God Is Our Refuge

“In the fear of the Lord is strong confidence: and his children shall have a place of refuge” (Proverbs 14:26).
God gives us many descriptions of his provision and protection in Scripture. One of my favorite descriptions is the picture Jesus gave when he wept over Jerusalem. “How often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!” (Matthew 23:37) The protection of God’s wings is first mentioned to Israel when God said, “I bare you on eagles’ wings, and brought you unto myself” (Exodus 19:4). God compares himself to an eagle that “stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings” (Deuteronomy 32:11). When the eagle teaches her eaglets to fly, she nudges them out of the nest, but she does not leave them on their own. She hovers over them, and if they struggle, she will swoop underneath them and catch them on her massive wings. God does the same for us. We rest atop his nest and under the shadow of his wings. David said, “Keep me as the apple of the eye, hide me under the shadow of thy wings” (Psalms 17:8). “How excellent is thy loving kindness, O God! therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of thy wings” (Psalms 36:7). “He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings, and our confidence is that when we fall, his great wings will gently catch us and set us down safely. What a mighty God we serve!