The Great Alternative: Your Help and Your Shield Text: Psalm 115:9-11
Introduction: The Choice of Your Life
Every man trusts in something. There is no such thing as a man who does not trust. The only question before us, the question that defines our lives and determines our eternity, is what we will trust in. The world is a vast emporium of idols, a marketplace of false gods, all of them promising security, meaning, and power. They are fashioned from gold and silver, from political ideologies, from sexual appetites, and from the feverish dreams of our own autonomy. But as the first part of this psalm makes devastatingly clear, these idols are a fraud. They have eyes, but they see nothing. They have ears, but they hear nothing. They are deaf, dumb, and dead. And the great spiritual law of the universe, which operates with more certainty than gravity, is this: you become what you worship. Trust in a dead thing, and you will become dead yourself.
The psalmist, having laid out the sheer absurdity of idolatry, now pivots. He does not leave us in the rubble of deconstruction. He presents us with the great and glorious alternative. He issues a command, a summons that rings out three times, like a great bell calling the people to their senses. The command is simple: Trust in Yahweh. This is not a polite suggestion. It is not one option among many. It is the only sane course of action in a world gone mad. It is the fundamental choice between life and death, between being a living soul shaped in the image of the living God, or a hollow man shaped in the image of a lifeless idol.
This passage is a call to arms for the entire covenant community. It addresses us in our various stations and roles, but the message is one. The foundation for our life, for our worship, and for our future is a robust, active, and corporate confidence in the God who is not made with hands, but who made the heavens and the earth with His. He is not an idol that needs our help; He is the God who is our help. He is not a statue that needs a shield; He is the God who is our shield.
The Text
O Israel, trust in Yahweh;
He is their help and their shield.
O house of Aaron, trust in Yahweh;
He is their help and their shield.
You who fear Yahweh, trust in Yahweh;
He is their help and their shield.
(Psalm 115:9-11 LSB)
The Corporate Summons (v. 9)
The first call goes out to the entire nation, the people of the covenant as a whole.
"O Israel, trust in Yahweh; He is their help and their shield." (Psalm 115:9)
To be called "Israel" is to be reminded of your identity. It is to be reminded of your history with God, a history of deliverance, provision, and covenant faithfulness. This is not a call to individuals atomistically making private decisions. This is a call to the congregation, to the people as a people. Our trust is meant to be corporate. We are to trust God together. When the world looks at the Church, which is the Israel of God, they ought to see a people whose defining characteristic is a rugged, joyful, and shared confidence in their God.
And what is this trust? It is not a leap in the dark. It is a confident reliance based on a revealed character. To trust in Yahweh is to lean your full weight on His promises, to bank your entire existence on the fact that He is who He says He is. It is the opposite of the self-reliance our age preaches. It is a declaration of dependence. We are not the masters of our fate; He is. We are not the captains of our soul; He is.
Why should Israel trust Him? The reason is given, and it is twofold. He is their help and their shield. "Help" here is the Hebrew word ezer. This is not the word for a subordinate assistant. This is the word used for God throughout the Old Testament, a strong and sufficient helper. It is the same word used of Eve in Genesis; she was a helper fit for Adam, a strength corresponding to him. God is our ezer; He provides the strength we lack. He is our proactive provision. A "shield" is our defense. He is our protection from all the fiery darts of the wicked one. He is our help in the work we have to do, and He is our shield from the attacks that come against us as we do it. He is our provision and our protection. What more could a people need?
The Priestly Example (v. 10)
The second call narrows the focus to the spiritual leadership of the people.
"O house of Aaron, trust in Yahweh; He is their help and their shield." (Psalm 115:10 LSB)
The house of Aaron represents the priesthood, those who ministered in the temple, who taught the law, who led the people in worship. Why are they singled out? Because trust in God is not something that can be effectively taught if it is not first modeled. The priests were to be the lead trusters. Their confidence in Yahweh was to be exemplary. If the men who handle the holy things, who live by the altar, are riddled with anxiety and fear, then what hope do the people have? The spiritual health of the flock depends in large measure on the robust faith of their shepherds.
This is a sober charge to all who hold office in the church today, to pastors, elders, and deacons. Our people are watching. They need to see men who actually believe what they preach. They need to see men who, when confronted with cultural hostility or internal church problems, do not resort to political maneuvering or pragmatic hand-wringing, but who visibly and publicly trust in Yahweh. The pulpit must be a place of buoyant and unwavering confidence in the sovereignty of God. The reason is the same: He is their help and their shield. The leadership of the church has the same God as the laity. We have no special resources, no secret techniques. We have God, and He is enough.
The Universal Requirement (v. 11)
The third call broadens the summons to include every true worshiper, regardless of lineage or station.
"You who fear Yahweh, trust in Yahweh; He is their help and their shield." (Psalm 115:11 LSB)
This is the category that defines the true Israel within Israel. Not all of physical Israel were true believers, but all who feared Yahweh were. The fear of Yahweh is the beginning of wisdom. It is not a cowering, servile dread, but a reverential awe and trembling joy before the majesty and holiness of God. It is the posture of a creature standing before his Creator, a sinner before his Redeemer. This fear is the soil in which trust grows.
This category cuts across all others. You can be part of the general congregation, you can be a priest, but the essential thing is this: do you fear God? This call is therefore intensely personal. And it is wonderfully inclusive. It makes room for the "God-fearer," the Gentile who has turned from idols to serve the living God. It anticipates the day when the covenant community would be made up of people from every tribe, tongue, and nation. Whether you are "small or great" as verse 13 says, this command is for you. If you fear Him, you must trust Him.
And for the third time, the reason thunders forth: He is their help and their shield. The repetition is not for lack of anything else to say. The repetition is the point. It is a liturgical hammer, driving the truth deep into our hearts. This is the bedrock reality upon which our faith is built. Our God helps. Our God protects. This is His unchanging character. Therefore, trust Him. It is the only logical thing to do.
Our Triune Help and Shield
This threefold call to trust is a Trinitarian summons. We are called to trust the one God who is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And this God is, in His very nature, our help and our shield.
The Father is our help and shield, for He is the sovereign architect of our salvation, who chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world. He works all things together for the good of those who love Him. His sovereign providence is our shield against chaos and meaninglessness.
The Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, is our help and shield. He is our ultimate ezer, the one who helped us when we were utterly helpless in our sin. He stood as our shield on the cross, absorbing the full blast of God's righteous wrath that we deserved. He is our help in His intercession for us at the Father's right hand, and He is our shield as our great high priest and advocate.
The Holy Spirit is our help and shield. He is the Helper, the Paraclete, whom Jesus sent to be with us and in us. He helps us in our weakness, teaching us to pray. He shields us by sealing us for the day of redemption, protecting our faith from all the assaults of the world, the flesh, and the devil.
The alternative to trusting this Triune God is to trust in idols that cannot help and cannot shield. To trust in the state for your salvation is to lean on a sword that will pierce your hand. To trust in your wealth is to build your house on sand. To trust in your own righteousness is to fashion a shield out of paper. But to trust in Yahweh, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, is to stand on the immovable rock. He is our help in every trial and our shield against every foe. Therefore, let Israel trust. Let the leaders trust. Let all who fear His name trust in Him, and in Him alone.