Some years ago, my brother-in-law Einar and I were hiking in the highlands of eastern Norway. We carried food, water and coffee as we walked along the tracks in an area between forest and mountain. At one point, the weather changed from sunshine to a heavy rainstorm. As the rain began, we hurried to find shelter under a large, twisted pine tree with a broad and dense canopy. We sat down under the tree, ate our lunch, drank our coffee and shared a wonderful time together.

Suddenly Einar said to me: ‘Has it occurred to you that the psalmist might have experienced something like this when he wrote Psalm 91?    I feel as if we are literally sheltered by our Lord at the moment.’

For a while, we sat without talking. And we felt the Lord embracing us. We did find shelter from the rainstorm that day, but more important is the everlasting promise of the Lord’s shelter every day. It was as if the Lord had whispered to us, ‘You can always rest in my shadow.’

Prayer: Dear God, thank you for your everlasting love for us, and for your promise to hem us in and lay your hand upon us. Amen