Hovering over Psalm 74 this morning. It’s one of those “why?” songs to God. Why have You left us? Why does Your “anger smoke against” us? (v. 1)

It’s also one of those “How long?” songs (v.10).

Given that the temple has been set on fire and brought “down to the ground” (v.7), it seems to be a song born out of the sufferings during the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem before Israel’s exile.

And what first captures my attention are the different ways the songwriter describes God’s people at the beginning of the song. They are “the sheep of Your pasture”; they are His “congregation”; they are those “purchased of old” and redeemed to be His “heritage” (v. 1-2). So, I’m thinking that’s why I was primed to pick up on a reference for God’s redeemed which I don’t think I’ve ever noticed before.

Remember this, O LORD, how the enemy scoffs,
       and a foolish people reviles Your name.
Do not deliver the soul of Your dove to the wild beasts;
       do not forget the life of Your poor forever.

(Psalm 74:18-19 ESV)

Only place, I think, that you’re going to find God’s people referred to as Your dove.

Hmm . . . chew on that for a bit. A picture’s worth a thousand words. What picture comes to mind when you think of a dove? What words are you coming up with?

Innocent as a dove? Harmless as a dove? Gentle as a dove? White as a dove? Ancient Israel wasn’t innocent. At their military peak, far from harmless or gentle. Pure? Nope — remember we’re talking about Israel at the time of exile.

But what if the bible itself defines the picture from which we draw some of those “thousand words?”

“O my dove, in the clefts of the rock,
       in the crannies of the cliff,
let me see your face,
       let me hear your voice,
for your voice is sweet,
       and your face is lovely.”

“Open to me, my sister, my love,
       my dove, my perfect one,
for my head is wet with dew,
       my locks with the drops of the night.”

“My dove, my perfect one, is the only one,
       the only one of her mother,
       pure to her who bore her.
The young women saw her and called her blessed;
       the queens and concubines also, and they praised her.”

(Song of Solomon 2:14, 5:2, 6:9 ESV)

What if the psalmist saw God’s people — even when they were in the midst of the “why?” and the “how long?” of God’s severe discipline — in this light? As a dove still secure and protected in the clefts of the rock. As a dove still very much desired, her beloved longing to see the beauty of her face and hear the sweetness of her voice? What if, despite all her imperfections and failures and yes, even her sin, she remains no less the dove — counted as God’s perfect one, the one called blessed, the one yet to be praised?

What if this is a reminder that, despite their failures and even in times of deserved correction, God’s people are always loved and sought by God, are always His dove?

What if the Spirit takes a divine “rabbit trail” from this song of lament to remind me this morning that on my best day God loves me no more, and that — praise God! — on my worst day He loves me no less?

For I am in Christ — the One who is my purity, my perfection, and my promise.

And that, along with all the redeemed through the ages, I am His bride. His beloved. The one He has promised to present “to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish” (Eph. 5:27).

For I am His dove.

Only by His grace. Only for His glory.