it is also used to express the idea of a hook or bard. It also expresses the idea of coolness or cold like snow. The relationship between these words is that a hook or barb is able to set up a barrier or shield by the mere fact of its prickliness. Some time ago I drove past the State prison in Joliet, Illinois. I saw a chain link fence surrounding the prison and on top of the fence were rolls of barbed wire. It was up there to discourage anyone from trying to climb the fence. Once they reached the prickly barb wire the thorns in the wire would create hundreds of painful punctures to the skin. I also drove by a cemetery had a more decretive shield to keep people from climbing the fence. There were hooks at the top of the fence and anyone trying to climb the fence ran the risk of getting impaled by one of the hooks or the tsinnah.
Throughout history wars have been stymied by the mere fact of the cold snowy weather. In Exodus 9 God sent a hail storm which virtually kept everyone inside a shelter. The hail storm became a natural shield against the enemy. Many historians believe that Hitler lost the war when he made the decision to move against Russia during the Russian winter. Hitler could not wait as he wanted to get his revenge against Russia right away and so instead of waiting until the spring he sent his troops against Russia during one of its harshest winters. Had he let his anger cool for a month or so and then moved against Russia we would all be giving a the Nazi salute today. The Russian winter, the cold and the snow proved to be the best shield against the Nazi attack and the army of German was disseminated by the cold and snow or the tsinnah.
When we think of a shield we think of a metal tray that a soldier holds in front of him to ward of arrows and swords. Tsinnah is more than that, it is not just a shield but an impenetrable shield. A shield that will not only discourage or deflect any attack but is capable of causing great harm if an enemy even dares to attack. Israel’s Iron Dome is such a tsinnah. It is more than a shield, it not only deflects the missile coming in to destroy a building or kill the citizens, it actually destroys that missile so it will never do any harm.
That is what the shield of the faithfulness ‘emeth of God is all about. God just does not stand there and deflect the enemy, he is a shield that strikes fear in the heart of the enemy for the enemy knows if he attacks he is going to suffer great harm. God just does not stand in front of us deflecting all the arrows coming in at us, he is actually defying the archer saying: “Come on, you want a piece of me, step over that line and see what happens.”
Not only is the faithfulness of God a tsinnah (shield) but He is also a buckler. Now this is a strange word to us in our 21st Century so translators takes some liberty with this word. It merely means a belt. I mean it would be comforting to know that God’s faithfulness is more than just keeping our pants from falling down. The word in Hebrew is socherah from the root word sachar. Some translations will say it is a rampart. That is not incorrect but I think most of us would have to look that word up in a dictionary. I know I did and found it meant anything serving as a bulwark or defense. My first thought when I hear the word rampart is on those phony movies where there is a ramp leading up to the castle. That seems to help the enemy more than hindering the enemy. I am probably wrong about that which causes me to reject that particular rendering of socherah as it doesn’t tell me anymore than the word socherah as to what it is.
Some modern translations uses the word bulwark. When I hear that word I think of some type of barrier preventing the enemy from coming in. That makes a little more sense to me. Some translations just say protection which makes who bunches of sense to me. Some combine tsinnah and socherah and just say a protective shield or wall. I like that even better. Some will say a supply of armor. Well, that works for me. Some will just say shield and armor. God is the shield and armor protecting us. Yes, He is all that but more.
If we trace the word socherah to its Semitic root we find that the root word sachar simply means to surround. It comes from an old Canaanite word for a wandering merchant or beggar. The idea is one of traveling around in a circular pattern to try and make contact with anyone who will give them a few shekels out of mercy or in exchange for a product. In other words the shield here is the will of the person. Both the merchant and the beggar can only penetrate that shield and get what he wants if the person who puts up that shield will let him pass. As long as you say no the beggar or the merchant has little hope of getting what they want. Your very will or the Will of God is a barrier or shield.
So the faithfulness of God is not only a shield but a buckler or the gate keeper, no one or no enemy can pass by him to you without His permission. Like with Job the enemy had to get God’s permission before he could come against Job. You can trust in the ‘emeth faithfulness of God that He would have a very good reason if He give His permission.
So when the Psalmist says that God’s truth is a shield and buckler He is saying much more than we realize. He is saying that God is faithful to provide a complete and utter defense around us. No one can get by Him to us without His permission. If we just trust in his faithfulness we have a security that the world cannot even come close to giving us.
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