Under the shadow of God’s wings
Assuming we’re our own primary caretakers leaves us stressed when threatened. What if we saw God as our primary caretaker, with our goal as simply moving in sync with him? This psalm points to that reality.
A David psalm. When he fled from Saul into the cave.
1 Be gracious to me, God, be gracious
for I’ve taken shelter in you
and am hiding in the shadow of your wings
till the hurricane blows past.
2 I cry out to God Most High
who fulfills his purposes for me.
3 He’ll dispatch help from heaven and save me
humiliating those who trample on me.
God will send his unfailing love and faithfulness.
4 I lie down surrounded by man-eating lions.
Their teeth are spears and arrows
their tongues sharpened swords.
5 Rise up high above the heavens, O God!
Reign in glory over all the earth!
6 Seeing how downcast I was
they set a trap for my feet.
But though they dug a pit in my path
they’re the ones who fell into it.
7 My mind is fixed on you, God
my heart is fixed.
I’ll sing and make music.
8 Wake up, my soul!
Wake up, harp and lyre!
Let’s wake up the dawn!
9 I’ll celebrate you among the nations, my Lord
and sing your praises to everyone everywhere.
10 For your unfailing love is so vast
it reaches the heavens
and your faithfulness scrapes against the clouds.
11 Rise up high above the heavens, O God!
Reign in glory over all the earth!
Saul’s encounter with David in the cave is slapstick funny. Seeking privacy to relieve himself, Saul enters alone and unprotected, little knowing who’s inside. Unseeing in the dark and extremely vulnerable, he’s so preoccupied with the business at hand he’s oblivious to all danger.
David could have seen the situation as providential—the moment he’s waited for—and killed Saul in cold blood. But only in Saul’s head is he after Saul’s head. That is, in Saul’s paranoid mind. This truly is the moment David’s waited for, when he can demonstrably prove that to be so, as he does moments later.[a]
Before that happens David realizes Saul’s army could easily have starved him out if only they’d known he was there. But David’s position in the cave makes Saul, not David, vulnerable. As David sees that God, not Saul, is in charge, God’s glory lights up the cave.
David knows Saul won’t stop chasing him, but that’s suddenly irrelevant since he knows nothing can prevent God from fulfilling his purposes for him. God will send him help and shelter him under his wings. So, David responds not by sighing resignedly, but by singing so loudly he wakens the dawn—even from the back of a cave.
Lord, I want to be in sync with you, like David in the cave. Open my eyes to see you filling the darkness around me, sheltering me, fulfilling your purposes for me. Your unfailing love and faithfulness fill my world—you reign over all! Help me believe it and live accordingly. Amen.
Pray this prayer in your free moments today:
Rise up high above the heavens, O God!
Reign in glory over all the earth!
[a] The story is that David cuts off the corner of Saul’s robe while he’s preoccupied. Then once Saul has left the cave, David has someone return the cloth to Saul as clear proof that he could have killed him but chose not to (1 Sam. 24).
