KEEP ME AS THE APPLE OF THE EYE

Psalm 17 verse 8 uses a powerful verbal image, evoking thoughts of intimacy and value; David pleads with God to keep him as ‘the apple of the eye’. Literally translated, the phrase reads, ‘the little one of the daughter of your eye’ The IVP Bible Back­ground Commentary. It is rendered ‘pupil’ in some versions (e.g., NKJV margin, NASV margin, NET) and refers to the vul­nerable central part of the eye. The Dictionary of Biblical Languages With Semantic Domains asserts that it ‘is an appropriate equiva­lent [to the Hebrew idiom] because it adequately reflects the associative meanings of tenderness and preciousness’ (brackets mine). People reflexively recoil from an object coming close to this part of the eye. The natural response is to blink - perhaps even duck! The body is definitely programmed to protect this tender part.

This metaphor also occurs elsewhere in scripture. In Moses’ song, he uses it to refer to the twelve tribes, Deut. 32. 10. Zechariah chapter 2 verse 8 also uses it in connection with Israel, saying, ‘For thus saith the Lord of hosts; After the glory hath he sent me unto the nations which spoiled you: for he that toucheth you toucheth the apple of his eye’. Note the personal pronoun ‘his’ in each of these verses. It may be safely said that God takes it personally when someone assaults His people. Saul of Tarsus forcibly learned this when his zealous persecution of the church led the glorified Christ to query, ‘Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?’ If this question failed to make the point, then the situ­ation was clarified when He said, ‘I am Jesus whom thou persecutest’, Acts 9. 4-5. When someone attacks the body, the Head feels it, and acts on behalf of His people.

Just as David cried out to the Lord to extend the most inti­mate protection to him, so the Christian can look to the Almighty as a mighty defence. He tenderly guards His saints with the same diligence that humans employ to safeguard their eyes. Such vigilant care expresses the importance that God places on our spiritual safety. He will never slumber, Ps. 121. 3, 4, nor will any enemy ever penetrate His omnipotent hands where we rest, John 10. 28, 29.