May 23, 2024

Psalm 121.7, 8 (NIV)
The Lord will keep you from all harm – he will watch over your life; the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.

God claims lordship over all the details of our lives.*

These verses remind me of a job description. In the employee manual is listed all the duties of the position and at the end is added “. . . and all other duties as may be assigned,” just in case they missed something. We certainly don’t want to hire someone and have them come back and say, “No one told me I would have to be in a parade or talk to a group of middle-schoolers.” (Things I hate and have had to do as part of a job.) It wasn’t enough for the psalmist to say that God would keep us from all harm. No, he had to make sure we understood the all-inclusiveness of God’s protection. He wants his readers to understand that God is on the job whether we are coming or going, from this moment on and forever.

 

To paraphrase something I read: God doesn’t protect us from affliction – but he doesn’t use affliction to punish us. He doesn’t keep us from all bad things but he uses them for our good. He doesn’t isolate us from sin but he provides strength to resist the temptation to commit sin and releases us from its power and consequences. He doesn’t remove us from the world and its evil – tribulation, reproach or persecution – but he frees us from wickedness and lust, from the power and wrath of wicked men, and from Satan himself.* He prevents the evil we fear and eases the burden of the evil we feel.*

God doesn’t just check on us from time to time. He watches over our lives - every boring and/or stupid moment. His love is unconditional. Although we come and go and change, God stays the same. How comforting is that?

Blessed are those who acknowledge that there is only one God and have quit applying for his position.*