Too Much of a Good Thing

Psalm 121:5-7

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I’m sure you’ve heard it said before, you can’t have too much of a good thing. Well, I myself feel like I’ve proven that statement false. Many years ago, my family and I moved down to Florida and we were excited to do so, not simply because it would be a new adventure, but because we were moving down to Florida in January and we lived in Minnesota. We were looking forward to leaving the cold and the snow behind, getting rid of our snow pants and boots and trading them for shorts and sandals. And Florida was everything that we had expected. With the sun shining every day, the average temps in the 70s and 80s. We began to wonder to ourselves, “Why doesn’t everybody live in Florida? It’s so amazing.”

We soon discovered why, just a few months later, as that sun kept shining every day, but it only got hotter and hotter as we entered into the summer months. Soon, it felt as if it was unbearable. We could hardly go outside a moment without beginning to sweat profusely. I know during those days I desperately looked for shade, wanting some relief from that overbearing sun, that sun that even turned out to be harmful and could cause sunburn and heat stroke and those sorts of things. So what seemed to be so good is actually perhaps a bad thing at times.

God in His Word in Psalm 121 really pictures himself as shelter from the sun. He describes himself in this way,

The Lord watches over you. The Lord is your shade at your right hand. The sun will not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. (Psalm 121:5-6)

God reminds us that he watches over us at all times in daytime or in the evening, even picturing himself as a shade, protecting us from the sun’s rays. It’s kind of an interesting picture to think about God in that way, because when we think about the weather, we might wonder, well, who wouldn’t want a sun shining day, right? It’s what everyone looks forward to. But the sun at times can be too much of a good thing can’t it? Especially if it causes heat stroke and sunburn, it can do some serious damage. And yet God tells us that he is a shade, a shade to protect us, even from the damaging sun’s rays.

You know, the very next verse in Psalm 121 says this,

The Lord will watch to keep you from all harm. He will watch over your life. (Psalm 121:7)

I think there are many people when they hear that verse, they might wonder. Is that really true? That God is going to keep us from all harm? After all, Christians also have to endure hardship. Christians get injured, Christians get sick, Christians die. It’s not like God keeps them from those sorts of harm, does he? No, those things happen in the lives of Christians, too. And yet the statement is still true. God keeps you from all harm. But go back to that picture of the sun. Can you have too much of a good thing like the sun? We would say yes if it causes sunburn and heat stroke, right? And what does God do? God protects us from all harm, even sometimes good things.

We might wonder, Well, how could I ever have enough good health or enough wealth or prosperity? Well, God knows what’s truly best for us concerning our soul. He knows that certain things might actually harm us, that there couldn’t be too much of a good thing if it leads us away from trusting in him is the God of our salvation. If it leads us to trusting and looking forward to only the things in this life and the pleasure we can have here, instead of looking forward to the mansion, he has prepared for us in heaven. So God reassures us that he protects us from all harm, even the harm of those good things, the damage that they can cause to our faith. That God can even use bad things for his good purpose to keep us close to him, to keep our eyes ever focused on eternal life forever in heaven.

So what a comfort we find in these verses of Psalm 121, as we see that God is our shade. God that protects us even from the sun’s rays at times, even from good things that can lead us away from him. God is always keeping us close to him, keeping our souls from harm and danger as he brings us safely to be with him forever in heaven. That eternal life that is ours through our Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.