Nested Under His Wings
By Elin Henderson
“…I will trust in the shelter of Your wings.”
Psalms 61:4b (NKJV)
When we were young, one of my sisters received a set of intricately painted wooden Matryoskha, or “nesting dolls,” from a Russian friend. As you removed one doll shell and opened it, you found another identical, but slightly smaller, one inside. Each doll had another smaller doll inside, until you reached the last tiny doll, nested and hidden safe and sound in the center.
I can’t help but think of these dolls when I read Psalms 61:2-4. The first part of the verse reminds us that there is a “rock that is higher than I.” This is a great comfort to us in our overwhelming lives. However, I never took the time to read beyond this to verses 3 and 4. For some, David’s imagery is comprised of separate word-pictures, but for me, I envision a connection: that rock is a shelter, that in that shelter is a tower, that tower is a tabernacle, and in that tabernacle are His wings of safety.
You may wonder what wings this passage is referring to? Some theologians would reference the fact that The Old Testament tabernacle had two rooms. One was the Holy Place that the priests entered daily. The other was the Holy of Holies that the High Priest entered only once a year to sprinkle blood on the Mercy Seat to seek atonement for Israel’s sins of the past year.
In the Holy of Holies, the most recognized wings were those of the two Cherubim. The wings of these two Cherubim covered the Mercy Seat. There was no safer place to be hidden than under the wings of the Cherubim on the Mercy Seat.
When we come to Him with overwhelmed hearts, consider envisioning the Matryoskha dolls: we can rest assured the He will nestle us under his wings, in the tabernacle, in the tower that is in the shelter that is on the rock. Now, that is what I call being nested in safety!
GOING DEEPER:
1. What changes for you when you recognize that we are indeed safely nestled under His wings…even when the outlook of your life might seem so overwhelming?
FURTHER READING:
Oakwood’s missionaries Elin Henderson and her husband Phil serve as church planters with New Tribes in Mozambique, Africa. Elin is mother to eleven-year-old Callie and nine-year-old Elias.
