I like the fresh air. I suppose I’ve spent most of the daylight hours of my life outside. One problem with doing that is the lack of protection from the sun’s rays. My many baseball caps have shielded my eyes, but now my greatest threat is the skin cancer from each eye to its closest ear. Those caps didn’t shade that area much.
It is surprising how much shade can vary the temperature on a hot day. I remember one scorching day when I was 16 – digging post holes and fencing off fifty acres all morning. When we finished, I stretched out under an apple tree for a comfortable nap. My lesson on shade temperatures was really learned while riding a motorcycle. It seemed to be a ten-degree difference when passing under a grove of trees covering the road.
Refreshing!
David, the son of Jesse, needed the protective nature of a different kind of shadow. “Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me! For my soul trusts in You; and in the shadow of Your wings I will make my refuge, until these calamities have passed by” (Psalm 57:1 NKJV). The introduction to this Psalm tells us that David was fleeing from King Saul and needed God’s protection. He got it.
David made another request for God’s protection that we all share. “Keep back Your servant also from presumptuous sins” (Ps. 19:13). That’s always our dilemma – sin is always lurking. “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8). As God explained the way sin works to Cain, “. . . sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it” (Genesis 4:7).
No one is immune from sin. It’s far worse than the ever-present bacteria on our door handles. Fortunately, along with the ever-present sin and the lurking Satan, we have the omnipresent and omnipotent God! “My defense is of God, Who saves the upright in heart” (Ps. 7:10). We’ll be all right in His safekeeping. He will be merciful. Will you take refuge under His wings?
Jeff Greene. This article was first published in the Stokes News, the local newspaper.