the lord my keeper

www.sermonweb.org 1/16

The Lord my Keeper Rev. A. A. Brugge - Psalm 121

Sing: Psalter 233:1, 2

Read: Psalm 121

Sing: Psalter 445:1, 2, 3

Sing: Psalter 128:1, 2

Sing: Psalter 445:4

With the help of the Lord we wish to meditate on Psalm 121. This Psalm focuses

our attention on: The Lord our Keeper; and we wish to consider four thoughts:

1. A mighty Keeper;

2. A watchful Keeper;

3. A protecting Keeper;

4. A perfect Keeper.

1. A mighty Keeper

Dear congregation, where are you travelling to on your journey through this life?

This is an important question. In Psalm 121, which was read to you, we read about

the journey of the pilgrims who went up to the temple in Jerusalem three times a

year to celebrate the three main Jewish feasts. They longed to go to Jerusalem.

The journey of the people of Israel had already begun a long time before these

organized celebrations in Jerusalem. Long before the temple of Jerusalem had been

built. Yes, even before the tabernacle had been erected in Shiloh. At that time there

had been One Who asked, “Should My presence go with thee on the journey?” And

Moses had answered, “If Thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence.”

I wish to ask you once again: what is the purpose of your journey through this life?

When you consider this question, do not only think about what you intend to achieve

in your life. Consider that one day your life’s journey will come to an end, and that

this end could possibly come very unexpectedly. We do not know the day or the hour

Rev. A. A. Brugge – The Lord my Keeper


of our death, congregation. We do not know when our end shall be or what the

circumstances of our death will be. But one thing is certain: one day our life’s journey

will end!

Has it therefore become your daily prayer, “If Thy presence go not with me, carry

us not up hence”? Not with a selfish desire for a comfortable and safe life but

because you know that, if the Lord goes with you, then you are safe indeed.

“Although tens of thousands may fall at my side, yet evil shall not come nigh me.”

And so we travel, knowing that “Tho’ many thousands compass me; Unmoved my

soul remains’ -as the poet of Psalm 3 sings.

These thoughts serve as the prelude to this worship service, in which we intend to

consider Psalm 121. Just like Psalm 120, Psalm 121 is a pilgrim’s song. It is one of the

Songs of Degrees, a song of ascension, to be sung during the pilgrimage to the temple

in Jerusalem. Do you know what it is that the poet prays for in this Psalm?

Remember, those pilgrims came from far away, from Mesech, all the way from the

tents of Kedar; an overwhelming distance. As we saw in the previous sermon, this

distance is a picture of the immense, spiritual expanse that lies between God and us.

So under these circumstances, what do you think can be considered reliable? What

can offer a solid foundation? The vain words of men? Is that what you build your

reliance upon? Then your expectations are nothing more than fantasy.

So then I will ask you again, what does the poet of Psalm 121 pray for? What does

he confess? Without any hesitation he openly confesses his hope’s reliance, “I will

lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from

the LORD, which made heaven and earth.”

Psalm 125 says that mountains surround Jerusalem. Mountains can be very

impressive. Jerusalem, that elevated, impressive and beautiful city is surrounded by

mountains and hills. It is to these hills that the poet of Psalm 121 says that he lifts his

eyes, “I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills.” It is because on one of those hills the



Temple of God is built. On one of those hills the Lord wanted to be worshiped and He

had chosen one of those hills as the place for the temple building.

Congregation, picture these pilgrims as they come to Jerusalem. They come from

all over, from far and near, to the elevated city of Jerusalem. They can’t wait till the

temple comes into view. They intensely long to be in the place where the LORD, the

holy God, is willing to dwell in the midst of an unholy people, by means of the blood

of reconciliation. That is the reason why the poet verbalizes his expectation and says,

“I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills.”

We hear in these words something of the longing, the homesickness, of the

pilgrim. These words enable us to read his thoughts: “The LORD’s dwelling place will

be my dwelling place. That is the home I long for, the place of rest and peace.”

The pilgrim does not vision this rest and peace to be found on the hill tops as such.

No, his hope is in the God Who has made those hills. His hand created it all out of

nothing. The mountains and the hills show something of His great power and

strength. Yet, the pilgrim does not only look upon God’s common power which rules

this world in all things, great and small, but he looks beyond that. Much more

precious for him is this: “My help comes from the LORD alone.” Only from the LORD!

Can you sense the desire of the poet that comes through in these words?

Congregation, let us stop for a moment and look into the mirror here. Do we still

expect it from ourselves, or is our expectation from the Lord alone, from the God

Who made the hills and the mountains, but in particular the God Who had the

Temple built in Jerusalem? Who instituted the ministry of reconciliation? Is your help

from Him alone?

These questions ask for an honest answer. Where does your help come from?

From your life’s experiences; from the good contract your employer offered you?

What is your soul’s expectation, beloved? From where will your help come for your

sin-blackened soul? Or do you only consider your religious outside? However

beautiful you think that may be, do realize that you will have to give an account to

God one day. Where will your help come from then?



Beloved, do not put off until next year to think upon these matters. Maybe you

say, “I have too many worries at the present time. There are so many things I still

have to do. I’ll think about it later.” Oh, I wish to impress this question upon your

heart: “Where will your help come from today?” Do you really dare to say, “Later; I

will seek the help of the Lord later! Then I will delight myself in His service.” Oh, do

not sooth yourself into a false rest with the thought that things will eventually turn

out well.

Is there in your heart the desire to know Him? In our day we so quickly say,

“What’s in it for me? What does it profit me?” Hence, you may perhaps say to me:

“Desire to know Him? That would be wonderful, but then I also want to know for

certain that I will be saved and that I will experience reconciliation with God in

Christ.” I would like to answer you that indeed you will profit greatly if you will learn

to desire these treasures in truth. Therefore, boys and girls, young and old, can I not

entice you to become interested in these precious treasures, just like this pilgrim?

Dear congregation, we have departed from God. The fault does not lie with God.

Or do you still blame God? Know that this blaming God takes many shapes and

forms, that it has many masks.

We do not find such thoughts in the heart of this pilgrim. No! He is on his way back

to the Lord, he returns unto Him - a keyword in true conversion. That is his desire --

to return unto the Lord! It wells up within him from the deepest recesses of his heart.

His heart yearns for Him, he longs to go back to the Lord…never again to stray farther

away, no longer making the distance bigger.

Beloved, departing more and more from the Lord leads to the abyss of eternal

ruin. I beseech you: stop going along with the world, because then your soul will

surely suffer shipwreck. Do not close your ears dear children and older ones! Listen

attentively: with the Lord is reconciliation! Even at this very moment the Lord says to

you, “I have no pleasure in your death, but that you would turn and live!”

Are you never jealous of the treasures of God’s children? Truly being jealous of

God’s children is quite different from just parroting them or trying to imitate them. I



wish that you would become really jealous of the great blessedness of God’s children.

Such coveting is not prohibited in the tenth commandment! It does not fall under

the commandment, “Thou shalt not covet”. You most assuredly may be jealous of

their desire and longing to return unto the Lord. The Lord, however, is free to choose

the way in which He accomplishes that.

My spirit longs, yea, even faints

Thy sacred courts to see

My thirsting heart and flesh cry out

O living God, for Thee.

This pilgrim longs for the temple court and for the temple service. He trusts that

he will indeed arrive there safely, and is convinced that the LORD, the Triune God,

will take care of that. After all, the Lord is the unchangeable God. He is the “I AM

THAT I AM!”

Children sometimes ask me: “How do you actually know if you really expect

everything only from the Lord?” I tell them that then you ask the Lord for all your

daily needs in everything, every single day. Not only when you are in church. No,

every day! That longing to serve Him permeates your whole life.

In this precious pilgrim’s song we hear the pilgrim praise his mighty Keeper. Who is

this Keeper? It is the Lord Himself. In this song you can hear a genuine, pure love in

the yearning as verbalized by the pilgrim. There is so much sweetness in seeking the

Lord. The realization that he will soon stand in that court, there by the altar, and will

see the shed blood of reconciliation gives true joy. That place is the only place where

he can find everything that he needs. Have you ever seen something of the

preciousness of this place? And is it your experience that it is also possible for you?

“My help cometh from the LORD.” These words signify also that this Helper, this

Keeper never puts to shame. Over and over again the Lord gives His help and

guidance. Maybe this is for the eightieth time in your life after you have strayed and

wandered off the path of life seventy-nine times already! At this eightieth time you



desperately need His help again. Where else could your help come from? “Lord, Thou

knowest who it is who comes to Thee to beg Thee for Thy help. Thou knowest who it

is that again needs Thy guidance. I am so inclined to wander and stray all the time.

Therefore my expectation and help is from Thee alone.”

2. A watchful Keeper

The pilgrims are coming closer to Jerusalem. The temple mount may not yet be

visible among the other hill tops. The land they walk through is full of rocks and the

paths are between rocky outcrops. Today there are wide asphalt roads; often two

lane and many four lane highways. But in those days the paths were narrow and they

went right along deep ravines and precipices. What would be the consequences if the

pilgrim stumbled and broke his leg, or even worse, fell down a cliff? What would be

the result then? In that case the pilgrim would not be able to fulfil his pilgrimage. But

what about the reconciliation you ask? Wasn’t that what the pilgrim was after, that

he longed for? Didn’t he want to get to the temple court, to the altar, especially for

that cause? That is indeed the case, but the way that leads to it is very narrow. (Do

you see now how that the picture of this pilgrim becomes very practical and real?)

Throngs of pilgrims are on their way to the temple court, to the altar, to the

ministry of reconciliation, to the blood of the covenant. But the road to it is crooked

and uneven, it goes up and down many hills. Or, to say it differently, the pilgrims

have to go through high tide and low tide, through hope and fear, through light and

darkness!

When they are down there in the valley, longing for the hill where they may meet

the Lord, where He shall speak to their soul and where they may experience the

blessings of the mercy seat, then with a sigh in their soul they sing:

My one request has been,

And still this prayer I raise,

That I may dwell within

God's house through all my days,

Jehovah's beauty to admire,

And in His temple to inquire.



But when they may stand upon one of the high hill tops, and for a moment may

see the top of the Temple Mount, a song resounds in their heart and it is heard from

their lips:

Blest is the man whose strength Thou art,

Thy ways are hidden in his heart,

He treads the highway to Thy dwelling.

Sometimes life’s pathway to meeting God is very crooked. In fact, the way in which

God deals with the soul is sometimes the way of the Crook in the Lot. Who would

have expected that? We often think that the Lord’s way is a straight line, as drawn

with a ruler, from point A to point B.

But in reality it so often turns out to be a crooked path. Sometimes it seems like

they are going in the wrong direction for numerous miles and they truly believe that

one day it is all going to end up so terribly wrong. Yet…it will all come out alright! Do

not become despondent, child of the Lord. Your help cometh from the Lord alone,

does it not? Let then your prayer be: “O Lord, have mercy upon me, a sinner!”

Child of God, as you travel along the narrow path, the Lord will prove that, “He will

not suffer thy foot to be moved.” Let Satan hiss, let him mock, but do not become

dejected, for the Lord will guide your feet and sustain you on the path of life.

He will guide through dangers all,

Will not suffer thee to fall.

Therefore, you will not suffer sprains, you will not wound yourself, and you will

not break anything, because He will care for you! He will bring His children home.

God guarantees it. Is this not a great encouragement?

”He will not suffer thy foot to be moved.” That is just what you need for your life,

for all the riddles of your soul. There are times that we are so tired: we have spent all

our strength, and our reserves are depleted and we are ready to collapse in

despondency. But even then it is true: He, the Shepherd of Israel does not slumber



nor sleep. He will not allow your foot to be moved. Your Keeper will not slumber. He

does not give His children over unto themselves or let them succumb to their own

despondency. Do you know why that is? Do you know why God will not let His

children succumb to their stumbling’s? Only because of the blood of the covenant;

only for the sake of Christ!

Pilgrims will come, from far and near. The Lord shall grant them a safe arrival, even

if they have to go past sharp cliffs and deep ravines. Even when His path is through

the sea, yet the waves will not overcome them. Do you know why not? Satan can

only do so much, his power is limited. “They shall come, and shall declare His

righteousness” (Psalm 22:31).

God Himself will lead them, as this Psalmist explains, though the pathway to their

final destination may not be easy.

How is it with you when you have lost the sense of the Lord’s nearness ? Our mind

can be totally occupied with the rocks we encounter on our path. The big boulders

and all the smaller rocks can cause us to ponder for hours if there will yet be a

smooth part to our path of life. And meanwhile Satan laughs! That is what he wants.

Do you know why? When those thoughts occupy your mind to the extent that you

mull over them again and again, you will not have the calmness to observe that the

Lord is leading you and that He keeps your feet from falling. Then you will not

experience the comfort of “My help cometh from the LORD.”

Am I now suggesting that your life’s pathway is easy, children of God? No, not at

all! Ask Paul about his experiences. He had to endure a sharp thorn in his flesh. That

was his Crook in the Lot: a pathway of life with a sharp thorn. But remember, Satan

doesn’t mind if we talk for hours about the sharpness of the thorn and discuss for

days the size of it. Why? Because, if the Lord does not prevent it, the result of all this

talk will be a fruitless and bitter life.

No, we do not desire a thorn, and we shouldn’t desire one either. The Lord does

not seek a gloomy mind. Instead, He seeks a yearning heart:

My thirsty soul longs earnestly, Yea, faints Thy holy courts to see



True, my feet do stumble, my steps falter, but when all my trust is in the Lord

alone, He will not suffer my feet to move, then I will not stumble!

The text also speaks of the Lord as the “Keeper of Israel.” He is the God Who keeps

us. Maybe you ask, “Is that His will for my life too, to be completely dependent upon

this Keeper?” Yes it most certainly is. Or would you rather the Lord work in the way

that you desire? Oh, commit yourself entirely unto Him! We give the Lord so much

work to make us dependent upon Him alone, so that we seek Him alone for our Help.

“Behold, He that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.” Do you know

what that means, to slumber? That is a kind of twilight state, a state in which you are

not fully awake, neither are you fast asleep. It is something in between. Certain

things you fail to notice, whereas other things you clearly observe. What do you

think, will that happen to God? Will there be certain things that escape His attention

while He notices other things? Beloved, the Lord never slumbers nor sleeps! There is

nothing that escapes Him. He knows all things. He knows if there is a burning desire

within you to follow Him and to serve Him. He also knows your sorrows and your

stumblings, as He did with Peter. “Lord, Thou knowest all things, Thou knowest that I

denied Thee, but Thou also knowest that I love Thee.” He knows your heart, inside

out. Examine yourself therefore; is there a yearning for Him within you?

This Psalm speaks of a continual watching. That is why it is said even stronger in

verse 4, “… shall neither slumber nor sleep.” He does not stop keeping them. He does

not say, “Now you have to do it yourself for a while.” Oh no, He doesn’t say that. If

we had to keep ourselves, even for one moment, it would end in disaster! But what a

blessing! He does not expect us to be our own keeper. His eyes are always open! He

never sleeps! Even when the Lord hides Himself from our soul’s eye He does not

slumber nor sleep. Even when the days of darkness are many, He still does not

slumber nor sleep. And when heaven seems like brass, His eyes are yet open over His

children, day and night. In essence, what these words mean is that the Lord remains

the same. Whatever may befall the pilgrim in this life, God stays the same! He is

immutable.



On the other hand, do you know what we are like? We are as unpredictable as the

weather. We change all the time. But the Lord always remains the same! What a

comfort that is for the children of Jacob, “For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore

ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.” God forever remains the same as He always has

been. Today He is still the same as at the time when He spoke to your soul for the

first time, when the Word came powerfully into your soul. He remains the same,

although you may have to complain that your life is like the daughter of Zion who is

left as a cottage in a vineyard, as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers (Isaiah 1:8); when

you feel yourself to be a sparrow alone upon the house top (Psalm 102:7).

The Lord is and remains the same. You should ask someone who lives in a country

where Christians are persecuted if they believe that the Lord remains the same.

Perhaps you think that such persecuted people will probably be very jealous of us

who live in a country where we have freedom of religion and where our churches are

still reasonably well attended. But beloved, also in North Korea He remains the same.

And that is what those persecuted Christians confess, in the midst of all their

persecutions: that the Lord remains the same! Also in places like North Korea, where

you would be whipped and beaten with sticks and threatened with death, He

remains the same.

If we look only at the circumstances, we will not see it. But he who expects all from

the blood of the covenant, from the ministry of reconciliation, can confess as the

Christians in North Korea, “My help cometh from the Lord. He will not slumber nor

sleep. He remains the same!”

Do you know what the keyword in all of this is? Trust. Do you trust in yourself, in

what your eye can see and what your ear can hear? Or, do you trust in Him alone

even though the strength of this trust may not always be the same? Trusting Him

means trusting Him for the church, for your family, for your whole life! He remains

the same throughout the generations. Yes, as long as the sun and moon endure, He

will remain the same. What an amazing comfort that is! It encourages us to pray for



our dear children, that they may follow in the way of the Word of God, that one day

we may see them standing by the altar, the place of reconciliation.

Nothing escapes His attention. The Lord, however, is not a Keeper for your sake or

my sake, but for His great Name’s sake. It is about His honour and glory. In this way

He wants to be our Refuge, as a protecting Keeper.

Before we shall consider our third point, let us first sing of this from Psalter 128:1 and

2.

Verse 1 Verse 2

God is our refuge and our strength, God's city is forever blest

A helper ever near us; With living waters welling;

We will not fear tho' earth be moved, Since God is there she stands unmoved

For God is nigh to cheer us. 'Mid tumults round her swelling;

Although the mountains quake God speaks and all is peace.

And earth's foundations shake, From war the nations cease;

Tho' angry billows roar The Lord of Hosts is nigh,

And break against the shore, Our fathers' God Most High

Our mighty God will hear us. Is our eternal dwelling.

3. A protecting Keeper

The LORD, the Triune God, Father, Son and Holy Ghost, keeps His children because

He knows that His children cannot cope, not today, neither tomorrow, nor the day

after tomorrow! He keeps them, leads them and directs them. Not because He pities

them, but because of His incomprehensible love for them. The Lord was already their

Keeper from eternity.

Recall Thy mercies, Lord,

Their tenderness untold,

And all Thy lovingkindnesses,

For they have been of old.



God protects His Church. That is only possible because of His perfect justice! He

gave His Own Son as the perfect Sacrifice so that He would merit this protection for

all those that are His. And thereforeHis children can say: “The LORD is also my

Keeper.” Do you understand that? His keeping is based on a sure foundation and

stands secure. Therefore, let go of all that you desperately try to hang on to that is

outside of God! He who will let the faithful God take care of his life, is well cared for.

He is the God of the oath and of the covenant; the God of Whom we confess at the

start of every church service, “Who keepeth truth forever and never forsaketh the

works of His hands.” That work which His hand begun is from eternity. “I do it not for

your sake, pilgrim, but for My great and holy Name’s sake, so that My Name will be

glorified.”

What else do we read in the text? “The LORD is thy shade.” When you are in the

shade, the sun does not burn. The shade provides rest and comfort. The journey of

life is difficult for God’s children and the Lord knows that. For that reason He lets the

pilgrim at times rest in His shadow. Spiritually this means resting in the shadow of

God in the Lord Jesus Christ. How restful and delightful for all God’s children is the

shadow of the cross of Golgotha! How sweet is the rest they find in Him!

Beloved hearers, it is a blessing if you may experience that the preaching of God’s

Word touches your soul, when the words spoken by the preacher echo in your heart.

Of course, I heartily wish that to be your case. It is much to be preferred to be

touched by what you hear in church, than to be cold and indifferent under the

preaching as, I greatly fear, is the case with many hearers. Nevertheless, these

experiences are only little pearls which point to the perfect righteousness of God in

Christ. They are, so to speak, little fingers that point to the ground of salvation. The

true rest and blessing is to be found only in Jesus Christ, the true Shade.

Do you know this rest in Him? I say it again: there is no ground in our frames

however pleasant they may be, or in our listening. He only is the ground of our



salvation and nothing else. Who is your Shade? And what did you find in the shadow

of the Almighty?

Beloved, what unfathomable depths we find here! Christ was entirely consumed

on the altar of God’s justice, so that I would not be consumed. Restless as a worm He

crept in the garden of Gethsemane. Why? So that I may dwell in His shade and may

experience God’s loving favour and blessing. How precious this King becomes when

you may sit in His Shade! This King of the Church is the fairest under the children of

men! When in the Shade the Name ‘Jesus’ is spelled, that Name receives its true

meaning: Jesus the Saviour, the Christ, the Anointed of the Father! In the Shade His

Names at times fill the heart of a child of God to overflowing. He is the Shade!

Oh that God’s Word may teach us true wisdom! He is such a refreshing Fountain, a

Fountain of comfort. Have you already found rest in His shade? Do you long for that?

Has that become your desire? Then your prayer will be:

Whom have I, Lord, but Thee on high?

None else on earth can satisfy

But Thou, O God, my soul's deep yearning

That is the sole reason why I will lift up my eyes unto the hills. That is where

my help comes from. Even though at times I cannot feel His presence and it causes

pain in my heart because I miss Him, yet I must confess, ”My help cometh from the

LORD, which made heaven and earth.” He created the heavens and the earth. He also

created lowly me, and gave me life.

Though Satan or the voices within at times say, “Does the Lord even know of you?

Would He really keep you?”, yet there are times when you may joyously say, “He is

the Shade for my soul, the Shade for a prodigal, the Shade for a hopeless one! He is

my Shade, because He interceded for transgressors such as I. He has borne the sins of

many!”

For this reason we may sometimes point our finger upwards in wonder and say,

“Lord, I am such a great sinner, yet Thou art my Shade.” The wonder of God’s grace is

incomprehensible and our heart is amazed at the thought of His all-sufficiency: so



rich, so deep, so great and full of blessings! A storehouse of blessings in Him will be

our inheritance.

The verse adds something else, “upon thy right hand”. That is the place of God’s

favour. Not the left hand but the right hand. Where Jesus appears there will be rest

and peace. Where the law abides, it sounds, “Cursed is every one that continueth not

in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.” There unrest will

remain, and uncertainty, and stumbling. Outside of Christ we feel lost, forgotten of

the Lord and wander about without Him. But at His right side, there is peace! There

we are secure. The Lord, that faithful Guide, says to His pilgrims, “I will guide thee

with mine eye.” If you have to go through the waves, they shall not engulf you.

Though you may have to go through the fire, it will not touch you. That is how faithful

He is!

There is more yet, “The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night.”

The sun and moon point to a time frame of 24 hours. During this whole time frame

the sun and the moon are constantly there. And that goes on and on, day after day,

month after month, year after year. And, according to His own Word, the Lord will

never forsake the work that His hand has begun. If you may dwell in His Shade then

you hope in His promises, in His protection and His love. He says, “I am with you,

even though you may not experience the shade but, just as the sun and moon are

there, even when the sky is cloudy, I am there.” In Psalm 72 we read, “They shall fear

Thee as long as the sun and moon endure, throughout all generations.” There will

always be new pilgrims and therefore this song shall remain a pilgrim’s song until the

last day. He does not change, He remains the same, and that is why His work is so

secure.

Beloved, there is no apostasy of the saints. Those who seek and fear the Lord in

truth will not fall away, but they shall be led on until they arrive at their final

heavenly destination. Also the future generations shall be His inheritance. We may

even think here of children that have yet to be born. Let there be therefore much

prayer for our children and grandchildren. The sun and moon still shine their light as



an encouraging sign that His work continues. Nothing will be able to hinder that. No

persecution of the church can hinder it. Neither can the spirit of the times. It is

because we do not look to the earth, but we look up unto the God of the Temple

Mount; to the God and Father of His Son Jesus Christ.

4. A perfect Keeper

Finally we read, “The LORD shall preserve thee from all evil: He shall preserve thy

soul. The LORD shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth,

and even for evermore.” The Lord preserves. That is the keyword: to preserve. He

preserves His children from all evil. Do you hear that? He shall preserve your soul!

The poet has tasted something of the power of reconciliation, of the blessing of

the blood. The Lord speaks from above the mercy seat. That is why He preserves

from evil. That is ultimately why His children are preserved from disaster and

calamity. Oh, for sure, there can be much that can come up against them, but

ultimately not only their body, but also their soul is preserved from all evil. When is

evil really evil? When the Lord does not protect or preserve me from it. When the

Lord does not make me see the good as good, then the evil is evil. Therefore, pray for

His perfect guidance. Children, ask Him every day: “Deliver me from evil, Oh Lord!”

Do you ask for that? Have you ever thought what the service of the Lord really is? It is

this: He delivers from the greatest evil and brings us to the greatest good. And that is

what we read here, “The LORD shall preserve thee from all evil: He shall preserve thy

soul.” He does it for His Son’s sake; for Jesus’ sake alone.

“He shall preserve thy soul.” Does that mean you will receive everything you pray

for? No, it does not mean that. But if the end is well, then all is well. Why is that?

Because when God begins it is a good beginning; His good will never perish. God

began His good work in the life of all His children. He made them to become pilgrims

and led them on His path.

“The LORD shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in.” That is something! It

means that He preserves you when you go to work and when you come back from



work. He preserves you in your task as mother in your family. He preserves as you

worry about your children. He preserves when you go to school and when you come

home from school, and so forth.

He preserves, so that our lives may be directed towards Him. Whatever the inner

mockers may say, He will never leave or forsake His people. He will cover them with

His wings and protect them in everything, in their whole conduct in life, in their

personal life as well as their place in society. No, we do not know what is good for us,

but the Lord does. He shall preserve your going out and your coming in. Are you able

to do that by yourself? Are you insured for that? This pilgrim in Psalm 121 is not

because the best insurance is the Lord Himself. The Lord, the God Who has made the

heavens and earth, cares for the life of each and every pilgrim that lies in His hands.

Their salvation lies secure in the hands of Him, the Son of God! His hands had to be

pierced for that.

“The LORD shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and

even for evermore.” God preserves, not only during our time on earth here below,

but also for eternity. And so we close with this question: is this what you are most

busy with, namely to prepare yourself for eternity?

Amen.

Concluding Psalter 445:4

Jehovah will preserve thee when

The waves of trouble roll;

He will preserve thy soul.

When going out or coming in,

The Lord will thee deliver,

From henceforth and forever.

the lord my keeper

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