Psalm 84:11 – For the Lord God is a sun and shield: the Lord will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.
We have all heard the old saying, ‘A picture is worth a thousand words’ and it is, of course, very true. However, if it were not for words there would be no way to describe the picture that you were seeing. Words paint pictures, and God’s Word paints pictures that only He, the Master Artist, could paint. In the verse above we are being given a vivid word-picture; the Lord God is a sun and a shield.
The sun is an ever-radiating, never-diminishing, constantly shining, sphere of light. It is the very definition of faithfulness, which means it is entirely trustworthy and absolutely reliable and it will always be there. The sun never changes; it is predictable. We know exactly what it is going to do and so we can plan our lives accordingly. The Lord God is like the sun; He is steady and faithful and therefore, in one sense, He is predictable. We know what He is going to do because we know what He has said in His Word and so we can plan our lives accordingly. The sun is not erratic; it is not fickle, and it does not act in a random fashion. Of course, I am not saying that we know every method by which God will do certain things or the time frame within which He will do it; I am simply saying that by knowing his Word we can know His will and therefore we can have a measure of security and confidence in what He desires for us.
The sun is our planet’s source of life; it is always generously lavish with its life-bringing rays. Our Father is likewise very generous; Jesus said that He makes His sun to rise on the evil and the good; He is no respecter of persons; He values all people. What He will do for one, He will do for all. Any parent knows that if you have more than one child you cannot, or at least, should not, show favouritism; what you do for one child you will do for all. Good parents love all their children equally and desire only the very best for them. The children, however, by their attitude, determine how they are dealt with by the parents. If your child is defiant and displaying a very bad attitude, then you may have to respond by dealing stronger than you would like to. Conversely, if your child has misbehaved and then accepts responsibility and is very sorry, then you, no doubt, will respond in a much more lenient fashion. Likewise, we also can determine the response of God toward us.
The sun’s rays, while bringing much-needed heat and life, can also be very harmful. We must be careful not to gaze directly into the sun; our eyes can be damaged by the brilliance of its light. Likewise, our skin must be covered and protected or it, too, could be damaged by the sun’s penetrating rays. There must be a deep respect for the power of the sun; not a fear, but a wise reverence. Experienced electricians teach their apprentices that the first thing to learn is that this power is far greater than humans and it better be respected; one must not dare to have a cavalier or flippant attitude toward that power.
Not only is the Lord God a sun but, He is also a shield. When we hear the word shield, we usually think of armour and warfare. The shield is that which stands between the weapon and the person against whom the weapon is aimed. The shield takes the blow for us, it absorbs the impact and protects us from harm. The thought of God being our shield gives us a lot of confidence to go out and face life bravely; as we walk closely with God, whatever comes our way must pass through the shield first.
The shield represents the fatherly, protective aspect of God’s heart. He is a watchful and observant Father who guards the wellbeing of His children. Like any good parent, He wants no harm to come to the child; He issues warnings of impending danger; He teaches the child to wisely obey laws of safety and He provides an environment of security.
Our God is both the sun and the sunscreen; He is the power source and the protection from that power; He is the burning fire and the containing fireplace; He gives both grace and glory.
Grace is God’s ability to change any situation. He can make anything out of anybody. It does not matter where you or I may have been, or how sinful we may have been because there is no circumstance that can keep His grace from turning it into something good. Grace empowers us to release the hurt, forget the past and walk forward in the plan of God.
Glory is that aspect of God that defies definition, it transcends our finite minds because it contains the fulness of God and His many attributes. One Hebrew scholar has said that the glory of God is every conceivable or possible good; it goes beyond our capacity to fully understand. The glory of God contains within it everything that we could ever need or desire; it represents ultimate fulfilment.
Be encouraged, friends, there is within our Father God a deep longing to give. It is His nature to give; He is not withholding from us. In fact, He is so good that we could never fully describe His goodness. All we have to do is open our heart and bask in the sunlight of His grace and glory.
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