Psalm 17:8-15 “Keep me as the apple of your eye. Hide me under the shadow of your wings, from the wicked who oppress me, my deadly enemies, who surround me. They close up their callous hearts. With their mouth they speak proudly. They have now surrounded us in our steps. They set their eyes to cast us down to the earth. He is like a lion that is greedy of his prey, as it were a young lion lurking in secret places. Arise, LORD, confront him. Cast him down. Deliver my soul from the wicked by your sword, from men by your hand, LORD, from men of the world, whose portion is in this life. You fill the belly of your cherished ones. Your sons have plenty, and they store up wealth for their children. As for me, I shall see your face in righteousness. I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with seeing your form.”

David is calling out for God to preserve and bless Him again. Do we have a little eschatological enlightenment here? Every Israelite understood that they couldn’t see God and live (Exodus 33:20). So how can David say that He will be satisfied waking up and seeing God’s form? If sleep is likened to death, then David is looking forward to the time he will be with God in eternity!

How about David’s plea to continue to be the apple of God’s eye? Or the description of a baby bird under the wings of a mother? Perhaps Jesus had this in mind when he said:

Matthew 6:26 “See the birds of the sky, that they don’t sow, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns. Your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren’t you of much more value than they?”

Here’s the thing: we ARE the apple of God’s eye through salvation, and we should WANT to be the apple of God’s eye by our behavior.

For additional worship: His Eye is on the Sparrow (Keith and Krysten)