We Have Favor As A Shield

For You, O Lord, will bless the righteous; With favor You will surround him as with a shield. Psalm 5:12 (NKJV)

The psalmist speaks of the favor of God being like a shield. As the righteous of God, we can rely on the favor of God to protect us. To really understand what this means, we need to look at the words favor and shield.

Favor is the Hebrew word ratsown, meaning acceptance, delight, desire, favor, good pleasure. Its root word means to be pleased with. Favor means God is pleased with us. We have His acceptance, and we are His delight. According to Psalm 5, this favor protects us like a shield.

What kind of shield is this talking about? is it a small, round shield like we see depicted in illustrations of warriors, or is it larger? In the New Testament, we see the Romans using large shields that covered much of their front side, but that was well after this verse was written. The word shield in this verse is the Hebrew word tsinnah. the root of this word mans to be prickly as a thorn or thorn hedge. Tsinnah refers to a pointed hook, a large shield, as if guarding by prickliness. Consider a bush or plant that has thorns or thistles that prick and get under the skin. We’ll do almost anything to avoid running into or touching such a plant.

The shield in this verse is large, like a high, thorny hedge that surrounds us on all sides. By its prickliness, it keeps predators and enemies from even coming close to us. It repels them. That’s what favor does. God’s acceptance and favor keeps the enemy from getting close enough to do anything to us. As we rely on the acceptance, love, and delight of the Lord to keep us safe from attacks, we can rest.

In the Old Testament, this favor came through keeping the Law. Today, we have God’s favor, and we are well-pleasing to Him through His Son, Jesus Christ. By believing in and accepting Jesus as our Savior and Lord, we can expect to have the huge shield of God’s prickly protection all around us. Because Jesus already kept the Old Testament Law, we can have God’s favor and delight simply by receiving what his Son has already done. And that favor protects us from all harm.