Journey of the Word

“He is jealous for me.” Protects like a lion. I am a carcass. 

. . . perhaps John Mark McMillan’s popular song about God’s love might have ended up something like this, had he composed with Isaiah 31 in hand and God’s protection in mind.

Let me explain.

I am told lions growl not on the hunt, but afterwards. They sneak up on their prey, attack, then claim their prized carcass with a series of mighty roars.

Now, this carcass is no orphan. This is a sheep which belongs to a band of shepherds, so you can imagine how these men, upon discovering that their fold is fewer in number, would be searching far and wide . . . only to find their long lost sheep, now lifeless, in lion territory.

The shepherds shout and scream and dance and throw things. Of course. Because who wouldn’t.

This Lion doesn’t flinch. He isn’t phased one bit. This sheep is his.

He is jealous for me.

Weird analogy #2: When you see vultures circling, do you think “protection”?

Because that’s really what they’re doing. They’re holding claim to their prize and not letting it out of their sight. They dare not let anyone or anything take it away.

This is my Father. He is jealous for me.

And just like he protected his people, Jerusalem, and spared their lives and rescued them . . .

So he is jealous for me.

Oh, how he protects us so. Oh, how we protects us. How he protects us all.

As a lion or a young lion growls over his prey, and when a band of shepherds is called out against him, he is not terrified by their shouting or daunted at their noise, so the Lord of hosts will come down to fight on Mount Zion and on its hill.

Like birds hovering, so the Lord of hosts will protect Jerusalem; he will protect and deliver it; he will spare and rescue it.

Isaiah 31:4-5

{The above meditation aims to capture a possible interpretation of the strange analogies of Isaiah 31, referencing John Mark McMillan’s song, “How He Loves.”}

 [image credit: pixabay.com]