Not The Better of Two Options. The Perfect Option.

“I will abide in thy tabernacle for ever: I will trust in the covert of thy wings. Selah.” (Ps 61:4 AV)

We quote the second part of the verse without really understanding what David is saying here.  There is more than meets the eye.  The covert of the wings is a specific thing.  The word means covering.  How wings cover is the point here.  The Tabernacle is a fully enclosed dwelling.  No threat can be perceived or welcomed.  A covering made of wings, not so much.  Most hens will partially cover their chicks.  Simply put, her wings cannot form a bowl for the chicks to hide in.  Therefore, even though they are safe, the threat can still be perceived.  So, there is a dynamic of conflict here.  The chicks must choose to trust in the cover of their mother's wings while still able to perceive that which threatens them.  Both safety and danger are in view.  It all depends upon which the chick succumbs to.  He is either going to completely trust in what his mother or father can provide, or he will cower in fear never truly feeling safe.

There is a difference between trusting and taking the better of two options.  Imagine you are hunting in a vast wilderness and a storm arises in the west.  You can see the snow coming down like a great blanket from the sky.  You know if you try to get back to your truck over ten miles away, you are not going to make it.  In the distance, heading toward the storm, you see the mouth of a cave.  You don’t know what is in that cave.  It could be a bear’s den.  There could be disease-carrying bats inside.  It could be damp with nowhere to stay dry.  There may not be a way to vent smoke if you were to build a fire.  While anyone find you in such a remote place if feet of snow covered your tracks leading to the cave?  There are a hundred other risks that go through your mind but as much as the cave would be a risk, the approaching storm is the much worse choice. So, toward the cave, you go.  This is choosing the better of two options.  This is not trusting in the cave.  This is resigning to the cave.  This is not trusting in the sense there is nothing to worry about.  This is resigning to the better of two options as though there is less to worry about in the cave than there is if you tried to get back to your truck.

When David says he will trust in the covert of God’s wings, he is not saying he will trust in God’s protection from threat as a better choice than the threat itself.  He is not saying that if another better option presented itself than the covert of God’s wings, he would take that other choice.  Implied in the word trust is David’s decision to live in the protection of God’s shadow without regard to any risk that may be involved.  There is complete and total trust here.  Comparing the cover of God’s wings to an enclosed tabernacle is the key.  An enclosed space where no threat could permeate is not just the better option.  It is the best option.  There is no worry or fear over that which cannot be seen.  The tabernacle hides the saint from perceiving any and all threats.  The cover of God’s wings should be felt in the same way, even though the threat can still be seen.  This is a hard place in which to be.  One, by nature, is alarmed at what can be perceived even though reason and faith say something different.  To get to the place where we trust the LORD even though danger is still evident is almost impossible. But still attainable.  This we must do!