Psalm 91:1–5
“He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High, who abides in the shadow of the Almighty, will say to the Lord, ‘My refuge and my fortress; my God, in whom I trust.’ For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence; he will cover you with his pinions, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness is a shield and buckler.”
You may be saying this psalm sounds a little familiar. It did to me as I read it and then I realized it is a part of the popular hymn “On Eagles Wings.” I can’t tell you why, but I have always loved this hymn. I know some of you may be saying, “Really? All I think of when I hear it is funerals?” Yes, true it is often played at those times but my memory around it stems from my grade school days when it was sung during weekday masses at my Catholic school.
Something about it, even back then, gave me a feeling of hope and protection. There is just something about the image of being snatched up by an eagle right at the precise moment something is about to devour us. However, this eagle is not grabbing us to devour us but rather to protect us and to take us to great heights.
Have you ever thought about that? The Psalmist states we will be delivered from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence. We are given the feeling of safety and protection but rather he does not go on to say that this safety will be found hiding behind a rock or in disguise among the bushes. No, rather we find refuge under his wings. His Wings!! I know about you but that makes me think we are flying. We are being snatched not to run and hide but to soar above.
Isn’t that what our good and gracious Father offers us? Protection from the snare of the fowler not by running away and hiding but by allowing Him to snatch us and to rise above. If we submit to His protection and seek our refuge in Him, we can not only rise above the occasion, but we can see things more clearly from His perspective. We gain a bird’s eye of the situation. We see the bigger picture.
Isn’t this always the case…. when we are struggling or when we are amid suffering, we often only see what is right in front of us. Then to make matters worse, we try to fight against the danger all on our own OR we choose to run and hide. We fail to see that our Father is always watching over us from above, ready to snatch us up and protect us (often even from ourselves) if we just look up to Him and trust in Him to be there. His faithfulness is our shield.
As we open ourselves up to His protection, hope unfurls. With that bird’s eye view of the situation or that glimpse of the bigger picture from His perspective, we can see outside of ourselves. We can see the beauty that lies beyond the fear and suffering in front of us. We can see a little more clearly where we fit in, in the bigger picture. The problems that once seemed so big are now so small.
Now I know all this was not on my mind when I was a grade school student at mass all those years ago, but I would argue that this feeling is written on all our human hearts even if we don’t realize it. The feeling of longing for someone to always be there to protect us and to at the same time bring us to new heights, to greater awareness of the hope and beauty that surrounds us and is to come.
So, when we hear “On Eagles Wings,” even if it’s at a funeral, remind yourself that our Father’s protection is available to all of us and He is ever present to lift us, even on this side of heaven.
Lifting You in Prayer & Trusting in His Care,
Christine