Yahweh is my strength and my wraparound shield. When I fully trust in you, help is on the way. I jump for joy and burst forth with ecstatic, passionate praise! I will sing songs of what you mean to me! (Psalm 28:7 TPT)
Lately, my Bible Recap readings have focused on the life and family of King David. Yesterday’s reading covered one of the most heartbreaking and chaotic episodes: David’s son Amnon violated his half-sister Tamar. In response, Tamar’s brother Absalom killed Amnon to avenge her. Later, Absalom launched a rebellion against his own father, attempting to seize the throne.
What’s most striking in this narrative is David’s passivity. He did nothing to discipline Amnon for assaulting Tamar. He took no action against Absalom for murdering his brother. And when Absalom and his followers approached Jerusalem—“the City of David”—to crown him king, David fled with his household.
David may have been “a man after God’s own heart,” but his parenting left much to be desired.
After sitting with this sobering passage in 2 Samuel 13–15, I turned to the Psalms attributed to David from this period. The Bible Recap lists Psalms 3, 4, 12, 13, 28, and 55 for today. Though none of them are long, a theme runs through all of them: David cries out for deliverance and justice. He is deeply troubled by those who oppose him, and he pleads with God to intervene. Yet even in his desperation, David continues to praise God and place his trust in Him.
One phrase in particular stood out today: “wraparound shield.”
Psalm 28:7 (TPT) says, “Yahweh is my strength and my wraparound shield. When I fully trust in you, help is on the way.”
More traditional translations render this verse simply:
“The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and he helps me.” (NIV)
While I appreciate the clear, comforting description of God as our strength, protector, and helper, the phrase “wraparound shield” captured my imagination.
Picture that—being completely surrounded by God’s protection. Maybe it looks like angels encircling you, or an invisible spiritual force field, or even a divine barrier that nothing can penetrate. However you envision it, the point is powerful: you are not just guarded—you are enveloped by the presence of God. He is your strength, your help, and he is entirely trustworthy.
Now imagine David writing those words.
This is the same David who was anointed king as a young shepherd boy and spent years fleeing from a paranoid Saul. The same David who won battles and brought Israel victory—but failed to master his own desires, leading to his sin with Bathsheba, the death of their child, and the murder of her husband, Uriah. The same David who had many wives and children, but refused to correct his son Amnon when discipline was desperately needed.
And yet, this is also the David who worshiped God without shame, who knew what it meant to be in God’s presence. That’s why, in his moment of repentance, he prayed: “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right and steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from Your presence, and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.” (Psalm 51:10–11 AMP)
David knew God intimately. He knew what it meant to be shielded by the Holy Spirit’s presence—completely surrounded. And more than anything, he didn’t want to lose that.
As I reflected on this complicated and painful story, I kept coming back to God’s grace—and to David’s deep need and longing for it. David knew both the emptiness of life apart from God, and the fullness that comes from being near God.
Even when this “man after God’s own heart” showed the worst parts of his humanity—through his affair, his failures as a father, and his deception in the death of Uriah—he still demonstrated a genuine, ongoing relationship with God.
David’s life was often a mess. Yet even then, he knew where to turn. He knew he could run to God’s wraparound presence for mercy, forgiveness, and hope.
Today, may we hold onto that same truth:
No matter how badly we’ve messed up, God’s grace covers every sin we bring to him in confession.
No matter how messy our lives are, God surrounds us with his faithful presence.
God,
Today, may we remember and rest in the reality of Your wraparound presence.
Be our strength and our shield—the One we trust, the One who helps us.
Let us know Your grace deeply and personally.
We ask this in Jesus’s name,
Amen.