Psalm 17:8

“Keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings.”

I love finding word pictures in Scripture. Sometimes I have to dig a little into the Hebrew to find them. Sometimes they are right in front of me. This verse immediately makes me think of chickens.

I remember hearing a story when I was little about a barn burning down. A hen had recently hatched a lovely little brood of fluffy chicks. Unable to escape the barn, she created a tent over her chicks with her wings. When going through the debris, the barn owner found the mother hen. Her wings were still spread over her chicks. Even in death she was faithful to protect them. As he lifted the hen, out came all her little chicks, completely sheltered from the fire.

I don’t know if this is a true story or not, but the picture is clear and beautiful. This is the kind of protection that YHVH promises to give to us. He will put His wings over us and shelter us from life’s blasts. We may feel the heat of the fire, but He stands between us and the blast.

Praise YHVH!