“You are my hiding place... whenever I am afraid I will trust in you.” What a powerful song! When David wrote Psalm 17, he had pretty much the same thought in mind. He was seeking protection from his enemies who were pressing in all around him. So he prayed:
“Show your wonderful mercy, you who deliver with your right arm those who seek refuge from their foes. Keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings.” (Ps17:7-8)
“Show your wonderful mercy, you who deliver with your right arm those who seek refuge from their foes. Keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings.” (Ps17:7-8)
In itself, a shadow may not be much of a hiding place, but this is God’s shadow. In it one finds safety, warmth, peace, and hope. In Matthew 23:37b, Jesus is mourning the unfaithfulness of the people of Jerusalem when he says, “how many times I yearned to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her young under her wing, but you were unwilling.” Jesus wants us to feel the protective instinct of a mother hen who hides her chicks under her wings when danger is near, as she draws them close to her heart so they feel safe and warm in their feathered hiding place.
A few years ago I found myself facing a powerful enemy, an addiction that eventually took control of my life. I thought I could overcome it on my own. It got to the point where I felt God could not nor did not want to help me. I finally decided to seek the help of a spiritual director who made me realize how much God wants to help me by hiding me in the “shadow of His wings” and holding me close to His heart.
God has given us so many ways to seek His help. We have Mary our Mother to whom I go more than ever to pray for her intercession - and it works!
We also have our guardian angels whom God has given us, although we do not seem to depend on them as much as we did during childhood. God gave them to us for a reason, as the prayer says: “to light and guard, to rule and guide.”
Our first defense against any enemy is to ask God to protect us. Through the intercession of our Blessed Mother and/or the protection of our guardian angels, God Himself covers us and we can rest secure in the safety of the shadow of His wings.
A few years ago I found myself facing a powerful enemy, an addiction that eventually took control of my life. I thought I could overcome it on my own. It got to the point where I felt God could not nor did not want to help me. I finally decided to seek the help of a spiritual director who made me realize how much God wants to help me by hiding me in the “shadow of His wings” and holding me close to His heart.
God has given us so many ways to seek His help. We have Mary our Mother to whom I go more than ever to pray for her intercession - and it works!
We also have our guardian angels whom God has given us, although we do not seem to depend on them as much as we did during childhood. God gave them to us for a reason, as the prayer says: “to light and guard, to rule and guide.”
Our first defense against any enemy is to ask God to protect us. Through the intercession of our Blessed Mother and/or the protection of our guardian angels, God Himself covers us and we can rest secure in the safety of the shadow of His wings.