Singing under His Wings

Because you are my help,

    I sing in the shadow of your wings.

I cling to you;

your right hand upholds me.

Psalm 63:7-8, NIV

The psalmist weaves hints of what his song is like in earlier parts of the psalm: “I have seen you…. Beheld your power and glory…. Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you… praise you… fully satisfied…with singing lips my mouth will praise you. . . . rejoice in God. . . . glory in him.” Thousands of years later, the strains of his song filter through and resonate with our hearts.

We also catch glimpses of the context of the psalmist’s life: “thirst . . . long for you, in a dry and parched land where there is no water . . . . night . . . those who want to kill me . . . . mouths of liars.” Attacked, and feeling deserted and parched and in the dark, these strains of seeing God and rejoicing in him still sound out. Does this resonate with us? Can we be in both?

How? Can my little soul stretch to both?

There is a Man of Sorrows who speaks of the fullness of joy that he can give. Can you see Jesus, alone on a Judean mountain in the early morning hours before anyone else was up, finding that time with the Father. He casts his eyes up to the heavens, and spreads his arms out in joy, “Because You, my Father, are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings. I cling to you; your right hand upholds me. For you, Living Father, sent me and I live because of you. You are in me as I am in you. So I sing under the shadow of your wings” (drawn from Psalm 63:7-8; John 6:57; John 17:21).

Pause for a moment where you are, close your eyes, and listen: what would the Son’s song on that mountain have been like? The words? The feeling? The tune? As he stands, still human but glorified before the Father, what might he be singing now? The words? The feeling? The tune? By the Spirit, we can truly, truly join in his song today. Let us sing with Jesus by the Spirit under the wings of the Father today.