Divine Protection

Psalm 121
1I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come?
2My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.
3He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber.
4Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.
5The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade on your right hand.
6The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night.
7The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life.
8The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore.

The moment we say no to the world and yes to God, all our problems are solved, all our questions answered, all our troubles over. Nothing can disturb the tranquillity of the soul at peace with God. Nothing can interfere with the blessed assurance that all is well between me and my Savior. Nothing and no one can upset the enjoyable relationship that has been established by faith in Jesus Christ. We Christians are among that privileged company of persons who don’t have accidents, who don’t have arguments with our spouses, who aren’t misunderstood by our peers, whose children do not disobey us. If any of those things should happen—a crushing doubt, a squall of anger, a desperate loneliness, an accident that puts us in the hospital, an argument that puts us in the doghouse, a rebellion that puts us on the defensive, a misunderstanding that puts us in the wrong—it is a sign that something is wrong with our relationship with God. We have, consciously or unconsciously, retracted our yes to God; and God, impatient with our fickle faith, has gone off to take care of someone more deserving of his attention. Is that what you believe? If it is, I have some incredibly good news for you. You are wrong.
Peterson, Eugene H. A Long Obedience in the Same Direction: Discipleship in an Instant Society . InterVarsity Press.

I’m just going to admit this up front. This is one of my go-to prayers. When the world tries to batter its way into my brain or when I’m stressed by uncontrollable circumstance, I open to this Psalm (along with Psalm 27). Life is never going to be all sunshine and roses. Into every life, some rain will fall – for everyone. So, what do we do about that?
Tetrastich
This Psalm answers that question simply and elegantly. There is a great deal inside of these 8 verses. First of all, just on a literary note, the form of this prayer is a tetrastich. (That can be your new word for the day – I had to look it up.) Anyway, that means it is a poem consisting of 4-line stanzas. In this psalm, there are 4, 4-line stanzas, each leading upwards to a positive affirmation of God’s love and power in our lives, even when they are falling apart. The psalmist begins with the admission that we are going need help from time to time. And while we might think there are numerous places from which to receive that help, there is ultimately only one – The Lord.

One word appears over and over in this prayer. שָׁמַר – shamar
Only verse 6 doesn’t contain this word. It means to “keep, watch, preserve”. The implications are of a bodyguard, someone who constantly pays attention to you. In the English translations, shamar appears as keep(er), help(er), or, in the ESV as watch(er). God is our constant help, constantly watching, and always keeping us in His protection. As Eugene Peterson points out, all the water in the ocean cannot sink the ship unless it gets inside. That mean all the chaos in the world cannot destroy me unless I allow it inside. I love that. With God as my protector, what can the world do to me?

And on the lighter side, let’s look at verse 6, “The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night.” Since when are we frightened by moonlight? It literally means, we need not fear lunacy. That always makes me smile a little bit.

I’m including a link for a song by For King and Country. They have brilliantly turned this psalm into a song and their video take is rather interesting.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TfiYWaeAcRw&list=PLo_M2sK_aySfjSXxjkJ5vfKN5kOi0cDsi

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