Psalm
84:11-12 (NLT)
For the Lord God is our sun and our shield. He gives us grace and
glory.
The Lord will withhold no good thing
from those who do what is right. O
Lord of Heaven’s Armies,
what joy for those who trust in You.
Perhaps you have read Psalm
84 many times, recited it responsively during a worship service, seen it quoted
on a Christian calendar, yet have you ever really meditated on the meaning of
some of the words? For example, in these
two verses, have you stopped to ponder what is meant by God being your
sun? Have you thought carefully about
what it means for God to give you glory?
Have you realized without having to be reminded about it that if you
trust in Him, He gives you joy?
The Lord God is your sun
When you think of the sun,
what comes to mind? I think of at least
three things---light, warmth and energy.
Luke 1:78-79 says that “Because of God’s tender mercy, the morning light
from heaven is about to break upon us, to give light to those who sit in
darkness and in the shadow of death,
and to guide us to the path of
peace.” God is your sun who gives you
light to oppose and not fear darkness and death around you. The sun also gives light to guide your life,
light that puts peace into your life, and light that energizes you every day
just like the sun seems to energize the day after the night or after a
storm.
The Lord God is your
shield
While the Bible does not
relate God to the sun much, it does describe God as your shield many times, at
least 42 times in the Old Testament, 14 times in the Psalms. Shield is only mentioned one time in the New
Testament---Ephesians 6:16 where the shield of faith is part of the armor of
God to protect us against attacks from spiritual forces of darkness. Indeed, God protects us spiritually like a
piece of armor protects a person physically.
The Lord God gives you
grace
The Hebrew word for grace
(“chen”) implies that you have found favor with God. God gives you His favor according to this
verse and 68 other times in the Old Testament where this word translated
“favor” is used. When you think of the
word “favor”, what comes to mind? As a
child, didn’t you like being someone’s favorite, especially someone in
authority? Or if you never were
someone’s favorite person, didn’t that hurt your feelings? To do a favor for
someone, doesn't that carry a thought of doing something good and special for
someone else? God is on your side, God
does favors for you, God wants you to smile and be content with your life. Of course, the grace of God given you to you
also refers to His salvation through Jesus Christ.
The Lord God gives you
glory
You think of the glory of
God, that God is to be glorified, but not that man has any kind of glory. Yet the Lord God gives you glory. The Hebrew word translated as glory in this
verse is “kabowd”. Kabowd can have
several meanings, not only glory, but also honor, dignity, and abundance. By
honoring God with your words, actions, and thoughts, consistently, God gives
you glory in the form of many blessings such as truly living the abundant life,
being fully abounding in every aspect of life.
The Lord will withhold no
good thing from those who do what is right and gives joy to those who trust in
Him
Two wonderful promises here,
both with a condition. The promises are
good things and joy happen to those who do what is right and trust in Him. What you might think are good things may not
be what God thinks are good things for you, but if you are obedient to His Word
and trust His wisdom, you will not worry about what those good things are for
you. You know that He will care for you
and your loved ones your entire life.
Ponder over these wonderful
truths of blessings you have from the Lord God and thank Him every day. How has the Lord God been a sun and a shield
to you and your loved ones lately? Think
about His grace to you and the fact that you are His glory. What a magnificent thought! Think about the good things He has given you
and the joy in your heart if you trust Him.
Amen.
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