"God's Protection"

"The enemy shall not exact upon him; nor the son of wickedness afflict him." (Psalms 89:22)
I guess we could say that God's way of doing things look risky; but actually, there really is never a risk at all! Isn't that really something? It looks like it's really never going to work, and then, just like that, it works out better than we could have ever imagined. Just look at Gideon and the host of Midian; after God had taken his army from over thirty thousand men to three hundred, he looked down into the valley with his servant, and it says, "And the Midianites and the Amalekites and all the children of the east lay along the valley like grasshoppers for multitude; and their camels were without number, as the sand by the sea side for multitude." (Judges 7:12) What are the odds? Three hundred men against maybe around one hundred and thirty-five thousand men. Tell me God does not know what He is doing; not only does He know how to get things done, He does it with lanterns and trumpets! To understand what is being said, we need to look at this word "exact," and then relate this to Peter's denial of Jesus the night that He was on trial. If you recall, when Jesus had told Peter that he would deny Him, He also told Peter that He had prayed for him, saying, "But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren." (Luke 22:32) The word "exact" is a term that means to be a creditor or to lend with interest; it's pretty much like there is something being held over you, and it is something that you cannot pay off, even if you wanted to. In Peter's case, his denial of Jesus was more than he could bare; and to that, the fact that the devil wanted to "sift him as wheat," and you have the makings of a man that was most likely feeling he needed to join Judas, and end it all. But, Jesus not only had prayed for Him, but He told Peter that he was going to be just fine; more than that, He told Peter that he would be able to strengthen his brethren! Go figure! You mess up and do something that you said that you never ever do, and not only do you overcome the shame and agony of your mistake, but you are able to be a minister and a servant of the Lord; not just in spite of it, but because of it! This is what God's economy looks like! Not only does He forgive us of our sins, but the sins we have committed are a testimony of His grace! Does that have anything to do with protection? I don't know; you tell me...
"After saying all these things, Jesus looked up to heaven and said, "Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son so he can give glory back to you. For you have given him authority over everyone. He gives eternal life to each one you have given him. And this is the way to have eternal life -to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, the one you sent to earth. I brought glory to you here on earth by completing the work you gave me to do. Now, Father, bring me into the glory we shared before the world began. "I have revealed you to the ones you gave me from the world. They were always yours. You gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they know everything I have is a gift from you, for I have passed on to them the message you gave me. They accepted it and know that I came from you, and they believe you sent me. "My prayer is not for the world, but for those you have given me, because they belong to you. All who are mine belong to you, and you have given them to me, so they bring me glory. Now I am departing from the world; they are staying in this world, but I am coming to you. Holy Father, you have given me your name; now protect them by the power of your name so that they will be united just as we are. During my time here, I protected them by the power of the name you gave me. I guarded them so that not one was lost, except the one headed for destruction, as the Scriptures foretold."" (John 17:1-12) NLT