“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. O LORD of hosts, blessed is the man
who trusts in Thee” (Psa. 84:11,12).

“And we know
that ALL THINGS work together for good to those who love God, to those who are
the called according to His purpose” (Rom. 8:28).

All Scripture
from beginning to end is a revelation of God. In these two quotations we have a
word from the Old and one from the New Testament. They reveal what God is to
His people. The revelations were suited to the different times in which they
were written, and we may note as one of the wonders of the Book that while
Romans could not have been written before the cross, yet the value of the
Psalms and the whole Old Testament has not been diminished by Christ’s coming,
but increased immensely. Both reveal God’s relationship to those who were and
to those who are His people.

How much is
expressed in the words “sun” and “shield.” Men are learning more and more of the
blessings that the sun brings to mankind and to the earth. Placed at such a
distance away, yet it is the perpetual source of countless blessings to the
earth and all upon it. Its ministry is unceasing. It is the servant of its
Creator. It is a picture of His power, His goodness, His wrath. Around us we
see the blessings brought by the sun. In the torrid zone with its vast deserts
is to be seen the power of the sun to blight and destroy.

Once there were
no deserts, no icebergs, no barren lands. The climate of the earth was mild to
the poles. The science of the day with its unbelief in God and Scripture has
little or nothing to say of this time in the history of the earth because
evolution has no explanation to offer for it, or for why, when, or how there came
about such a mighty change in climate on the earth. Of all the writings known
to man, only the Book of Genesis gives an account of the change and its causes.
God the Creator brought about the change on account of man’s sin.

But God is also
a shield. While the sun is a source of blessing, the shield guards from evil.
And probably no words in Scripture make this power of God so vivid as the
quotation from Rom. 8:28. From some permitted evil source there comes that
which, were it not for God’s constant care, would harm. He simply makes it work
for good. We have the greatest possible example of this in the cross. All
sources of evil unite there to accomplish the greatest crime ever known; and
God glorifies Himself in making the cross the greatest blessing ever known. The
infinite Power that made the cross an infinite blessing can surely make all
other attempts of evil turn to blessing. “There shall no evil befall thee”
(Psa. 91:10) reveals what a wonderful shield our God is.

We have an
example of it in 2 Corinthians 12. Satan was permitted to send a special
messenger to bear evil to Paul, “a thorn in the flesh.” Here the man who wrote,
“We know that all things work together for good those who love God,” got a
perfect example of that great truth. The Lord God is a shield. Anything
that would make a man so used to suffering as Paul was pray three times that it
might depart from him must have been some terrible affliction. But God did not
remove it. He had a far better way. He made the evil into a very great blessing.
Read over again the Scriptures at the head of this article. Place beside them,
“There shall no evil befall thee.”

Do you not get
a wonderful view of the power of God to make all things work together for good?
Evil cannot befall those who are Christ’s because He turns it into blessing!
Could anything be more wonderful? It starts out an evil, but before it gets to
God’s people it is turned into a blessing. Well, now, if in the battle every
stroke of the enemy, instead of harming, only adds to your strength because of
that power in God to thus change it, why should any of the Lord’s people fear?
God has put into your hands the “shield of faith, wherewith you shall be able
to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked” (Eph. 6:16).

Do you not see
why Psalm 84 ends with “O LORD of hosts, blessed is the man who trusts in
Thee”? Try as he might, Satan could not harm Paul. God made Paul evil-proof.
There simply could not any evil befall him, for when it reached him it was
turned to blessing. “He said unto me, My grace is sufficient for you, for My
strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory
in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take
pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in
distresses for Christ’s sake:for when I am weak, then am I strong” (2 Cor.
12:8-10).

Now, if all
things do really work together for good to those who love God, is not the
knowledge of that power of God the very best thing for God’s people in days
like the present? Everywhere there is a pressure that has never been felt
before. For every one who loves God this pressure means not evil but good.
You can leave every other question out but one:Do you love your Saviour? Have
you His Holy Spirit? “The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy
Spirit who is given unto us” (Rom. 5:5). If anyone has received the Holy Spirit
by faith in Christ, then we may be sure all that comes is being made to work
for good to us. It means turning away from self and sin and the world, and
receiving Christ as our only Saviour. That is all and that is enough. It is a
part of the rest He gives.

(From Help
and Food, Vol. 50.)