Sunday Devotional: Psalm 121 ~ the God who watches and keeps

Psalm 121 (NKJV) ~ A Song of Ascents

The songs of ascent is a collection of short Psalms, meant to be sung while on pilgrimage to Jerusalem, or as some suggest, while ascending the steps of the Temple (one Psalm for each step). This one, in all its sweet brevity, seems perfect for a week when many are traveling and most are thinking of home and family ...

I will lift up my eyes to the hills—
From whence comes my help?
² My help comes from the Lord,
Who made heaven and earth.

As we survey God’s creation in all its glory, may we never forget the true source of our help ... the One who shaped all that we see.

³ He will not allow your foot to be moved;
He who keeps you will not slumber.
⁴ Behold, He who keeps Israel
Shall neither slumber nor sleep.

No matter what goes on, either in our lives or the wider world, God does not sleep or even grow drowsy or inattentive. He sees—He watches—and He watches over us.

⁵ The Lord is your keeper;
The Lord is your shade at your right hand.
⁶ The sun shall not strike you by day,
Nor the moon by night.

I’ve often said that no matter what has happened to me, no matter how deep a funk I’ve fallen into to, someone, somewhere, has it worse. And I wonder, for all that God does allow to befall us, how many terrible things has He turned aside? How much does He spare us from on a daily basis?

⁷ The Lord shall preserve you from all evil;
He shall preserve your soul.
⁸ The Lord shall preserve your going out and your coming in
From this time forth, and even forevermore.

... until the time for going out and coming in is done, and it's time to go to Him, at last.