Blessed Delight

Let me tell you about Nanny's shade trees.  Just the thought of them calls back a younger me sitting in a white-painted metal chair on a hot summer afternoon then chasing lightning bugs in the evening.  Those trees gave solace from the sun and canopy for lightning bugs on the warm summer evenings.  Yes, delightful trees.

Psalm 91 describes something better than the best of this world’s shade trees: "He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty."  (V.1)  The very Shadow of Almighty God offers everything we need when hearts are heavy, spirits are low, strength is gone.  Consider, if you will, the vastness of our God and His very shadow!  Furthermore, there is no limit to which He extends grace and compassion to those Who love Him.  "He will call upon me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him." (V.15)  When tears come and the heart is vulnerable and weak, we can know His strength.  CeCe Winans sings "His strength is perfect when our strength is gone.  He'll carry us when we can't carry on.  Raised in His power, the weak become strong.  His strength is perfect, His strength is perfect."  It’s no wonder to me these verses appear in the same chapter: there in His Shadow, out of the heat of the storm, He strengthens and delivers.  Yes, El Shaddai – Almighty God … blessed Delight!