“My Father’s Presence Is Beside Me” (vv. 5-6). Our Keeper is not only on the throne looking down on us, but He is at our side to shield us from all harm. This does not mean that obedient believers never find themselves in difficulty or danger, or that they will never feel physical and emotional pain. The things that God permits to happen to us in His will may hurt us, but they will not harm us. David had many experiences that brought heartache and even threatened his life, but the Lord enabled him to turn those seeming tragedies into beautiful psalms that encourage us today. The Lord at our right hand provides the “shade” that we need (17:8; 36:7; 57:1; 63:7; 91:1; Isa. 25:4; 49:2; 51:16).

In writing about the sun and the moon, the psalmist was saying several things. To begin with, in that part of the world, the burning sun is menacing (2 Kings 4:18-19; Jonah 4:8), but at night, the sudden drop in temperature is both uncomfortable and unhealthy, if you lack warm covering. Day and night, our Father is with us to shelter us from that which could harm us. The Jewish people followed a lunar calendar (81:3), so the writer was also referring to days (the sun) and months (the moon). From day to day, from month to month, from season to season (Gen. 1:16-18), from year to year, our Father is with us in the many challenges and changes of life. The psalmist did not believe the superstition that the phases of the moon affected the minds and bodies of people. The English word lunatic comes from the Latin word luna, which means “moon”; and the word lunatick comes from a Greek word that means “moon-struck” (see Matt. 4:24; 17:15). Whether by day or by night, in heat or cold, whatever the changes might be, the Father’s presence provides all that we need. We need not be afraid of sudden attacks that can come in the day or the night, for “the shadow of the Almighty” covers us (see Ps. 91).