Psalm 17

Guard me as You would guard Your own eyes. Hide me in the shadow of Your wings.

(Psa 17:8)

This is one of my favorite phrases in scripture… “The shadow of Your wings”. Now, this is obviously a metaphor because God doesn’t have literal wings… He is Spirit, not flesh and bone. We also never really abide under a physical “shadow”. So the question is, what is this a metaphor for? What are we talking about? What does God provide for us here as we talk about “wings” and “shadows”?

Let’s start with the wings. I get this image of a mother bird caring for her young. Under the wings of the mother the children find warmth in the presence of cold, shelter in the presence of storm, and safety in the midst of an attack. They are SAFE and SECURE. This word for wings can also mean “skirt”. In bible times to “spread your skirt” over someone was symbolic of making a MARRIAGE COVENANT with them. When a man brings a woman into a marriage, he offers to do these same things for them. Protection, safety, and security; all of these things are made available to the bride. Jesus offers this kind of protection for ALL OF US.

The idea of SHADOW is one of abiding in the protection that God provides. The shadow is the area covered by the wing. David’s prayer was that God would hide him in this place of refuge. God wants to provide this same protection for us… will we accept it???