God is our DIVINE PROTECTOR who ‘NEVER SLEEPS’!
June 25
Bible Reading: Psalms Chapters 120-127
God is our DIVINE PROTECTOR who ‘NEVER SLEEPS’!
"I will lift up my eyes to the
hills--from whence comes my help? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven
and earth. He will not allow your foot to be moved; He who keeps you will not
slumber. Behold, He who keeps Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep."(Psalms
121:1-4)
Psalms 121
is a pilgrim song in the form of a dialogue, possibly between the worshipers
and a priest. It has been called the Traveler’s
Psalm. The psalmist speaks either of the hills he had to cross on his
return home or those hills surrounding Jerusalem. His help does not come from
the hills, but from the Lord, the Creator of the hills. This psalm fits well
against the backdrop of a pilgrimage for it is concerned with the uncertainties
one faces on such a journey. It moves naturally from the need for help (vv. 1,
2) to the promise of God’s protection (vv. 3–8).
The temple
in Jerusalem was the dwelling place of God on earth. The glory cloud in the
Holy of Holies signified the Lord’s presence among His people. The city of
Jerusalem is situated on a mountain and is surrounded by mountains. So when a
Jew in other parts of Israel needed divine help, he looked toward the hills. To
him this was the same as looking to the Lord. Since the Creator’s dwelling was
in the Jerusalem hills, there was a poetic sense in which all help came from
the hills.
In the first
two verses of this psalm, the speaker is the psalmist, expressing his complete
reliance on the Maker of heaven and earth. Beginning with verse 3, there is a
change of speaker. In the remaining verses, we hear God guaranteeing the
eternal security of those whose trust is in Him. Our foot will be preserved
from being moved. Since the foot speaks of foundation or standing, it means
that God will keep His trusting child from slipping or failing.
God has
promised that the Hebrew will not disappear from the face of the earth, and
there are 4,000 years of history to validate God’s declaration (Psalms
105:1–11, Isaiah 43:1–7; Jeremiah 31:35–37). Similarly, there is the guarantee
of a Guardian who will remain awake to protect us. Throughout the night hours,
when we are no longer conscious of the world around us, God watches over us
with constant, unwearied care as He has watched over Israel in the past. The
Lord God puts a garrison around us with His holy angels, so that even while we
sleep we are confident of protection because He never sleeps. The attacks of Satan never catch our God off
guard!
The dangers
in modern society are just as great as when this psalm was penned. But God goes
before us (vv. 3–4) and He stays awake to guide us and guard our path. He is
next to us (v. 5) and over us (v. 6), and He will take us safely to our
heavenly land one day (vv.7–8).
Let us lift up our eyes high enough so that we see by faith the great God who cares for us. The ten spies in Canaan did not look high enough: they saw the giants and the walls but not the Lord far above all (Num. 13:28–33). When things on earth seem too big for us to handle, let us lift our eyes to God. God is our divine protector who never sleeps!
