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In the Shadow Brother David Green

“...in the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge
until these calamities be overpast” Psalms 57:1

Shadows have no substance. They are images of darkness cast by another object
which does. Oh, but the shadow of God is not just another fleeting image. The shadow

of God’s wings is as substantial as its object and just as much so is its usefulness.
Within His shadow, God provides all that He is to His people. But why the use of this
language? What could the shadow of God’s wings suggest to us? First, it indicates
Proximity. Closeness, or nearness. This closeness is one of “relationship,” and that

relationship is one of Eternal Love and is the very cause for His shadow. Love places
God's people in the closest relationship to Him that is possible and from that impas-
sioned nearnes a kind influence is placed within them with great effectiveness: “How
excellent is thy lovingkindness, O God! Therefore, the children of men put their trust

under the shadow of Thy wings.”

“The Lord has appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an ever-
lasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee” (Jeremiah 31:3). The

shadow of the wings of God is spread over His people as a mantle for their refuge
from all troubles. So close are the redeemed sons of salvation to the heart of Jehovah
that in a sense He shadows them, or follows them, wherever they go in this life to
“overshadow” them as do those who follow persons of royalty to shade them as with

an umbrella to provide comfort and protection from the harmful rays of the noonday
sun. How much more are the chosen of God covered and shielded by Him for they are
the very heirs of salvation through the Son of God (Galatians 4:4-7) and have always
abode in an unparalleled nearness to the heart of their Lord! Yea, in that vast, eternity

before time, the Son was ever before the Father rejoicing in Him in an unbroken strain
of holy rapture! Oh, but while He was yet rejoicing in the Father in that timeless eter-
nity, the eye of God the Son was upon His people, adoring them and openly declaring,
“...I was daily His delight, rejoicing always before Him; rejoicing in the habitable

part of His earth; and my delights were with the sons of men”! (Proverbs 8:30,31).
Dear saint, notice how the Son does not hesitate to explain that His eternal joy with
the Father was in concert with His joy for His people! How unspeakable is this close-

ness of the Saviour’s love to His redeemed. Well did David pray, “Keep me as the
apple of the eye, hide me under the shadow of thy wings…” (Psalms 17:8). So near is
the Lord to His chosen that they are the very center of His vision and always have
been!