June 14, 2000

Reading: Psalm 140

 

“O Sovereign LORD, who shields my head in the day of battle” (7)

 

The head, the, oh so important, head. It is the container for the brain and many cultures consider it the place where a person’s soul resides. Regents have had their head chopped off as their enemies sought to separate their body from their soul. Some warrior tribes protected their heads in battle and did not bother about the rest of their body.

The scriptures speak very clearly about our mind and how Satan makes it his battlefield to keep Christians from completely following the Lord. “But I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members,” Romans 7:23.

This is why the “whole armor of God” includes the “helmet of salvation”, Ephesians 6:17 and 1 Thessalonians 5:8. Our minds have to be protected because our enemy knows it is the most vulnerable part of our being. Whoever controls our mind controls the actions of our body. “For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he,” Proverbs 23:7 (KJV). Our thoughts control our body so if our mind is given over to God our deeds and actions will please Him, we will do those things which bring glory to His name. On the other hand the reverse is also true, if our thoughts are ungodly our actions will eventually be influenced by those thoughts. Murders are spawned as hatred, adultery and pornography find their source in lust and theft is but the outworking of covetousness.

What can we do about this? How can we make sure our thoughts don’t wander down the wrong path? It all stems back to the days when men were dedicated as priests in the Nation of Israel. When God instructed Moses how to consecrate his brother Aaron and his sons as priests He said, “Take the anointing oil and anoint him by pouring it on his head,” Exodus 29:7. It was his head and not his feet because his head controls his feet. This anointing was part of the consecration ceremony, that which set them apart from the world and consecrated them to the service of God.

David referred to this at when he said, “You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows,” Psalm 23:5. John tells us that we “have an anointing from the Holy One,” 1 John 2:20. When we are ‘born again’ it is an act of the Holy Spirit that saves us, and oil is a type of the Holy Spirit. We have received an anointing from God. When Jesus was baptized the “Spirit of God descended upon him like a dove,” Matthew 3:17, the anointing came from above and covered His head. Later, when Peter was preaching to the Gentiles he said, “God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him,” Acts 10:38. The devil was continually defeated because the Holy Spirit had anointed Jesus and the acts of Jesus were controlled by the Spirit.

When the Holy Spirit came upon the apostles it is said that “suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven (it descended) ... and came to rest on each of them,” Acts 2:2,3.

It is no different with us. We have been anointed by God with the Holy Spirit, just as Aaron was anointed by Moses with the precious anointing oil. This is how we can live victoriously over the devil. Just as some of the priests violated their consecrated office so we can violate our anointing. We must constantly make that decision to honor our anointing and turn our mind over to God’s control. It is our decision to make. Oh God, shield my head with your anointing in the day of battle.