"He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart."
The word rampart gave me in my mind the picture of a grassy embankment that you could hide behind. The connotations are of hiding from an enemy who is attacking - maybe firing arrows as is the picture in Ephesians 6:16 which refers to the 'flaming arrows of the evil one'.
Some of the 'flaming arrows' that get me most frequently are ones of doubting that God could still love me and be patient with me when I fall back into the same sins so often and am so weak in my faith and love for Him.
How can I defend against these attacks? What is the rampart I can hide behind? The answer: his faithfulness. This reminded me of another verse:
"If we are faithless, he remains faithful, he cannot deny himself." 2 Timothy 2:13
If God, who is all-knowing and outside of time, has decided to set His love and affection on me and to send His Son Jesus to die for my salvation, then nothing I do or say, or don't do or don't say can ever make Him change His mind about that love. He already knows the whole story anyway. He already paid the price to redeem me anyway. His character is one of faithfulness. He cannot change because it's part of who He is.
So I can say with confidence: He loves me.
And when I disappoint myself by the feebleness of my love for Him and the sinful thoughts and actions resulting from my cold heart, the enemy will tell me: He can't possibly love you. You are too pathetic and useless. You are swayed by every single thing you read and see and hear.
I can reply: Yes I am not steady in my love for God as I would wish. Yes my thought life and my actions are not fully pleasing to Him. But He is faithful. No matter how rubbish I am. He does not and cannot change. I can go to the Bible and read the promises there and stake my life on them because of His faithfulness.
God, you know the very worst of me. You know how inconstant my love for You is. You know all the sins and failures that the rest of today holds, let alone the rest of my life. And yet Your word tells me that You chose to love me. I rest on that promise because it depends on Your faithfulness. Thank you that it doesn't depend upon me at all. Amen
