SATURDAY 18th
Psalm 91
We return today to the theme I started yesterday of being covered.
It’s a word that gets used a lot today in reference to insurance. We need insurance to cover our car, our homes, our possessions, even our lives! Thank God we who are the redeemed of the Lord have not only cover, we have full cover!
In this psalm which is a favourite of many we see the word ‘cover’ used in verse 4. ‘He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.’ (NIV)
‘Covered with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge.’ This paints a beautiful picture in our minds, I am sure we have all at some time seen a hen with a brood of chicks gathered under her feathers, having been brought up on a farm it was a sight I often saw as we had hens and ducks. If ever we would make our way toward a hen with her chicks, the closer we got the more protective she became until eventually she would make sure that all the brood were safely nestled under her wings and it didn’t matter whether she had just 2 or 3 chicks or a brood of ten, the protection was there for them all.
Now, of course we know God is Spirit, but often the Bible refers to God as if he has particular features, such as his hand that is not shortened that it cannot save, his eyes that are roaming the earth, his feet which use the earth has a footstool, these types are given in a way that we as humans can be enabled to understand about who God is. Not what he looks like, but who he is as God in his character and in his providential and saving care for mankind. We know he doesn’t have literal feathers, but it helps us to understand that he is a God who like the hen wants to protect his children.
Scripture is full of other similes that speak of God as a protector. For example, in Proverbs 18:10 we read ‘The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous man runs into it and is safe.’ In other word, his name covers us. But in Psalm 61:3 we read ’for you have been my refuge, a strong tower against the enemy.’ The first says it is the NAME that is a strong tower, the second says ‘YOU’ that is God himself is a strong tower. We can understand in these examples that not only do we call on the name of the Lord for protection, but we can run into the Lord for protection.
We have just moved to the North East from North Wales and scattered along the coast in North Wales, in around 60 miles there is a string of castles including, Flint, Rhuddlan, Conwy, Caernarvon. These were built to be places of fortitude, refuge and protection. The people would fight from within the safety of the castle walls, and if an attack was impending, they would run to the safety of the castle walls.
We have One who is like a hen, waiting for us to run under his feathers for protection, but he is also like a castle, a fortress, and we can run into him for safety. We don’t have to fight our individual battles alone in our own strength, we can fight them from the safety of our Fortress, our Strong Tower.
Consider some of these Psalms that remind us that Our God is a strong defence and a strong defender:
Psalm 3:3, Psalm 9:9, Psalm 16:1, Psalm 18:1-3, Psalm 27:1, Psalm 31:3, Psalm 46:1, Psalm 62:5-7, Psalm 71:1-3,
If there is anything we have learned over the past few months it is that anything that we try to build our lives upon and around in this world is very unstable, whatever protections we may have put in place they are but temporal, or maybe even worthless, whatever protection or help the government has put in place is temporal, as time moves on, the goal posts may be moved, the safety nets may break or fail, but not our Protector, not our Safety Net, Not our God. He is Constant, Firm and Dependable.
May we continually run under his feathers, may we continually run into his Name, may we continually run into Him.
We won’t fear the battle, we won’t fear the night
We will walk the valley with You by our side
You will go before us, You will lead the way
We have found a refuge, only You can save
Sing with joy now: our God is for us
The Father’s love is a strong and mighty fortress
Raise your voice now, no love is greater
Who can stand against us if our God is for us
Even when I stumble, even when I fall
Even when I turn back, still Your love is sure
You will not abandon, You will not forsake
You will cheer me onward with never-ending grace
Sing with joy now: our God is for us
The Father’s love is a strong and mighty fortress
Raise your voice now, no love is greater
Who can stand against us if our God is for us
Neither height nor depth can separate us
Hell and death will not defeat us
He who gave His son to free us
Holds me in His love
Neither height nor depth can separate us
Hell and death will not defeat us
He who gave His son to free us
Holds me in His love
Sing with joy now: our God is for us
The Father’s love is a strong and mighty fortress
Raise your voice now, no love is greater
Who can stand against us if our God is for us
Sing with joy now: our God is for us
The Father’s love is a strong and mighty fortress
Raise your voice now, no love is greater
Who can stand against us if our God is for us
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