Shade on Your Right Hand

"The Lord is your keeper;

The Lord is your shade on your right hand.

The sun will not smite you by day,

Nor the moon by night."

(Psalm 121:5-6)

For as long as I can remember, I've loved the descriptions of God in the Psalms.  Words like rock, fortress, shield, deliverer, and hiding place stirred something within me about our God.  He is our shield; therefore, He is our protection.  He's our rock; therefore, He is trustworthy and unchanging.  He's our hiding place; therefore, we can always run to Him.

This past week, another one struck me:  Shade.

Here in Arizona, we know a lot about shade.  We like shade.  Shade is a relief from the heat.  Shade means we are willing to walk farther to a building, as long as we can leave our car parked underneath a tree.  Shade means we can walk barefoot outside without burning our feet on the concrete.  Shade means we don't have to feel our skin sizzling while we wait outside in the sun.

Back to Psalms.

"The Lord is your shade."  At first, shade may seem like an odd description for God.  After all, rock, shield, fortress, protection, deliverer all seem to "fit" God.  They are solid, strong, unyielding, powerful.  Shade, on the other hand, is unassuming.  There is sunlight; therefore, there is shade.  It doesn't stand out; it's just there as part of life.

That is, until you step into it out of a 110 degree Arizona afternoon sun.

Relief.

Instant, unassuming relief.

It doesn't have to be solid.  It doesn't have to be strong.  It just has to be there.

Shade:  Protection from the sun.  Protection from the heat.  Relief.

God:  Protection from the heat of life.  Protection from the trials that sap our strength.  Protection from the unrelenting pressure and stress that surround us.  Relief.