Does God cast a shadow?
“Keep me as the apple of the eye, hide me under the shadow of thy wings.” ( Psalm 17:8 ) There are twelve references in the Bible to God’s “shadow,” understood as a type of His invisible, but very real, guiding presence. The reference in our text above is the first, and there are three other references to this beautiful metaphor—the “shadow” of the wings of God. Psalm 36:7 assures us that men can “put their trust under the shadow of thy wings,” and Psalm 57:1 that we can take refuge there “until these calamities be overpast,” and then we can “rejoice” there ( Psalm 63:7 ). The Lord’s presence is like “the shadow of a great rock in a weary land,” according to Isaiah 32:2 . The same prophet quoted God as saying that “I have covered thee in the shadow of mine hand” even as He formed the heavens and the earth, while hiding us “in the shadow of his hand” ( Isaiah 51:16 ; 49:2). Then there is the wonderful promise of Psalm 91:1: “He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High s...