Protection

Defence from attack, hurt or exploitation. The ultimate protector is God but he also uses others in defending the weak and needy.

Protection from oppression

Psalm 72:4 See also Deuteronomy 10:18; Psalm 12:5, Psalm 35:10; Luke 1:51–53

May he vindicate the afflicted among the people; may he save the children of the needy and crush the oppressor.

Protection from exploitation

Job 24:3–4 See also Proverbs 30:14; Ezekiel 18:10–13; Amos 4:1, Amos 8:4–6; Mark 12:38–40; James 5:1–6

They drive away the donkey of the fatherless and take the widow’s ox in pledge. They push the needy off the road and force all the poor of the land into hiding.

Means of protection against physical attack

Armour

1 Samuel 17:38; 1 Kings 20:11; Jeremiah 46:4

Shields

Jeremiah 46:3

Helmets

1 Samuel 17:38; Jeremiah 46:4

Spiritual protection

John 17:11–12 See also John 10:28–29; 1 Corinthians 10:13; Philippians 1:6, Philippians 4:7; 2 Timothy 1:12; 1 Peter 1:5; Jude 1:24

I will no longer be in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to You. Holy Father, protect them by Your name, the name You gave Me, so that they may be one as We are one. While I was with them, I protected and preserved them by Your name, the name You gave Me. Not one of them has been lost, except the son of destruction, so that the Scripture would be fulfilled.

Believers need protection from spiritual dangers

From Satan

1 Peter 5:8 See also Job 1:9; Matthew 6:13; John 17:15; Ephesians 6:11–12; 2 Thessalonians 2:9, 2 Thessalonians 3:3

Be sober-minded and alert. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

From Satan's agents in the world

John 15:18–19 See also Psalm 27:2, Psalm 31:15, Psalm 109:1–3, Psalm 109:31; Micah 7:2–3; Matthew 10:28–29, Matthew 10:36; Luke 1:68–74; Romans 8:36; 1 John 3:13, 1 John 4:4

If the world hates you, understand that it hated Me first. If you were of the world, it would love you as its own. Instead, the world hates you, because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world.

God protects his people

By watching over them and helping them

Psalm 121:5 See also 1 Samuel 2:9; Psalm 1:6, Psalm 34:15, Psalm 37:40, Psalm 40:17, Psalm 140:1; 2 Corinthians 1:10

The LORD is your keeper; the LORD is the shade on your right hand.

By his presence with them

Hebrews 13:5 See also Joshua 1:5; Psalm 119:116, Psalm 119:170; Isaiah 43:1–3; John 16:33; Acts 18:10

Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, for God has said: “Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you.”

By sending angels to protect them

Psalm 34:7 See also Genesis 21:17; Exodus 23:20; Numbers 22:22, Numbers 22:24, Numbers 22:26, Numbers 22:31, Numbers 22:34; 2 Kings 6:17; Psalm 91:11; Matthew 18:10; Hebrews 1:14

The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear Him, and he delivers them.

By using people to defend them

Proverbs 31:8–9 See also Numbers 35:25; Isaiah 1:17, Isaiah 58:6; Jeremiah 5:28, Jeremiah 22:16; Luke 10:33–35; James 1:27

Open your mouth for those with no voice, for the cause of all the dispossessed. Open your mouth, judge righteously, and defend the cause of the poor and needy.

Conditions of God's protection

Prayer

Psalm 72:12 See also Job 6:23; Psalm 59:1, Psalm 82:3, Psalm 145:19; John 17:11

For he will deliver the needy who cry out and the afflicted who have no helper.

Right attitudes

Psalm 91:14 See also Deuteronomy 23:14; Psalm 116:6; Proverbs 2:7–8, Proverbs 2:11, Proverbs 11:6, Proverbs 14:3; 1 Corinthians 13:7

“Because he loves Me, I will deliver him; because he knows My name, I will protect him.