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Psalms 121:1-8 ESV
I lift up my eyes to the hills.
From where does my help come?
My help comes from the Lord,
who made heaven and earth.
He will not let your foot be moved;
he who keeps you will not slumber.
Behold, he who keeps Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.
The Lord is your keeper;
the Lord is your shade on your right hand.
The sun shall not strike you by day,
nor the moon by night.
The Lord will keep you from all evil;
he will keep your life.
The Lord will keep
your going out and your coming in
from this time forth and forevermore.
When we come to genuine faith in Jesus Christ we begin a lifelong journey of a walk of faith in Jesus Christ. But these walks of faith are not usually all “smooth sailing.” We run up against brick walls sometimes, and we stumble and fall, and we trip over things, and we don’t get everything right, and we get discouraged and disheartened, and we get hurt, etc. And so we cry out to God for help and for healing and for comfort and encouragement.
And if we are on his side, and if we are following him with our lives, in truth, and we are not just “playing games with God,” although he does not play, he is there to help us. He will give us courage and strength and wisdom and determination to continue in doing what is right despite all obstacles in our way. And he will keep us from falling if we rest in him and not in our own wisdom and strength, and if we will not resist his help and go our own way.
And he will teach us the ways of the Lord of the wisdom of our God, that we might follow him in his ways and in his truth. He will give us the daily guidance that we need through the study of his word and through us listening to hear the Spirit’s voice speaking to our hearts, directing us in the way that we should go. And then we must follow him where he leads us. And where he leads us might bring even more suffering into our lives.
And when we come up against opposition, we must rely on the Lord for our defense. And this is not saying that we don’t defend ourselves sometimes, for Paul did that a lot and so did Jesus, and so did Peter and John. They spoke in their own defense as they were led by the Spirit of God when they were being opposed and persecuted. I am not saying they always did, but they did do this. But we must make certain that we are being truthful.
Now, when this says that the Lord will keep you from all evil, I believe, based upon the Scriptures, that this has to do with him keeping us from surrendering to evil and from committing evil. For evil people are going to do evil against us, and he allows that as part of sharing in the fellowship of his sufferings, becoming like him in his death. But, again, we must cooperate with him, and we must daily say “No” to sin and “Yes” to God.
And when this says that the Lord will keep your going out and your coming in, this is speaking mainly of spiritual protection, I believe, for he does not always protect us from physical or even emotional pain and sorrow, though sometimes he does. In fact, he promises us that if we follow him that we will suffer for the sake of his name. But even there he will carry us through it all and he will give us all we need to remain steadfast in our faith.
Sufferings, trials, and persecutions: [Matt 5:10-12; Matt 10:16-25; Matt 24:9-14; Lu 6:22-23; Lu 21:12-19; Jn 15:1-21; Jn 16:33; Jn 17:14; Ac 14:22; Rom 5:3-5; Phil 3:7-11; 1 Pet 1:6-7; 1 Pet 4:12-17; 2 Tim 3:12; 1 Thess 3:1-5; Jas 1:2-4; 2 Co 1:3-11; Heb 12:3-12; 1 Jn 3:13; Rev 6:9-11; Rev 7:9-17; Rev 11:1-3; Rev 12:17; Rev 13:1-18; Rev 14:1-13]
He Keeps Me Singing
by Luther B. Bridgers, 1910
There’s within my heart a melody
Jesus whispers sweet and low,
“Fear not, I am with thee, peace be still,”
In all of life’s ebb and flow.
All my life was wrecked by sin and strife,
Discord filled my heart with pain;
Jesus swept across the broken strings,
Stirred the slumbering chords again.
Feasting on the riches of His grace,
Resting ‘neath His sheltering wing,
Always looking on His smiling face –
That is why I shout and sing.
Though sometimes He leads through waters deep,
Trials fall across the way,
Though sometimes the path seems rough and steep
See His foot-prints all the way.
Soon He’s coming back to welcome me
Far beyond the starry sky;
I shall wing my flight to world’s unknown,
I shall reign with Him on high.
Jesus, Jesus, Jesus –
Sweetest name I know,
Fills my every longing,
Keeps me singing as I go.
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I lift up my eyes to the hills.
From where does my help come?
My help comes from the Lord,
who made heaven and earth.
He will not let your foot be moved;
he who keeps you will not slumber.
Behold, he who keeps Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.
The Lord is your keeper;
the Lord is your shade on your right hand.
The sun shall not strike you by day,
nor the moon by night.
The Lord will keep you from all evil;
he will keep your life.
The Lord will keep
your going out and your coming in
from this time forth and forevermore.
When we come to genuine faith in Jesus Christ we begin a lifelong journey of a walk of faith in Jesus Christ. But these walks of faith are not usually all “smooth sailing.” We run up against brick walls sometimes, and we stumble and fall, and we trip over things, and we don’t get everything right, and we get discouraged and disheartened, and we get hurt, etc. And so we cry out to God for help and for healing and for comfort and encouragement.
And if we are on his side, and if we are following him with our lives, in truth, and we are not just “playing games with God,” although he does not play, he is there to help us. He will give us courage and strength and wisdom and determination to continue in doing what is right despite all obstacles in our way. And he will keep us from falling if we rest in him and not in our own wisdom and strength, and if we will not resist his help and go our own way.
And he will teach us the ways of the Lord of the wisdom of our God, that we might follow him in his ways and in his truth. He will give us the daily guidance that we need through the study of his word and through us listening to hear the Spirit’s voice speaking to our hearts, directing us in the way that we should go. And then we must follow him where he leads us. And where he leads us might bring even more suffering into our lives.
And when we come up against opposition, we must rely on the Lord for our defense. And this is not saying that we don’t defend ourselves sometimes, for Paul did that a lot and so did Jesus, and so did Peter and John. They spoke in their own defense as they were led by the Spirit of God when they were being opposed and persecuted. I am not saying they always did, but they did do this. But we must make certain that we are being truthful.
Now, when this says that the Lord will keep you from all evil, I believe, based upon the Scriptures, that this has to do with him keeping us from surrendering to evil and from committing evil. For evil people are going to do evil against us, and he allows that as part of sharing in the fellowship of his sufferings, becoming like him in his death. But, again, we must cooperate with him, and we must daily say “No” to sin and “Yes” to God.
And when this says that the Lord will keep your going out and your coming in, this is speaking mainly of spiritual protection, I believe, for he does not always protect us from physical or even emotional pain and sorrow, though sometimes he does. In fact, he promises us that if we follow him that we will suffer for the sake of his name. But even there he will carry us through it all and he will give us all we need to remain steadfast in our faith.
Sufferings, trials, and persecutions: [Matt 5:10-12; Matt 10:16-25; Matt 24:9-14; Lu 6:22-23; Lu 21:12-19; Jn 15:1-21; Jn 16:33; Jn 17:14; Ac 14:22; Rom 5:3-5; Phil 3:7-11; 1 Pet 1:6-7; 1 Pet 4:12-17; 2 Tim 3:12; 1 Thess 3:1-5; Jas 1:2-4; 2 Co 1:3-11; Heb 12:3-12; 1 Jn 3:13; Rev 6:9-11; Rev 7:9-17; Rev 11:1-3; Rev 12:17; Rev 13:1-18; Rev 14:1-13]
He Keeps Me Singing
by Luther B. Bridgers, 1910
There’s within my heart a melody
Jesus whispers sweet and low,
“Fear not, I am with thee, peace be still,”
In all of life’s ebb and flow.
All my life was wrecked by sin and strife,
Discord filled my heart with pain;
Jesus swept across the broken strings,
Stirred the slumbering chords again.
Feasting on the riches of His grace,
Resting ‘neath His sheltering wing,
Always looking on His smiling face –
That is why I shout and sing.
Though sometimes He leads through waters deep,
Trials fall across the way,
Though sometimes the path seems rough and steep
See His foot-prints all the way.
Soon He’s coming back to welcome me
Far beyond the starry sky;
I shall wing my flight to world’s unknown,
I shall reign with Him on high.
Jesus, Jesus, Jesus –
Sweetest name I know,
Fills my every longing,
Keeps me singing as I go.
