Renewed Like the Eagle

The eagle in this verse has gathered a story around it. In the centuries after Christ, Christian writers passed on a legend that an old eagle could make itself young again: it flew up toward the sun, plunged into water, and came up renewed. That part is legend. What is true is that an eagle sheds its worn feathers and grows new ones, which anyone watching the sky could see. The psalm is making no claim about birds. It borrows a familiar picture of something worn out becoming strong again.

The psalm's own order matters more than the eagle does. David tells his soul to "forget not all his benefits," and then he counts them in order. God "forgiveth," "healeth," "redeemeth" and "crowneth." Then comes the line about the eagle: He "satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed." Renewal comes after being fed. It is not a second wind you produce on a bad morning. It is what happens to somebody God has satisfied.

So do more than read it; pray it back to Him, and keep His order.

Lord, You forgive all my iniquities, and I am not going to bring that one up again tonight. You heal my diseases, and You know which ones I have stopped mentioning to anybody. You redeem my life from destruction, and I would rather not be reminded that I needed that. You crown me with lovingkindness and tender mercies, which is a strange pair of words for a week like this one. And You satisfy my mouth with good things. Fill it, Lord. I have been running on nothing and calling it discipline.

Then take a question with you today. You are tired, so what have you really been feeding on? And when did you last let God do the satisfying, when you have only been asking Him to top you up? He is the One who renews your strength, and He starts by feeding you.

Daily Manna runs on a two-year cycle. The year two reading for day 204 is What She Could (Mark 14:8).

All 365 readings in Daily Manna