"The Book of Refuge": When God is a bird

“All people may take refuge in the shadow of your wings.”

Psalm 36:7

I love the use of metaphor in scripture, particularly in the poetry of “The Book of Refuge.” The writers of scripture aren’t afraid to imagine God’s Being through the wonders of earth and sky: bird, light, rock, mountain, wind, mother’s breast, etc. King David gives us many of these images for God. David’s choice metaphor in Psalm 36 tell us that God is a bird under whose wings we might find shelter, refuge, shade, protection.

We don’t have to walk in David’s sandals to understand what he’s talking about. When when he looked around, he saw wayward and wicked leaders and foes:

No fear of God in their eyes. They flatter themselves thinking they cannot be found out. Their words are deceit. They have ceased to act wisely. They plot mischief.

Sadly, in this case, to echo King David’s son Solomon, “there is nothing new under the sun.” The world is yet fraught with dangers, toils, and snares. When we look around this land where we dwell and around the globe, aren’t we are searching for safety, for refuge, for relief, from crisis, chaos, calamity, and calloused mis-leaders?

So, what was David’s response?

He makes the turn in his prayer-poem to the yaqar (precious, costly, valuable, weighty, glorious, honorable) hesed (steadfast love, tender mercy, loyal love, lovingkindness) of YHWH Elohim, who is a winged bird under which David finds shelter, refuge, shade, protection.

“How precious is your steadfast love, O God!
All people may take refuge in the shadow of your wings.
They feast on the abundance of your house,
and you give them drink from the river of your delights.
For with you is the fountain of life;
in your light we see light.”

Psalm 36:7-9 (NRSV)

Is this just pie-in-the-sky escapist theology? Is it merely a psychic exercise in cathartic mindfulness to soothe a sympathetic nervous system storm?

How were these words good news for David? Is it good news for us today?

Under the Wings, David didn’t just experience relief from the sun’s heat, he found another realm, a thin place where heaven and earth meet, a lived experience of abundance, delight, life, and light. Doesn’t that touch something deep within us?

Yes, the darkness, animosity, injustice, and scarcity can be very real, threatening, and unjust. But when we take up residence in that “house” rather than in the refuge of YHWH Elohim’s hesed, we end up becoming like the very ones from whom we are trying to take refuge.

O continue your steadfast love to those who know you
and your salvation to the upright of heart!
Do not let the foot of the arrogant tread on me
or the hand of the wicked drive me away.
There the evildoers lie prostrate;
they are thrust down, unable to rise.

Psalm 36:10-12 (NRSV)

Many of us can understandably balk at the stark, and seemingly archaic language of scripture. (This is one of the layers for many of us who are re-examining or deconstructing our experience and understanding of God and the Bible. Some of us are reconstructing. Some are seeking refuge elsewhere. Some are ambivalent. Some are traumatized. Some are exhausted. This is another discussion for another post.)

I believe if we’re honest with our own humanity, at least in this Psalm, and if we allow the searching, loving light of God illumine the nooks and crannies of our souls, the places where we feel wounded or weary, we might be able to identify some places where it feels like we’ve labeled the “other” as “arrogant” or “wicked” or “evil.”

I don’t see the trajectory of David’s prayer-poem as creating a chess board of good guys and bad guys, but rather an invitation to all of us. We can turn our gaze, our perseverance, and our hope to the One who is Love and holds ultimate, final justice, mercy, and vindication for all of the created cosmos.

May the refuge of God’s wings be a true place of healing and restoration for you,

Jonathan