The apple of your eye

Christine Colliar November 13, 2025 0 0

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Psalm 17: 1-9 (NIVUK)

1 Hear me, Lord, my plea is just;
    listen to my cry.
Hear my prayer –
    it does not rise from deceitful lips.
2 Let my vindication come from you;
    may your eyes see what is right.

3 Though you probe my heart,
    though you examine me at night and test me,
you will find that I have planned no evil;
    my mouth has not transgressed.
4 Though people tried to bribe me,
    I have kept myself from the ways of the violent
    through what your lips have commanded.
5 My steps have held to your paths;
    my feet have not stumbled.

6 I call on you, my God, for you will answer me;
    turn your ear to me and hear my prayer.
7 Show me the wonders of your great love,
    you who save by your right hand
    those who take refuge in you from their foes.
8 Keep me as the apple of your eye;
    hide me in the shadow of your wings
9 from the wicked who are out to destroy me,
    from my mortal enemies who surround me.

‘Keep me as the apple of your eye;
hide me in the shadow of your wings’
(Psalm 17:8)

In the great chorus of worship, it can be easy to lose sight of the individual voice... but God hears each individual note, and holds each life close. Communal worship does not dissolve our individuality. Rather, it gathers it and harmonises it — all are held in God’s gaze as the apple of God’s eye.

The psalmist asks to be kept in love, kept in faith, kept near — so near it is like being under the wing of a mother hen. In worship, that ‘keeping’ happens anew. As we join our voices, God gathers us together, holds us close, unites us.
It is amid shared prayer and praise that we most fully realise how deeply we are known and how completely we belong.

To think about:

How does worship remind you that God sees you personally, even among many?
Who in your community might need to be reminded that they are the apple of God’s eye?
How can shared worship both affirm individuality and deepen unity?

Prayer: (To the tune of ‘Be still, my soul’)

Hold us, O God, as the apple of your eye,
shelter our hearts when shadows draw nigh.
Gather our voices, trembling yet true,
each one beloved, seen first by you.

When we sing softly, or cannot sing at all,
still let your mercy over us fall.
Teach us in worship, woven as one,
that each is your daughter, each is your son.

Keep us, O Lord, in the light of your gaze,
guard us and guide us all of our days.
Form us in fellowship, steadfast and strong,
each soul a note in your endless song.
Amen