Jehovah Maginnenu

The Lord our Defense

In chapel this year we are studying the names of God. As we rotate who teaches each week, I have been blessed to be reminded of some names and rejoiced to learn new names. This week, I took a turn teaching chapel.

The lesson started out talking about "sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me". The reality is that words can often do much more damage than physical injury.

We discussed how we need to take words that wound to the Lord and allow him to be our defense. We don't need to grow bitter or resentful, but instead can trust that God is on our side and will defend us.

Following up on a previous lesson, we then talked about how Satan is the one that seeks to throw lies and wounding words at us most frequently. We can choose to stand against him in our own strength or to stand behind Jehovah Maginnenu and allow him to defend us. We looked at some specific lies that the kids had identified earlier and at what verses for God's word we can use to refute the lies.

To help create a visual picture, I made two different shields. One was quite small--to represent standing on our own strength and wisdom, and the other was quite large--to represent standing behind God and his promises. As I 'threw' lies at the students holding each shield during the demonstration, it was powerful to see the reality of the choice. Standing on my own, I leave myself very vulnerable. When I stand behind Jehovah MAginnenu, I stand protected. His defense might not always be immediate or visible, but he is the Lord our defense.