What’s a Buckler?

“And under His wings you will find refuge; His faithfulness is a shield and buckler.”

I’ve read it many times. I’ve quoted it many times. However, this week, I read it, looked up, and wondered, “What is a buckler?”

Do you know?

After googling it, I went around asking my kids. My teenage son was the only one who knew more than his mom: “It’s a small shield you hold in your hand for hand-to-hand combat situations.”

Now I know.

But, when I came back to Psalm 91, I still had a question. Why would God’s faithfulness need to be a big shield and a little shield?

The large shield would have been needed in the event of attacks from a distance, to block in-coming weaponry, or to hold when riding a horse into battle. 

The buckler, or small shield, would have been for maneuverable blocking during up-close fighting. 

Apparently, God has us covered no matter where the attack comes from or what weapon is used against us.

The truth of His faithfulness is so secure that no weapon and no enemy can penetrate it. 

He guards us like a whole garrison, a refuge so well armed that it is unassailable.

But what does this mean in everyday terms? The shield and the buckler are invisible. Often, the spiritual attacks are invisible. We lose sight of the spiritual in favor of what we can see in the here and now. 

The unknown becomes the enemy, and all too often, we count God’s faithfulness as unknown. 

I talked this week with a young woman who was dying. She wasn’t sure how many hours or days she had left. Neither was I. The unknown loomed large, a giant enemy both far and near. It rose like a mist, clouding her view of everything else.

“I can’t read. I can’t talk. I can’t help. It is like I can’t focus on anything.”

The enemy was attacking from afar, but when it affected every moment and every thought, it was a deadly hand-to-hand combat.

She needed a shield and a buckler. Because she had recently rededicated her life to following Jesus, the truth of His faithfulness was available to her. She already had both.

The truth is that none of us knows how much time we have left. We are all standing on the yawning abyss of the unknown. We can allow it to be the giant mist, clouding everything else, or we can allow the shield and buckler of God’s faithfulness to clear the air. 

He has promised to be our refuge. The truth of His faithfulness, which has never broken a promise, stands as the garrison around our salvation. Nothing can take that away from us. 

Spiritual attacks, small and large, may sting for the moment, but in the end, we will be shouting in the victory of Christ: “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” 

It has been effectively blocked by the truth of God’s faithfulness, our shield and our buckler.