Psalm 28:7 – “The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and I am helped.  My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to him in son.”

It is such a comfort to know that the Lord is our helper.  The Hebrew word used here is “azer” which means, according to Strong’s dictionary (#5826), “to help, support, or succour”.  Succour means to give assistance or aid – usually in a battle by sending more troops.  The noun form of “azer” is “ezer” which has the same meaning, according to Strong’s dictionary (#5828), “help, succour”.  These Hebrew words are used over a hundred times in the Old Testament and usually refer to God as our great helper and support.  But they are used in another reference that is very important.

Genesis 2:18 – “The LORD God said, ‘It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.’”

Here we see the word “helper” referring to the reason that God made women!  Often, we think of this as a secondary role: a helper is like a maid or side-kick.  She just sits in the background and maybe she can offer some advice or feeble physical strength when she is needed.  A helper is a nice benefit to have – but it is not always viewed as something essential.

But when we see the context of this word – help – it is connected with how God is to us.  He is our helper.  Often, it is in the context of a battle.  Here, in Psalm 28, we see that context.  God is our helper in that He is our shield.  He will fight with us and for us and He will protect us.  He is our warrior.  In the same way, God created women to be helpers, succours (i.e. warriors!) and supporters.  This is not a side role!  Just as God’s place in our lives is not a side role, a woman’s place is tantamount with a man’s.  She has an essential role to play and her fighting is absolutely necessary.

We need to take away the usual connotations that our culture has put on this word.  And remember that just as God is our warrior, women are called to be warriors for His people as well.

Praise God for such a honorable design for women!