Sometimes I think the lifelong pursuit of a Christian is unlearning the definitions to every word as they were taught them by the world in order to learn them correctly as God applies them in His Word. And one of the ways He does this is through the use of comparisons and contrasts. In God’s Word there are juxtapositions of words which are uniquely set apart from the way the world associates or uses them. In the world’s vernacular, what would the “sun” have in common with a “shield“, or how could “grace” be the flip side of “glory“?

As the Christian mind is transformed by God’s Word, there are things we have to learn to keep in proper tension with each other which according to the world’s wisdom would not ordinarily fit together. A good example is provided right here of God’s dual role as Protector (“the Lord God is a…shield“) and Guide (“the Lord God is a sun“). God clearly provides illumination as to the very things for which we need His protection. Faith is not born out of fear and ignorance but the result of clearly seeing the long-term difference between adhering to His protection versus seeking our own; we see the difference. Biblical faith is never “blind” but always rooted in knowledge.

Likewise the results (“glory“) are not obtained by our own works but through God’s unmerited favor (“grace“). The world advocates that results are obtained by one’s own hand, by one’s own hard work and commitment. Biblically this is only true for “those who walk uprightly“. In other words, those whose work and commitment are rooted first and foremost in God’s Word and ways, not their own. This is actually the application of the sun and the shield in that holding to God’s Word is the ultimate guide and protection ensuring that by His grace we experience biblical glory at the end of our endeavors.

The world proposes results if we cling to its ways which are often not equal to those offered by adhering exclusively to God’s. In the end the Bible defines this as “the man who trusts in You“. It is someone who prefers the protection and illumination of Christ in order to gain by His grace His glory through trusting in His Word and ways over all others._††_†

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