Wings

The other day as I looked out of our window I saw a red kite flying around very close to our
house. What an amazing bird with its distinctive shape, just gliding effortlessly round and
round looking for its next meal. The thing that I noticed was its size and its large wing span
as it was seemingly showing me just how majestic it was.
On thinking about this, I recalled the story in the Bible of the woman who reached out and
touched the hem of Jesus’ garment. Did you know that the hem of a Jewish prayer shawl is
called, in Hebrew, by the word, “Kanaph” which translates into corner, edge or wing. On this
garment the corners symbolise God’s authority, healing and divine protection.
If we look into the Book of Psalms we see several references using the word, “wing”with its
deeper understanding. See Psalm 91:4, “……. under His wings you shall take refuge”. Psalm
17:8, Psalm 36:7 and Psalm 57:1, all speak of finding refuge, which is protection, safety and
shelter. Psalm 63:7 says, “……. in the shadow of Your wings I will sing for joy!”.
Surely, this tells us that we are so loved and at peace in knowing that God is our protector
with the warmth of His love surrounding us. The Good News is that God is faithful and
unchanging ─ and that means we will always be kept enfolded in the “Shadow of His Wings”!
Do I hear an Amen?