Like a servant’s eyes on his master’s hand, like a servant girl’s eyes on her mistress’s hand, so our eyes are on the Lord our God until he shows us favor. (Psalms 123:2)
This is one of the places where Scripture paints God in a feminine light. It’s always to demonstrate his compassionate care for us, like this mistress to her servant girl. In a similar way, Jesus expressed his compassion by saying to Israel, “How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings” (Matthew 23:37). Today we have tiger moms who express their love by telling their kids how disappointed they are in them, and mama bears who express their love by lashing out at anybody who threatens their little cubs. But Jesus calls himself a mother hen who expresses his love by protecting his people and covering them with his wings, like how this Psalmist experienced God’s protection from those who hated him.
A mother hen instinctively cares for her chicks and protects them. If there’s a mongoose around, she’ll gather her chicks and use her own body to protect them under her wings. If there’s a storm coming, she’ll sense the danger and gather her chicks under her wings to keep them out of the wind and rain. And Jesus is saying, “That’s exactly what I want to do for you. I want to gather you in and protect you.”
In the next verse he says, “Your house is left to you desolate.” In other words, “There’s a storm coming! Everything that’s comfortable and secure in your life is going to be snatched away! But I want to use my own body to protect you from that. I’m going to die on the cross to take the punishment for your sin, and that will be a covering over you, protecting you from the storm of God’s wrath like a mother hen.” Have you thanked Jesus for his motherly protection over you?