Psalm 63:7 – “Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings.”

One of the things I have always loved is the comforter.  It’s like a giant flat feather pillow with a huge  pillowcase enveloping it with buttons at one end to keep it from slipping out.  When you make the bed there is no need for sheets because they are wrapped around your comforter which is a real benefit to those who dislike making beds!  But the real advantage is when you crawl into the bed pulling the comforter up under your chin and the down inside the comforter begins to insulate from the cold and trap the heat of your body.

I wonder if that is what a chick feels when it nestles under the wing of its mother….

….this passage reminded me of Luke 13:34. As a kid I can remember watching mother hens gathering their chicks beneath their wings. How they would run to scootch in for the warmest spot closest to her body, huddling and chirping madly. Eventually the chirping would become quieter as they would settle under her wings safe…content…warm…. What a perfect image: a confidence and comfort that causes me to want to sing softly, aware that I am covered by my Help, the God of the universe, Who ruffles His feathers, opens the span of his pinions and calls me…as I run…into the shadow of His wing.

There is something about the Psalmist’s logic here that is important to me as well.  There are many things we can ‘hide’ underneath.  All of them have limitations. Buildings collapse in earthquakes or are swept away in floods.  Trees attract bolts of lightening.  Cars crash.  People die.

The whole point is that those who depend upon the Lord for their help have huddled under wings that transcend the greatest of calamities, shelter us during the worst of events and carry us through the greatest of tragedies.  Because of this, during the tough times we don’t huddle under His wings, shuddering in fear. For those whose hope is in the Lord…

…they sing.