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

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

יהוה שָׁמַר--Yahweh Shamar (God Watches)

Image
Psalm 121 1 I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? 2 My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. 3 He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber. 4 Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. 5 The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade on your right hand. 6 The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. 7 The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life. 8 The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore. There are numerous passages I cling to when stress takes over my life. I would be hard pressed to declare a favorite, but this psalm would come close. So this morning I listened to Psalm 121 about 20 times as I meditated through the verses. First, I want to point out that the word or idea of shamar appears in every verse expect 6. The NIV uses the word "watch" while the ESV uses "keep". The...
Read more

Excusez-moi

Image
2 Kings 23:31-37 31 Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. 32 And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his fathers had done. 33 And Pharaoh Neco put him in bonds at Riblah in the land of Hamath, that he might not reign in Jerusalem, and laid on the land a tribute of a hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold. 34 And Pharaoh Neco made Eliakim the son of Josiah king in the place of Josiah his father, and changed his name to Jehoiakim. But he took Jehoahaz away, and he came to Egypt and died there. 35 And Jehoiakim gave the silver and the gold to Pharaoh, but he taxed the land to give the money according to the command of Pharaoh. He exacted the silver and the gold of the people of the land, from everyone according to his assessment, to give it to Pharaoh Neco. 36 Jehoiakim was twenty-fiv...
Read more

Narrow Door

Image
Luke 13:22-30 22 He went on his way through towns and villages, teaching and journeying toward Jerusalem. 23 And someone said to him, “Lord, will those who are saved be few?” And he said to them , 24 “Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. 25 When once the master of the house has risen and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, open to us,’ then he will answer you, ‘I do not know where you come from.’ 26 Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.’ 27 But he will say, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you come from. Depart from me, all you workers of evil!’ 28 In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God but you yourselves cast out. 29 And people will come from east and west, and from north and south, and recline at tabl...
Read more