God’s Wings.

This story is similar to one I heard in Australia about a chicken after a fire passed through a property.

An article in National Geographic several years ago provided a penetrating picture of God’s wings. After a forest fire in Yellowstone National Park, forest rangers began their trek up a mountain to assess the inferno’s damage. One ranger found a bird literally petrified in ashes, perched statuesquely on the ground at the base of a tree.

Somewhat sickened by the eerie sight, he knocked over the bird with a stick. When he gently struck it, three tiny chicks scurried from under their dead mother’s wings. The loving mother, keenly aware of impending disaster, had carried her offspring to the base of the tree and had gathered them under her wings, instinctively knowing that the toxic smoke would rise.

She could have flown to safety but refused to abandon her babies. When the blaze had arrived and the heat had scorched her small body, the mother had remained steadfast.

Because she had been willing to die, those under the cover of her wings would live.

“He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge.” – Psalm 91:4 NLT

This anonymous psalm shines with the assurance given to those who trust God.  Some have attributed it to Moses because it shares some of the same themes. It does summarize Deuteronomy 33:27 very well: Ps.90 “The eternal God is your refuge,” Ps.91 “and underneath are the everlasting arms.” Ps.90 talked of the sovereignty of God compared to man’s brevity with a life of trouble and fear. Ps91 talks of God’s tenderness and man’s long life in God, where he is no longer afraid. In Ps90 man confesses his sin and there is a prayer for satisfaction. In Ps 91 God acknowledges man’s love and there is the promise of satisfaction.

God has a ‘secret place’ for His own (Ps.27:5,31:20), and it is a place to live in. Those who dwell there ‘abide under the shadow of the Almighty,’(Ps91:1) knowing His protection, comfort, and care.

In Ps.90:1, Moses spoke of God as the dwelling place of His people. The opening lines of Psalm 91 seem to take that idea further. Moses spoke of God as the dwelling-place, the habitation, the home of people. This singer seems to accept that great idea, and then to speak of the most central chamber of the dwelling-place, referring to it as the Secret Place, and describing its complete security. ‘Abiding under His shadow,” is a place of trust despite our circumstances. Believing that God has good plans for us and not bad. (c.f. Jer.29:11)

These first two verses use four wonderful titles or names for God: ‘Most High;’ (Elyon) implies a status beyond the gods of any enemy ‘Almighty;’ (Shaddai) emphasises God’s great power to protect His people (Exod. 6:3). ‘The Lord;’ (Yahweh.) The personal name of God who had chosen Israel. ‘My God;’ (Elohay) shows the intimate nature of the psalmist’s relationship with Him. Combined, these names for God give us a picture of ultimate protection. The one who lives intimately with God knows the greatness of His protection. God, Himself becomes like a mighty ‘refuge’ and ‘fortress’ for the believer. The Lord is our refuge for safety, our fortress for defence, and our God for everything physical or emotional.

The psalmist encounters various sorts of troubles and, in them, turns to the Lord, who is a refuge in every adversity. Trust is a deliberate choice to acknowledge God’s lordship over one’s life in all circumstances. If trust does not work in adversity, then it will not work anywhere.

The psalmist’s testimony, “I will say of the Lord, ‘He is my refuge and my fortress: my God, in Him I will trust’ “(Ps. 91:2, NJKV), springs from this past experience with God and now serves to strengthen his faith for the future. The psalmist calls God the Most High and the Almighty (Ps. 91:1, 2), remembering the surpassing greatness of his God.

The psalmist also tells of the security that one can find in God: the “secret place” (“shelter” or “hiding place”), “shadow” (Ps. 91:1), “refuge,” “fortress” (Ps. 91:2), “wings,” “shield,” “buckler” (Ps. 91:4) and “dwelling place” (Ps. 91:9). These images represent safe havens in the psalmist’s culture. One needs only to think of the unbearable heat of the sun in that part of the world to appreciate the shadow (or shade) or to recall the times of wars in Israel’s history in order to value the security provided by the shield or the fortress.

God is your refuge in any adversity.