WESLEY AN-METHODIST MAGAZINE. MARCH, 1883. TEXTS FOR THE TIMES: GOD-A SUN AND SHIELD. BY THE REV. DR. LANDELS. For the Lord God is a sun and shield: the Lord will give grace and glory: no good thing will He withhold from them that walk uprightly.'-PSALM LXXXIV. 11. WHAT a wonderful representation is here given of the Divine Being. It seems strange that it should have been written in an age when revelation was so dim: dim as compared with that which has been given us in the person and teaching of our Lord Jesus Christ. I cannot read the Psalms and some of the prophecies without wondering at the conceptions the writers had formed of the character of God; and being impressed with the thought that they must have had very intimate dealings with the Almighty; and that He had been graciously pleased through their intercourse with Him, to make known to them what was in His heart. The text is a case in point. There are more tender descriptions of the Divine Being given both in Psalm and prophecy. But there are few passages in which in so few words we are told so much of what God does for His people; and of what He engages to do. It is pregnant with meaning. Great truths are presented in every clause, in every word; and each adds something to that which goes before. It is a brief but most comprebensive poem; a compendium of promises, holding out specific blessings such as we all feel the need of; and assuring us that not only our felt, but our unfelt wants shall be all supplied, if only we are numbered among those whose character it describes. We shall not attempt any formal division of the text. The best method we can follow is to take up the words as they occur. This will lead to our viewing the Almighty: I. As a sun; II. As a shield; III. As giving grace; IV. As giving glory; V. As withholding no good thing, and VI. As being and doing all this for them that walk uprightly. This will bring before us what it is that God does, and who they are for whom He does it. The passage begins with metaphor, and passes on into literal statement. Metaphorically, God is said to be a sun and shield; literally, He is said to 'give grace and glory.' And we can only account for the two different styles being used in so brief a compass, on the supposition that it M requires both adequately to set forth the goodness of God in relation to His people. I. The Lord God is a SUN.'-There is no metaphor which the Psalmist could employ so significant as this, for there is no object which fills such an important place in nature, as the Sun. And the metaphor is used without any limit as to its interpretation or its application. Whatever the sun is or does in the natural world, that God is to be regarded as being and doing in the spiritual. And here a field of illustration opens to us over which it is impossible for us to range even in the most brief and cursory manner. We can only select a few points, which, as having a practical interest, more especially claim our attention. 1. God is the source of spiritual enlightenment.-As all the light in the natural world is derived from the sun, not only that which comes from him directly, but that which is stored up in wood and coal and other combustible materials, and is liberated when these are set on fire, so does all spiritual light come from God. We might, indeed, apply the statement to intelligence of every sort; and, by a not very intricate process, connect all the knowledge which man acquires with the Infinite Mind in which are hid all the stores of wisdom and knowledge. But we confine ourselves to the spiritual; which is not of man's acquisition by any process known to him, but of direct Divine impartation. Spiritual realities are only discerned by him to whom God by supernatural gift imparts the power of discernment. Man cannot spell out an acquaintance with them by any effort or study of his own. For 'the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him; neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.' The earth in the absence of the sunlight, direct or reflected, is not more dark than is the soul of man dark in relation to all Divine things without Divine illumination. It is in God's light only that God Himself, or even God's dealings with the children of men, or the great facts of spiritual experience, can be understood. The most learned man in other matters is but an ignoramus here. Whereas the untaught peasant who has become the subject of Divine enlightenment, is like a scribe wellinstructed in the things of the kingdom. Through his devout habits, his nearness to God, his close and constant intercourse with Him, he becomes possessed of a fine spiritual intuition-an unction from the Holy One,' by which he knows 'all things.' And the verdict of such a man on any question that relates to the spiritual, is to be preferred to the opinion of the most learned unspiritual man that lives. Alas! how many there are to-day whose souls, with all their learning and talent, are as dark as midnight in reference to God's plan of salvation; and whom all human teaching fails to enlighten. And on the other hand, how many there are who, knowing little beside, are yet full of light as to what God has done for them, and what He requires them to do. You have unlearned ones who rejoice in Divine enlightenment. You have learned ones who are utterly in the dark on all spiritual matters. And if we wish to walk in the light, we shall keep our minds directed to Him from Whom alone comes enlightenment, that through our close and intimate fellowship we may be taught more and more savingly and to profit. 2. God is the source of all spiritual warmth.—The sun is as much the source of heat as of light, whether that heat be latent or active. And so God, as the sun, is the source of all spiritual fervour. He kindles love in our hearts at first, by breathing into us His own spirit, and through our intercourse with Himself He fosters in us the love which He kindles. We complain sometimes that we are cold and languid. There is little zeal in our service, or fervour in our devotion. And our complaints are sincere: for, not content to be as we are, we try by exciting exercises to work ourselves into a state of greater ardour and devotion. But alas! with how little result. It is not like whipping an exhausted steed, as we sometimes say. It serves less purpose even than that. It is more like blowing on a piece of unlighted coal. Nothing comes of all our efforts. Ah, brethren, we might spare ourselves all that, if only we would get into closer and more direct relation to the sun. Let the mind's eye be turned to the Divine love. Let that love be clearly seen and devoutly contemplated, so that its influence shall be felt by the worshipping soul; and we shall not be long ere we recover from our coldness. hearts that are open to receive it, love Him because He first loved us. realized, will constrain us to engage in His service with a holy fervour and devotion, living not for ourselves, but for Him Who died for us and rose again. His love, streaming down into will soon kindle ours. We shall That love clearly seen and vividly 3. Life depends on light and warmth, and thus the sun may be said to be, although less directly, the source of life.—And it needed not this metaphor to tell us that we are dependent on God both for the commencement and the maintenance of our spiritual life. Its first movements are of His inspiration; and by the continued impartation of His influences it is fostered and maintained. It is healthy and vigorous just in proportion to the frequency of our communications with Him. 4. More obviously the metaphor teaches that we are dependent on Him for spiritual growth and fruitfulness.-Plants grow and fruits ripen in the sunshine. And our spiritual progress, and the fruitfulness of our lives in all good deeds, will be proportioned to the extent to which we walk in the light of God's countenance. It is by Divine influence, and by that alone, that we shall grow in the Divine life, and abound in those good works' which are by Jesus Christ unto the glory and praise of God.' In a word, it is the absence of the sun's influences that causes winter, while exposure to them brings summer to the earth. And so distance from God is the winter, while His gracious presence is the summer, of the soul. |