A Scripture Meditation of God’s Protective Wings For Trauma Survivors by Mary Sue Barnett ARCWP

Hide me in the shadow of Your wings Psalm 17:8

My God, Holy Intimacy. You absorb the palpitations and painful constrictions of vulnerability. With Your protective wingspan, hover over, and draw me into safety. Quiet my body and spirit within the hiddenness of You. To breathe and rest.  To know relief from the turmoil. 

Let me dwell in Your tent forever; let me take refuge in the shelter of 

Your wings Psalm 61:4

My God, Spirit of Love. You know I am near. From Your tent of safety, You whisper, You call, You summon. To draw me that much closer. Where You will listen to my heart; its beat, its cry, its emptying, its hope. In the shelter of Your wings, tend the frightful trauma and buried wounds. With the balm of deep seeing. Your eyes upon me. My eyes upon You.

My soul takes refuge in You. And in the shadow of Your wings I will take refuge until destruction passes by Psalm 57:1

My God, Holy Protector. Your wings of strength hold my body and soul with care. Within Your embrace You breathe into my depths a spirit of renewal. You calm the persistent reverberations of suffering. Pressed within Your wing hold, a glint of new life shows itself. Something subtle. Shifting. Forming from the ash heap.

You are my hiding place; You will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance Psalm 32:7

My God, Holy Deliverer. Your majestic wings swoop with power. Surrounding gently. Removing threat. Vanquishing danger. Though inescapable is unjust suffering, Your beloved wingbeat casts sacred layers of impenetrable shield. Guarding with vigilance my sacred center. Where we dwell together. Where I indwell You, You indwell me. Where You allow no harm. Where I allow no harm. Where there has never been harm.

For You have been my help, and in the shadow of Your wings I sing for joy Psalm 63:7

My God, Spirit of Healing, I trust You, an eternally unfurling trust. Enfolded in Your care, You give sacred darkness. Where there is no light, there is stillness. Where there is stillness, You inspire Wisdom. In this womb-like place, You implant most kind hints of a new song to live. A song of horizons born of the darkness.

God shall cover you with feathers, and under God’s wings you

shall take refuge Psalm 91:4

My God, Mystery of Comfort. There is nothing so soft. So sustaining. As the in-gathering of Your Love. Like the brush of luxurious feathers upon the skin, You hold, soothe, calm, and guide. There is nothing in all the world, in all the vastness of land, sea, and skies, in all the universe. As certain and delicate as the nearness of You.

You God, are a shield around me, my glory, the One Who lifts my head high. I lie down and sleep; I awake again because God sustains me Psalm 3: 3-5

My God, Healer of depression and Rescuer from the abyss. You are never absent. You are in the middle of the fog. You permeate the chaos. You are ever present. Waiting to be perceived. Longing for the suffering heart to feel You. To reach for You. To adhere itself with abandon to Your Divine Heart. This Oneness. This Glory. Is Life.

I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to Myself Exodus 19:4

My God, Holy and Fierce Liberator. There You are. In the dust of human anguish. Intermingled with suffering is the essence of You. For to be broken with the broken is the depth and breadth of Your Divine Compassion. Deserts of oppression. Streets of violence. Rooms of loneliness. These are no stranger to You. You Yourself taste the dust. Gasp for air. Know the suffering. Inflamed, with sound of hurricane winds, You lift the suffering out of the captors’ grasp. You bring the rejected to Your very Self. 

How often have I desired to gather the children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings Luke 13:34

Jesus, Prophet and Mother Christ. The desire of Your heart is unfathomable. So powerful the desire for Your beloved, You endure a Holy Pathos. Your wings ache to hold. Your arms tremble to give peace. Your voice breaks through and Your call sounds. And resounds. 

Echoing a mighty Love,

It is under My wings that You will heal completely.

God will never leave you or forsake you Deuteronomy 31:6

My God, My Abiding Light. My God, My Abiding Darkness.

In, With, and Through Whom, I am loved.

In, With, and Through Whom, I love.

Chaplain Mary Sue Barnett

September 2021