Wings

“Oh, that I had wings like a dove!
I would fly away and be at rest.”
– Psalm 55:6

In a recent post I mentioned old advertising slogans that still linger in my mind. Today’s verse reminds me of another. The series of television commercials for the product vary slightly, but run a consistent course. They would begin with a woman in some stressful situation: the phone is ringing, something is overcooking on the stove, the child is screaming, the dog is barking, and a plant has just been overturned. You can guess her desperate plea, can’t you? “Calgon, take me away!” The scene then turns to the woman peacefully relaxing in a tub overflowing with fluffy bubblebath. Pretty good marketing, right? What woman wouldn’t want a container of Calgon bath soap on hand as a ready escape from a stressful day?

The psalmist here is expressing the same desire for escape. “If only I had wings, I would fly away to a safe place.” For the psalmist, though, it is more than the normal stressors of a modern society. His anguish is much deeper. He is personally attacked. “For they bring down trouble upon me, and in wrath they hate me” (v. 3b). To make matters worse, his trouble is brought upon him, not by those whom he considers enemies, but by a friend.

For it is not an enemy who reproaches me;
Then I could bear it.
Nor is it one who hates me who has exalted himself against me;
Then I could hide from him.
But it was you, a man my equal,
My companion and my acquaintance.
We took sweet counsel together,
And walked to the house of God in the throng.
– Psalm 55:12-14

There is no pleasure in being assailed by anyone, stranger or known adversary. There is a particular sting in being assailed by one you have trusted, a companion who has shared life with you. The closer the companion, the more painful the sting. Most children will experience mild forms of this. Relationships get sideways because a friend isn’t acting friend-like. Commonly the friendship repairs itself, and life goes on. Ideally adulthood would see us past those turned relationships. King David (to whom this psalm is credited) would testify that it doesn’t.

Wings would be great, wouldn’t they? To just fly away would be the easy way to cope when we become the target of aggression. Wings would be even better than a bubble bath; as soon as the water turns cold and you get out of the bubbles, you find that the trouble remains. Wings could really take us away! Persevering in righteousness is difficult. We are not given a quick escape. We are asked to trust the Lord to be the one who deals with our aggressors. We are instructed to “turn the other cheek” when the first one is slapped (Matthew 5:38-39). We are asked to look to God, having faith that His grace toward us is sufficient for our strength. But know this: if we wait long enough, in God’s perfect timing, wings will come.

But those who wait on the Lord
Shall renew their strength;
They shall mount up with wings like eagles,
They shall run and not be weary,
They shall walk and not faint.
– Isaiah 40:31