Divine Protection
(week 20/04)
Olubi Johnson
In this time of great peril (2Tim. 3.1), it is vital we know, understand and appropriate by faith the divine protection God has made available to us in Christ Jesus.
Divine protection is God’s supernatural protection from physical and spiritual harm.
God’s plan for our protection is summarised in:
Psalms 91 NKJV: He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. 2 I will say of the LORD, “He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in Him I will trust.” 3 Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler And from the perilous pestilence. 4 He shall cover you with His feathers, And under His wings you shall take refuge; His truth shall be your shield and buckler. 5 You shall not be afraid of the terror by night, Nor of the arrow that flies by day, 6 Nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness, Nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday. 7 A thousand may fall at your side, And ten thousand at your right hand; But it shall not come near you. 8 Only with your eyes shall you look, And see the reward of the wicked. Because you have made the LORD, who is my refuge, Even the Most High, your dwelling place, 10 No evil shall befall you, Nor shall any plague come near your dwelling; 11 For He shall give His angels charge over you, To keep you in all your ways. 12 In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone. 13 You shall tread upon the lion and the cobra, The young lion and the serpent you shall trample underfoot. 14 “Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him on high, because he has known My name. 15 He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor him. 16 With long life I will satisfy him, And show him My salvation.”
The purpose of this protection is to cause us to live long and to live well: in health and prosperity to declare the glory of God in the land of the living and fulfil the fullness of our destiny: to walk in and demonstrate to the world the perfection and fullness of Christ.
Psalms 118:17 NKJV: I shall not die, but live, And declare the works of the LORD.
Job 36:11-12 NKJV: If they obey and serve Him,They shall spend their days in prosperity,And their years in pleasures. 12 But if they do not obey, They shall perish by the sword, And they shall die without knowledge.
How then do we enjoy this divine protection?
1 John 5:18 NKJV: We know that whoever is born of God does not sin; but he who has been born of God keeps himself, and the wicked one does not touch him.
We enjoy divine protection so the wicked one is not able to touch us by keeping ourselves in the love of God: when we walk in love we fulfil all the law (Rom. 13. 8-10) and so do not sin so Satan cannot penetrate our divine armour (Eph. 6.11-18) to hurt or kill us.
Practically then how can we do this?
By walking in the fear of God: daily choosing it (Pr. 1.29), saying it and practicing it.
By walking in the life of God: daily drawing (Is. 12.3) life from God using His name (Jn. 20.31) and Word (2 Pet. 1.4).
By keeping the Word of God (1Jn. 2.5): daily reading, meditating, confessing and practicing the Word (especially 1 Cor. 13.4-8).
By praying in the Spirit: concentrated closet prayer (Eph. 6.18) and communion prayer frequently (1Cor. 14. 5,18) throughout the day.
If we practice these things daily (see our article on ‘how to receive from God daily’) the angels of God will be able to move in our circumstances and supernaturally protect us by manipulating the thoughts and circumstances of men.
For instance, God protected David supernaturally by turning the counsel of Ahithophel, causing Absalom to reject the his counsel and take the counsel of Hushai the Archite (2Sam. 17. 1-14).
God protected Mordecai from the gallows of Haman by not allowing King Ahasuerus to sleep until he had made the decision to reward Mordecai (Es. 6.1-13).
God protected Joseph from being killed by his brethren when He causes Reuben to counsel his brethren not to kill him and then caused Judah to counsel them to sell him into slavery just as a company of Ishmeelites came their way (Ge. 37.20-28): here we see God synchronizing Judas’s thoughts with the physical circumstance of the coming of the Ishmeelites.
God sent angels to supernaturally protect Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in the burning furnace (Dan. 3.23-30) and Daniel in the lion’s den (Dan. 6.22).
God still does these same things today as we keep ourselves in the life of God, the Word of God, the Spirit of God and so the love God. So even though Satan will attack us he will not be able to penetrate our armour to harm us.
