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Here is a cluster of precious passages. Each is illuminative of one or more of the
many phases of grace. "Shield and exceeding great reward"; "Shield and hiding place";
A shield provided by One whose ways are perfect, whose "condescension" (gentleness)
indeed makes great, Who is salvation and Strength as well as Shield, Who protects when
men oppose, deny or betray, and who gives both grace and glory.
David's heart trusted, and the Psalmist added "I hope in Thy Word" (Psa. 119: 114).
The days in which we live differ in some ways from O.T. times, but they are
comparable to those of Habakkuk, when there was no evident intervention, when there
was often no apparent answer to prayer, when "the just" indeed must "live by his faith"
(Hab. 1: 1-4; 2: 1-4). Even so, we still have His "Word", our hearts can still "trust" in
Him, and we rejoice, as no other people on earth can, in His "condescension" which has
indeed made us "great", for such a text is written large across the epistle to the Ephesians.
"O Israel, trust in the Lord: He is their help and their shield" (Psa. 115: 9).
"O house of Aaron, trust in the Lord: He is their help and their shield" (Psa. 115: 10).
"Ye that fear the Lord, trust in the Lord: He is their help and their shield" (Psa. 115: 11).
"Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the
fiery darts of the wicked" (Eph. 6: 16).
"The Eternal God is thy Refuge."
#12.
"The hidden ones" (Psa. 83: 3).
pp. 93, 94
"They have . . . . . consulted against Thy hidden ones" (Psa. 83: 3).
"Your life is hid with Christ in God" (Col. 3: 3).
It is clear from these two passages that the title "hidden ones" is appropriate both for
Israel and for the Church. To some the idea of "hiding" may suggest cowardice, but just
as it is foolhardy to expose oneself to the danger of high explosives unless the demands
of humanity justify the risk, so, when facing spiritual wickedness, it is wise and right to
remember that the shield, the helmet, and the breastplate are as much a part of the
commanded and provided panoply of God as is the Sword of the Spirit. The reader will
also remember that in Heb. 11: there are two cases in which "faith" is identified with the
act of "hiding"--the hiding of the infant Moses, and the hiding of the spies (Heb. 11: 23,
31; Ex. 2: 2; Josh. 2: 4).
"Hiding" does not necessarily indicate fear. In Psa. 27: David says:
"The Lord is my light and my salvation: WHOM SHALL I FEAR?
The Lord is the strength of my life: OF WHOM SHALL I BE AFRAID?" (Psa. 27: 1).