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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. Psalm 121:5-6
I overheard a co-worker one day stating her frustration with a coach for her girls volleyball team. Seems mom and daughter were not at all pleased with the amount of playing time that the coach was giving her. The phrase that caught my attention was “So, I went all momma bear on her…”
Anyone who lives in bear country as we do, knows full well what that means. The one thing you don’t want to do is to get between momma and her cubs. Unfortunately, some who have inadvertently done so have lost their lives. Momma bears don’t take kindly to seeing their cubs in danger.
A friend of ours was jogging on a forest trail one day and came around a corner and noticed a large bear on the left side of the trail. Off to the right were a couple cubs. Momma bear let our a roar and stood on her hind feet. Our friend made an about face and made record time home! Don’t get between momma bear and her littles!
That analogy, which may be a little weak in some ways, reminds me of Psalm 121:5-6. This song was sung by pilgrims on their way through the Palestinian wilderness on their way to worship in the Temple in Jerusalem. It’s message gives us hope and encouragement today as it did then and reminds us of the great privilege we have of prayer as we travel our own wilderness.
He watches over us
Like a momma bear our Father watches over us. When we go to him in prayer we can be assured that he has already scouted out the area we are in. He’s aware of dangers we are facing. More aware, in fact, than we are. Just as a bear cub may wander into a situation that would cause harm, we often stray into areas that may cause danger. When you pray, you don’t need to pray to a saint, or to Mary as some do. You can go directly to the Father through Jesus because of his work on the cross.
The Lord is your shade at your right hand; the sun will not harm you by day
When you go to the Lord in prayer you can also feel the comfort and refreshment of his presence. I’m not a fan of extreme heat. On a recent trip into the western states we encountered temperatures consistently in the low 100’s. We found it very refreshing to find times when we could shelter ourselves from the heat underneath the shade of a few trees. There we could relax, refresh ourselves and get energy to move on. Our Heavenly Father wants to be the shade you need to move on. Physically, heat causes exhaustion, dehydration and other debilitating conditions. The shade our Father gives us protects us from the elements spiritually, just as the shade of a tree refreshes spiritually.
the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night.
For many years, the moon was thought to attack the mental health of an individual. The word ‘lunacy’ is derived from the word lunar, or moon. This last phrase of this section of the Psalm has special meaning for us. Not only does our Father protect us from the things we see, he knows our mind. He knows how thoughts and attacks from people can hurt our self-esteem, our confidence and our sense of well-being. We can come to him as our safe-place. We can share our feelings with him without fear of judgement or criticism. There will always be those who attack us. There will always be those who shake our hand and greet us warmly while they stab us in the back. There will always be those who we can not trust. So when those things happen remember, we have a Father who passionately waits to hear our hearts. He’s our safe place. Day and Night. In the heat of battle and the quiet of the evening.
No matter where you find yourself in life, your Heavenly Father is there and waiting to hear from you. Your Father is well aware of everything that you struggle with. You can come to him in confidence knowing he has the power to protect you from things seen and things done in secret.
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.
Mike Fisk & Built with Grace 