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Our favorite campground is located in the far north woods of Minnesota, just a few miles from the Canadian border. One of the things we love the most about it is the fact that it is totally off the grid. No electricity, water from a solar-powered pump and absolutely NO cell phone signal. The nearest town is 40 miles away.
Ironically, one the things we love the most about it is also one of the things that can make us nervous at times. In our civilized, internet, cell-phone laden world, communication in case of an emergency is a button away. Not the case when we camp in the wilderness. When you need help, who are you going to call?
I’m so thankful for the men and women who are always on call and ready to come to our rescue at any time of day or night, regardless of weather or risk of personal injury. When physical danger is near, we know help is close by in most situations.
The promise found in Psalm 121:3-4 trumps even the best rescue plan. This Psalm is one of the Psalms of the Ascent, songs sung by the Hebrews as they traveled through the dangerous wilderness on their way to worship in the Temple. In one of the greatest promises in all of Scripture, the Psalmist reminds us of the constant watch care by a loving and all-powerful, Sovereign Heavenly Father.
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.
There are three promises each of us can take with us every day of our lives. Each sunrise should remind us his love for us is brand-new and we have a new day to enjoy his presence; Each sunset is a reminder that while we sleep, he will be watching over us.
He will not let your foot slip
If you live in the north country as I do you know the dangers of slipping. An invisible patch of ice can bring you down in an instant and can, at times, cause serious injury. God promises we won’t slip (or stumble in some versions). Yet, we constantly find ourselves failing our Father in our words, actions and attitudes. But this is not the slipping the Psalmist is talking about. This slipping is losing our position in God’s family. As believers in Jesus as our Savior we may fail, but we will never slip out of the grasp of our loving Father because of Jesus’ work on the cross.
He who watches over you will not slumber
A second promise we have is that God will never slumber. We get tired emotionally, physically and spiritually. There are times our exhaustion keeps us from thinking clearly, overwhelms us and deceives us into thinking we can’t go on. Not so with God. He is always watching over us like a security camera. While we sleep, he protects us from things we know nothing about and He’s passionate about seeing us through whatever we are encountering. Unlike human driven customer service, when you go to your Heavenly Father you talk to a real person. You don’t need to wait to hear which button to push. You don’t need to call back during regular business hours. He’s ready to listen in the deepest darkest parts of your night.
He who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep
This phrase may sound like a simple repetition of the early phrase and God often does that to reinforce His truth. But here, in the original languages it gives a slightly different, and encouraging truth. Not only does your Heavenly Father never sleep, He is always alert. Always aware of what is going on in your life, always watching with a careful eye. I don’t know about you, but there are times in my life when exhaustion doesn’t allow me to see things clearly. I’m awake, but not aware. Not so with our Heavenly Father. Nothing gets past him.
When you talk with your Heavenly Father, you can come to him with confidence because He is passionate about having an intimate relationship with us and is powerful enough to protect us.
Last week I dropped my wife and daughter off at the airport. As I left I offered up a prayer for their safety on the flight and throughout their mom/daughter vacation. My thoughts strayed to an interesting fact. I was more likely to get in an accident on the ground than they were flying thousands of miles, thousands of feet in the air, in a heavy metal tube.
While travel is relatively safe in our nation, such was not the case in the lives of the Israelites. Difficult terrain, walking was the main mode of travel, and there was a good chance that predators (human and animal) were lurking around every corner or rock, ready to attack. The rough terrain offered a third threat to the safety of their travel.
Hebrew pilgrims would make the journey to Jerusalem to worship at the temple several times a year and the journey was always treacherous. Along the way they would sing songs to encourage themselves and any traveling companions they were with. Songs that reminded them of God’s great love, power and promises of protection.
One of those songs, Psalm 121, begins “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.” It was a song sung in the wilderness. It was a song sung in the midst of fear, uncertainty and danger. When life goes wrong we have a tendency, in our human minds, to focus on the danger around us. The more we focus on our struggles the more we tend to see them grow.
When life is hard, when relationships fail, when you can’t break the addiction, when the finances are far shorter than the paycheck, when the political/social climate is frustrating and confusing, our tendency is to look at all the ramifications of that. But the Psalmist has a different idea.
When things are looking down, look up! The Psalmist realized that help didn’t come from the wilderness he was in. The hills were a sign of both danger (predators loved to hide behind rocks) and victory (the Temple was at the top of the hills).
Victory would come at the end of the journey but while in the journey two things were promised. First of all, there would be trials. There would be danger. There would be disappointment and confusion. On the journey there were no guarantees you would make it safely.
The second promise is that help was available through the Creator God of the universe. God never promises life will be easy. On earth there are no guarantees from social action to government intervention or ‘financial stability’. The only real help comes from a God who loved us enough to send his son to show us what he is like, to show us what love and forgiveness looks like and to promise us his help in every situation.
So, two questions today. First, ‘What wilderness are you walking in?’ The wilderness of anger? The wilderness of worry? The wilderness of doubt? The wilderness of hate? Each of us has a different wilderness.
Secondly, ‘Where are you seeking your help?’ Relationships end. Finances disappear. Health deteriorates. Families fail. Governments fall short. But there is one who is the same yesterday, today and forever. He is unaffected by the wilderness. He is more powerful than the predators on your journey. He longs for a relationship with you. He longs to be able to be your help in adversity. Jesus of Nazareth walks through the wilderness with us!
So, when you are down…look up!
