December 24, 2025
Daily Devotional:
“Our Strength and Shield”
Psalm 28:7
"The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and he helps me. My heart leaps for joy, and with my song I praise him."
Life often feels like a series of exposures. We feel exposed to the pressures of work, the vulnerability of our health, or the weight of world events. In Psalm 28, David isn't writing from a place of perfect ease, he is writing from a place of deep need. Yet, he lands on a profound realization: God isn't just a distant helper, He is a personal Strength and a personal Shield. This is our internal power. When our own battery is at 0%, His strength is the current that keeps us moving. It is the resilience to face one more day. This is ourexternal protection. It’s the barrier between us and the "fiery darts" of anxiety, criticism, or fear.
The bridge between God’s power and our peace is trust. The verse says, "my heart trusts in him, and he helps me." Notice the order in this verse, Trust precedes the feeling of being helped. When we lean into Him before the solution arrives, our hearts don't just find "relief", but they findjoy. The most beautiful part of this verse is the cycle of joy. It begins with a choice: “My heart trusts in Him.” This isn't a feeling; it’s a decision to lean your weight on God's character. The result? God helps. The response? The heart leaps, and the mouth sings. Trust isn't just a duty, rather a doorway to a joy that no circumstance can steal.
In the middle of a world that often feels chaotic and exposed, let’s write a declaration of absolute security over our lives. God isn’t a vague concept or a distant force, but as two very specific things in this verse: He is a Strength and a Shield.
In Identifying the Gap, where do we feel "unshielded" today? Is it a specific conversation, a financial worry, or a personal insecurity? Let’s declare the Truth, that Instead of saying "I am overwhelmed," try saying, "The Lord is my strength today."
David ended with praise. Even if we don't feel like singing, put on a worship song that reminds us of God's faithfulness and let it shift our perspective towards praise.