Make haste, O God, to deliver me!
Make haste to help me, O LORD!
Let them be ashamed and confounded
Who seek my life;
Let them be turned back and confused
Who desire my hurt!

  - Psalm 70.1, 2

O God, defend me everywhere
With Your impregnable power and protection.

  - "The Breastplate of Laidcenn," Irish, 8th-9th century[1]

In this week’s ViewPoint series we’ll consider the “all-aroundness” of God (Thursday: You can download the entire series by clicking here). This was an aspect of the imminence of God to which Celtic Christians were especially sensitive, and about which they found it helpful to sing.

A lorica or “breastplate” poem was used to invoke divine protection. These poems would be prayed or sung at various times of the day, to remind one of the Lord’s presence and care, and so to encourage and embolden him in his journey or work.

There are several excellent examples of these from the literature of the Celtic Christian period. They have affinity to certain of the psalms, combining elements of complaint, imprecation, and supplication as they call down the help of God and angels for protection throughout the day or for some journey or task. Psalm 70 is a good example.

The principle is sound: Our Lord will never fail us nor forsake us. He is with us always, and we have our very being and all our movement in Him. Our Shepherd is always caring for us and upholding us by His Word of power. So it can be a source of comfort and confidence to remind ourselves in song of all the detailed ways the Lord Jesus protects our minds, affections, and bodies, and how He guards the path and even shapes the attitudes of those we might meet along the way.

A breastplate poem was a lyrical confession of the sovereignty of God, as well as a declaration of trust in Him and dependence on His grace. These old poems remind us of three important things: First, God is with us and caring for us always, down to the smallest detail of our lives. Nothing about us is unimportant to our Lord.

Second, it is good and useful to acknowledge that. It may not always seem as though the Lord is present and caring for us, but He always is. Singing or praying such psalms and poems can renew our trust and confidence in Him.

And, third, singing can be an important discipline to remind us of God’s love and connect us with His sovereign presence. God intends for us to benefit from this discipline more than we typically do, which is why we are commanded to sing and why singing is an indication of the Spirit’s filling (Eph. 5.18-21).

So don’t let your singing be confined to the time you spend in worship with God’s people. And don’t sing only those songs that have pleasing melodies or easily-remembered lyrics. Search out psalms and hymns that can be beneficial for your daily walk with and work for the Lord. Sing them over and over until you know them by heart (The Ailbe Psalter offers all the psalms set to familiar hymn tunes).

Then sing them through the day, letting their melodies and lyrics lift you above your mundane setting into the presence of eternal glory. Linger there in meditation and prayer, waiting on the Lord, thanking and praising Him for all His abundant goodness to you.

In heaven, angels and departed saints sing continually to the Lord.

What do they know that we have yet to learn?

Psalm 3.3, 4 (Eventide: “Abide with Me”)
You are a mercy shield about me, Lord,
Raising me by Your glory and Your Word.
Prayers fraught with tears stream from me like a fount,
Yet God will answer from His holy mount.

Let my devotion this day, O Lord, be a breastplate to my soul, protection for my mind, heart, conscience, and body; let it go with me throughout this day as a pleasant ready nurture, leading me to praise You, O King of Heaven! Adapted from Litany of Creation

Sing for Revival!
Our book, Restore Us!, not only provides the reason to pray for revival, and shows you how to do so, but it also includes 12 revival psalms, set to familiar hymn tunes, that you can sing throughout the day. You can click here to order your own copy.

Steve Martin, banjo amateur, used to have this shtick in which he imagined every American owning a banjo and taking it to his front porch in the evening to strum a few bars. Whereupon all the people of Canada would bend their ears southward and say, “Eh?”

So how about if all the saints of the Lord took to singing, humming, whistling, and praying revival psalms? Might we provoke our fellow believers to join in? Cause our unbelieving friends to inquire? Even – oh, that it might be so! – encourage us to believe that God can actually bring revival in our lifetimes?

And even more, wouldn’t it be great to think of God, bending His holy ear toward earth, saying, “Eh?” as we sing His own words back to Him?

Does this matter? Is it important? Download the brief paper, Men of the Church: A Solemn Charge, and see what the prophet Zephaniah has to say on this matter.

T. M. Moore, Principal
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Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.