Skip to main content

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.

 

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Saved?

  I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” (John 10:28-30) “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, “I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ ” (Matthew 7:21-23) Not at all! Let God be true, and every human being a liar. As it is written: “So that you may be proved right when you speak and prevail when you judge.” (Romans 3:4)   What conclusion do you draw when someone who was raised in a Christian family and church, perhaps even playing a significant role in a chur...
Post a Comment
Read more

Meditations of the Heart

  May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. (Psalm19:14)           As I started writing this post, I noted that the meditations of my heart are all over the mental landscape, from a hub where eight superhighways come together to a lunar or nuclear landscape. Do you see my error? The moment I read the word meditation , I think about thoughts. But what’s described here is the meditations of our hearts ; our wills.           While the meditations of our minds may be all over the place, the meditations of our wills tend to be a little more stable by the time we are adults. We no longer tend to want to pursue the ten separate careers we did in any given day as children. Part of this is humble acceptance of reality. We come to understand that we can’t do it all. I think another part of it is disappointmen...
Post a Comment
Read more

Listen To Him

              The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your fellow Israelites. You must listen to him . (Deuteronomy 18:15)           Today, we switch from Jesus’ claims of “I am” to prophecies made about Him. My Bible platform is starting in Deuteronomy. I’d start in Genesis, where we would learn that the one who would save us would be a descendant of Eve (Genesis 3:15), of Noah (by default), Abram and Sara(Genesis 12:1-3). Isaac (Genesis 17:19), Jacob (Genesis 25:23), Judah (Genesis 29:8), and David (II Samuel 7:12-16). There were also references to a new covenant (Jer. 31:31-34; Ezek. 36:22-32). In addition, there were prophecies about when and where the prophet/Messiah would be born and what would happen to him.           Of course, naysayers will claim that Jesus’ life was retrofitted or reverse enginee...
Post a Comment
Read more