The Defenseless Life

God is known in Judah, great is His name in Israel. Because His tent is in Salem, His dwelling place in Zion. There He broke the flashing arrows, the shields and the swords, the weapons of war. Selah.
(Psalm 76:1-3)

When Jerusalem was still a pagan city, it was called Urusalim and the Jews, using Hebrew, called it Salem. Salem means peace; it also refers to the kingdom of peace of the Messiah. It points us too to Melchizedek who was king of Salem and who blessed Abraham and, through him, all his descendants. Salem was a dear word for the Jewish people; it should be a dear word for us as well.

How do we know which city is the city of God? It is the city where God broke the weapons. He marked the place and made it His own by freeing the people living in it. Only those places that have been freed by Him belong to God. Only those people who have been marked by His deliverance (how wonderful a mark!) belong to God. Wherever God has brought deliverance, that is a place of peace and it is called Salem.

God breaks all my weapons, both my attacking swords and my defending shields. This is His peacemaking.

I will belong to God only when I live totally defenselessly, aware of the fact that I am powerless and that only the deliverance of God can save me. And He can save me only when I stop defending myself. God rose up to judge, to save all the humble, the needy of the land. (v. 9) God saves only these defenseless ones. All others suffer His judgment.

[GEN, (c)2005]