Psalm 36:1-10, “Take refuge in the shadow of your wings”
Today’s scripture comes from Psalm 36:1-10, about God’s goodness in contrast to the wickedness of evil people under heaven. Our text teaches us how to be protected and victorious from the attacks of evil forces and people.
If we read the first four verses, it is basically a sketch of evil people who have no fear of God in their eyes, vs.1. They have so little regard for God and so much flattering regard for themselves that they cannot even see sin for what it is, vs. 2. They lie so deceitfully so often that they may honestly not even know the truth anymore. They cannot tell right from wrong and generally don’t bother to try either, vs. 3. They even plan evil while lying on their beds when they should be sleeping and resting, vs. 4.
On a side note, we are to rest with thanksgiving to God on our bed. Don’t think too much when you lie down on your bed. If you have made mistakes and sinned during the daytime, you should repent and ask God to forgive you. Don’t go beyond that. Do not think too much about what you could have done or said differently, and have sleepless nights. Acknowledge that you are not God and need His help and strength to do better and be a better person. Apart from God’s power and strength, no one can do any good. You will lose sleep if you focus too much on what you could have done or said differently. What is worse, it is like trying to live on your own power and strength when, in reality, you don’t have that power and strength. Focusing and, depending on your strength and ability, thinking about what you can or cannot do creates anxiety, resulting in depression.
Returning to the text, we will note some things from these four verses. First, we see with our eyes, either ourselves or God, which draws a line between godly and ungodly. If we see ourselves, God is not there. There is no regard for God but flattering ourselves and setting us up as God in its place. In other words, we become gods in our lives. That is evil and ungodly.
Whereas, if we see God, then we have the highest regard for God and are forced to see what a godless life looks like because we “see light” in the light of God, vs. 9. Only God has the true light that sheds light on what is evil and what not. With this light, we can recognize evil when we see it and cannot help but lament its presence in our world and how wickedness consumes some people. We realize that evil and ungodly don’t know left from right or right from wrong; they just live in wickedness and sin. There is no sense of the sacred, no acknowledgment that there is a God. The wickedness of these ungodly expresses itself in a self-centered life driven by deception and dishonesty, carried out in secret dealing.
This is almost like a package deal. If we see God, we love God to the highest degree; then we will also see and lament the anti-God way of being in this world. We cannot have one without the other.
Those who see God and see the wickedness in ungodly on earth might lose hope if they only look around at what goes on under heaven, seeing the prevalence of evil, yet they do not lose heart. Verses 5-9 describe the grounds for hope for them. In contrast to human wickedness, we hear the LORD’s amazing grace, mercy, and faithfulness in these verses. In contrast to secretive deceit and iniquity of the ungodly, we hear of God’s righteousness, high as the mountains and deep as the seas, vss. 5-6. What is so amazing is that God’s faithfulness, mercy, and grace are not limited to a particular group or people. There’s a wideness to God’s love, which extends to all peoples, even to the ungodly in vs. 7. God sends rain, sun, and moonlight to all regardless of how wicked they are. In a world plagued with uncertainties and loyalty only to self, God’s love stands much higher, deeper, and wider for all people, reigning the universe with His faithfulness, mercy, grace, and justice. That is the ground of hope for those who see God. They see the ungodly as bound for ultimate failure within fleeting moments if they don’t repent, whereas God’s faithfulness and mercy last eternally. Verse.12, “See how the evildoers lie fallen, thrown down, not able to rise!”
In the reality of wickedness, hatred, deception, and other evils that threaten and harm the godly, God’s steadfast love and justice stand so firmly, giving the godly a sense of security and hope, evoking in them to offer honest worship amid a messy life. They are the ones who take refuge in the shadow of the wings of the Almighty, in vs. 7. To understand the “wings” mentioned here, let us recall what Jesus said in Matthew 23:37, “Many, many times I wanted to help your people. I wanted to gather them together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings. But you did not let me.” God offers us His wings to protect His people from evil attacks, but it should be our choice to come under His wings to take refuge. God does not automatically spread his wings and run after all the people to cover them. To be protected, we should go to Him, who spread His wings to gather us like hens. Let me introduce an excerpt from a sermon I read.
“One spring, our old mother hen hatched some baby chicks. One afternoon, when the little chicks were scattered all over the yard, I suddenly saw the shadow of a hawk overhead. That mother hen did not run all over the barnyard and jump on top of those chicks to cover them with her wings as one might have expected. No! Instead, she squatted down, spread her wings, and squawked. Those little chicks ran to her from every direction and ducked under those outstretched wings without hesitation. All that mother hen did was cluck and expand her wings so they knew where to hide. Then she pulled her wings down tight, tucking every little chick safely under her. There was no way that hawk could get to those babies without going through that mother hen.”
Like the baby chicks that ran to their mother, we must run to God. He does not run all over the place trying to put His covering over us. He said, “I have made protection available. You run to Me!” If one of those chicks had tried to hide itself or failed to heed its mother’s warning clucks, the hawk would have snatched it up. Likewise, instead of seeking our own hiding place with our feeble attempt, when we run to God in faith, who is spreading His wings already for us to take refuge, the enemy has to go through God to get to us. There is no greater safety. Under the wings of the Almighty, we have security, peace, and protection. The choice is ours. Do we want to find our own refuge from the enemy’s attack, or do we want to run to God, the Almighty, who is spreading His wings to gather us? Our text offers us a choice of paths to follow. We can set ourselves up as gods, flattering ourselves and thinking that we can live however we want without consequences to ourselves. Or we can choose to live in God who is loving, faithful, just, and righteous and take refuge in the shadow of His wings.
Lastly, we are to be closer to God, not far away from God. When God sends us a warning signal that the enemy is nearby and ready to attack, we cannot hear his squawking if we are far away from God.
In this New Year, if we want to get closer to God, we are to study the Bible and pray more earnestly, depending on God for all we do. Then, we can indeed have a new beginning in God. Amen!
