Psalm 140:7: “O God the Lord, the strength of my salvation, / You have covered my head in the day of battle.”

May 25th, 2024 by Pastor Ed in devotional

The head is one of the most vulnerable parts of the body to traumatic injury. So much so that bicycle helmets are now mandatory for kids in California due to the devastating head injures kids were sustaining from bike accidents. Injuries to the skull were even more prevalent during David and Jesus’ time, when a blow to the head during a battle could easily be fatal. So when David says that God covered his head, he meant that God protected his life.

In the New Testament Book of Ephesians, the helmet of salvation is mentioned by the Apostle Paul as part of the critical armor that believers should wear: “Take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (Eph. 6:17). No Roman soldier would consider going into battle without his helmet. However, with his helmet, the solider could fight with a certain amount of confidence. And this is what the spiritual helmet of salvation does for believers today; it gives us confidence to press ahead in the battle for the souls of humanity.

As believers we need this helmet to protect our minds both inside the church from rationalistic doubts and outside the church from intellectual surrender to shrill atheistic arguments. It also gives the assurance of salvation, confidence in God in the middle of the devil’s attacks on our minds, as he tries to hammer us with discouragement and doubt by pointing out all of our failures and faults. It gives the same assurance in God our Savior that Job had after being devastated by every conceivable calamity: “Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him” (Job 13:15). Job and David wore the same helmet that is available to us today; we must simply ask for and receive it from the Giver of Life and it is ours.

“LORD, we need Your helmet of salvation this day. We thank You for salvation, which You give not because we merit, earn, or deserve it but because You give it freely to us by grace through faith.”