Under his feathers

It’s one of my favourite verses in the whole Bible. And it was part of this morning’s Lenten devotion.

“He will cover you with his feathers,
And under his wings you will find refuge….”

Psalm 91:4a

In fact, the whole Psalm is magnificent. During these days of wars, disease and natural disasters, more than ever, we do well to meditate on it. Even as write these words, I find myself humming the beautiful old hymn, ‘Under his wings’, and so looked it up. It is playing in the background as I write.

My morning meditations led to this blog post. Thanks for reading along.

Psalm 91 NIV

Let me copy the Psalm here for our convenience, since I am about to jot a few thoughts about it.

¹ Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High
    will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
² I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress,
    my God, in whom I trust.”

³ Surely he will save you
    from the fowler’s snare
    and from the deadly pestilence.
⁴ He will cover you with his feathers,
    and under his wings you will find refuge;
    his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.
⁵ You will not fear the terror of night,
    nor the arrow that flies by day,
⁶ nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness,
    nor the plague that destroys at midday.
⁷ A thousand may fall at your side,
    ten thousand at your right hand,
    but it will not come near you.
⁸ You will only observe with your eyes
    and see the punishment of the wicked.

⁹ If you say, “The Lord is my refuge,”
    and you make the Most High your dwelling,
¹⁰ no harm will overtake you,
    no disaster will come near your tent.
¹¹ For he will command his angels concerning you
    to guard you in all your ways;
¹² they will lift you up in their hands,
    so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.
¹³ You will tread on the lion and the cobra;
    you will trample the great lion and the serpent.

¹⁴ “Because he loves me,” says the Lord, “I will rescue him;
    I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.
¹⁵ He will call on me, and I will answer him;
    I will be with him in trouble,
    I will deliver him and honor him.
¹⁶ With long life I will satisfy him
    and show him my salvation.”

Context now

‘A Pandemic Prayer’, some have termed this Psalm.”Pray Psalm 91 for 91 days and God will protect you,” they say. (No, I’m not providing references for that paraphrased quote, because I do not think it is helpful.)

Of course, it’s good to pray the Psalms. The Prayer Book of the Israelite people is packed with helpful models for our own prayers. However, let me begin this reflection with a note of caution against taking verses out of context and applying them literally to our specific circumstances. I do not want to throw a wet blanket over the glorious flame of confidence and assurance that this Psalm provides us during these difficult days. Indeed, these precious words offer real hope.

Horrific war scenes confront us in the media every day, and I can’t imagine how it is for those who are actually experiencing the destruction and bloodshed. And then there is ongoing isolation and frustration, let alone health and economic challenges, that people still face because of the pandemic. I am thinking particularly of friends in Asia whose movements have been severely restricted for over two years now. Closer to home, some of my fellow countrymen are suffering homelessness, loss of income and trauma after repeated floods.

My life right now is pretty comfortable. I’m healthy, happy and as safe as anyone in our crazy world can be. So I am aware that the position from which I jot these following thought is privileged. Nevertheless, let me push on with some reflections.

Context then

In the book of Deuteronomy, and particularly in chapter 28, we read of God’s promise of prosperity for the nation of Israel if they live according to God’s Law, but also the threat of oppression and plague if they forsake God. While the principles of Psalm 91 can be applied to us as individuals, I don’t think that we can expect to be protected from all trouble in the same way that the nation of Israel was promised prosperity for obedience.

What’s more, our enemy, the opposer of God’s people, Satan, modelled for us the error of quoting verses of hope and promise from this very Psalm without considering the broader context. Centuries after this Psalm was penned, when our Enemy tempted the very Son of God, Satan quoted verses 11 and 12 to our Lord.

Surely God would send his angels, as promised, to protect Jesus were he to throw himself off the temple, the enemy suggested. Jesus responded by quoting another Old Testament Scripture – ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’ (Matthew 4:7 and Luke 4:12, Deuteronomy 6:16.)

So how can we apply Psalm 91 to our lives in the messed-up world of 2022 without misusing the Word of God like our enemy did?

Make the Most High our dwelling

We’re called to make the Most High our dwelling. But how do we do that? How can we metaphorically shelter under his feathers, covered by his strong wing, as verse four so beautifully describes?

Space does not permit me to write much on this very important matter, but I think the answer is obvious. It is simple yet difficult. It is can be summed up in one word: FAITH.

It is simple to say that we believe in God. In times of trouble, of course, more than ever, we throw ourselves upon him, seeking that shelter under his wings, snugly enveloped by his feathers. It is comforting to reflect on the fact that angels surround us, looking out for us, even though we can’t see them.

Yet it is difficult to throw ourselves on God at times. When we are faced with problems, our minds quickly turn to worry, to try and figure out how to overcome the difficulties in which we find ourselves, and how to ‘pull ourselves up by our own bootstraps’ … however that works. (Yes, I went down that rabbit trail of enquiry in preparing these thoughts too but again, space is limited. If you’re interested, check out this article: https://uselessetymology.com/2019/11/07/the-origins-of-the-phrase-pull-yourself-up-by-your-bootstraps/ )

The bottom line is this: We need to very deliberately, frequently and ideally in the company of other followers of our Lord, turn our minds to him. ‘Meditation’, English translations of the Bible call it, though that word has other connotations these days too.

How does God rescue us?

I wish … I REALLY wish … that God would make the lives of his people like a bed of roses without the thorns. However, we need look no further than the example of our Lord Jesus himself to realise that clearly, this is not what the Psalm is promising those who fix our minds on God.

The Bible is full of examples of prophets, disciples, apostles and others who endured dreadful suffering. They did it tough not only because they lived in a broken world, but often specifically because of their faith in God. Jesus actually predicted great trouble for his disciples, though in the same breath he assured them that he had overcome the world (John 16:33).

The answer to the question, ‘How does God rescue us?’ is simply ‘Jesus’. Psalm 91 not only had relevance for the nation of Israel as they obeyed … or disobeyed … their Lord, but it pointed ahead to the day when Jesus would endure tremendous suffering so as to save God’s people once and for all. Jesus refused to succumb to the temptation of testing God’s promises to suit his own ends, as the Enemy suggested.

As I delved into how others make sense of this Psalm in our stricken world, I stumbled across a delightful meditation written by a Nigerian brother. Through his death and resurrection, Jesus opened the door for us to ‘dwell with God’ for eternity. He expressed it better than I can:

Psalm 91 was not Jesus’ excuse for avoiding the cross; rather that scripture was His reason for going to the cross.

Ayokunle Fagunwa, Lagos, Nigeria, https://journal.cjgh.org/index.php/cjgh/article/view/461/869

Hope

Psalm 91 offers us hope for the here and now. Praying these words during difficult times is helpful and the images the Psalm offers us are comforting. However, the full extent of the hope it offers will only be experienced when we, as a nation, live under the Lordship of the Most High, the Lord Almighty.

I’m not talking here about the nation of Australia, though it would be fabulous if we would turn as one to our Creator. No, I am talking about the kingdom of God’s people – a kingdom in which we already have citizenship. We remain in this broken and hurting world for a while longer but Scripture assures us that our citizenship is in heaven. (See, for example, John 14:2, Philippians 3:20, Hebrews 13:14, 1 Peter 1:4 and Revelation 21-22.)

A city

I started this blog post with the comforting picture of snuggling securely under the wings of the Most High. It is right to meditate on Biblical images such as this, especially in the midst of chaos and destruction. It is a cosy image.

But let me now finish with another Biblical image which is also worth meditating upon during these uncertain and difficult days. The picture is not anywhere near as cosy, though quite majestic. It is that of a city. Not just any city, but the New Jerusalem.

“Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”

Revelation 21:3-4 NIV

And so, in the midst of difficulties, let us remember that we belong to the Kingdom of God. May we keep our thoughts fixed on the Most High One, and thus ‘making the Lord Most High our dwelling’. One day, together with all God’s people, bouncing with all the energy and beauty of our resurrected bodies, we shall fully experience all of that which Psalm 91 promises and which Jesus brought about.

In the meantime, we snuggle under those feathers, protected by those strong wings.