Under His Wings

TEXT: PSALM 17:1-15
Key verse: “Keep me as the apple of the eye, hide me under the shadow of thy wings” (Psalm 17:8).
No one is insulated from the attacks of the devil. He goes about seeking whom he may devour. It is he who dwells in the secret place of the Most High however that will abide under the shadows of the Almighty. He is kept from the assaults of the evil one. God takes-up the battle of His saints; “those that have made a covenant with (Him) by sacrifice” (Psalm 50:5). 
This, David had done and thus was able to come boldly before the Throne of Grace. His propositions before the Almighty were laid on seven premises that reveal his spiritual condition before God. One, his petition was premised on a just cause. He was clearly informed that God only attends to a right cause. Two, David presented his sincerity; not vain, pretentious and empty words before God: “Give ear unto my prayer, that goeth not out of feigned lips.” Three, his pleading came from a pure heart, a heart tried and found untarnished by God. Four, David, like Job, had made a covenant with his lips never to transgress: not to lie, slander, or speak ill of any. Five, he had made God’s word his guide “...by the word of thy lips, I have kept me from the paths of the destroyers.” Six, he was unpresumptuous; he never took God for granted. 

Those who approach God on the above premises are God’s covenant people. Storms of adversity may rock their boats on life’s sea; they weather through them all because they are in the covenant of blood with the Lord (Exodus 12:13). Look unto Him and live. Lay down your arms at His feet today. He will hide you under the shadow of His wings.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: As swift as the eagle may be, the chicks under the hen’s wings are out of its reach.
David knew that without God, he could slip. He therefore prayed God to hold him in “thy paths that my footsteps slip not.” Finally, he impressed us as a man who has implicit confidence in God: “I have called upon thee ...” On the basis of former faithfulness of God, David then affirms, “For thou wilt hear me.”