The Apple of His Eye
Based on everything you can see, feel, or understand, your circumstances look bad. So, what is your next step? You can cower in fear. You can bury your head in the sand, ignore, and hope it gets better. You can plot and plan your strategy to fight against the real or seeming injustice of your situation. You can turn to trusted friends and experts. And in the midst of hard times, most of us choose to pray. Sometimes we pray and do one or more of the other options.
Prayer always brings change. Sometimes our prayers change our circumstances, and often our prayers change us. One of the most helpful parts of praying the Psalms is that we are reminded of the many assurances we find in these prayers.
Consider Psalm 17. As we read and hopefully pray this psalm, we discover that even one who God called a man after his own heart faced injustice and hardship. When we go through hard times, it is not an indictment on our character or our faith. It is a clear reminder that living in a broken world, things break and many times not because we did anything wrong.
In the first 7 verses of this psalm, David pleads with the Lord to listen and to see his heart and the faith that he is walking in. David commits to God that no matter what is going on, he will remain faithful.
At the midpoint of this prayer we find this request:
“Keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings, from the wicked who do me violence, my deadly enemies who surround me.”
Maybe you have used a phrase like that when you considered how much you love your spouse or one of your children. Our love for friends and family runs deep, and we say and do things to make sure they know how special they are to us. And when a child is fearful, sick, or hurting, we put our arms around them as a reminder that we will protect them and surround them until their pain passes. We do not abandon those we love.
David makes this request of God. Keep me at the center of your attention. Wrap your presence around me and deliver me from the harshness of what I am experiencing.
The psalmist pours out his reality to God, describing the behavior and attack he is experiencing from those who do not seek God but rather seek pleasure, power, and control over him. David pleads with God to deal with his enemy: “Arise, O Lord! Confront him, subdue him!” We do not need to hesitate in praying that God deal with those who mistreat us.
As David finishes this prayer, he has clarity that God does allow people to seek their abundance in this life, even if it comes from arrogance and selfishness. And then David declares that he will not seek the things of this world but rather pursue the righteousness of God knowing full well that in the end he will behold the very face of God.
Rest assured that God sees and knows whatever you are going through. And know that when you call out to him, you will experience change. Everything changes in the presence of the one who holds us as the apple of his eye.
Father, come into this moment as we release to you all of our troubles. Surround us with your wings of protection and comfort. Deal with those situations and people who seek to harm us. Fill us with your peace as we release control of our pain and our problems to you. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Your Time with God’s Word
Psalm 17:1-15 ESV
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