Real Security (Friday Devotional)

“Your steadfast love, O Lord, extends to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds. Your righteousness is like the mountains of God; your judgments are like the great deep; man and beast you save, O Lord. How precious is your steadfast love, O God! The children of mankind take refuge in the shadow of your wings.”

- Psalm 36:5-7

Mall cops don’t make me feel much safer. I’m sure stores appreciate their presence as a deterrent against shoplifting, and perhaps they’ve managed to break up a few fights that were getting out of hand, but at the end of the day, they don’t inspire a lot of confidence. If you saw someone pull out a gun at the mall, you wouldn’t go running for the mall cop, you’d call 911 for the “real” police. After all, your security isn’t something you want to place in any hands but the most capable.

And yet, in a larger sense, we do so every day. The God of the universe offers us refuge in the shadow of His wings, and yet when we feel afraid, we turn to walls and weapons to feel safer. God’s precious, steadfast love extends to the heavens, yet in our hour of need, we settle for human strength.

The Lord God is mighty to save, but the unfortunate truth is, we don’t always care for the way He saves. When we are frightened, we prefer vengeance to justice, wrath to mercy, destruction to reconciliation. In our fear, morality becomes a zero-sum game: in order for me to be protected, my enemies must be destroyed. We can’t imagine ourselves feeling better without someone else feeling worse.

The cross of Jesus Christ lays waste to that mentality, inviting all to come to him, commanding that we love even our enemies, that we pray even for those who persecute us. He shows us that life comes not by conquering those you fear, but by serving them. He calls us to find our security not in crowns of gold, but a crown of thorns.

In a fearful time, the psalmist reminds us that God is big enough to provide refuge for “the children of mankind.” His faithfulness, righteousness, judgments, and steadfast love can do what earthly means cannot: if we will trust Him, they can make us truly secure. Your security is something you want to entrust only the most capable with—so instead of settling for strong arms, perhaps the time has come to place our faith in nail-scarred hands.