Under One Protection

joH'a' DichDaq pol lIj ghoS pa' je lIj choltaH Daq, vo' vam poH vo', je forevermore.

The LORD will keep your going out and your coming in,
from this time forth, and forevermore. Psalm 121.8

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Visit the National Air and Space Museum in Washington D.C., and you'll see some historic air and space craft. From Charles Lindbergh's Spirit of St. Louis to Apollo 11, that carried the first men to walk on the moon.

At the entrance to the museum it struck me - as you gaze on Mercury, Gemini and Apollo capsules from the US space program, if you look up, you can even see SpaceShip One - the first private spacecraft. As big as (or bigger than) the earlier capsules, it occured to me that that vehicle which won the X prize - besides having wings - had one important difference with those pioneers. And that difference meant those earlier ships could go further - they had shields.

Now that was no accident. The X Prize went to the first privately made ship that could go into space (100 kilometers above earth, about 62 miles) and back twice, and be able to carry three people. Since it wouldn't go into orbit, the speeds involved would not generate the tremendous heat of re-entry. That meant that the extra mass of a heat shield was not necessary - and less mass means better performance - going into space you never carry more than you need.

Now SpaceShip One COULD go farther. With more power nothing would stop it from going into orbit or beyond - but no passenger would survive the re-entry. To go into orbit and beyond - you have to have a spaceship that can protect you. You need a shield.

joH'a' DichDaq pol lIj ghoS pa' je lIj choltaH Daq, vo' vam poH vo', je forevermore.

The LORD will keep your going out and your coming in,
from this time forth, and forevermore. Psalm 121.8

This verse, this whole psalm, Psalm 121, is about being a traveller WITH A shield, for as we read it, again and again we hear of the shielding care of the Lord:

• He who keeps you
• he who keeps Israel
• The LORD is your keeper
• The LORD will keep you from all evil
• He will keep your soul.
• The LORD will keep your going out and your coming in

In all those places the Hebrew word is the same - rendered simply (and not entirely accurately) with the Klingon verb pol (keep). But it comes from the Hebrew word (used more than 400 times in the Bible) shamar, with the idea of a hedge, a fence to protect one. A better word would be the Klingon verb "to shield" (yoD).

Psalm 121 is considered a traveller's psalm - perhaps a theme song for a pilgrim travelling through the hills to reach Jerusalem. Such a traveller would certainly need a shield or some kind of protection, to travel alone, perhaps encountering thieves or wild animals. And just as such a pilgrim needs protection, or as a spaceship requires a shield to traveller far beyond our planet, we too, need protection as we make our way through life.

About this verse, the great English preacher Charles Spurgeon said:

The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore. When we go out in the morning to labour, and come home at eventide to rest, Jehovah shall keep us. When we go out in youth to begin life, and come in at the end to die, we shall experience the same keeping. Our exits and our entrances are under one protection.

How far do you want to go? Make no mistake, Spaceship One is a tremendous engineering accomplishment - and opens up new prospects for space travel. BUT - it is limited. It can go so far, and no further. Without a shield - without a caring Lord we too are dreadfully limited. But when we entrust ourselves to his care, to his keeping, to being our guide and our shield - there's no boundary. With him the sky ISN'T the limit!

joH'a' DichDaq pol lIj ghoS pa' je lIj choltaH Daq, vo' vam poH vo', je forevermore.

The LORD will keep your going out and your coming in,
from this time forth, and forevermore. Psalm 121.8