A Song for the Journey (5)

Opening Prayer: Psalm 84.8-11
O LORD God of hosts, hear my prayer;
Give ear, O God of Jacob!
Selah
O God, behold our shield,
And look upon the face of Your anointed.
For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand.
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God
Than dwell in the tents of wickedness.
For the LORD God is a sun and shield;
The LORD will give grace and glory;
No good thing will He withhold
From those who walk uprightly.

Sing Psalm 84.8-12
(Holy Manna: Brethren, We Have Met to Worship)
Lord of hosts, my prayer receiving, hear me, help me by Your grace!
In Your courts I stand believing; turn to me Your glorious face!
Lord, our sun, our shield, our glory, no good thing will You deny
to those who proclaim Your story, and who on Your grace rely.

Read Psalm 84.11

Preparation
1. How is the Lord described here?

2. Whom does the Lord bless with grace and glory?

Meditation
We note first the combination of “sun and shield” in reference to God. God is the light-giving, life-sustaining, time-tracking Ruler of the cosmos. But He is also our shield, as we shelter in His Word (Ps. 12.5-7) and manifest Him to the world, emblazoned like a banner on every aspect of our lives (cf. Ps. 20.5). God gives us light and life, and He employs us in His light-and-life-giving work.

God radiates grace and glory toward us, that we might prosper in our journey with and toward Him. Grace is that divine disposition of favor which God declares to us, and by which He empowers us to live for His glory. We have been called to the Kingdom and glory of God (1 Thess. 2.12), but only because of His grace, freely given in Jesus Christ, can we hope to realize anything of these. By His grace and unto His glory, God gives us day by day many good things. From the beginning of creation, God’s intention toward us has been for good (cf. Gen. 1.31; Jer. 29.11). He gives us every good and perfect gift to sustain and prosper us in our journey, that we might serve and glorify Him in even our most everyday activities (1 Cor. 10.31).

But these good gifts come only to those who use them well – those who “walk uprightly” or “completely”, with a view to “becoming complete.” God does not squander His grace, glory, or gifts. As Jesus explained in the parable of the talents (Matt. 25.14-30), He gives them according to His will, and He expects us to use them wisely.

So as you take up your journey today, look to your Sun and Shield for grace, glory, and every good gift. Then get busy becoming more complete in Him, and bringing His Kingdom to greater fruition in all you do.

Treasure Old and New: Matthew 13.52; Psalm 119.162
Our job is to “manifest Him to the world”, with His goodness “emblazoned like a banner on every aspect of our lives.” And we who have experienced this goodness are the ones most capable of doing it.

After Jesus had done His good work of redemption for us, He went back to heaven to take up His rule; and He sent us His Holy Spirit to enable us to take up the work, in our own Personal Mission Fields, of sharing His infinite goodness with the world.

Psalm 84.11 has a plethora of corresponding verses throughout the Scriptures to illuminate its glory and to enlighten our understanding:
“Oh, fear the LORD, you His saints! There is no want to those who fear Him. The young lions lack and suffer hunger; but those who seek the LORD shall not lack any good thing” (Ps. 34.10).
“And you know in all your hearts and in all your souls that not one thing has failed of all the good things which the LORD your God spoke concerning you. All have come to pass for you; not one word of them has failed” (Josh. 23.14).
“…for the LORD will be your everlasting light, and the days of your mourning shall be ended” (Is. 60.20).
“He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?” (Rom. 8.32)
“He stores up sound wisdom for the upright; He is a shield to those who walk uprightly; He guards the paths of justice, and preserves the way of His saints” (Prov. 2.7, 8)
“But the path of the just is like the shining sun, that shines ever brighter unto the perfect day” (Prov. 4.18).
“Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Heb. 4.16).
“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning” (James 1.17).

The Sun and Shield “gives us light and life, and He employs us in His light-and-life giving work.”
Our Personal Mission Fields are full of hungry souls longing for the good things of God.

Wear your emblazoned banner in His goodness and righteousness.

Reflection
1. How do you experience God as your Sun and Shield?

2. How do you need to know God’s grace and glory more consistently?

3. What does God expect of you with respect to the good things He gives you each day? What good things?

Sun and shield means “splendid shield.” Grace and glory may be rephrased as “glorious grace.” Whereas the anointed king was a “shield” (v. 9), the greater Shield is God Himself. No good thing will He withhold: This is the observation of a wise and righteous person; time after time, God gives good gifts to His people. Earl Radmacher (1931-2014), NKJV Study Bible Note on Psalm 84.11

Closing Prayer: Psalm 84.5-7
In prayer, put on the whole armor of God – including the shield of faith (Eph. 6.10-20). Then commit the activities of this day to Him, and ask Him for grace and glory to bless you in all you do.

Sing Psalm 84.5-7
(Holy Manna: Brethren, We Have Met to Worship)
Blessed are they whose strength is founded in Your strength, O Lord above.
All whose hearts in You are grounded journey in Your strength and love.
Though they weep with tears of sadness, grace shall all their way sustain.
In Your Presence, filled with gladness, they shall conquer all their pain.

T. M. and Susie Moore

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Except as indicated, all Scriptures are taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. For sources of all quotations, see the weekly PDF of this study. All psalms for singing are from The Ailbe Psalter (Williston: Waxed Tablet Publications, 2006), available by clicking here.