The Banner of Love, The Flag of Victory, the Wings of Refuge

UV3224/10000 The Banner of Love, the Flag of Victory, the Wings of Refuge

Let me dwell in Your tent forever; Let me take refuge in the shelter of Your wings.

Psalm 61 v 4

When we dwell in the tabernacle of the Lord, all shall be well with us. We are to be tabernacled in the Lord even as a tent covers all who dwell within. The uni-verse describes our lives as “tents”. The tent protects us from the elements. The ropes and pegs that hold the tent from falling or being blown away are our heart attitudes and the three greatest things of our lives as Paul writes- our faith, hope and love. Our faith, hope and love are to be firmly entrenched in Christ. We are surrounded on all sides by Him. His presence covers us like the wings of a large bird. He is not a bird of prey but a Bird of Pray – one who responds to prayer. His presence covers us like a flag of victory. His presence is a banner of love. We are chased by many bird of prey or predators but He offers us refuge or shelter in His promises, His word.

In addition to the wings of prayer and the word, the Lord also sends us angels to protect, preserve and encourage us. The angels are so powerful that in one case that the scriptures narrate -an entire army of Assyria arrayed against Israel was slain by a single angel. Even as a hen protects its chicken from the swooping eagle by gathering them under her wings, Jesus gathers us under His wings of love and victory.

Many people complain that they do not experience the kind of divine protection and comfort that the Psalmist wrote about often as in the uni-verse above. The reason is there in Psalm 23. It begins with “ The Lord is my shepherd…” It means that if we have to enjoy any of these or all of the benefits of provision, protection, promotion and all other amazing promises of the Lord contained in the scriptures, we need to first acknowledge our deep, intimate, enduring relationship with the Lord. We need to humble ourselves and acknowledge our dependency on the Lord even as sheep acknowledge the Shepherd. Once the relationship is in place, the benefits will flow and overflow.