Saturday, February 24, 2007

Psalm 91 (TNIV)
1 Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
2 They say of the LORD, "He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust."
9 If you say, "The LORD is my refuge," and you make the Most High your dwelling,
10 no harm will overtake you, no disaster will come near your tent.
11 For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways;
12 they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.
13 You will tread on the lion and the cobra; you will trample the great lion and the serpent.
14 "Because they love me," says the LORD, "I will rescue them; I will protect them, for they acknowledge my name.
15 They will call on me, and I will answer them; I will be with them in trouble, I will deliver them and honor them.
16 With long life I will satisfy them and show them my salvation."

This psalm assures us that God will protect us if we live with him. The very first line tells us that if we dwell in the shelter of the Most High we will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. Have you ever thought about how big God’s shadow is? Seriously, if God is so big that He is everywhere, all the time, can you imagine how big a shadow He must have? We know God is Spirit and that he probably does not have a body like we do, yet the person who wrote this psalm uses the image of a shadow anyway. Maybe it is because shadows are everywhere, we cannot go anywhere without seeing them. Even on a cloudy day, sunlight causes the casting of shadows. Trees have long shadows; buildings can shade entire parking lots. We even have shadows that follow us and change and grow as we walk.

If we were outside at a summer picnic we may chose to sit underneath a tree. Why? Because the tree provides us some shade from the sun. The tree’s shadow protects us from getting too hot and getting sunburned.

God’s shadow does not keep us from getting sunburned. But just like being under a tree protects us, being under God protects us; it allows us a place to rest. When we live with God, when we dwell with God, He will be our safe place. He will not let us be overtaken by harm, nor will He abandon us in our time of trouble.

You will see many shadows as you go about your day today. May they all remind you of how big God’s shadow is, and how He protects you because you dwell with Him.