Do you have any memories of feeling secure? For me it was coming home from Grandma’s house late and tired. I was laying down in the back seat of the car knowing that with my dad at the wheel and my mom beside him I would wake up at home. Then there would be the transition from the backseat of the car to the comfort of my own bed. I would be carried in by my dad. I would wake up when the car reached home, but I would pretend to still be asleep because I did not want to miss being carried in.
Maybe you have a different memory of what security is for you. It is sad for those who have no earthly memory of comfort of security. But all of us can know the greatest comfort of security of all. It is faith based on God’s ability to keep his children secure.
Psalm 121 is all about the God who keeps, watches over and protects. In these eight verses the word keeps or God Keeps is used six times for the individual and for the people of Israel. God is the one who keeps the individual and his community of faith. This Psalm asks and answers the most important question, where is real help?
The Biblical title of this Psalm is: Song of accents. This is literally: A song of going up. It is the song of pilgrims. It is likely sung by those who were making the pilgrimage to Jerusalem for the annual festivals. They sang this song as they journeyed for celebration.
This Psalm reveals God, creator of the universe watches over the individual. “His eye is on the sparrow, and I know he watches me.” God cares for you, even the hairs of your head are numbered. This Psalm of trust will bring comport to you if you have an anxious heart.
No one is so safe as the one God keeps. No one is putting them self in more danger than the self-secure who is not trusting in God. Here is a Psalm that if taken to heart will strengthen our prayer life, our faith and bring a sense of peace.
We are not left to wonder that with all the evil about us will it prevail in the world until the end. No. The one who keeps us secure will prevail. God will prevail. The Lord is our source of help.
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. (Psalm 121:1-2)
There are times when we need help. Then there are those times we need serious help. During those times any earthly source of help would be inadequate. This is the plea that comes from the troubled heart.
There is a question. Where does my help come from? There is only one good answer. There is only one true source of help. The help that comes from the Lord. My help comes from the Lord who made the heaven and the earth.
It is a great assurance to let complete trust in God be your security. Help doesn’t come from the hills. The help comes from the one who created the hills, God Almighty.
If He is able to create us then He is able to help us. Here is the one who stands before God and awaits his help. The key is knowing that we need God. Our salvation comes only through God. We stand before Him in trust.
The journey is long. We need God’s help. The pilgrim traveling to Jerusalem would see the hills of Jerusalem. They know that God is their source. The Lord never rests from watching over you.
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. (Psalm 121:3-4)
This is literally, He will not abandon your foot to tottering. The traveling pilgrims journeyed over treacherous terrain. Unsure footing could mean serious falls. God kept their foot secure. God will not sleep. He watches over you at all times.
There may be gods that sleep. They may be silent and need to be awakened. Not God Almighty. He never sleeps or slumbers. The guards who watch the camp at night might fall asleep. Not God, he never sleeps.
When I worked at Quaker Oats we had the flood of 1986 in St. Joseph Missouri. There was a guard that stayed up 78 hours in that time. Very impressive, but God never sleeps. He constantly watches over you.
What would happen if God did fall asleep? The answer is He won’t. All his children are safe kept by God who never sleeps or slumbers. The Lord keeps you from harm.
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. (Psalm 121:5-6)
God protects you day and night. The reference here is to shade, like in Psalm 91 where we are in the shadow of the Almighty. The right hand is the place of security. There is the account in 2 Kings 4:18-19 where a boy of the Shunamite woman who was in the sun and died. Elisha raised the boy. The sun is harsh and beats down on those who travel.
Only God can truly shelter from the perils that are faced. Then there are the many dangers associated with traveling at night. The Lord protects from the dangers of the night. The Lord protects forever.
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. (Psalm 121:7-8)
We have the full extent of God’s protection. He protects us from all harm. He protects your life, or your soul now and forevermore. Life exposes us to all sorts of problems. None of these problems is beyond God’s sheltering care.
He protects going out and protects coming in. At home, when traveling and in the daily pursuits he is keeping you secure. The New Testament refers to the death of the believer in Christ as our departure. And I will make every effort so that after my departure you may be able at any time to recall these things. (2 Peter 1:15) The “after my departure” is Peter referring to his death.
The Lord will keep the soul of his children. That cannot be lost. The devil cannot pluck them out of his hand. For I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that day what has been entrusted to me. (2 Timothy 1:12)
There is a metaphor of a seal on a document protected. God will keep your soul eternal, forever. In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory. (Ephesians 1:13-14)
God puts His Spirit as a seal on Christians. Those who live with the awareness of God’s keeping security have a boldness and a peace. The Holy Spirit is a down payment for the believer and comes in full when we depart and experience the life to come.
We have an everlasting security in Jesus Christ, but we must know him. Jesus died the just for the unjust to bring us to God. Faith in Christ is essential to receive God’s promise to his children. If you have never put your faith in Christ then now is the right time.
