‘I’ve Got Your Back’

 

‘I’ve Got Your Back’

For you shall not go out with haste, Nor go by flight; For the Lord will go before you, And the God of Israel will be your rear guard.

Isaiah 52:12

Isaiah offers to the people of God some wonderful encouragements regarding God’s care of them.  While Isaiah most specifically applied these to the children of Israel, the evidence of history, and of faith, is that they apply, as well, to the believing people of God. We come to such an encouragement today. Let us for a few moments dwell upon the words, ‘the God of Israel, will be your rear guard.’  As the people of God seeking to walk uprightly, we find ourselves, at times, in bondage and under oppression. This is what the larger context of our text describes. It speaks of Israel in bondage in Egypt, and later of their oppression by the Assyrians. From these oppressions, God declares, that He will deliver them. He goes on to say, ‘The Lord has made bare His holy arm in the eyes of all the nations; And all the ends of the earth shall see The salvation of our God. Depart! Depart! Go out from there, Touch no unclean thing; Go out from the midst of her, Be clean, You who bear the vessels of the LORD.  For you shall not go out with haste, Nor go by flight; For the Lord will go before you, And the God of Israel will be your rear guard.’ The next verse after our text speaks directly of Christ. What then shall we conclude from these things? Christ, in essence says, ‘I’ve got your back.’ The rear guard is that person who secures you from the attack which you do not see coming. So, Christ secures us from the attack which the coward launches against us. He defends us against those who ‘shoot from ambush at the innocent.’ Today let us rest in confidence in the Christ Who has our back. He has not, and will not fail us.

Oh, Lord of Hosts,
You are our Shield and our Defender.
You guard us from evil from every direction.
We rest on You, and trust You for all these things.

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning