The God Who Never Lets Go (Part 2): The God Who Covers Our Shame
From Field to Bride
The abandoned baby in the field does not stay there. God doesn’t just rescue her from death and walk away. He raises her. She grows. She matures. She becomes a young woman, and her beauty blossoms. And then comes one of the most tender moments in all of Scripture:
“Later I passed by, and when I looked at you and saw that you were old enough for love, I spread the corner of my garment over you and covered your naked body. I gave you my solemn oath and entered into a covenant with you, declares the Sovereign Lord, and you became mine.” (Ezekiel 16:8)
This is no longer just the story of survival. It is the story of covenant. God does not leave her uncovered. He clothes her, covers her shame, and claims her as His bride.
What Covering Really Means
In Hebrew culture, to “spread the corner of a garment” was not a casual gesture. It was a marriage act a declaration of covenant love. To cover someone with your garment meant: “I take you under my protection. You belong to me. I will provide for you. I will love you.”
We see this vividly in the story of Ruth and Boaz. Ruth was a foreign widow, an outsider with no safety or future. At Naomi’s urging, she went to Boaz a relative with the right to redeem her and laid at his feet. In that bold moment she said:
“Spread the corner of your garment over me, since you are a kinsman-redeemer.” (Ruth 3:9)
Ruth wasn’t asking Boaz for a blanket. She was asking for covenant. She was asking him to marry her, redeem her, and bind his life to hers. Boaz honored her request with love, and their union brought forth a lineage that led to King David and ultimately to Jesus, the Redeemer of the world.
So, when God says in Ezekiel 16, “I spread the corner of my garment over you,” He is using the same imagery. He is saying: “I am your Redeemer. I cover your shame. I bind Myself to you in covenant love.”
Why Covenant Is the Heart of Creation
This is not a side note in Scripture this is the whole point of creation. From the beginning, God’s desire was to bring a people to Himself in love.
Listen to His words in Exodus 19:4, spoken to Israel after the rescue from Egypt:
“You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself.”
That is the heartbeat of the Bible. God rescues in order to bring us near. He saves in order to enter covenant. He carries us in order to make us His own.
Ezekiel 16:8 shows the fulfillment of this truth: the abandoned child, now grown, is claimed in covenant. This is why we were created to belong fully to Him.
Crowned, Not Just Covered
And God doesn’t stop at covering. He also adorns:
“I adorned you with jewelry: I put bracelets on your arms and a necklace around your neck. So, you were adorned with gold and silver; your clothes were of fine linen and costly fabric and embroidered cloth. Your food was honey, olive oil and the finest flour. You became very beautiful and rose to be a queen.” (Ezekiel 16:11, 13)
This is more than forgiveness. This is honor. He doesn’t just remove shame He crowns with beauty. He lifts the abandoned one into royalty. You rose to be a queen.
It reminds me of Esther, the orphan girl raised in obscurity who was chosen to be queen. She was clothed, perfumed, adorned, and brought before the king and she rose to her royal calling “for such a time as this.”
That’s what God does with us. We are not only forgiven and covered; we are adorned and elevated. He becomes our King, and we rise as His beloved bride, crowned in His presence.
My Story of Being Covered
This part of Ezekiel 16 has always undone me. Because if I’m honest, shame has been a heavy thread in my story the sense of not being enough, of being exposed, of carrying failure like a garment I couldn’t take off.
But just as surely as He whispered Live to me by the waterfall, He also whispered: “You are covered.”
The following year as I mentioned in part 1, I returned to the same retreat where I had first heard His voice so powerfully. But this time, I wasn’t standing alone by the waterfall. I was walking the trails, meeting women, moving forward in growth. And I sensed Him say: “Now you are old enough for love.”
The splendor He has given me is truly all about Him. We may be given a kingdom, but most of all we have the King of the kingdom and that has captivated me and pierced my heart. Loving others flows out of this reality, because it stems from the beautiful, majestic heart of love we first receive from Him. His heart is the most gorgeous, glorious heart of love.
It was His way of telling me that life with Him was not just about surviving, but about intimacy. About being covered in His love, not my own striving. About learning to receive, and then in Him, being able to give.
That was the moment I began to understand that I wasn’t just forgiven I was clothed. Not just rescued but adorned.
From Shame to Radiance
This is why Ezekiel’s imagery matters so much. The world constantly exposes and shames us. It strips away dignity, pointing out flaws, highlighting failures. But God does the opposite. He covers what is broken. He clothes us in dignity. He makes us radiant in His eyes.
For women in midlife and beyond, this truth runs especially deep. We may feel overlooked or exposed by time, regrets, or wounds. But God says: “You are covered. You are clothed. You are Mine. And you are crowned.”
Reflection
Where have you felt uncovered or ashamed? What part of you still feels exposed, unworthy, or not enough?
Picture Jesus, your Redeemer, spreading His garment over you. See Him placing a crown on your head, bracelets on your arms, a necklace around your neck.
Hear Him whisper: “I carried you to Myself. You are old enough for love. You are covered. You are Mine. You are royalty in My house.”
“God’s covenant love does not just cover us it adorns us, crowns us, and makes us radiant.”
