Day 74

 

The Apple of God's Eye

 

Keep me as the apple of your eye, hide me in the shadow of your wings.

 

Psalm 17:8 

 

Have you ever thought about the expression, "the apple of your (or my) eye?" What does it mean? And why apple? I like bananas better than apples so why can't someone be the banana of my eye?

First of all, how we use the expression today is different than its use in the Bible. When we say someone is the apple of my eye today we mean that they are someone we take great pride in or pleasure from and someone we hold dear. When the Psalmist says we are the apple of God's eye he means something similar yet different.

Often times in the Old Testament the writers would repeat the same idea in a different way to emphasize a point. A prime example of this is Psalm 119:105. "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path." The psalmist uses "a lamp to my feet" and restates the same truth with "a light to my path."

That is what is happening in Psalm 17:8. The psalmist asks God to "keep me as the apple of your eye" and then restates the same request as "hide me in the shadow of your wings." We know that God is spirit and doesn't have eyes (though he sees all) or wings. What the psalmist is asking for is God's protection.

The metaphor of "hide me in the shadow of your wings" is easily understood. It brings up the image of a mother bird sheltering its chicks from harm beneath her wings.

The apple of your eye means the same thing though the metaphor is not as clear. What is the most important part of your eye? The pupil is the most important part if you want to see. It is the part of the eye you must protect. The pupil is that little round apple shaped center of your eye. In asking God to "keep me as the apple of your eye" it is asking God to guard me like you do your eyesight. (see Deuteronomy 32:10)

So banana of you eye doesn't work. Pupils are shaped like apples not bananas. They also didn't have bananas growing in the Promised Land so they would didn't know what they were. We can join with the psalmist  in praying, Lord, "keep me as the apple of your eye" and know that the Lord will never leave us or forsake us.

 

Upon Further Review:

 

Read Psalm 17:8-15

• What is the condition of the wicked's heart?
• Where do the wicked find their reward?
• When we are righteous what will satisfy us?