Day 16: Psalm 121

I lift up my eyes to the mountains—
where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord,
the Maker of heaven and earth.

He will not let your foot slip—
he who watches over you will not slumber;
indeed, he who watches over Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.

The Lord watches over you—
the Lord is your shade at your right hand;
the sun will not harm you by day,
nor the moon by night.

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.

There are days when we need a word of encouragement. There are days when it seems that the world is conspiring against us. There are days when life seems impossibly unfair. If this isn’t one of those days for you, don’t read any further – come back tomorrow.

But if today finds you under a load of fear, or guilt, or shame, or intimidation, or under anything – read on.

Five times, in eight verses, the psalmist reminds you that the Lord is watching over you. How could it be possible that the sovereign creator, ruler, and sustainer of the universe is mindful of you and what it is that you are going through? How is it possible that you, representing 1/8,000,000,000th of the world’s population, are garnering the Lord Almighty’s attention?

The Lord is not limited by our frail capacities. The Lord is not a man that we should esteem him as such. He is able to care for each of those he has created as if they were the only one he created.

Why doesn’t he zap your difficulties and cause you to walk through life unhindered? Because he wants you to grow and mature in character. He will rescue you when the time is right. But in the meantime, he will speak peace in the middle of your storm.

Perhaps the best prayer you can pray in difficult times is one like this: “Lord, let me look more like Jesus coming out of this than I did going into it.”

 Doug Boquist | Lead Pastor