A Place of Refuge

Now that summer is (sort of) over, we’re still facing a lot of heat.  I long for the cool autumn breezes and the temperature in the 50’s and 60’s, but for now we’re still facing the low nineties in Fort Worth.  Still, the heat reminds me of a Psalm that talks about finding shade in a different way.

Psalm 121 talks about God as protector and comforter.  In the latter half of the Psalm the writer paints this image:

The Lord is your keeper;
The Lord is your shade at your right hand.
⁶ The sun shall not strike you by day,
Nor the moon by night.

⁷ The Lord shall ^[c]preserve you from all evil;
He shall preserve your soul.
⁸ The Lord shall preserve your going out and your coming in
From this time forth, and even forevermore.

I love this wording, as keeper is a kind of protector, to keep us in the shade of life where harm cannot come upon us, as the sun and moon obviously can’t do us great harm.  Instead, “the Lord shall preserve you from all evil,” referring to the influence that evil can have on us.  God offers us a canopy of spiritual safety and grace, preserving our “going out and coming in” so that the things that can destroy us will not touch us.

I wish we had more shade sometimes from the heat of the day, but I’m thankful that we have shade from the reach of sin and evil that continually invades the safety found in God’s presence.  Let’s trust in our protector and seek the shade of God’s love and protection.  He knows how to preserve our souls and our spiritual safety, if we’re willing to let him.

God bless you this week,

Michael