Psalm. 57:1

"Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me! For my soul trusts in You; And in the shadow of Your wings I will make my refuge, Until these calamities have passed by" Psalm. 57:1

We've probably all watched a mother and father bird bring food to their young as they cry for nourishment in the nest. I had, as there is a pair of swallows on our veranda. The parent creatures always seem to care more for their young than they do for themselves.

On the other hand, turtles given no concern for their young. After mating, the female will dig a hole in the mud, lay her eggs, cover them with a mound of sticks, mud, and/or sand... and waddle away never to see her young hatch. Fortunately for us, God is not like the turtle. He even describes Himself in terms of winged fowl. God has wings!

That's what David says in today's verse. "... in the shadow of Your wings I will make my refuge ...." What a perfect picture of protection. David wrote this psalm after he fled from Saul. In particular, it was after David had hidden in a cave to elude his pursuer only to watch Saul enter the mouth of the cave and use it for his personal restroom. He was so close to David that our young hero took his knife and cut a piece off the hem of Saul's cloak!

David realized that he was not hiding in the cave. It was not the darkness that protected him. It was not his wit that kept him from harm. David realized it was the protection of God that hid him from the clutches of a deranged king. "Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me, For my soul takes refuge in You ..." David realized there was only one hiding place for the soul - in the presence of God.

Most of us are just "chicks" in this world. The term is not used in relationship to "age." It is used in relationship to our ability to take care of ourselves. Oh, we try. We gain great amounts of knowledge and think we have something. We achieve great heights in our field of expertise and believe we have climbed a great mountain and have acquired greatness. We work hard and retire with sufficient wealth to live the remainder of our years in comfort and leave some for the kids, and we feel that this is what life is all about. But we are just fooling ourselves. We cannot work out anything of lasting value. Where is our wealth when we die? Where is our success in business, or education? Are we remembered a generation or two after our death by anyone other than a random great grandchild? Few of us are.

No, our measure of success is determined by what lasts for eternity. What have we done for Jesus? What have we accomplished for God? How have we allowed the Holy Spirit to lead us? Those are the questions we must ask. And the answer always returns, we are nothing ... except for God. And when the times really became rough, we hide in the shadow of His wings. As Twila Paris wrote: "They don't know that I go running home when I fall down, they don't know who picks me up when no one is around; I drop my sword and cry for just awhile. 'Cause deep inside this armor the warrior is a child." Amen and Amen.