Psalms 121 Series

And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell” (KJV, Matt 10:28).

And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. (KJV, 1 Thess 5:23)

The soul is not the body or brain but the being or breath in the Old Testament.

What does it mean to “keep” in the Psalms? Keep in some translations is translated as preserve (KJV), protect (NASB) and guard (Ps 121:8). It means enduring, remaining. In English we have phrases such as keep up, keep fit, keep going, keep quiet, keep calm, safekeeping, goalkeeper and peacekeeper. It means updated not outdated, present and not past, lasting and not lapsed, current and not chronicles. It means not only to have but to hold and honor, not only watch but watch over, not only possess but to preserve.

The verb “harm” means kill (Gen 4:15), smite (Gen 8:21), beaten (Ex 5:16), punish (Lev 26:24), slain (Num 25:14), slain (Deut 1:4), stricken (Prov 23:35),

wounded (Jer 30:14 ). It does not mean we do not have our share of insults, injuries and irritation.

When we trust in God our troubles do not vanish or vaporize. God’s job is not to keep you out of trouble or keep you safe from trouble. The Lord’s job is not to keep you from trouble but to keep you from evil, evil from motivating you, menacing you and mastering you, that our mind, mouth and moments are not sourced and swallowed by evil because evil or the devil is the source of trouble. One of the two leading cops (Harvey Dent) in an episode from Gotham reveals why he compromised with the bad guys: “You tell yourself, ‘I'll just do this one bad thing. All the good things I'll do later I'll make up for it.’ But they don't.”

The relationship of God or the Lord with evil in Psalms is summed up in four verses:

The face of the Lord is against them that do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth. (Ps 34:16)

Ye that love the Lord, hate evil (Ps 97:10)

He shall not be afraid of evil tidings: his heart is fixed, trusting in the Lord. (Ps 112:7)

Conclusion: God wants to establish a permanent and not a passing relationship with His people, a pleasing and not a pretentious with Him, not a short relationship but stable relationship with Him. His purpose is to calm and comfort His people and children. One thing I have learned in life is, Never be too proud to ask for help. The second things is, Know who and where to turn to for help. Third, hang on, help is on the way.