I am the "apple" of God's eye...


Psalms 17:8
Keep me as the apple of Your eye; hide me in the shadow of Your wings.
Deuteronomy 32:10 In a desert land He found him, in a barren and howling waste. He shielded him and cared for him; He guarded him as the apple of His eye...
Erin Cosshttp://shelovesgod.com/LIBRARY/article.cfm?articleid=9709&wherefrom=PROFILE
"I recently heard a teaching in which the teacher declared "You are the apple of God's eye." I thought to myself ‘That's nice.’ It made me feel good. But then my next thought was ‘What does that mean anyway?’ I'm sure you may have heard the saying and may possibly have understood it, but if you haven't please bear with me as I explore this coined phrase.

"In Psalm 17, David cries out to the Lord and asks to be kept as the apple of His eye. David thought that must be a significant place to be, but why? There are 5 pieces of scripture that I found that referenced this saying.
"In Deuteronomy 32:10 we find Moses speaking of how the Lord cared for Jacob. He says ‘In a desert land He found him, in a barren and howling waste. He shielded him and cared for him; He guarded him as the apple of His eye,’ The definition of apple used here found in the original Hebrew means ‘pupil of the eye.’ Ok - this makes a little more sense. ‘Apple’ in this scripture is not used in the form of a fruit.

"As I continued, I came across a scripture found in Zechariah 2:8,9 - ‘For this is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘After he has honored me and has sent me against the nations that have plundered you--for whoever touches you touches the apple of His eye, I will surely raise my hand against them so that their slaves will plunder them. Then you will know that the Lord Almighty has sent me.’

"A commentary related to verse 8 stated ‘You are so dear to God, that He can no more allow your enemies to hurt you, than a man can endure to be thrust in the eye;’ I can appreciate that type of love. If someone was attacking me and trying to poke me in the eye, I'm sure I would protect my eye to the best of my ability.

"There is another place where this phrase is found. Proverbs 7:2 says ‘Keep
my commands and you will live; guard my teachings as the apple of your eye.’

"The word of God is so cool isn't it? After further examination we find that we are the pupil of God's eye, or the center of His eye or vision. Could we say we are the center of His attention? He loves us so much He protects us as He would someone trying to poke His eye out, with fervent passion! The Lord in return asks us to think the same of His word. I think we owe Him that at the very least, don't you?

"Thank you so much for bearing with me as I explore these verses. I hope you've gained insight and a deeper love for the Lord like I have. I pray today that you will ‘guard (His) teachings as the apple of your eye.’

Not only do I feel like I understand this verse better – I really appreciate Erin’s desire to "get it," too! How many of us have missed out on something from the Word because we haven’t taken the time to do the research to figure out what it’s saying – and how it applies to our own lives? I’d guess TOO many times – right? When we’re faced with something in scripture that seems obscure – or out of our frame of reference – or we just don’t understand it – it’s ALWAYS to our benefit to do the research! And – there’s really no excuse now with all the resources available on the internet – there are SO many places we can go for help – for FREE – so we really don’t have an excuse! Here are some of the free Bible study websites I use:  http://www.biblegateway.com/
http://www.biblestudytools.com/http://cf.blueletterbible.org/http://www.crosswalk.com/
I also have a collection of commentaries from Bible teachers I trust – as well as a word studies dictionary. If I can’t find what I’m looking for in any of these resources I can always ask a pastor. The point is – I take the time to figure it out so I can get the most out of my time in the Word as possible! Here’s another way to think about it – the Bible says that we’re to desire the "meat" of the Word – not just the "milk." If I go to a restaurant and order steak, baked potato, salad and pudding for dessert – but can only eat the pudding because I left my dentures at home – how much am I really going to enjoy that meal? How much will it benefit my body? Not much, right? It’s the same way with studying God’s Word – we need to use every resource we have to eat and digest the "meal" that is offered to us in the pages of the Bible. Don’t be lazy! Seek and search – don’t gloss over something you don’t understand – or you’ll miss out! Isn’t it AWESOME to understand that we’re the "apple of God’s eye?" That we have His attention? That He will do whatever He needs to do to protect us? Now – as Erin encouraged – make Him and His Word the "apple of YOUR eye!" Sharon