UNDER THE SHADOW OF YOUR WINGS
Ps. 91:4; Lk. 13:34
INTRODUCTION
A. HUMOR: DOG DECEIVED
1. Two friends run into each other while walking their dogs. One suggests lunch. The other says, "They won't let us in a restaurant with pets."
2. Undeterred, the first guy and his German shepherd head into the restaurant. The maître d' stops them, saying, "Sir, you can't bring your dog in here."
3. "But I'm blind," the man replies, "and this is my guide dog." The maître d', apologizing profusely, shows both man and dog to a table.
4. His friend waits five minutes, then tries the same routine. "You have a Chihuahua for a guide dog?" the skeptical maître d' says.
5. "A Chihuahua?" the man says. "Is that what they gave me?"
B. TEXT
1. “He shall cover you with His feathers, and under His wings you shall take refuge...” Ps. 91:4.
2. “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing” Luke 13:34.
C. THESIS
1. Today we’re looking at what “Under the shadow of God’s wings” means, and 5 things you’ll find under God’s wings.
2. The title is “Under the Shadow of Your Wings.” First, notice...
I. THE CONDESCENSION OF GOD
A. GOD HAS NO “CREATURE” FORM
1. God said, “Take careful heed to yourselves, for you saw no form when the Lord spoke to you at Horeb out of the midst of the fire, lest you act corruptly and make for yourselves a carved image in the form of any figure: the likeness of [HUMAN] MALE OR FEMALE, the likeness of any animal that is on the earth or the likeness of any winged bird that FLIES IN THE AIR, the likeness of anything that creeps on the ground or the likeness of any fish that is in the water beneath the earth” Deut. 4:15-18. So we shouldn’t think that God looks like an animal.
2. And even though God often seen in the Bible as having the shape of a man, He actually DOESN’T have that shape. Anthropomorphic expressions of God (feet, hands, eyes, ears, arm, fingers, head) are symbolic representations which serve to make God real and to express His various interests, powers, and activities. God doesn’t have wings either (Ps. 17:8; 36:7; 57:1; 61:4; 91:4). Wings speak of protection. Eyes and ears speak of God’s omniscience (Prov. 15:3); hands and fingers represent His power and activity. Feet represent progress in redemption.
3. God is an infinite Spirit (Jer. 23:24; 2 Chron. 6:18; Eph. 4:6; Acts 17:28), without a form, like wind. ‘Wind’ & ‘spirit’ are the same word. God is invisible (Col. 1:15). No created being can see Him or approach Him, except through Jesus Christ. God is unchanging, eternal, & perfect. We are created in the image or likeness of God in righteousness & holiness (Col. 3:10-12).
4. Jesus Christ DOES have a physical body He took on in order to redeem us, but we don’t worship the human form, we worship the eternal Being that inhabited that form.
B. YET PSALMS SAYS, ‘UNDER YOUR WINGS’
1. Psalm 17:8, “Keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings.”
2. Psalm 36:7, “How priceless is your unfailing love, O God! People take refuge in the shadow of your wings.”
3. Psalm 57:1, “I will take refuge in the shadow of your wings until the disaster has passed.”
4. Psalm 61:4, “I will abide in Your tabernacle forever; I will trust in the shelter of Your wings. Selah.”
5. Psalm 63:7, “Because You have been my help, Therefore in the shadow of Your wings I will rejoice.”
6. Psalm 91:4, “He shall cover you with His feathers, and under His wings you shall take refuge; His truth shall be your shield and buckler.
7. The question is, why is there such a widespread identification of God spreading His wings over us?
II. COMPARISON: GOD TO A MOTHER HEN
A. THE STORY THAT STARTED THIS IDEA
1. Faith Bollier’s grandmother’s house caught fire and burned. She said, “I guess all my chickens burned up with it!” She said this because the chicken house was right up against her own house. They went and looked.
2. Dead half-burned chickens littered the chicken house floor. Nothing moved. Someone bumped over a burned chicken’s body and 6 little chicks came racing out from under her! This happened with 2 more dead chickens.
3. Faith said that her grandmother was able to restock the chicken house from the baby chicks that had survived from being under their mother’s wings!
B. CHARACTERISTICS OF MOTHER HENS
1. There’s condescension in these words! If any mere human had compared God to a chicken, we would have considered it a blasphemy! But this was spoken through the person of the Holy Spirit.
2. The Lord here compares Himself to a hen covering her brood and He speaks not only of the wings, which give shelter, but He goes into detail, and speaks of the FEATHERS, which give warmth, and comfort, and repose. “He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust.”
3. God points out the hen’s MATERNAL INSTINCT as as being similar to His own parental tenderness. God compares Himself to the mother bird which fosters, cherishes, and protects her little ones. Many have stood in a farmyard and seen the little chicks as they ran under the hen’s wings.
4. Mother Hens may be facing imminent death by a predator or fire; they have had a great amount of FEAR. Yet because of God’s protective instinct, the mother hen will LAY HER BODY ON THE LINE to protect her chicks. She calls to her little ones by her peculiar cry. They come to her, and then stooping down and spreading out her wings, she covered them and they are safe.
5. God wants us to feel that kind of safety when we come to Him. To feel that kind of self-sacrificing love, the warmth of His heart. Once the chicks have gotten under their mother’s wings they feel safe, comfortable, and have a serene peace. God wants us to have that too!
III. 5 THINGS YOU’LL FIND UNDER GOD’S WINGS
A. UNDER HIS WINGS WE FIND PROTECTION
1. Psalm 57:1, “Have mercy on me, my God, have mercy on me, for in you I take refuge. I will take refuge in the shadow of your wings until the disaster has passed.
2. Luke 13:34, “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing.
3. Psalm 91:4, “He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.
4. Psalm 27:5, "He shall hide me in His pavilion…." The word “pavilion” was the word used of the central tent of the Commander of an Army. This meant the enemy would have to break through rank after rank of soldiers to get to it. That is how protected we are!
B. UNDER HIS WINGS WE FIND HELP
Psalm 63:7, “Because You have been my help, Therefore in the shadow of Your wings I will rejoice” NKJV.
C. UNDER HIS WINGS WE FIND HEALING
Malachi 4:2, “But to you who fear My name the Sun of Righteousness shall arise with healing in His wings” NKJV. The word "wings" is the Hebrew word "kanaph" -- "the edge or extremity of a bird's wing." The same word is translated as "borders” in Numbers 15:38 (2x). This is a verse about the Hebrew blue fringe. This messianic reference makes it clear that the Messiah would come with healing in His "borders!" Also, the purpose of the blue fringe on their garments was to remind God’s people of His promises! How rich that the woman with the issue of blood should want to touch that which indicated God’s willingness to heal and she received that promise! "...a woman, which was diseased with an issue of blood twelve years, came behind him, and touched the HEM of his garment: for she said within herself, If I may but touch his garment, I shall be whole." Mt. 9:20-21
D. UNDER HIS WINGS WE FIND HIS PRESENCE
As King David sang, “I will abide in Your tabernacle forever; I will trust in the shelter of Your wings. Selah” Psalm 61:4. The saints of Israel knew that the most sacred and safest place in all the earth was the Ark of the Covenant in the holy of holies. For it was the physical location & the focal point of the presence of God on the Earth. Only in God’s presence can we find peace, provision, and protection.
E. UNDER HIS WINGS WE FIND WE WILL NOT FEAR
Ps. 91:4-6, “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.”
CONCLUSION
A. ILLUS.: GOD A REFUGE FROM TROUBLE
1. One time missionary David Plymire was traveling alone on mountain trails, with a pack on his back, in Taiwan. He was headed toward a village to conduct a church service. For no special reason, he suddenly felt like he should stop to rest, even though he wasn’t particularly tired.
2. David stopped & removed his backpack. As he sat there resting, he heard the sound of falling rocks – just beyond where he was sitting. He waited until the echo of the sound died away, then he hoisted his pack and resumed his trip.
3. As he made his way around the mountain, he discovered a large stretch of trail now buried with fallen rocks. He realized that if he had not stopped to rest, he would’ve been killed by the avalanche. His unseen Guide had cared for him. David said, “In peace I will lie down and sleep, for you alone, Lord, make me dwell in safety” Ps. 4:8.
4. Just like baby chicks take refuge under their mother’s wings, so David took refuge in God.
B. THE CALL
1. TIMES WHEN GOD SPREADS HIS WINGS OVER YOU: In times of...
a. economic instability;
b. when storms come;
c. disease outbreaks;
d. trials; &
e. in times of temptation.
2. Are you experiencing one of these? Let’s run to our refuge and get under the shadow of His wings!
3. PRAYER
[Section II contains thoughts of C.H. Spurgeon, “Safe Shelter”]
