Psalm 84:11

For the LORD God is a sun and shield;
He bestows favor and honor.
No good thing does the LORD withhold
From those who walk uprightly.

Today’s Scripture is the simple truth. It is not, however, the announcement of a Divine Vending Machine. God withholds no good thing from those who walk uprightly. But we do not know what “good things” are. As Oscar Wilde remarked long ago, the gods answer the prayers of those they wish to destroy. Many things we pray for as “good” are things that would destroy us if we got them. Precisely because God is a “shield” we are protected from the folly of our own wishes. But because God is a sun, we receive light from him on how to pray aright. Today, ask your Father, “Lord, teach us to pray.”