The Kept and the Keeper
The LORD will keep you
from all evil; he will keep your life. The LORD will keep your going out and
your coming in from this time forth and forevermore.—Psalm 121:7-8
If the psalms are songs,
then perhaps we may consider this to be the great crescendo and finale of Psalm
121. And the note that is struck over and over in this finale is the precious
note of “keep.”
Remember the first words
of this psalm? “I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come?”
This song of ascents begins with the question of finding our help, but it
closes with a rhythmic, repeated refrain of the One whose eyes are ever on us.
Shamar, “keep,” has the idea
of guarding, protecting, attending to, watching over. And life in this fallen
world holds many perils. What kind of keeping does God grant his own?
The LORD will keep you from all evil. No greater blanket of security could cover us in
this world of fallenness, brokenness, and sin than this. “We do not wrestle
against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities,
against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual
forces of evil in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12). There is great evil in
the world. But unfortunately, our trouble is not simply external to us. As
Jeremiah 17:9 says, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately
sick; who can understand it?” So this “keeping” promise hints at a most
precious deliverance. In perfect faithfulness, God has purposed to deliver us
not only from evil schemes of others but to provide a Redeemer who would make a
way for eternal joy and deliverance from our own sin.
He will keep your life. We see another hint here at the depth of “keeping” God provides.
“Life” is also translated “soul.” Our Keeper is so strong that he guards and
attends to the deepest needs of our heart. Are you facing grave adversity? Are
you staring down the reality of death and the grave? These verses give an
unshakable anchor. The LORD is not too weak to keep our life. Even in deepest
darkness, he will keep our soul. “Even though I walk through the valley of the
shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me” (Psalm 23:4). When all around my soul gives way, he then
is all my hope and stay (Edward Mote, “The Solid Rock”).
The LORD will keep your going out and your coming in from this
time forth and forevermore. God’s
care is both cosmic and close. Recall from verse 3, he guards each step of your
foot. “Even the hairs of your head are all numbered” (Matthew 10:30). You will
never go beyond the scope of his keeping gaze. “If I take the wings of the
morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall
lead me, and your right hand shall hold me” (Psalm 139:9-10). His keeping is
constant, and his keeping is eternal, “from this time forth and forevermore.”
The security of our
keeping depends on the nature of our Keeper. So let’s revel and rest in the
truth that the LORD is our keeper (Psalm 121:5), and by his own saving hand, we
are kept this moment and forevermore.
Discussion Questions:
· What do you find the greatest threat to your
life or hope? How has God provided a “keeping” grace for you at that very point
of need?
· What is the most precious aspect of “keeping” to
you today? How can you praise God for his perfect protection and attentiveness
to every need of your heart?
