^ The ancient warrior bore strapped on his arm a shield of brass or of wood covered with leather, armed with which he rushed into battle and turned death aside. In modern warfare the shield is quite unserviceable ; it hangs with bows and, arrows in the museum of ancient armour. But, as Parker says, " No word ever becomes obsolete which has once deeply touched the heart of humanity. The shield will always be a weapon of spiritual warfare ; God will never cease to be a shield to all them that trust in Him." The believer's defence is complete ; before and behind, on the right hand and on the left, he is beset by the protective power of God. This was a favourite thought of Luther's, whose famous spiritual battle-song opens with the words :
A safe stronghold our God is still, A trusty shield and weapon.
"What will you do," Luther was asked, "if the Duke, your
protector, should no longer harbour you?" "I will take my
shelter," he answered, " under the broad shield of Almighty God."
^ R. E. Prothero, Lifi of Bean Stanley, ii. 23.
2o6 A SUN AND A SHIELD
Modern nations, with their immense armies and fleets, are apt to forget how insecure they are without that Divine protection. Toolish are they if they " put their trust in reeking tube and iron shard." He who spread His shield over Abraham and his little Hebrew army must equally be the " Lord of the far-flung battle line." He is the ultimate safeguard of all national greatness, and no weapon formed against Him shall prosper.^
1. The Lord is to us first a sun and then a shield. Eemember how David puts it elsewhere: "The Lord is my light and my salvation." Light first, salvation next. He does not save us in the dark, neither does he shield us in the dark. He gives enough sunlight to let us see the danger so that we may appreciate the defence. We are not to shut our eyes and so find safety, but we are to see the evil and hide ourselves. Ought we not to be very grateful to God that He so orders our affairs ? Ours is not a blind faith, receiving an unknown salvation from evils which are unperceived ; this would be a poor form of life at best. No, the favour received is valued because its necessity is perceived. The heavenly Sun lights up our souls, and makes us see our ruin and lie down in the dust of self-despair; and then it is that grace brings forth the shield which covers us, so that we are no more afraid, but rejoice in the glorious Lord as the God of our salvation.
^ Most people in their religious experience think of God as a shield. He stands between them and the storm. They hide beneath the shadow of His wings. It is the religion of special Providence and of Divine interposition. God shields His people from the burning heat. Religion is a protective system — a very present help in time of trouble. Some people, on the other hand, think of God as a sun. When all is bright and cloudless, then they can believe, but when it storms, then the universe seems God- less. When God is in heaven, all's right with the world. I remember a comfortable and church -going citizen who was over- taken by a great domestic sorrow, and said of it, " It never occurred to me that such a thing could happen." He had grown so in the habit of living in the sunshine that he was as helpless as a child in the dark.^
2. Look at the text in another way. When the sun shines upon a man he is made the more conspicuous by it. Suppose a hostile army to be down in the plain, and a soldier in our ranks is
» J. Strachan, Eehrew Ideals, i. 74. ' F. G. Peabody.
PSALM Lxxxiv. II 207
sent upon some errand by his captain. He must pass along the hillside. The sun shines upon him as he tries to make his way among the rocks and trees. Had it been night he could have moved safely, but now we fear that the enemy will surely pick him off; for the sunshine has made him conspicuous. He will have need to be shielded from the many cruel eyes. Christian men are made conspicuous by the very fact of their possessing God's grace. " Ye are the light of the world," and a light must be seen. *' A city set on a hill cannot be hid." If God gives light, He means that light to be seen ; and the more light He gives us the more conspicuous we shall be. He is our sun, and He shines upon us ; we reflect His light, and so become ourselves a light ; and in doing so we run necessary risks. The more brightly we shine the more will Satan and the world try to quench our light. This, then, is our comfort. The Lord God, who is a sun to us, will also be a shield to us. Did He not say to Abraham, " Fear not, Abram : I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward " ?