The Lord God is a sun. That is a statement I have often read and, to my own loss, passed over in a hurry to get to the end of the verse. The end of the verse is striking in its own right, but so is the beginning.
The Lord God is a sun. The sun, put simply for those of us who are not scientifically inclined by nature, is our ultimate source of physical light and warmth. Without it, we would starve and freeze to death. It is essential to life on planet earth. Other planets are either too close to or too far from the sun, and thus cannot sustain life.
I was walking out of doors in the middle of the morning – definitely one of my favorite times for being out. Everything seems have an undercurrent vibration of freshness and life; the world is fully awake yet has neither reached the heat of the day nor drawn near to the darkened end. It was one of those days in which you don’t have to be outside for long in order to feel the sunshine penetrate every fiber of your being. As I became aware of the delicious warmth seeping through me, I was struck by the beauty of the phrase: The Lord God is a sun.
There are many, many days on which I am discouraged by an absence of emotions in my spiritual walk. To be sure, I still read God’s Word, memorize and meditate on it, spend time in prayer – but all of these things seem like mere duties. Duties I enjoy, but just duties nonetheless. It’s on days like this that I am aware of the Lord’s presence, just as you are aware of the sun shining on many average days. It’s there; beautifully, gloriously there. You can see the effects of it all around you, but you cannot feel its nature piercing you. But it is still there and it is up to you to believe that it is working in the nature around you for your good. So it is with the presence of Christ.
There are also times of trial in our walk when our Sun has completely disappeared and our sense of our Lord’s love is obscured in the blackness of night. These times of great darkness come frequently in the lives of believers, and sometimes it seems with rhythmic precision, just like the day and night of the created realm. And just like in the created realm, both elements are necessary.
Finally, there are the days about which I wrote at the beginning: when the presence of the Lord feels real to our hearts. These days are not absolutely necessary, as our spiritual walks are not based on feelings, but they are delightful. By far more delightful to the soul than even penetrating warmth is to the body.
Yes, our Lord is a Sun. A bright, glorious sun to brighten our lives, warm us with His love, fill our very beings with His presence until we simply cannot absorb anymore. And as the created sun, He sometimes withdraws His face from our lives, but also in keeping with analogy, is working all things for the good of His own from the opposite side of the world, or, of our situation.
What a wonderful, marvelous, awe-inspiring statement: The Lord God is a Sun (Psalm 84:11).
