Psalm 55:6 - Rest
Food for Thought
An all-creatures.org Guide to Kingdom Living

By Marni Montanez

Psalm 55:6

New Living Translation (NLT)

6 Oh, that I had wings like a dove; then I would fly away and rest!

What more can be said....this verse says it exactly.

This is a soul who desires freedom in his inmost being. The kind of freedom that desires to birth the longing in his heart; This longing is the wind of solace to gently blow cool refreshing strength upon him. He longs for the deep and eternal rest that only our Creator can give.

We have all been in this place of exhaustion and hopelessness where we have come to the end of our own strength and wisdom. In this season, rest is the answer. But more than just rest; it is a rest that extends beyond the present moment. It is a rest where only the wings of peace will take you. A peace unknown to this world but experienced by the heart of the believer. We, like this psalmist want to get away from it all; escape. What is the "it"? and where do we want to go?

The "it" is anything resembling stress, chaos or confusion. we want to be taken back to what we were created for; the internal place of rest.....the Garden of Eden.....the garden represents peace and strength and the abundant life God promises to us.

In Matthew and Mark the description given for the Holy Spirit's descent upon Jesus was that "like a dove"

When David uses this phrase he sees the correlation between the Holy Spirit and a dove.

"Oh", that I had wings like a dove. This is a desperate and passionate longing. It speaks of one looking out over the horizon and wishing for more; wishing for God's all

God's all is Him and He gave it at the cross. We just have to embrace it. To be with God as Adam and Eve were, is to be in the ultimate place of rest where only the wings of a dove or the Holy Spirit can take us.

God created a place of peace for us to dwell in; it is within the presence of Holy Spirit.

The desperate place of rest this man refers to is the Holy Spirit. Only in Him is there such rest where no one can harm you and where we are made vulnerable and exposed and yet comfortingly shielded.

challenge: Try spending 15 minutes a day in silence. No agenda and no distractions. Just you and God. Sit quietly and wait.

God bless

Marni

Go on to: Psalm 56:3 Trust in God
Return to: Food for Thought
Return to: Christian Living Articles

The purpose of this series is to encourage people to live as loving, compassionate, and peacemaking children of God: Jesus tells us to pray, "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven." (Matthew 6:10) God tells us through Micah (6:8), "He has told you, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of you But to do justice, to love kindness, And to walk humbly with your God." And we know from Revelation 21:4 that there will be no more mourning, or crying, or pain, or death. Thus, Christian living requires us to set the standards of these conditions here on earth for our fellow human beings, and for the other animals, as a witness to the rest of the world. To do otherwise is not Christian.