The wings of His goodness: The goodness of God speaks of His loving kindness. It also expresses the supreme generosity, holiness, and the excellence of His divine character. It is the sum total of all His attributes. The earth is full of His goodness and He makes all His goodness to go before Hus servants to ensure their safety and peace- Ps. 33:5.
The wings of His salvation: In the old Testament, the general idea of salvation is that of being delivered, safe, in ease, or sound through God's gracious acts. This includes both spiritual and physical deliverance, safety, easiness and soundness. The Lord saves by delivering His people from their enemies and from the snare of the wicked; by forgiveness of sins; answers to prayers; health; joy and peace. In the new Testament, salvation is regarded as deliverance from the power and dominion of sin. It is freely offered to all men but conditionally received upon repentance towards God and faith in Christ- Jn. 3:16; Acts 20;21. Salvation proceeds from the love of God and it is based on the atonement wrought by Christ on the cross. It is realized in forgiveness, regeneration, sanctification, and adoption. And it culminates in the resurrection and glorification of the believer.
The wings of His righteousness: Another word for righteousness is justice. The righteousness of God is His holiness applied in moral government and the dominion of law. As an attribute of God, it is united in His holiness as being essential in His nature. It is legislative as He is the righteous governor of all creatures. And it is administrative or judicial as He is a just dispenser of rewards and punishments. The righteousness of Jesus denotes not only His absolute perfection, but is taken for His perfect obedience to the law, and suffering the penalty thereof in our stead. It is used to denote His holiness, justice and faithfulness. The righteousness of the law is that obedience which the law requires. The righteousness of faith is the justification that is received by faith- 1 Cor. 1:30.
The wings of His faithfulness: Faithfulness is an attribute of stability of character ascribed to God in many ways- Ps. 36:5, Isa. 11:5. The faithfulness of God is what exhibits His character as worthy of the love and confidence of men. It assures us that He will fulfill all His promises and execute judgment against sin. His faithfulness covers spiritual and temporal blessings. It includes help in time of need, persecution, direction in difficulty, enablement in perseverance and bringing glory to those who trust in Him.
The wings of His protection: The longing of His heart towards us is often to gather us under the wings of His protection as a hen does her brood- Ps. 91:4. He is our refuge and fortress where we are hidden from trouble. The wings of His protection is the wing of His truth. His word of truth is our shield and buckler that can be used to quench the flaming arrows of the wicked- Eph. 6:10-18. His protection implies His defense against the attack of our enemies- Ps. 89:18. We take our refuge and are confident in the shadow of His wings until calamities and destructive storms are passed- Ps. 57:1. The power of God operates by His name, His word and His spirit- Zech. 4:6, Heb. 1:13, 1 Pet. 1:5.
The wings of His guidance: Almost immediately after the deliverance of the Israelites from the land of bondage, the Lord went before them in a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. The pillar of cloud was meant to give them shade from the scorching sun and to guide them by day. And the pillar of fire was for light and guidance by night. It was a visible manifestation of the shadow of His wing over His redeemed people- Ex. 13:21-22. The purpose of His guidance is to give us direction, good success, and safety in the journey of life and destiny. Our strict obedience to His guidance is strongly required to avoid bad consequences that come as a result of failure in doing so- Ps.32:8-10.
The wings of His provision: This is speaking of His special provision. His general provision is given to all men and all creation; but His special provision is given to His chosen people who have entered into covenant relationship with Him through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. God has special concern for His chosen ones just as a good shepherd does. His provisions for His people is well described as pastures and still water- Ps. 23:1-2. Green pastures speak of the good and rich quality of His provision; and still water speaks of rest, satisfaction and safety which we derive from His provision. Making us to lie down in green pastures and leading us beside still water speaks of the fact that we are led and placed by Him to dwell in the midst of His abundance where we will not lack any good thing- Ps. 84:11-12. They speak of the peculiar favour of God towards the believers in such a measure that compasses them about with privileges and fills them with the character of His love. He abundantly satisfies us with the riches of His house and fills us with the rivers of His pleasures- Ps. 36:-8. He opens up the wells of salvation that we can draw for ourselves satisfaction from the water of life. This we can do with such an overwhelming joy of His salvation filling and flowing out of our innermost being- Isa. 12:2-3. Through the grace of giving our material things to Him, He makes His favor and earthly blessings come to us in abundance. By the principle of sowing and reaping, He makes us to always have enough in all circumstances. This is so that we can be well furnished for good works and charitable donations. The violation of this spiritual principle will lead the believer to lack and poverty. When we sow for His work and the needy, the Lord multiplies the seed we have sown and our food. He multiplies our resources for sowing and increases our fruitfulness in whatever we do- 2 Cor. 9:6-11.
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