Shelter of Your Wings

For You have been a shelter for me,
A strong tower from the enemy.
I will abide in Your tabernacle forever;
I will trust in the shelter of Your wings.
(Psalms 61:3-4 NKJV)

So Joab fled to the tabernacle of the LORD, and took hold of the horns of the altar. And King Solomon was told [of it].... Then Solomon sent Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, saying, "Go, strike him down."
(1 Kings 2:28-29 NKJV)

"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem ... How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing! See! Your house is left to you desolate; for I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say, 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!' " (Matthew 23:37-39 NKJV)

The presence of God dwelt with the ark in the Old Testament tabernacle of YHWH (and later the temple). The shelter of God's wings it represented could not be misappropriated by evil men such as Joab, but only by those truly trusting in the Lord.

"Palm Sunday" is often depicted as a smiling Jesus entering the gates of Jerusalem. But the crowds who declared, "Hosanna [please save us]" and "blessed is the King who comes in the name of the LORD" were outside the city. When Jesus reached Jerusalem, He was not smiling but in tears (Luke 19:41), for Jerusalem itself rejected Him rather than blessed Him.

Jesus declared Jerusalem desolate, unable to see Him until she received Him on His terms, not hers. The same is true today. If Christ's bride, the church and spiritual Jerusalem, is to truly see Him, each of us must ask: "What in our lives yet brings tears to Your eyes? What gives us a false sense of security? What draws the shelter of Your wings over us?"

Lord, the shadow of Your wings is a place of light. We know no greater peace and security than when You gather us closely to Yourself. We are yet blind to ways in which we distance ourselves from You. Please show us how to bless You and not grieve You. Please let us see You.

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Copyright 2008, Anne Lang Bundy