I promise we WILL get through verse 4 today. “His truth is a shield and a buckler.” (Darby Translation)
My 4th grade teacher, Miss Victor, was a stunning woman—petite, pretty, short dark hair, well-groomed, great posture. She walked in confidence and authority. She always smelled sweet—more of a clean scent. Every day I looked forward to checking out her outfit because she always dressed in what I called “her Sunday best”–dress or skirt and blouse, matching heels and jewelry. But back then it wasn’t uncommon for teachers to come to school in their “Sunday best”. We also pledged the flag and prayed every morning before the start of class. My little 4th grade mind wondered why my pretty teacher wasn’t married. Word on the playground was that she loved teaching and her students so much that she chose to give her life to her career and be an “old maid” :). In addition to her attractive appearance, Miss Victor was a bit intimidating. She was kind, but strict. I remember seeing her “rap” a kid’s knuckles with her pointer for not positioning his pencil and paper properly during writing class. In spite of this, Miss Victor stands out in my mind as one of the best teachers I ever had. I loved her; I feared her; I admired her; I wanted to grow up and be like her. I credit Miss Victor for laying a good educational foundation in my life as well as bringing some much needed discipline to a sometimes “rowdy” little girl.
What does this have to do with Psalm 91. Nothing. But one thing Miss Victor taught me was to love the subject of English grammar. She taught us how to diagram sentences, and believe it or not, I fell in love with diagramming sentences. I’m not sure if that was birthed from my admiration for Miss Victor or the fear of getting my fingers rapped, but regardless, I learned grammar.
Today we’re going to have a little grammar lesson. Don’t freak out, we won’t be diagramming sentences, and I promise this will be painless and hopefully helpful.
In English grammar Verse 4 is a sentence that is called a subject complement which simply means 2 things: #1 It has a “linking” verb (usually one of the “to be” verbs…am, are, is) which connects the subject to the predicate (the predicate is the part that comes after the verb), and #2. The predicate either renames the subject or describes it so what follows the linking verb completes or complements the subject of the sentence. Hence, the name subject complement.
Back to verse 4. In this sentence, the predicate renames the subject. The subject here is truth, followed by the verb is, and then the predicate shield and a buckler. I was taught (by Miss Victor), to think of the linking verbs as equal signs. So when I see this sentence I see it this way: truth = shield and buckler. By putting an “equal” sign in place of the linking verb, I’m able to see that God’s truth is the same as a shield and buckler. Truth transforms into a shield and a buckler for me.
Hold out your left hand (go ahead and do this) and say, “There’s Truth and Faithfulness in this hand.” Now hold out your right hand and say, “And Here’s my Shield and Buckler.” Now clasp your hands together and say, “They belong to me. They are mine. I’m protected.”
Remember that the Hebrew word for “truth” here conveys primarily the idea of faithfulness which translates into firmness, reliability, trustworthiness, sureness, stability, certainty, right, true, dependability.
Truth doesn’t change. It is something we can confidently stake and build our life upon.
The Hebrew words for “shield” and “buckler” have several meanings. They are pieces of armor that a soldier would carry. Shield is a root word for something large and metal with piercing barbs and hooks used to completely cover. The buckler has the idea of surrounding and so becomes a shield to defend and protect. The buckler can also mean a wall, a tower, a fortress or a bulwark which reminds me of that great hymn…. “A mighty fortress is our God, a bulwark never failing.” Together these two imply that God’s truth and His faithfulness will completely cover and surround us for the purpose of guarding, defending and protecting us.
There are lots of things I consider “fun” to do….the thrill of a roller coaster, the peacefulness of snorkeling, hanging out with our kids and grandkids (super fun), riding on the back of Bruce’s motorcycle, a lunch date with a friend, sweating in a dance aerobic class and diagramming sentences (jk). Today I want to share something else I consider “fun”. I love to take verses in the Bible and look at that verse in as many other versions as I can. For me, this helps expand the meaning of the verse. Biblegateway.com makes this so easy. I also refer to a few versions I have that are not on the site. So…indulge me in this, please, while we take a look at this part of verse 4 from other versions. I think you’ll like this. Here are a few of my personal favorites.
His faithfulness is a protective shield. (Common English Bible)
His truth is a shield and protection. (Complete Jewish Bible)
His faithfulness is like a shield or a city wall. (Contemporary English Version)
His truth is your shield and armor. (God’s Word)
His faithfulness will protect and defend you. (Good News Translation)
His faithfulness is like a shield or a protective wall. (New English Translation)
He is faithful. He will keep you safe like a shield or a tower. (NIV Reader’s Version)
He is faithful like a safe-covering and a strong wall. (New Life Version)
His faithful promises are your armor and protection. (New Living Translation)
His faithfulness will form a shield around you like, a rock-solid wall to protect you. (The Voice)
After reading the various versions, I like to connect the parts that “spoke” to me along with the Hebrew meanings so it would look like this:
God is Truth. God is faithful. He is firm, reliable, stable and sure. His truth is always right, certain, established, permanent and dependable. His faithfulness and His assured promises are your armor of protection—a safe-covering shield and a rock-solid wall to defend and protect you.
To be continued….until then…peace to you and your family.
