Under the Shadow of His Wings
By Tara Wentworth
There is a place of safety that we must each as believers come to know and experience personally. In the times we are living in, with all kinds of dangers from bioterrorism and bird flu to natural disasters and bank failures to violence in our homes and on our streets, we need a place of refuge. Psalm 91 is one of my favorite portions of scripture. Verses 2-4 state, “I will say of the Lord, ‘He is my refuge and my fortress; my God, in Him will I trust.’ Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the perilous pestilence. He shall cover you with His feathers and under His wings you shall take refuge. His truth shall be your shield and buckler.”
I heard a great story about a farmer who raised chickens. One of his hens had recently hatched a batch of biddies. They followed her around wherever she went. One day she had gone out into some grass to forage for some bugs (or whatever chickens eat) and she smelled smoke. She realized the grass had caught fire and that her biddies were in danger. She quickly called them and gathered them up under her wings. Much later, after the fire burnt down, the farmer came out to see what had happened. There was the mother hen, burnt to death. Saddened, he picked her up, and to his amazement, out from under the protection of her wings, came the little chicks, safe and sound.
That is what Psalm 91 is all about. In fact, three other places in the Psalms speaks about the shadow of His wings. David learned early in his life to trust the Lord for his life. Psalm 57 is a prayer for safety from his enemies, specifically when he had to flee from King Saul into a cave. He cried out in verse one, “Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me! For my soul trust in You; and in the shadow of Your wings I will make my refuge, until these calamities have passed by.”
Sometimes when trials, tests or calamity come our way, we are not as wise as the little chicks. Many times, we run from God – from His protection, from His mercy. Psalm 36:5-6 “Your mercy, O Lord, is in the heavens; Your faithfulness reaches to the clouds. Your righteousness is like the great mountains; Your judgments are a great deep; O Lord, You preserve man and beast. How precious is Your lovingkindness, O God! Therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of Your wings.” Lovingkindness is also translated steadfast love, mercy, goodness, unfailing love and is the equivalent to the New Testament word grace with which we are more familiar.
God’s Word says it will rain on the just and the unjust (we had over 20 inches several weeks ago when the storm blew through Thomasville). I believe that means that we are not promised that there will be no storms in our lives, but rather, we can count on there being times that are contrary to our wishes. The key is – where will we go when these things happen in our lives? Will we look to the wisdom of this world; will we grow bitter with life’s circumstances? Or, will we run to our place of refuge, under the shadow of His wings?
Over and over again the Psalms declare God’s faithfulness and protection from our enemies. When circumstances are contrary, when the outlook on a situation is bleak, we must learn to put our trust in the only One who can save us in the midst of our circumstances. We must be like the little chicks who hid under their mother’s protective wings until the danger was past. She gave her life for them. So did our God – He so love us that He allowed Jesus to die on our behalf.
Our children watch everything we do and listen to everything we say. If we can model to them a trust in the Lord, like they put their trust in us for provision and safety, they too, will learn to put their ultimate trust in the only One who is trustworthy.
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