Our Light And Shield – July 28, 2022 (209/365)

For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD bestows favor and honor.

No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly.

O LORD of hosts, blessed is the one who trusts in you!

Psalms 84:11-12

As always, I want to give God praise and glory, because He has truly proven to anyone and everyone who seeks Him that He is great and glorious – we see this in all of Creation. Paul exhorts to the Romans, of how His glory is seen in all of creation, so that we are without excuse. But it doesn’t stop there – for, see, God could have stopped at showcasing His infinite power and eternal wisdom, but He went through great lengths once thought impossible, only to demonstrate that He is not only great, but He is good.

We see this, of course, through His only begotten Son – We see the goodness of God primarily through Christ and His finished work. Through Christ’s birth, death, resurrection and ascension we see how God is willing to lay everything down if only to make a way for us to be reconciled to Him again. It may sound cheesy, but it’s true: Christ gave everything for us who were nothing to be something in God’s eyes, again.

It’s because of the absolute reconciliation which was performed and executed by Jesus Christ that we are able to confidently jump back into the words of the Old Testament and recognize His glory there as well, without the danger of stumbling into condemnation or a mentality which would bring us into the chains of religion once more. It’s in this way that we can see that Christ truly is the Living Word that adds Life into the Words of Scripture. It’s in the understanding that the Holy Spirit pours out upon us that we see that Christ is the Word of Life that adds the words that matter into all aspects of our life.

Through Christ we are free to explore how our God is a sun and shield. We understand that God is our sun who shines light upon us – and we are guaranteed to be in this light always, sure as the apostle John proclaims when he writes to both believers and non-believers in the first chapter of his first epistle:

This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.1 John 1:5-7

It is no less than the Lord Jesus Christ who has reconciled us to God – We enjoy fellowship with Him, which is as us walking in the Light, as He is the Light; This has all been guaranteed through Christ who has taken us out of the realm of darkness into the kingdom of His everlasting light.

‘The LORD God is a sun…’: The way I understand this now is that He shines light upon us and around us so we are not oblivious to what happens. He shines light for us to see and appreciate the rest of His creation, just as He shines light upon areas that need our attention. And just as through Christ we are being moved from glory to glory, so the light we have in us and upon us through no less than the One who spoke light into existence – This light that we have would not diminish; no, it’ll only get brighter and brighter:

But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, which shines brighter and brighter until full day.

Proverbs 4:18

I suppose that just as light shines upon us for us to see more, and with more clarity, so others may see this as a reason to assault and attack us. Fortunately, just as God does not add any sorrow to His blessings, so He also ensures that in our basking in the light, we are well protected and insulated – God is not only a sun, but a shield for us. While light is shone upon us, and while we reflect the said light, so all sorts of people would be drawn to us, with good or bad intentions; For the latter, we are sure that God is not only the Source of our light, but is also the One who shields us.

How does God bestow favor and honor? I believe we can see this by God being our sun and shield. He shines light upon us, and ensures that we are not blindsided or confused. And as we move in the light, we can be sure that we are well protected – And, see, if the world sees how we are shielded and how the light shines brighter and brighter in and through us, then surely this would give those who would be so curious an opportunity to call on the same Lord who has helped us as well!

In our enjoying God in the flow of His everlasting light, and in our enjoying Christ, who constantly demonstrates His power, protecting us as our Prince of Peace, we project to this world, how He truly does not withhold any good thing from us. We walk with Christ, who is our Uprightness, and is our Righteousness unto eternal life.

What a powerful and perfect Savior we have in no less than Jesus Christ!

What a great and glorious God we have, who by the light shows us that He is truly for us, and not against us!

In all that we see before us, and in all we do and in all that is being done to us, we continue to proclaim, as we are always in the light, and as we are always shielded in the shadow of His wings – O Lord of hosts, blessed is the one who trusts in you!