God’s Promise of the Cloud
“The shadow of a great rock in a weary land.” — Isa. xxxii. 2.
GOD is commonly represented as a light to
the soul; here He is represented as a shadow to the soul. This latter experience is one which we do not often think of. We are quite familiar with prayers for the sunshine. We say constantly, “Rise upon our night, Thou better Sun, and let the clouds melt before Thy glory!” But we are not in the habit of saying, “O Thou Divine Cloud, grant us a moment of Thy shadow; come and shade us from the glare and glitter of the garish day!” Such a prayer would be deemed very original, perhaps very unsuitable. And yet there are times in which man needs nothing so much as a withdrawal of lights. There are times in which the only chance for a human soul is the pulling down of the window-blinds.
There is a peculiarity in the law of Divine optics. We pray, “Enlighten our eyes!” but often we can only get our inner eye enlightened by having the outer eye shaded. Is the soul never to get moments for repose — for meditation, self-reflection! Is it never to have an hour all to itself — an hour when its doors are shut, when its windows are covered, when its outside voices are hushed, when it is untouched by the heat of the day! God says, “Yes, it shall have such moments”; and He prepares a place for it in the wilderness. He stops me midway in the race. He lays His hand upon me, and I fall. He bears me into the silence, into the solitude. He puts the multitude all out, and locks the door. He closes the shutters of the casement. He interrupts the music in the street; He forbids the dancing in the hall. He says, “Your nerves are weary with excitement; in this desert place you shall rest awhile.”
O Lord my God, have I ever thanked Thee for the shadow; have I ever said with the Psalmist, “The Lord is the shade on my right hand, therefore the sun will not smite me by day, neither the moon by night”! Alas, my Father, mine has been the opposite fear; I am afraid of being smitten by the absence of the sun, by the absence of the moon. I have never realised the healing power of the shadow. I have been praying, “Lead, kindly Light!” all the time Thou wert giving the command, “Lead, kindly Shade!” It never occurred to me that there could be an underground railway. I thought myself buried alive, cut off from all work beneath the sun. And lo, my shadow was my substance! When I thought I was losing time, I was travelling with unwonted speed. It was under the shadow I met Thee. When I came out men saw a change. They said, “Adversity has humbled him.” They were wrong; it had heightened me. I never knew the greatness of my soul till I felt the weakness of my body. On my bed of sickness conscience woke. In my hour of silence Heaven spoke. In my day of darkness Thy light broke. I never knew my immortality till, behind the curtains drawn, I felt my sin. It was the shadow taught me immortality. The sunshine said, “The building is complete; why look for a to-morrow!” But the shadow said, “You are unfinished; there is a tower wanting; there is something to come.” The sunshine cried, “You are satisfied on earth; earth is your portion.” But the shadow murmured, “Your powers are unfilled here; you wait a wider field.” The sunshine sang, “This is the day the Lord hath made.” But the shadow whispered, “The end is not yet; there remaineth a rest to the people of God.” Thy shadow, O Lord, has been better than man’s
light.