Kept From All Harm

             The Lord will keep you from all harm— he will watch over your life; the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore. (Psalm 121:7-8) 

You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. (Psalm 139:3)

Yesterday, I responded to a shared meme of a conversation from a needy, demanding person who expects others to respond to idle texts as if they are commands to perform.

I read a story online about a woman who suspected her husband was having an affair. She checked his pockets, his e-mails, his texts, and even followed him as he met woman after woman after woman. Then one day, he invited her to go see one of them! When she got to the meeting place, it turned out to be a beauty parlor. The woman in question welcomed her, sat her down and started working on her hair.

When she was done there, she was led to other locations where other of her husband’s women had other surprises for her. Eventually, she reached a destination to find her husband waiting for her. It was a restaurant, and the day had been meticulously planned as her birthday present.

We tend to be like the women in these stories. We want attention (especially if significance isn’t available.) We suspect the worst if it seems as though we aren’t getting it. Psalm 139 is one of my favorite psalms because it makes it clear that God does pay attention to me as an individual, not just as an unnamed part of the herd that He can’t justify leaving somewhere for the wolves. Today’s passage from Psalm 121 echoes the idea and expands on it. Not only does the Lord watch over our coming and going – now and forevermore – but He keeps us from all harm.

Of course, we need to consider what being kept from all harm means and doesn’t mean. It doesn’t mean, for instance, that we’ll be kept from boredom or loneliness. It doesn’t mean that we won’t experience fear, anger, or what we consider pain. Those aren’t the same as harm. But our experiences do not equal our condition.