Reflection on Psalm 63

verses 1–7

O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you;

my soul thirsts for you;

my flesh faints for you,

as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.

So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary,

beholding your power and glory.

Because your steadfast love is better than life,

my lips will praise you.

So I will bless you as long as I live;

in your name I will lift up my hands.

My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food,

and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips,

when I remember you upon my bed,

and meditate on you in the watches of the night;

for you have been my help,

and in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy.

When a mother bird shelters her chicks from inclement weather, she raises her wings and draws the babies into the warmth of her soft semi-plume and down. The chicks do not yet have the wind and water resistant wing feathers that protect them from the elements and allow them to fly from danger. In the mother’s dark and downy breast, the little birds are safe and secure, protected from harm by her instinct to cover the chicks.

Baby nestling birds cannot survive on their own. If they somehow escape the safety…