Clean Transcript

Are You In The Shade?

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• Psalm 121. Psalm 121, and we're going to be reading all eight verses. It is a very short psalm. Psalm 121. Notice, if you would, beginning there with verse 1. David says, "I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth. He will not suffer thy foot to be moved. He that keepeth thee will not slumber. Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord is thy keeper. The Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand. The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil. He shall preserve thy soul. The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore." The title of the message is "Are You in the Shade?" Are you in the shade?

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• You'll understand just a little bit later, and I will ask you that question again. But Psalm 121 is a Psalm of degrees. The title "Psalm of degrees" is given to Psalm 120 through Psalm 134. Four of these Psalms are attributed to David. One is attributed to Solomon, and the other ten are anonymous. We do not know who wrote them. Now, the interesting thing is the word "degrees." When you look at these psalms, the heading of every one of them is "A Song of Degrees."

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• Now, the word "degrees" has been thought of and translated as steps, ascending, even pilgrims, goings-up, and even graduals. So various Bible scholars have tried to discern exactly why this little group of 15 Psalms are here and why they are called a song of degrees. Now, some have suggested that these Psalms were sung as the pilgrims were going up to Jerusalem for those three annual gatherings for the feast there.

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• And of course, you can find that in Deuteronomy 16:16. They were saying that these feasts were probably national anthems, so to speak, or these Psalms were national anthems and they were singing them as they were going to the feast. Still others think that these Psalms were sung after the captivity, based upon Ezra 7:7. And then others would simply say that this is a psalm, or these psalms were sung as they were ascending the steps to the temple to worship God. And then there's other scholars who would say no, that these psalms then correspond to Isaiah 38, where King Hezekiah was told by Isaiah, "Set thy house in order, for thou shalt die and not live." And Hezekiah turned himself to the wall and cried and prayed. Before Isaiah got out of the palace, God sent him back and said, "You tell Hezekiah that I'm going to add 15 years to his life." And so again, some would say that these 15 Psalms are connected then with the 15 years that God gave King Hezekiah. And of course then there are others who would say that these Psalms are more what you and I would call the ascent of the soul in thanking God, going from the

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• bottom to the top. So let me give you a quote and try to tie these together for you. The quote is from Charles Haddon Spurgeon, and he's talking about the song of degrees as a whole, and he makes this statement: "This little Psalter is within the Psalter." Of course, all 150 Psalms are referred to as the Psalter, but he's calling these 15 Psalms a little Psalter. So he says, "This little Psalter within the Psalter consists of 15 brief songs. Why they are grouped together and what is meant by their generic name

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• it would be hard to tell. The conjectures are very many, but they are mere suppositions. Out of them all, the conjecture of Dr. Jebb best commends itself to my own mind, though it would be quite consistent with the suggestion to believe that the series of songs arranged by David became the pilgrim Psalms of after ages and were chanted by the Lord's people as they went up to the temple. They are songs of goings up, as some read the word."

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• Those who delight to spiritualize everything find the essence of the soul or the language fitted to describe the rising of the heart from the deepest grief to the highest delight. I thought it well to indicate the methods by which learned men have tried to explain the term "songs of degrees," but the reader must select his own interpretation. So even Charles Haddon Spurgeon said, "I don't know which is correct," but he did say that he believed that they were sung as you went up the steps to the temple. So whatever the meanings of the word "degrees," and however this little group of Psalms were collected and put as a song of degrees, at least we know this: that they are the inspired, inerrant, and infallible Word of God, and therefore they are for our benefit and for our blessing as well as for

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• application. Now, this particular song refers to a shade. That is what caught my eye. Now, let me mention that this entire psalm actually involves protection and preservation. For instance, look in verses 1 and 2. David said, "I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth." Now skip down to verse 5. He said, "The Lord is thy keeper. The Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand."

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• Now, we read scripture often and we read words which we are very familiar with. And consequently, many times we do not look at those words to see what they actually mean or how they are used in the Bible. And this word "shade" is one of them. He said, "The Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand." So you would stop and ask yourself, why in the world would you ever consider the word "shade"? We see shades everywhere and we see shades every day. Every tree has a shade. Every monument has a shade. Every person has a shade. And so you would just pause and say, "Well, what in the world is special about a shade?" Now, the truth is that everyone enjoys a shade on a very hot day. In fact, in South Georgia, we normally say a shade, iced tea, and/or lemonade. In other words, you want to just sit back on a hot day and enjoy a nice shade, cool, and then of course a glass of tea or a lemonade as well. Many times we are very pleased when we

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• find a shade, especially in extremely hot weather. Let me just point out the fact that I've been conscious of shades all of my life, because when I was a boy, I had to work on a farm, obviously. And I used to have to hoe cotton and chop cotton as well as hoe peanuts. And by the way, there's a difference between hoeing cotton and chopping cotton. And many people do not know the difference. But when you hoe cotton, you just simply take the weeds out from between the plants. But when you chop cotton, sometimes the planter would plant a number of plants too close, and they can't grow. And so now you have to go in and chop the cotton out, and it'll let you thin it out so it will grow. But we did the same thing with peanuts. And the interesting thing is, as a boy working on the farm, the only thing I wore was a pair of blue jeans. Didn't wear a shirt. Didn't wear shoes. And let me tell you something: when it's July and it's August and you're out there hoeing cotton or hoeing peanuts or pulling weeds, and you're barefooted and that ground is scorching, you want to step in every shade that you can step in. And I used to jump just to

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• make sure I got in the next shade. Now, I don't know whether the ground—I don't remember whether it was really cool or not. It had to be just a shade or a tad. But the truth of the matter is, it was probably more psychological than anything else, that I just knew that I was stepping in a shade. The interesting thing is, things have changed so much in the last, I'm going to say, 70 years. But in one sense of the word, they haven't really changed that much that quickly. Although we think of technology and we think it's really advanced.

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• But when I was a boy, I actually plowed mules. I drove mules. And tractors were just coming in. I know there were steam tractors before I was ever born. I understand that. But what I mean is even those little Ford Fergusons were just coming in, and I can remember driving those. I can remember as a young boy, I was probably about six years old, driving one of the biggest and first John Deeres that ever came out.

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• And the clutch was a big, big handle, and you'd sit on it and push the clutch forward to go, pull it back to stop. I couldn't sit on the seat and do that. I would have to jump up, push it forward, sit back and drive it. And when I got to the end of the road, I'd have to jump up and pull it back and then ease it forward after I picked up the harrow to turn around. Yeah.

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• It's crazy. And then when I was seven years old, my father took me to a building, and that building is still standing in Fitzgerald. And as you went in the building at seven years old, on the left-hand side you could buy mules and horses, and on the right-hand side you could buy tractors and cars and trucks. So they kept the horses and mules and the cars and trucks all in the same building. So I'm just simply saying here, shades have had a psychological effect on a lot of people for years and years. So when we think of a shade, sometimes we just take it for granted.

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• Let me show you the importance of it. I want you to turn in your Bibles, if you would please, to the book of Jonah. The book of Jonah, and we're going to be looking at chapter 4. Jonah chapter 4, and I want you to notice what the Word of God says about Jonah, right before the little book of Micah and of course right after the little book of Obadiah. So Jonah chapter 4, and let's begin reading there with verse 5. You know that God had sent Jonah to Nineveh to preach to that great city, and I want you to notice the connection of a shade with Jonah. So Jonah chapter 4 and verse 5: "So Jonah went out of the city, and sat on the east side of the city, and there made him a booth, and sat under it in the shadow, till he might see what would become of the city." So he's made him a little booth. He's got a little shadow, a little shade that he is sitting under. Now look at verse 6: "And the Lord God prepared a gourd, and made it come up over Jonah, that it might be a shadow over his head, to deliver him from his grief." And so

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• Jonah was exceedingly glad for the gourd. So notice, if you would, now this gourd is an additional shade, and it's protecting Jonah. Watch verse 7: "But God prepared a worm when the morning rose the next day, and it smote the gourd, and it withered. And it came to pass, when the sun did rise, that God prepared a vehement east wind; and the sun beat upon the head of Jonah, that he fainted, and wished in himself to die, and said, It is better for me to die than to live. And God said to Jonah, Doest thou well to be angry for the gourd? And he said, I do well to be angry, even unto death. Then said the Lord, Thou hast had pity on the gourd, for the which thou hast not laboured, neither madest it grow; which came up in a night, and perished

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• in a night: And should not I spare Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than sixscore thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand; and also much cattle?" So God says, "Jonah, listen to me. You're concerned about this gourd. You're concerned about your shade, but you're not concerned about the 120,000 children that are not even able to tell the difference between their right hand and their left hand, as well

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• as much cattle." So here's the point that I believe the Lord is making: Jonah was more concerned about his comfort than he was the 120,000 children in the city of Nineveh. We have to be thankful for our shades. We have to be thankful for the small things and what you and I might even call the insignificant things. But yet, on the other hand, we cannot make our comforts the priorities in our lives. And most people today are more concerned with their own comfort, with their own personal happiness, than they are anything else. They could care less about people around them that are dying, people that are lost. They could care less about anyone in need. In other words, people have become so absolutely self-centered, they never think about anyone else or anything else. So the danger is not in our comforts, but the danger is in embracing our comforts and making those comforts the priorities of our lives.

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• Now, in Amos chapter 6 and verse 1, God says this: "Woe to them that are at ease in Zion, and trust in the mountain of Samaria, which are named chief of the nations, to whom the house of Israel came!"

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• Now, listen to what he said: "Woe to them that are at ease in Zion." So here are people who are at ease. They've got their comforts. They've got everything that they need. They could care less about anything else. So he says, "Woe to them that are at ease in Zion." And listen to this next phrase: "and trust in the mountain of Samaria." Isn't that interesting? Samaria was the capital in the Northern Kingdom. The mountain then speaks of the government. In other words, "Woe to them that are at ease in Zion, who are trusting in the government to take care of them and supply all of their needs."

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• That's exactly where we are today. That's why so many people are at ease, because of an unbiblical, ungodly welfare system. And people no longer need to work. So many were at ease in Zion, and many have taken our rest. We've taken our comforts when there's much work to be done. And the truth of the matter is this: our comforts can only be a blessing to us. They can also be a curse to us. If you look very quickly in

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• your Bibles to the book of Hosea—Daniel, Hosea—look at Hosea chapter 4, and let me show you what I'm talking about. Look at Hosea chapter 4, and let's begin reading there with verse 11. We see the children of Israel had fallen into idolatry. So verse 11, God says: "Whoredom and wine and new wine take away the heart. My people ask counsel at their stocks, and their staff declareth unto them: for the spirit of whoredoms hath caused them to err, and they have gone a whoring from their God. They sacrifice upon the tops of the mountains, and burn incense upon the hills, under oaks and poplars and elms, because the shadow thereof is good: therefore your daughters shall commit whoredom, and your spouses shall commit adultery." In other words, God says, "You're committing adultery against me; now your family's going to be committing adultery against you." That is the lex talionis, the

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• law of retribution. But notice, if you would, they wanted all of their sins in comfort. So our comforts may be a blessing, but they can also be a curse as well. I've often thought about this. Years ago, Alice and I were in Indiana. I was there preaching, and while I was there for that week, we stayed in the home of a couple that had been missionaries to Russia. And they were not full-time missionaries, but they would go every year over there and minister and come back. And so while we were there, they were showing us some pictures that were taken of a Russian baptism, because a number of people had been converted. And here were a bunch of Russians.

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• Listen to me: standing on the river with pickaxes and axes, breaking the ice so they could baptize. And you could see in the pictures, the ice was six and eight inches thick. And I thought to myself, "Lord, have mercy. There's no American Christian under the sun that would get in water like that." No. And in fact, very few Christians today, if the air conditioner went out in the building, would even attend.

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• And when you stop and think of all the old brush arbor meetings that used to be, where they would just throw a little temporary structure and cover it with brush, and people would sit on benches and on the ground and on dirt, and sometimes for an entire day listening to the preaching and teaching the Word of God, but no more. So the point I'm trying to make is this: many times our comforts become a curse.

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• Now, I want you to go back in your Bibles, if you would, to Psalm 121. And I want you to understand that clearly this passage, Psalm 121, deals with our protection and with our preservation.

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• Now, I'm going to emphasize this with my mouth, with my tone, but I want you to look at it beginning with verse 3. Look what he says: "He will not suffer thy foot to be moved. He that keepeth thee will not slumber. Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord is thy keeper. The Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand." Now notice, if you would, what else he says: "The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil. He shall preserve thy soul." And so here we're talking about protection. And now, when you look back at verse 5, he says, "The Lord is thy keeper. The Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand." Now you should be asking yourself a question at this point: what in the world does a shade have to do with preservation and protection?

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• It may surprise you to learn that the Hebrew word for "shade" is translated in our Bibles as "shadow" 45 times. It is translated as "shade" one time, and it is translated as "defense" three times. So your shade then can be a blessing, but it can also be a defense. Now I want you to understand that a shade or a shadow—those two items are synonymous—there are very grave implications on this when he says, "The Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand."

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• Now, before I get started explaining some of this, I want to just show you a number of passages. So since we're in the book of Psalms, let's begin there. I want you to turn back to Psalm 36, and I want you to be connecting in your mind protection and preservation with a shade or a shadow. So notice, if you would, Psalm 36 and verse 7. Psalm 36 verse 7. Look what the Bible says.

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• David proclaims, "How excellent is thy lovingkindness, O God! Therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of thy wings." That's amazing: under the shadow of thy wings. So here's an interesting question: does God have wings? And the answer is, of course not. God is spirit. But what is he talking about, "under the shadow of thy wings"? Do you remember the Ark of the Covenant in the most holy place?

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• On top of it were what? Cherubims with wings that touched each other. And you remember that's where the Passover blood was applied, and it was there that God said, "There will I meet with thee." And so those cherubims are guardians of God's justice. They are the guardians that show that God is just and that God is a protector of those who trust in him. Now turn in your Bibles, if you would, also to Psalm 57. Look at verse 1. Psalm 57 and verse 1, and David says, "Be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me: for my soul trusteth in thee: yea, in the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge,

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• until these calamities be overpast." So David is experiencing great troubles. He's experiencing calamities, and he's saying, "I'm going to trust in thee. You're going to be my rock. You're going to be my defense until this is taken care of." So look in Psalm 63, verse 7. He says, "Because thou hast been my help, therefore in the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice." Hmm. Turn right over to Psalm 91 and look, if you would please, at verse 1. Psalm 91 and verse 1: "He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty." Now stop and think about that. I told you earlier there were some implications concerning a shade or a shadow. I want you to pay close attention to this: "He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty." Let me give you a couple of implications. Let's suppose that Joshua and I are going to step outside, and I stand in front of him with my back to the sun. If I'm standing in front of Joshua with my back to the sun, that means he's in front of me and he's

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• standing in my shadow or in my shade. That means nothing can strike him from the front without striking me. In other words, I am his shade. I'm his shadow. I am, at that point, his protector as well. But now here's the good thing. Now look at this again. Look in Psalm 91, verse 1: "He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty." Hang on. So if Joshua and I are standing out there and he is standing in my shadow, what does that mean? It means I'm right there. I am there. If I were not there, there would not be a shadow. I am there presently, in presence. I am there. And that means this: if we are in God's shadow, it means God is there with us. It means he is real. Only reality can cast a shadow. So he is there and he is our protector. Now look in your Bibles to Isaiah chapter 25 and verse 4. Isaiah 25, verse 4. Here it is again. Isaiah 25, verse 4: "For thou hast been a strength to the

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• poor, a strength to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat, when the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall." Actually, the terrible ones are the armies of the enemy. In other words, God is our defense. God is our protector. Look, if you would, in Isaiah 32, verse 2. Isaiah 32, verse 2. Again, he says it like this. In fact, let's read with verse 1 so you can see we're talking about the Lord: "Behold, a king shall reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule in judgment. And a man shall be as an hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land." So the shadow or the shade of the great rock, of course, is our Lord. Then if you would turn in your Bibles, please, to Isaiah 49 and look at verse 2. Isaiah 49, verse 2. The Lord God says this: "And he hath made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of his hand hath he hid me, and made me a polished shaft; in his quiver hath he hid me." Note now.

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• He said, "He hath hid me in the shadow of his hand." Wow. Now that's going to be obvious just a few minutes later. So look now in Hosea chapter 14. Hosea chapter 14, and look, if you would please, at verse 7. Daniel, Hosea. Hosea chapter 14 and verse 7. Here the Word of God says it like this: Hosea 14, verse 7: "They that dwell under his shadow shall return; they shall revive as the corn, and grow as the vine: the scent thereof shall be as the wine of Lebanon." So if you are dwelling in him and you are dwelling in his shadow, you're dwelling in his shade. You're next to him. You're close to him. You're under his protection and under his provision. Now here's a question as you go back and look in your Bibles, please. As you go back and look in your Bibles at Psalm 121, verse 5, here's another question that you should be asking. He says, "The Lord is thy keeper. The Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand."

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• Why does the scripture say that the Lord is a shade upon our right hand? Is he not also a shade upon our left hand? Is he not also a shade upon our entire body? Why then does the scripture say that he is our shade upon our right hand? The answer is very simple, and that is because most men are right-handed. That is not a throw-off, and that is not a put-down on anyone who is left-handed. My father and my mother were both left-handed. My sister and I are both right-handed. So I'm just simply saying most men are indeed right-handed, and there are more right-handed men than there are left-handed men.

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• And we use this term frequently in reference to our sons and our grandsons. I've said it in reference to my grandson, especially when they were smaller, I would say, "He's my right-hand man." And when I would say, "He's my right-hand man," it means he has the place of prominence, the place of importance. I can't do without him. I'm just simply saying he is number one in my book. That's all I'm saying. Now, this may shock you, but do you realize that Jesus Christ is God's right-hand man? I want you to look in your Bibles to Psalm 21, and I'm going to show you several verses. Look in Psalm 21. This, of course, is a psalm of Jesus Christ. Notice, if you would, in verse 8. Psalm 21, verse 8. David says concerning God, "Thine hand shall find out all thine enemies: thy right hand shall find out those that hate thee." That's interesting: "Thine hand shall find out all thine enemies," and then he specifies by saying, "Thy right hand shall find out all of thine enemies." Now I'm going to show you

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• a verse in just a few minutes where Jesus Christ sat down on the right hand of God the Father. But do you realize our Lord said in John 5, verses 22 and 23, "For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son"? So why then does Jesus Christ have all judgment? "The Father judgeth no man, but he hath committed all judgment to the Son." Why? The next verse answers that when it says this: "That all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father." Now when the Bible says that all men should honour the Son even as they honour the Father, "even as" means equal to. That means just as God is God, Jesus Christ is God. And our Father said in Isaiah 42, verse 8, "My glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images." So Jesus Christ has to be God incarnate, because obviously he wants Jesus Christ praised equally as he is praised and honored. Now.

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• I want you to turn in your Bibles. This psalm is the most quoted in the New Testament. So notice, if you would, beginning there with verse 1. It's the psalm of the Messiah, the psalm of the Lord Jesus Christ. "The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand." Did you hear that? "The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool." So Jesus Christ is God's right-hand man. He's seated at the right hand of God the Father. "The Lord shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion: rule thou in the midst of thine enemies. Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power, in the beauties of holiness from the womb of the morning: thou hast the dew of thy youth. The Lord hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek." Now look at this: "The Lord at thy right hand"—that's the Lord Jesus—"shall strike through kings in the day of his wrath.

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• He shall judge among the heathen, he shall fill the places with the dead bodies; he shall wound the heads over many countries. He shall drink of the brook in the way: therefore shall he lift up the head."

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• Now with that in mind, turn right over in your Bibles to the book of 2 Thessalonians chapter 1, and let's begin reading there with verse 7. Remember now, the Lord at his right hand is going to strike through kings, going to strike through princes. He's going to wound the head of many, many countries. Notice, if you would, what the Bible says in 2 Thessalonians chapter 1 and verse 7. Look at this: "And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power; when he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day." Notice that is the Lord on his right hand. Since most men are right-handed, consequently the right hand is viewed as absolutely necessary. The right hand is the fighting hand. So if Joshua and I are going out in the front and we're going to fight, guess what?

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• I'm going to have my support side hand, my left hand, in front to block. I'm holding this one back to hit him with. That's the powerful hand. That's the more powerful one than the support side or the left side. So it is the right hand that holds the sword. It's the right hand that pulls the string on the bow. It's the right hand that throws a spear. And in our day and time, we would say it's the right hand that presses the trigger. In other words, it is absolutely necessary. Now I want you to turn in your Bibles to Psalm

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• 140, because I made a statement earlier and I said I wanted you to see it. And you remember, if you would, the Word of God said that you would be under the shadow of his hands. Wow. The shadow of his hands. So if you'll look in your Bibles to Psalm 140, note, if you would, what David said in verse 7. Psalm 140 and verse 7, he said, "O God the Lord, the strength of my salvation, thou hast covered my head in the day of battle." Well, how did God cover David's head? He placed the shadow of his hands over David's head. No harm can come to David as long as David is under the shadow of God's hands. He said, "Thou hast covered my head in the day of battle."

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• In other words, one does not need armor when God is protecting him. And if God is not protecting him, all the armor in the world is not going to help. It's just that simple. So we're still talking about a shade or shadow being protection, being preservation, being where you and I are defended by God. So if we fight in any battle, if we fight in any skirmish, if we fight in any war, the truth of the matter is he is our protection. He is our preservation. Even in ordinary everyday events, he is our protection and our preservation. Years ago,

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• I was carrying a trailer that was loaded down with lumber on the back of a pickup truck that was also loaded down with lumber. I had a friend with me who would help me with that lumber. And we were driving not more than 20, 25 miles an hour because the load was heavy. And I never will forget, somehow that trailer jackknifed and it started pushing me right off the highway, right into a ditch. And there was a whole lot of trees right on the other side of the ditch. And the only thing I could say—and brakes wouldn't help—and the only thing I said, "Help, Lord, help." And just immediately the truck stopped right in the ditch. And just as I got out of the truck to survey the damage or to see what needed to be done, here came a neighbor with a four-wheel drive pickup and a chain, and pulled me right out and got me right back on the road. So I'm just simply saying

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• the Lord is our defense even in these ordinary things that you and I go through every day and we don't even realize it. Now let me show you a verse. Now I want you to look in your Bibles to the book of Proverbs chapter 21 and verse 31. I can quote the verse, but I want you to see it. Young people, this is a good verse for you to memorize. It's a short one, but it's a very good one. Proverbs 21 and verse 31, look at it: "The horse is prepared against the day of battle: but safety is of the Lord." But safety is of the Lord. Let me give you a quote from Matthew Henry. Listen to what he says concerning God's preservation.

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• He says, "God is as able to preserve his people from secret fraud as from open force; and the experience we've had of his power and care in dangers of one kind may encourage us to trust in him and depend upon him in dangers of another kind; for nothing can shorten the Lord's hand." So that's true. And what he's saying is, when we see how God has delivered us and protected us and defended us in one area, it ought to be building a foundation of trust for the Lord to continue to protect us in other areas as well. Now when God is our shade and when we are in the shadow of his hand, we are not going to be moved. David said it like this in Psalm 16, verse 8: "I have set the Lord always before me: because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved." I'm here. I'm not going to leave. I cannot be moved. So when God is at our right hand, it means we're hemmed in, we're hedged in with the power of God against present evils and dangers and any that shall come as well.

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• Now, let me give you two other verses. I want you to look in your Bibles, first of all, to Psalm 109, and then we're going to go to the book of Zechariah. Zechariah is right before the book of Malachi, next to the last book in the Bible, but notice in the Old Testament. So notice, if you would please, in Psalm 109. Look, if you would please, at verse 31. Psalm 109 and verse 31, look what the Bible says: "For he shall stand at the right hand of the poor, to save him from those that condemn his soul." Now let that sink in, because I'm going to show you a good illustration. "For he shall stand at the right hand of the poor, to save him from those that condemn his soul." Now if you would turn in your Bibles to the book of Zechariah, right before the book of Malachi, next to the last book in the Old Testament. Notice, if you would, in Zechariah chapter 3. Zechariah chapter 3, and let's begin reading there with verse 1. Look at this: "And he shewed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him." Now there's an old song

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• that used to be sung—I hadn't heard it in years—but it was, "There were seen when the weakest saint is upon his knees, then old Satan flees." Excuse my grammar, but that ain't so. Here's Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing right there to resist him. Wow. But look at the next verse, verse 2. Watch this: "And the Lord said unto Satan..." Someone else was at Joshua's right hand. "And the Lord said unto Satan, The Lord rebuke thee, O Satan; even the Lord that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee: is not this a brand plucked out of the fire?" Wow. I want to give you a quote from J.C. Philpot. Here's what he said concerning verse 2 of Zechariah 3.

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• He says, "This expression implies, first, that he—that is, the angel of the Lord, the Lord Jesus—appears there as a friend. How cheering, how comforting it is to have a friend to stand by us when we're in trouble! Such a friend is Jesus. In the hour of necessity, he comes as a friend to stand by the right hand of the poor creature whose soul is condemned by guilt and accusation. But he stands in a far higher relation than that of a friend. He stands, too, as surety and a deliverer." You could say advocate.

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• He goes, as it were, into the court. And when the prisoner stands at the bar, he comes forward and stands at the right hand as his surety and bondsman. He brings out of his bosom the acquittance, the debt signed and sealed with his own blood. He produces it to the eyes of the court and claims and demands the acquittal and absolution of the prisoner at whose right hand he stands. He stands there, then, that the prisoner may be fully and freely

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• pardoned and completely justified from those accusations that condemn his soul. Oh, sweet standing! Oh, blessed appearance! Yeah. So it doesn't matter who accuses us. There's someone else standing at our right hand as well. Now turn back in your Bibles, or over, I should say, to the book of Romans chapter 8. I want you to see a couple of verses here. Look in Romans chapter 8 and the very first verse. This is another good verse to memorize. Look in Romans chapter 8 and notice, if you would please, verse 1. Love this verse. The Bible says in Romans 8, verse 1: "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." No condemnation. Now skip down to verses 33 and 34. Look at this. Verse 33: "Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth." No one can charge us with anything that is going to stick as long as our Lord is the justifier. He asks them in verse 34,

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• "Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us." So there can be no condemnation because our great advocate, the Lord Jesus Christ, is at the right hand of God, and he is the one who either justifies or condemns, and he is not going to condemn those whom he has justified. Now I want you to go back in your Bible.

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• Look at this in Psalm 121. This is the thing that excited me when I read through this song. When I look at verse 5, look at it: "The Lord is thy keeper. The Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand." So just ask yourself this one simple question: what are the implications of God being the shade upon my right hand? And here's the answer in verses 6, 7, and 8: "The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil. He shall preserve thy soul. The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore." So I can ask you this question after I've explained this: are you in the shade?

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• Are you under the shadow of his wings? Are you protected and preserved by him? Does his defense rest upon you? Are you trusting in him, and are you ready and able and willing to give him the honor and the glory, recognizing that without him you are nothing and can do nothing? Are you in the shade? The shade is not only a place of coolness, it's not only a place of blessing and delight, it's a place of defense.

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• Now, let me make an application. The first one is this: the fact that his shade is upon our right hand indicates that it does not matter what evil befalls us. It does not matter what situations we sink into or what circumstances attend unto us. The truth of the matter is, if he is our shade, it means that he is our protector. Nothing evil against us is going to prosper. It's going to fall. It's going to fail. So I've got news for Mr. Klaus Schwab and the Great Reset and the New World Order crowd: you're not going to succeed. You're going to fail. You're going to fall flat upon your face, because Jesus Christ is on the throne, and Jesus Christ is a sovereign God, and he is the one who either justifies or condemns. Now if

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• you understand this principle, think about this: if you understand this principle, there's no need to be discouraged. There's no need to be downhearted or downtrodden. No. Because you understand that our God is sovereign, and the child of God need not have any fear. What did David say? "I will fear no evil." Why? "For thou art with me." It's astounding as you go through the Bible to look at how many times the Word of God says, "Fear not. Fear not. Fear not." And yet many times we disobey and are fearful. And we have no reason to be fearful, for he is our shadow. He is our shade.

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• He is our protector. Now I want you to turn in your Bibles to one last passage. I want you to turn to Psalm 46. Psalm 46 may not mean anything to you—I hope it does—but one of my favorite hymns was written by Martin Luther: "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God, a Bulwark Never Failing." Psalm 46 is a psalm from which Luther drew the inspiration to write that hymn.

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• Would you look at this? This is absolutely astounding. He begins, and he says this—David does: "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble." Now watch this: "Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof. There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the most High. God is in the midst of her;

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• she shall not be moved: God shall help her, and that right early. The heathen raged, the kingdoms were moved: he uttered his voice, the earth melted. The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Come, behold the works of the Lord, what desolations he hath made in the earth. He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth; he breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder;

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• he burneth the chariot in the fire. Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth. The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge." What did he say? "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore will not we fear, even though the earth be removed and the mountains cast into the depths of the sea. We will fear not." Wow. To have faith and to rest in the shadow of his wings puts us in the shade: the place of rest, blessing, and the place of defense. The Lord is our defense.

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• We shall not be moved. Let's pray. Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we're thankful for your protection. We're thankful for your preservation. And Lord, you have protected us and preserved us so multitudinous times we do not even know it. We do not even realize it. But thank you, Father. May we trust in thee and rest in thee. And may we fear not, for thou art with us.

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• Give us your grace and mercy. In Christ's name we pray. Amen.

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• you you you you

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deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-05T18:28:13Z