“AND I SAID, ‘OH, THAT I HAD WINGS LIKE A DOVE!
I WOULD FLY AWAY AND BE AT REST.
7 BEHOLD, I WOULD WANDER FAR AWAY,
I WOULD LODGE IN THE WILDERNESS.
8 I WOULD HASTEN TO MY PLACE OF REFUGE
FROM THE STORMY WIND AND TEMPEST’.”
I wonder if anyone has ever lived who has not at some point felt like that.
I have read that king David wrote this Psalm during the rebellion of his loved son, Absalom. Absalom had risen up against him, trying to gather an army of his own and take over his own father’s kingdom. For a while, to avoid fighting his son, David had to flee the city of Jerusalem and hide in the hills. Later, his son was killed and David’s kingdom was restored; but he had loved Absalom dearly, and though he had become an enemy, that didn’t make David’s loss any easier to take, as a father.
So can you picture him, prior to leaving the city, standing on the rooftop of his palace, overlooking Jerusalem as the morning sun peeks over the eastern hills? Tears run down his cheeks into his beard. His chest feels virtually constricted with the pain that squeezes his father’s heart. He turns and there, only yards away, a white dove perches on the edge of the roof.
Slowly, the king holds out his hand and steps toward the beautiful, skittish creature; but the bird leans slightly into the morning breeze, then spreads his wings and gracefully leaves the rooftop; gliding effortlessly over the city and toward the distant horizon, until David’s tear-filled eyes can no longer focus on the retreating form.
A deep sigh shudders through his grieving body and he almost whispers; “Oh, that I had wings like a dove! I would fly away and be at rest.”
Can you identify? Maybe you’ve never lost a loved one in that way. Maybe what weighs you down is just the burdens of life. An addiction; a sad family life; constant physical pain; or just an unrest in your soul that you can’t put a name to, but it is there, doggedly disturbing your peace nevertheless.
God offers something better than dove’s wings. He offers something better than escape. He offers release to the captives; victory to the downtrodden; ultimate glory with Him in His celestial kingdom; as sons and daughters of the King, through belief in the shed blood and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
That doesn’t mean all of life’s troubles will be instantly taken away. It means that as we trust in God, He will develop us into warriors and wisemen, who overcome through His word.
Not skittish little birds, fleeing at every sound and movement, but noble eagles, soaring over the circumstances of life in majesty and power that comes from the eternal Holy Spirit of God. No one can give you greater hope, greater encouragement, greater help than this.
Don’t wish for dove’s wings. Believe God and He’ll give you eagle’s wings.
“Yet those who hope in the Lord will gain new strength; they will sprout wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary.”
- Isaiah 40:31
