Defender — A Refuge and Strength
God is described as defender, shield, refuge, stronghold, fortress throughout the Psalms. 'God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way' (Psalm 46:1-2). 'Be still, and know that I am God' (Psalm 46:10). Psalm 91 is the protection psalm prayed over soldiers, the sick, children: 'He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart' (Psalm 91:4). 'For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways' (Psalm 91:11) — I call God and there's angels all around me. The evangelical experience of this is particular and personal: not philosophical comfort but the specific sense of being held when everything is falling. I call God when the enemy surrounds me. The enemy in this tradition is real — spiritual opposition, addiction, despair, the voice that says you are not worth saving. The Defender answers that voice with something stronger.