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 you coming in from this
time forth and forevermore.
[Psalm 121]

This is my wife’s favorite Psalm.

When I am gone overnight she keeps this close by and reads it over and over.  You see…she doesn’t like staying in our haunted parsonage by herself.  O.K…maybe it’s not haunted but with the bats scratching their way in the walls and all the creaking boards one would be tempted to think the house is alive.  Someone once told my wife that the spirits of Salem’s former pastors were walking around and looking out for her.  For some reason that didn’t help 🙂

My wife hasn’t told me specifically but my guess is that she finds comfort in the fact that God is not sleeping and that God is watching over her and …

 “The Lord will keep you from all evil”

I have to admit…there is something very comforting about that phrase.  There is evil all around us and I do not doubt that Satan is using those strange noises in our house to get my wife to doubt God’s presence and sovereignty.  Satan will do whatever he can to get us to believe that we are alone; that God has left us.

God hasn’t left us and never will.

God is our help.
God is our peace.
God in our life.

Where do you turn for help?
Where do your eyes look when fears ravage you?
Who do you seek for safety?
Who do you run to for shelter?

The Lord will keep your going out
and you coming in from this
time forth and forevermore.

“Lift your eyes” and seek the Lord…and don’t let spooks and goblins (or Satan) drive you to despair, but trust in the Lord’s presence and strength.  He will keep your life and bring you home through Jesus Christ…and there is nothing Satan can do about that.  Wrap your heart around that blessed assurance and sleep well tonight knowing that God is not sleeping and that God has your back.

edh -|—