Jesus Has Our ‘Six’; He Backs Us In Our Righteous Pursuits

Word-Of-The-Day:  (1) Praise the Lord. Sing to the Lord a new song, His praise in the assembly of His faithful people.  (2) Let Israel rejoice in their Maker; let the people of Zion be glad in their King.  (3) Let them praise His name with dancing and make music to Him with timbral and harp.  (4) For the Lord takes delight in His people; He crowns the humble with victory.  (5) Let His faithful people rejoice in this honor and sing for joy on their beds.  (6) May the praise of God be in their mouths and a double-edged sword in their hands, (7) to inflict vengeance on the nations and punishment on the peoples, (8) to bind their kings with fetters, their nobles with shackles of iron, (9) to carry out the sentence written against them— this is the glory of all His faithful people. Praise the LORD.  (Psalm 149:1-9)

I listened to, then read the entire transcript of Secretary of War Pete Hegseth’s directives to the US military’s flag officers (generals, admirals, and some command-level non-commissioned officers or NCOs) given to them in Quantico, Virginia earlier this week.

The two things I got out of his speech, and to a lesser degree the address President Trump gave to the flag-level audience; was first, the US military would adhere to the highest standards and all members would be held to them equally. All military members, from the four-star generals and admirals all the way down to the newest recruit, has to meet these standards or be removed from service.

Gone are varying standards, randomly chosen to meet ‘Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity’ quotas that bypassed those who could achieve those highest standards for the sake of the appearance of societal compliance. In other words, our military leaders may not have been the best qualified to lead, but the best qualified in meeting a subjective quota. Hegseth, correctly and with common sense, is placing quality of competence over quantity of compliance.

The second point both Hegseth and Trump made is for those leaders who strive to achieve those highest standards of quality and competence, is both the President and the Secretary has their ‘six’ as they engage and endeavor to achieve those standards. There will be some feathers ruffled and hair mussed up over these engagements as the old standards of compliance give way to the the new standards of competency.

Some mistakes may be made in moving in this new direction, and some risks may be exposed while these changes are made. It is clear that Hegseth will be tolerant to great degree of these type of mistakes and risk-taking as long as these are done in moving the standards in the right direction.

The best example is Hegseth’s ‘lead by example’ attitude, in his high standards of physical fitness and training. Some will drop away, others will be forced out, but the standards laid out are the standards to be met, and the Secretary is clear he will back those who try to set the highest of standards.

If you’re wondering what ‘has their six’ means, if you think of an analog clock (doesn’t work with digital ones) and you are standing in the middle of the face (where the hands connect together) and are facing 12, the 6 is directly behind you.  Literally, this is typically your most vulnerable spot.

You don’t know what is directly behind you – it could be something is about to jump you, or fall on you, or your spouse is about to hit you with a sopping wet rag, and you can’t see it coming.  Jesus isn’t here to prevent all things from happening, and perhaps He may even agree with your spouse that you deserve to get splattered in the back of the head with the wet rag…

Every day, Jesus has watch on our ‘six’.  We know Jesus is always with us and He is always available to us for prayer.  He does watch over us for Spiritual protection, and certainly He can prevent some physical maladies from occurring or intervening to lessen their effects after occurrence, especially if it leads to you and others glorifying Him and the Father. 

Psalm 149 tells us this; be humble and glorify Jesus – in ‘Praise, Prayer, & Song’, indeed any action you perform, whether you are in church or at home, even in your slumber.  Be joyful in Christ and let others know. 

When you glorify Jesus, He will protect you from your enemies and comfort you if you are oppressed; if not literally here on Earth if we be persecuted, certainly spiritually for eternity with Him in Heaven. 

Could you be gunned down by a thug one day, or injured in a car accident?  This may happen; if it leads in the Father being glorified, bad things may be allowed to happen so either your Faith or the Faith of others is strengthened.  Is your soul in danger of being taken by Satan into eternal damnation?  Certainly not – if you are truly a Child of God.

It is of course in some cases risky to do things that set high standards, but life is full of risk – you put your safety in the hands of the other drivers when you drive your car, for example.  Where there is an undue overexertion of power, be certain that Jesus hears His people.  Jesus will not abandon us nor will He forsake us (1 Kings 8:57)(Ezra 8:22) as long as we remain Faithful, humble, and glorifying Him.