WINGS

Wings

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 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 had 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 pinions,
 and under his wings you will find refuge;
 …” Psalm 91:4


Psalm 91

1 - He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
 will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.

2 -  I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress,
 my God, in whom I trust.”

3 - For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler
 and from the deadly pestilence. 

4 - He will cover you with his pinions,
 and under his wings you will find refuge;
  his faithfulness is a shield and buckler.

5 - You will not fear the terror of the night, nor the arrow that flies by day,

6 - nor the pestilence that stalks in darkness,
 nor the destruction that wastes at noonday.

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 look with your eyes
 and see the recompense of the wicked.

9 - Because you have made the Lord your dwelling place—
 the Most High, who is my refuge —

10 - no evil shall be allowed to befall you,
 no plague come near your tent.

11 - For he will command his angels concerning you
 to guard you in all your ways.

12 -  On their hands they will bear you up,
 lest you strike your foot against a stone.

13 - You will tread on the lion and the adder;
 the young lion and the serpent you will trample underfoot.

14 - “Because he holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him;
 I will protect him, because he knows my name.

15 - When he calls to me, I will answer him;
 I will be with him in trouble;
 I will rescue him and honor him.

16 - With long life I will satisfy him
 and show him my salvation.”