08/02/2017: Psalm 121 | “The Lord your Keeper” | Colleen Stringer
Psalm 121(AMP) The Lord the Keeper of Israel.
I will lift up my eyes to the hills [of Jerusalem]—
From where shall my help come?
2 My help comes from the Lord,
Who made heaven and earth.
3 He will not allow your foot to slip;
He who keeps you will not slumber.
4 Behold, He who keeps Israel
Will neither slumber [briefly] nor sleep [soundly].
5 The Lord is your keeper;
The Lord is your shade on your right hand.
6 The sun will not strike you by day,
Nor the moon by night.
7 The Lord will protect you from all evil;
He will keep your life.
8 The Lord will guard your going out and your coming in [everything that you do]
From this time forth and forever.
Read Psalm 121 in the Amplified
- Psalm 121 is like a litany. It starts off with a question and it’s like someone else answers then others add to the psalm. Ps 121 is the beginning of the journey to Jerusalem…and looking at the mountainous terrain, wondering and probably fearing what might happen as they trek to the other side.
- God is bigger than our troubles.
Perhaps the hills remind the author of the goal of his journey – Jerusalem sits in the Hill country of Judea – but they certainly also remind him of the dangers of his journey; the dangers of the climb; the dangers of bandits; the danger of heatstroke and exhaustion in the fierce summer heat; and the night dangers of wild animals howling in the moonlight…
He had to lift his eyes higher than the hills to see the very one who made those hills. He is the one who made heaven and earth. How big is your God?
A traveler like us at the beginning of an uncertain journey would surely need to remind themselves that their God is a great big God and He is a Covenant God and the uncontested Maker of Heaven and Earth.
- Our Personal Keeper
The central placement of this v5 keeper…protector; guard; preserve; watch… Each of these words come from the root word “shamar” Jehovah Shamah – the Lord is with you.
We live in a broken world…the earth is a minefield…Unseen enemies lurk in unexpected places. Simply put, it’s scary here. Don’t you think so?
- Big God Perspective.
If we had a narrow worldly perspective the promises mentioned in this psalm would look phony. Just as earlier he lifted his eyes above the troublesome hills to see his Creator…Eloheim…Maker of heaven and earth, here he looks beyond his present anxieties to eternal truth. God is really willing to be our Keeper and lover of our souls. Hebrews 12: 2 Romans 1: 16 -17 “The righteous shall live by faith.”
By faith through grace…always has been God’s Way. So God’s promise is to do what it takes to keep you safe for eternal life with Him. That may mean facing situations you’d rather not face. It may mean that some of the troubles you find yourself in you can’t understand!!!!! But crucially, God is committed to being your Keeper, being there with you at your right hand. Ps 23:
We will make it to our destination in one piece. We will indeed come to Mount Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God (Heb 12:22NIV)
No harm can befall us that will hinder our arrival, nor do clouds surround us that will limit our view. Our God is the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth. He owns the highways of both heaven and earth. The Lord is your Keeper.
Pray Psalm 121