He Keeps
Scripture Reading: Psalm 121
1 I will lift up my eyes to the hills—
From whence comes my help?
2 My help comes from the Lord,
Who made heaven and earth.
3 He will not allow your foot to [a]be moved;
He who keeps you will not slumber.
4 Behold, He who keeps Israel
Shall neither slumber nor sleep.
5 The Lord is your [b]keeper;
The Lord is your shade at your right hand.
6 The sun shall not strike you by day,
Nor the moon by night.
7 The Lord shall [c]preserve you from all evil;
He shall preserve your soul.
8 The Lord shall preserve[d] your going out and your coming in
From this time forth, and even forevermore.
This is a favorite Psalm for many. It is beautifully written and extremely encouraging. We would be remiss if we didn’t admit and acknowledge that it also raises questions. Is it meant to be a universally true promise? If so, how can it be that some believers are struck and experience evil?
My thinking is this is a universal promise to every believer but it needs to be understood in an ultimate sense. A parallel text to read in conjunction with Psalm 121 might be Romans chapter 8. There, Paul writes about how everything will be used for good, that God’s people will ultimately be glorified, and that nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus.
Paul lists a bunch of bad stuff that can happen along the way, but none of it will succeed in derailing God’s purposes for us and bringing us into the eternal kingdom as forgiven and perfected children of God.
This is true, not because we are capable of keeping ourselves in the love of God, but because God is actively keeping us. It is the Lord that is our keeper. The Lord is the One who preserves us forevermore.
Therefore, we need not fear falling away from Him. We might stumble, but He has our hand and He won’t lose His grip.
