Of all our Christian T-shirts, the Bible Emergency Numbers is easily the most popular. You can see why. It lists 25 important Bible verses for 25 different situation you might face. Each verse can help guide you through a tough time, remind you to be faithful, or give you the lift you need to get through the day. In this post, we’ll dive into the first of those Bible emergency numbers to help you understand how that particular passage can help.
Bible Emergency Numbers: When Man Fails You…
People fail us all the time. It’s just the way things are. Our friends make promises, but they don’t keep them. Parents try to give their children wonderful lives filled with joy, but that’s not always how it works out. Our pastors want to give us great spiritual advice, but they don’t always come through for us. Even people with the best intentions aren’t always trustworthy.
Jesus told a story about something like this. A wise man built his house on a rock. When the rain came down, and the flood came up, the house remained standing. The house was built on the rock. The foolish man, however, built his house on the sand. When the rain fell, and the flood came up, the house fell down with a crash. That’s because the house stood on shifting sand.
Jesus compared the wise man to someone who hears his words and does them. It applies just as well to someone who trusts in God above all other things. God is the only solid foundation, a rock upon which to build a life. The only one we can trust is God.
King David Trusted God
When man fails you, God is there. The Bible Emergency Numbers t-shirt gives us an answer for when man fails you, Psalm 27, written by King David. He knew how to trust God in dangerous situations, because God protected him over and over.
When David was chosen to be the next king, the old king, Saul, didn’t like it at all. He wanted his son, Jonathan, to succeed him. He worried that David would try to remove him or even kill him. He was so worried that it drove him crazy. Even though David never did anything to provoke Saul, Saul tried to kill him repeatedly. Saul tried to throw a spear through him. He tried to have the guards arrest him. He sent the army to kill him. David had no one but God.
Psalm 27
So David wrote Psalm 27 to express his hope and trust in God.
The Lord is my light and my salvation;
whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life;
of whom shall I be afraid?
David knew that only God can offer true protection. Only God is the true stronghold to protect him.
Though an army encamp against me,
my heart shall not fear;
though war arise against me,
yet I will be confident.
No matter how many foes are against him, David knew they couldn’t overpower God. He is the only protection, the only strength.
One thing have I asked of the Lord,
that will I seek after:
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord
all the days of my life,
to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord
and to inquire in his temple.
How does one receive God’s protection? It’s through faith in God. For David, that meant worshipping God at his temple. It meant offering the right sacrifices and receiving God’s grace. He showed his faith by focusing his heart and life on God’s temple.
God’s Protection For You
We, too, have God’s protection through Jesus Christ. He promises us eternal life by his death and resurrection. Jesus doesn’t just promise to protect us from people who might harm us or help us with those who fail us. He promises to protect us from the worst thing of all, death. That’s where God’s protection truly lies: resurrection from the dead.
Paul tells us that our lives are safe with Christ in the heavenly places. In Ephesians 2, he writes, “[God] made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.” Since we are “in Christ,” Jesus himself protects us. His eternal body holds our future, and his eternal life means our eternal life. Even should the worst happen to us, our future is safe with Christ.
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