Grace as God’s Favor in Daily Life

Read Psalm 84:11 “For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD gives grace and glory;
No good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly.”

For ten years, my family and I lived in the Willamette Valley of Oregon. If you’ve never been, trust me when I say it was like living in the lushest of gardens—with rivers running through it, with more fruit than you could ever eat, and with snowy mountains or the Pacific Ocean just an hour away. But do you know why the area is so green and fertile? Rain. So... much… rain. Nine months out of the year, the skies are mostly grey and cloudy. On any given day, it’s either raining or about to rain. Many people don’t do well in those conditions because their bodies simply need to feel the sun.

In today’s passage, the writer delights in two metaphorical images of God—God as a “sun and shield”. This psalm is likely one of the songs of ascent sung by the Israelites as they traveled up to Jerusalem and the temple. The writer is bursting with anticipation as he moves closer and closer to God’s dwelling place. Why does this context matter? Verse 11 begins with a connecting word “For”, which tells us to look back at the previous verse to answer the question: “Why is God a sun and shield?” In verse 10, the writer declares that he would rather stand at the entrance to God’s house (i.e., the temple) than live amidst the wicked. Why? Because the LORD God is “a sun and shield.” Just being right at the threshold of God’s dwelling place is enough to feel the benefits of intimacy with God.

Nowadays, of course, we don’t have to travel anywhere to enter God’s dwelling place. If we have placed our faith in Jesus and accepted God’s gift of grace, then we have received the Holy Spirit, which means we are God’s dwelling place. We can experience intimacy with God wherever we are!

When I imagine what it would be like to experience God as a “sun and shield”, I immediately feel the comfort and warmth of His presence. As the “sun”, He provides light and clarity and wisdom. He is reliable and constant and everlasting. Under His care, I can grow and rest and bask in His presence. As the “shield,” He protects me. I imagine a tall Viking shield of solid oak, braced with iron and rivets, tall enough to fully hide behind when facing an onslaught of arrows. No matter what you picture, the image likely creates a feeling of safety. When we dwell with God, we get to live inside His protection. In our day-to-day life, we may not always feel safe and cared for. But with God, we are warm and secure.