As a hen gathers her chicks under her wings

“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!   Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.” (Matthew 23: 37-38)

 The above passage came up in our Sunday morning Bible class a short time back and I thought that I’d use it to help formulate our lesson today.   Basically, that lesson will be about safety in the protection of God and His promises.   We sing an old hymn entitled “Safe In The Arms Of Jesus” so I guess that we could just as easily sing about being “safe under the wings of God.”

Actually I’m just going to use a portion of the above passage to illustrate my lesson here today.  The part where it reads: “as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings.”   What a great picture of safety is seen in those few words. 

And not only there in Matthew’s writings, but also the “Psalmist” paints us a similar picture in Psa. 91:4.  Read these words with me: “He will cover you with His feathers.  He will shelter you with His wings.  His faithful promises are your armor and protection.”  (NLT)

In both readings we see a beautiful illustration of safety and shelter under the “wings of God.”  A beautiful picture of how God protects us not only from harm from Satan’s predators but, think about this, from ourselves.  Aren’t we sometimes our own worst enemy when we think that we don’t need His protection?

I certainly think that at times we are all sufficient, that we can go it alone.  That we can “direct our own footsteps.”  That we can “protect” ourselves.  When I was quite a bit younger and exhibited that attitude, my mother would tell me that I was “getting too big for my britches.”  You know, she was right.

I particularly appreciate the mention by the Psalmist of God’s “faithful promises” serving as our “protection.”  How “faithful” are His promises?  We have nothing that we’re familiar with in the world that relates to the integrity of God’s words in His “promises” of safety from that world.  Perhaps this little story might help in that it exemplifies God’s use of “wings” being a shelter of safety.

About 27 years ago (doesn’t seem like so long ago) our famous Yellowstone National Park was decimated by a fire.  I remember the news casts and pictures of the devastation that occurred there.  Can you say “scorched earth?”  After the fire was finally extinguished, the forest agents were going through the park assessing the damage.

One park ranger came upon a mother bird literally petrified in ashes.  He described her as being “perched statuesquely” on the ground at the base of a large tree.  The ranger nudged her with a stick and was shocked by what followed.  Three tiny chicks ran out from under their dead mother’s wings.

Now I want you to think about something relative to that scene.  You know, birds can fly!  She could have simply flown away from the approaching fire, but her chicks couldn’t.  They could not save themselves so, instead of escaping the impending disaster, the “hen” gathered her chicks under her wings, covering them with “safety and protection” and saved them.

When God’s Word uses the illustrations of safety under His wings, how much better of a picture of this can be seen in this world of how a mother “hen” protects her “chicks?”  Of how much the “mother hen” loves her offspring.  So much so that she’s willing to sacrifice her life to save theirs.

But, as it relates to our world, there is a problem.  And that problem is that the “chicks” can choose whether or not to take advantage of the “shelter” of God’s wings.  Think about it, if the “shelter” isn’t used, then the “chicks” cannot escape from the predators, the raptorial scavengers of this world.  And you know as well as I that the world is full of them.

Yes, God is willing that all His “offspring” will allow Him to “gather” them “under His wings” but, just like those in Jerusalem, many will not.   How much does God love and care for His “chicks?”  So much that He sent “His only begotten Son” to die for their eternal safety.  (John 3:16)

Doesn’t that help you to understand why Jesus “wept” over the city of Jerusalem, as we read in Luke 19:41-42?  Because He knew that certain destruction was coming at them and so many were willing to forego the “shelter of His wings?”  And, in union with our little bird in Yellowstone, Jesus didn’t have to die either.  He could have called “twelve legions of angels” (Matt. 26:53) and no power on earth could have killed Him.

But my point here is - had he done so, we (His chicks) could not save ourselves and we would perish.  No, in similitude with the little “hen” in Yellowstone, He chose to “gather” us under His wings and save us from destruction.  I only hope that all who read this are His “chicks” and choose to abide under His wings.

Let’s pray that we’re like the Psalmist David when he prayed: “Keep me as the apple of thine eye, hide me under the shadow of thy wings.”  (Psa. 17:8)

Respectfully submitted,

Ron Covey