Joy and I were playing with her “princess crown” a few days ago. She was trying to put it on my head but my glasses kept getting in the way so she asked me to “take you gwasses off Nana.” So I took my gwasses off and she started putting the crown on me again, but in her approach, she almost poked me in the eye. As the crown came closer I instinctively closed my eyes to protect them. Only when the crown was finally secured on my head did I open my eyes again. I now have a better understanding of David’s words in Psalm 17: 8 “Keep me as the apple of Your eye; hide me in the shadow of Your wings.” David was proclaiming the protective nature of God towards His children.
You know how I love word terminologies – and I found a good one here. The Hebrew word for “keep” of course means to guard, to keep watch, to shield, and protect. That’s God being a watchful Father, always looking out for possible danger. Nothing sneaks up on Him and He will not allow anything to come near to you that does not fulfill His perfect plan for your life. Notice I didn’t say He would protect you from every unpleasant thing in life. Some of them are necessary. Maybe it’s just me, but I’m rather stubborn. God has had to sand off my self-will with some pretty rough sandpaper. We’ve been through this more than once and I know that when hard things come to me, it is because God is working to remove something in me that interferes with His plan.
The word “keep” also means to “look narrow.” I love that because it tells me that in a world full of people, His focus is on me. Just me. I often feel like just one face in a very large crowd. One more person among so many people. But God’s vision is narrowed so that He only sees me out of the throng. And somehow – at the same time – He sees you. Just you. And every other person that claims the name of His Son. I don’t know how, I just know it’s true.
God’s child is never out of His sight. He will keep you, Beloved, because you are the apple of His eye.
Deeper Roots 