Scripture for the day: Psalms 121:5
The Lord is your shade at your right hand.
I have been reciting Psalms 121 for years before bedtime.
And yet, when I read it again this morning, a fresh revelation hit me!
The Position of the Shade
The right hand in the Bible stands for power, honor and authority.
Christ (the Anointed One) is seated at God’s right hand subduing all our enemies.
And God, as the shade at our right hand, is watching over and protecting our anointing in Christ.
Hallelujah!
For it’s always more than the flesh. It’s our anointing in Him which is at stake.
The enemy doesn’t care how we look externally, it’s the spirit man that he’s after.
The flesh is just one way to get to the anointing.
Which is why God stands as a shade at our right hand.
He strengthens our position, keeping us rooted and grounded in Him lest we trust our own flesh and self-effort and fall prey to the viles of the evil one.
How Samson Lost His Anointing
Interestingly, this verse (Psalms 121:5) led me to the story of Samson and Delilah.
Delilah was especially recruited by the Philistines to “entice Samson and find out where his great strength lies”. (Judges 16:5)
And yet despite her repeated pleadings, Samson never budged and “the secret of his strength was not known.” (Judges 16:8)
Thrice he evaded the right answer until the fourth time she put on her “love” mask and complained ” You have mocked me three times and have not told me where your great strength lies”.
Samson caved in. He gave up the secret.
The enemies came, took him, put out his eyes and bounded him with bronze fetters. And the anointing left him, for the Lord has departed from him.( Judges 16:20)
Samson was a nazirite. He was to keep himself consecrated (away from wine or unclean food).
His uncut hair was a sign, and not the source, of his anointing. (Judges 13:4-5)
Like Samson, when we rely on our own strength , we fail to protect the area of our anointing.
For the flesh is weak even when the spirit is willing. (Matthew 26:41)
God, in His great mercy, still fulfilled His plans in Samson, for even in his death he killed more than he did while he was alive (Judges 16:30)
And look how Samson brought down the pillars- he braced himself against them , one on his right and the other on the left! (Judges 16:30).
The right side came down first implying that in his death he relied on the source of his anointing, the Lord at his right hand!
Reigning in Life Through Our Anointing in Christ
As Christ-ians, the Anointed ones , we have a purpose, a calling, bigger and greater than our flesh, our mind and our strength.
And without God at our right side, we will struggle like Samson.
Because He is our shade at our right hand, the sun shall not strike us by day, nor the moon by night.
No weapon formed against us will prosper and every tongue that rises in judgement against us, we shall condemn.
This is our heritage as the servants of the Lord (his children in Christ) And our righteousness is from Him.
(Isaiah 54:17)
This is the secret of our anointing in Christ, the secret of our great strength.
And while we sure can affect the flow of the anointing by being or not being the doers of the Word, it is God who protects our anointing, working together all things unto the fulfillment of His purpose.
May we remember and live out this truth every day, and stand strong in the face of evil, knowing that our strength comes from Him.
In Jesus’ name,
Amen!
