“He will cover you with his feathers. He will shelter you with his wings. His faithful promises are your armor and protection.”
I bet you have never pictured God with feathers before… I know I haven’t. Oddly I have understood him to have wings, so I suppose feathers are a logical addition to that image. This verse is just another reminder of the mystery of God — he does not look like any image we can portray, either in our minds or on a canvas. This does not mean we should not employ our full imaginations as we seek to understand what God is like based on descriptions like this one. I have spent quite a bit of time in prayer picturing myself hidden underneath God’s wing. It is dark and requires a lot of trust, but it is safe.
I am intrigued by the next sentence — “his faithful promises are your armor and protection.” How can a promise be a protection? What are God’s promises? (To find an exhaustive list of God’s promises found in the Bible, click here.) These promises protect us because truth protects us. In an evil kingdom based almost entirely on lies, truth is a pretty key defense. When Jesus was tempted by Satan in the desert, truth protected him from believing the lies Satan tried to feed him.
Here’s your freedom for today: Satan only has power when we believe his lies. He cannot force us into evil, and he cannot steal us from God’s love or protection. His power was not enough to keep Jesus in the grave. But Satan can call to us, make us doubt and question, and get us to step out from under God’s wing. He does this by spinning lies that sound almost true. In fact, everything he offered Jesus in the desert was technically true. But it wasn’t truth. Watch out for lies today, and fight back with the truth that God has made promises he intends to keep.