Under His Wings

Under His Wings

Psalm 91:4 - "He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler."

This is the image that gives the psalm its name in many hearts, the picture of a bird gathering its young beneath its wings. It is a strange and tender picture for the Almighty to choose, not armour first, but feathers, not a fortress first, but the warm covering of a mother bird over her chicks. Before he is described as shield, he is described as shelter.

There is a kind of trust that only grows underneath something, not beside it. A chick under the wing does not see the whole sky, does not know what danger passed overhead and was turned away. It simply rests in the covering because the covering is trustworthy. Some of your protection this season may look exactly like that, hidden, unseen, known only to God, while you simply rest.

In Matthew 23:37, Jesus uses the same tender image of a hen gathering her chicks under her wings. God's protection is not cold or distant. It is personal, compassionate and close.

But notice the shield and buckler at the end of the verse. His truth, not your feelings, not your circumstances, is what stands between you and harm. Feelings shift with the weather. Truth does not.

Notice the thoughts that have been feeding your anxiety. Are they rooted in what you fear might happen, or in the unchanging truth and faithfulness of God?

Prayer

Father, cover me under your wings today. Where I cannot see the danger that has been turned away, thank you that you already have. Let your truth, not my anxious thoughts, be my shield and my buckler. Amen.