The LORD is your keeper; the LORD is your shade on your right hand. The sun will not smite you by day, nor the moon by night. The LORD will protect you from all evil; He will keep your soul. (Psalm 121:5–7)

Related to the Lord being our keeper, He is also our Shade. We take this as a metaphor to convey that God protects us from that which is normally good for us, but can destroy us if we get too much. This probably does not refer to the Lord providing an atmosphere around the earth that protects us from harmful radiation—that would be beyond the scope of understanding for the ancient pre-scientific people of Israel. Rather, a shade is that which protects against light that is unwanted or, in this case, harmful.

We take for granted that the sun is needed for a comfortable life. Plants use the sun for a biological process called photosynthesis to produce plant growth for food, which is crucial to the entire earthly ecosystem. Exposure to the sun increases vitamin D in the human blood stream (Webmed.com). Of course, the sun provides warmth so that we humans can live comfortably.

However, the sun is dangerous, and our placement in the solar system must be precise or else we would burn up or die of the cold. Mars and Venus, our closest planetary neighbors, are too cold or too hot respectively for human life. On earth, with too much unprotected exposure, the sun can not only burn human skin, but also cause dehydration, heatstroke and sun stroke – all of which can be deadly if not treated. The sun can cause blindness, as every child is reminded when a solar eclipse comes around. Life is tolerable on this planet because there is shade to moderate the sun’s effects. Shade comes in the form of clouds, sunglasses, sunscreen, umbrellas, tinted windows, curtains, and opaque objects of all sorts. The most notable shade in the Bible is probably the one provided by God for Jonah when he was angry with God for forgiving the Ninevites (Jonah 4:6-8). When God removed the shade of the tree, “the sun beat down on Jonah’s head so that he became faint and begged with all his soul to die, saying, ‘Death is better to me than life’” (Jonah 4:6–8).

God provides shade from many good things that would otherwise destroy us in their overabundance. For example, God provides us with encouragement from others but protects us from too much that would feed our pride. When others fail to encourage us as we think we might need, this causes us to look to God for our encouragement. His shading reminds us that only He can ultimately encourage us enough to sustain our souls, for He is our Keeper and our Shade.

Lord, I praise You for protecting me from things that would burn my soul.