The Apple of God’s Eye
By Emma Danzey
“Keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings.” – Psalm 17:8
Keep Me As the Apple of Your Eye
The Hebrew word for apple means pupil. The Lord is telling us in this verse that we are the pupil of His eye. Psalm 17 is a prayer from David to God, asking God to keep him as the apple of God’s eye. Our apple of the eye reflects what we are looking at. The Lord is looking at us. He sees me and He sees you.
Job 28:24 says, “For he looks to the ends of the earth and sees everything under the heavens.”
Webster’s Dictionary defines the apple of someone’s eye as, “A person or thing that someone loves very much.”
Cambridge Dictionary says, “The person who someone loves most and is very proud of.”
This is an endearing term. God is inviting us into His love. He is proud of us, He loves us. Scientifically speaking, a pupil dilates “in response to increases in arousal and mental effort, either triggered by an external stimulus or spontaneously.”
The word arouse has three definitions. One is romantic. However, the other two literally mean, “To awaken from sleep” and “to stimulate to action or to bodily readiness for activity: excite.”
How is this possible that we can excite Jesus? Scripture tells us that we only have to offer filthy rags. This is the power of the gospel. Christ has exchanged our sins for His righteousness. When God looks at us, He sees His own reflection back, He sees Jesus.
We love Him because He first loved us. We are secure in Him. We are safe with Him. He cares for us and has given us His salvation. We are not ashamed of His gospel. We are proud of it. We too are invited to gaze back at our Savior, our Bridegroom and know Him.
Hebrews 12:2 tells us to fix our eyes on Jesus as we run the race of faith. The truth is that Jesus looks at us first. We are the apple of His eye. However, if He is looking into our pupils, then we are looking into His.
If we are fixing our eyes on Jesus, that means that He is in the focus of our gaze. The apple, the pupil of our eye will be reflective of Him. With the help of the Holy Spirit, we can pray that Jesus would be the apple of our eyes as well. If our pupils are “dilated” in a sense while we gaze upon Him. He has awakened us from our sleep. Ephesians 5:14 says, “For anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says, ‘Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.’”
The second definition for arouse is about preparing for action, excitement. When we are fixed on Jesus, He prepares us and excites us in His life and His kingdom purposes.
Romans 12:11 says, “Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.”
Christ provides us with zeal as we look to Him in our lives.
I want to acknowledge that this verse is about us, the beloved are the people of God. The apple of the eye refers to the children of the Lord. We are the ones who have been loved greatly. However, when we experience and receive that covenantal love of Christ, we respond by His Spirit to love Him back.
We can be tempted to place our focus and our attention elsewhere. We can so easily be bogged down by the worries of this world. We might be looking at accolades, finances, relationships, comfort, or anything else. If Jesus is not where our eyes are focused, then we get off track. Thankfully, our God is perfect and His gaze never leaves us.
Hide Me in the Shadow of Your Wings
When I think of the words “hide me” I remember that Mary pondered the news of Jesus’ birth in her heart. We are hidden in the shadow of His wings. This phrase is used throughout the Bible as a place of safety. Christ is our secure place. He is our Fortress and Rock. We are held in His arms.
Intersecting Faith & Life:
How does knowing that you are the apple of God’s eye remind you that you are loved today? In what ways can you return His love and seek to make Him the apple of your eyes?
Further Reading:
Jeremiah 16:17
Hebrews 12:2
1 John 4:19
Photo Credit: ©GettyImages/AaronAmat
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