Sovereign Lord, my strong deliverer, you shield my head in the day of battle. Psalm 140:7
We need protection for our heads because this is where most of our battles take place. Our heads contain the thoughts and attitudes of our mind, where many troubles begin.
The difficulty is we’re often unaware of what we think and have to practice ‘catching ourselves’ in our thoughts. Once we realize what occupies our mind we can decide if our thoughts are, “true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent or praiseworthy” (Philippians 4:8).
Some thoughts are mundane and prompted by our daily routines. What are we going to have for tea? Is the washing dry? Does the floor need mopping? Yet other thoughts are triggered by advertisements, entertainment, conversations with co-workers and others. Some are harmless but others have the potential to lead our thinking towards negative consequences.
Remarks that stir up memories of past offences may lead us towards resentment. Remarks with sexual innuendoes may lead our thoughts in unhealthy directions. Remarks associated with an extravagant lifestyle may lead us towards jealousy. We can’t always leave these conversations, so are we discerning enough to dismiss these thoughts and replace them with positive reminders of God’s truth? Are we consistently bringing our thoughts to Christ so that they can be brought into “the obedience of Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5 KJV)?
People talk about having a song stuck in their heads. Likewise, we can get stuck in a bad pattern of thinking. The best way to remove an unwanted song from our mind is to replace it with a better one. Similarly, if we’re stuck in a bad pattern of thinking, we can call Jesus to mind and ask him for better thoughts. He will shield our heads in the day of battle.
