The Eagle, the Hawk, and the Mockingbirds

“Be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me: for my soul trusteth in Thee: yea, in the shadow of Thy wings will I make my refuge, until these calamities be overpast.” Psalm 57:1

For the last few weeks, every time I would go out in my front yard to do yardwork, go to the mailbox, or go to the car, I would get attacked by mockingbirds.  They have built a nest in a running rose bush on the corner of my front fence, and they certainly don’t want me bothering it.  One of them would come up behind me and get about a foot or so away from the back of my head and make this “whoosh” sound.  It was very intimidating.  If you have ever seen the old Alfred Hitchcock movie, “The Birds”, you would know what I mean.  It was also annoying.  I felt like I needed to put on a hard hat to go outside.

Yesterday, though, the mockingbirds were not around so I took a peek into the nest, but there was nothing in it.  I have not heard any baby birds chirping, but I have seen the adult birds flying back and forth to and from the nest.  There were no little eggs in it either so perhaps they haven’t laid them yet, and have been taking their time in constructing their nest.  Later, as I was working in the strip of land beside my driveway, I heard a commotion in the backyard.  I looked up and saw a hawk in my pecan tree, and the mockingbirds were squawking and making quite a commotion.  That old hawk just sat there as if he owned the tree.  He knew that these much smaller birds were no match for him.  The mockingbirds were relentless in trying to run him off, to no avail.

An hour or so later, as I continued my yardwork, I saw the hawk fly overhead with one of those mockingbirds in his talons.  The other birds were chasing him and squawking like crazy, but there was nothing they could do to rescue their fellow feathered friend.  Even though I had been annoyed by their attempts at intimidating me previously, I felt sorry for them.  Today, I saw the hawk fly over again with a small army of different kinds of birds chasing him.  There isn’t much they can do to rid the neighborhood of their foe since he, for now, is the “prince of the power of the air” (Ephesians 2:2).  He is much too powerful for them, but they don’t give up.

We are like those mockingbirds.  We don’t have enough power and strength on our own to fight against the devil.  Satan is a pretty powerful dude who doesn’t fear us little birds.  But there is one thing that he does fear–the power of God.  Satan is no match for Almighty God.  I suppose we could use the analogy of the hawk as representing Satan, but God is the Eagle who fears nothing.  The protection that He gives to those who trust in Him is compared to being covered by His wings.  As long as we abide in Him under His loving care and mercy, no devil in hell can touch us.

P.S.  I went out to take the above picture of the nest, and Mr. Mockingbird returned, and I ran back into the house.  You just never know when that old devil is going to show up!