“He will not allow your foot to be moved; He who keeps you will not slumber.
Behold, He who keeps Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.”
“Keep” in Hebrew is “shamar (שָׁמַר)” which means to look after with great care,
to watch over, to guard. It appears 469 times in the Bible. In this Psalm, God
promises to help His people not to move, but to establish them to STAND in a
firm place. This reminds us of Ephesians 6:11 and 13 which says, “Put on the
full armour of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s
schemes…Therefore put on the full armour of God, so that when the day of
evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done
everything, to stand.” (“Full” and “stand” are mentioned a few times here, in
only 2 verses.)
“Stand” in Hebrew is “yatsav” or “nitsav” which means to stop, settle, fix,
appoint, confirm, establish, endure… Fighting against the evil one is like a war.
We can only stand and endure against Satan’s schemes when we are wearing
total armour as stated in Eph. 6:11-18. (I encourage you to read those verses)
Romans 5:2 tells is that we “stand in grace.” In 1 Cor. 15:1, we are told that we
“stand in the gospel” and in Phil. 4:1 we “stand in the Lord.”
“He who keeps you…” God watches over His people as a watchman watches
over the city and its inhabitants. “To keep” means having and continuing to
have something in your possession. How wonderful and marvellous to have the
knowledge that God KEEPS us for certain…IN HIS possession, for always. Once
we have committed our lives to Him, we are His and He is ours.
If we study the whole of Psalm 121, we realize that God assures us repeatedly
that He is the Keeper of our souls. We have NOTHING to fear while He, in His
mercy and grace, keeps us from harm. He who keeps us, will not slumber or
sleep. Abba Father God does not get tired from watching over us. Just like we
lovingly and carefully keep watch over our own children, just so Father watches
over us with watchful eyes, full of compassion and love.
Charles Spurgeon tells a story (from McMichael) about a poor woman, in an
Eastern country, who came to the Sultan one day, and asked compensation for
the loss of some property. “How did you lose it?” asked the monarch. “I fell
asleep, and a robber entered my dwelling,” she said. “Why did you fall asleep?”
the Sultan asked. “I fell asleep because I believed that you were awake,” she
replied. The Sultan was so delighted with the answer of this woman, that he
ordered her to be compensated.
Friends, we need not fear. God will compensate us from what we have lost in
the past. He is the Great Restorer! Hagar, in her desperation in the desert,
where she felt she was dying from rejection and thirst, discovered that God was
watching over her as He rescued her. She called Him “El Roi” meaning “You are
the God who sees me.” She also said, “I have now seen the One who sees me.”
(Genesis 16:13). This El Roi is the God who watches over you and who keeps
you. He numbers the hairs on your head and counts every tear that you shed.
Thank You so much blessed Abba Father God, that You watch over me carefully,
that you are always alert to my needs. Thank You that You keep me in Your
eyesight and in Your loving heart, that I am safe, loved and secure. Amen
Myrtle Turunen