(A Song of degrees.) I lift up mine eyes unto the mountains whence shall my help come?
Psalm 121 opens with lifted eyes and a question: where will help come from? Commentators read the psalm as the answer to the distress of the psalm before it. They differ over the hills: some see God's dwelling there, others a false hope the psalmist must drop.
The psalm before this one leaves God's people under pressure. That pressure is what makes the lifted eyes matter.
In the previous Psalm, distress and conflict mark the condition of God's people. Here the pressure is still on them, yet we see what the Lord is for them in their special circumstances. The greater the sense of need, the greater the discovery of what God is for us. That is why, like these saints of a future day, we are often put to the test. Learning our own helplessness, we come to see that God alone is our help and support.
Another writer names the thing that stops us looking up: confidence in ourselves.
When trial comes, our greatest weakness is often self-confidence. It makes us think we can meet the trial in our own strength, or by our own wisdom. We have to learn that when trial and temptation come we have no strength in ourselves. That lesson may come through bitter experience, as it did for Peter. At every step we need a helper to support us in the trial and carry us through the trial.
One writer explains what changes when the line is read as a question, with verse 2 as the answer.
The beauty of the connection shows more fully with a slight correction in the wording of the first verse. Many read it: "I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come?" The second verse is then the answer to that question. Adopt this change, and you can see faith in action. No sooner does the soul cry in its sorrow, "From where does my help come?" than the answer springs out, "My help comes from the LORD."
Commentators differ here. Some read the hills as Zion, God's own dwelling place.
To the singer of Israel, the holy hill of Zion was the dwelling place of Jehovah and the source of his deliverance. The same unseen, watchful Presence never slept. It held the weak exiles in His everlasting wings, whether they were in Mesopotamia or in Africa.
Others read the mountains as strength that only looks unshakeable.
He is surrounded by mountains that look strong, imposing and immovable. Some people in the world look like that too: settled in power, and beyond the reach of an enemy. But can we trust any fellow creature? The prophet Jeremiah tells us, "Truly the hills are a delusion, the orgies on the mountains. Truly in the LORD our God is the salvation of Israel" (Jer. 3:23). He sees his need of help. He also sees that human help is useless. So he turns from the creature to the Creator.
The older translation he quotes here reads: "In vain is salvation hoped for from the hills, and from the multitude of mountains."
Either way, the hills do not answer. The One who made them does.
The God-fearing man longs to escape from the land of his captivity, but mountains block his way. He looks at the difficulties, and the cry breaks out of him: "From where does my help come?" At once his faith replies, "My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth." The Maker of the mountains can lead him across the mountains.
In this psalm God carries two titles at once.
The psalm gives Him a double character: Creator of heaven and earth, and the Keeper of Israel, especially of the God-fearing. Jehovah would preserve him in all circumstances and for ever.
The lifted eye is a habit worth training, not just a reaction to crisis.
Verse 1 leads me to say this — that we should train our souls to look more at our resources than at our pressures or difficulties. We should make our hearts familiar with the promises and provisions of grace. Then, when the occasion comes, we may enter the field of battle like Jehoshaphat's army, with the sweet voice of these promises like music in our ears. That joy carries us on to victory. For "joy is strength," as Nehemiah told the congregation (Neh. 8:10).
The confession stays personal, not general:
He does not fall back on acknowledging a general truth that there is help in the LORD. In simple personal faith he says, "My help comes from the LORD."
- Need — the psalm starts from helplessness. The deeper the need, the fuller the discovery of what God is for us.
- Question — verse 1 is best read as a question, so that faith is caught in the act of asking and answering.
- Hills — some read them as Zion, where God lived; others as human power that looks strong but cannot save. Either way they are not the answer.
- Maker — the answer names Him Creator of heaven and earth. The Maker of the mountains can bring His people over the mountains.
- Mine — he does not settle for a general truth about help in the Lord. He says "my help." So look at your resources before your difficulties.
My help [cometh] from Jehovah, who made the heavens and the earth.
A man under pressure scans the horizon for rescue. Verse 2 is where the searching stops. In one line he names his Helper and says what that Helper has made.
Trouble does more than press on us. It teaches us something we would never learn in comfort.
In the previous Psalm, distress and conflict mark the condition of God's people. Here, while the pressure is still on them, we get to see what the Lord is for them in their special circumstances. The greater the sense of need, the greater the discovery of what God is for us. That is why we, like these saints of a future day, often face testing. Learning our own helplessness, we realise that our help and relief are found in God alone.
Many read the first verse as a question, with verse 2 as the reply. The hills he looks at are impressive, and that is exactly the problem.
Realising his need of help, a question at once rises in the Psalmist's soul: "From where shall my help come?" Mountains surround him. They look strong, imposing and immovable. So do some people in the world, who seem firmly established in power and safe from any enemy. But can we trust any fellow creature? The prophet Jeremiah tells us, "Truly the hills are a delusion, the orgies on the mountains. Truly in the LORD our God is the salvation of Israel" (Jeremiah 3:23). He needs help, and the help of man is useless. So the God-fearing man turns from the creature to the Creator.
The older translation he used reads, "In vain is salvation hoped for from the hills" — that is the sense his point rests on.
The whole verse turns on its first word.
He does not fall back on admitting a general truth that there is help in the LORD. In simple personal faith he says, "My help comes from the LORD."
The answer comes the moment faith cries out.
Read this way, you can see that faith is active. The soul cries in its sorrow, "From where shall my help come?" At once the answer springs out, "My help comes from the LORD." This illustrates a principle found everywhere in the Scriptures. If God works to relieve and deliver His people, He acts in connection with their faith, and in response to it. For example, Peter writes of an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled and unfading, kept in heaven for believers. Then he adds, "who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time" (1 Peter 1:4-5). God's own power produces and sustains faith in the soul. Yet faith is still the living link between the soul and God. It secures His intervention and brings Him in for our aid and deliverance.
The title added to the name meets the exact obstacle in his path.
The God-fearing man would love to escape from the land of his captivity, but mountains block his way. The difficulties force a cry out of him, and his faith replies at once. The Maker of the mountains can lead him across the mountains.
The name here also shows how much of God was known at the time. Christians know Him better still.
Notice the name used here: Jehovah, the covenant name of God in relationship with Israel. Notice too the added words, "who made heaven and earth." They fit the revelation God made of Himself to His earthly people. So Jonah confessed to the sailors, "I am a Hebrew, and I fear the LORD, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land" (Jonah 1:9)... The Christian is in the light as God is in the light, for God is now fully revealed in and through the Lord Jesus Christ.
Verse 2 is not the end of the psalm; it opens the rest of it.
In the rest of the Psalm the Spirit of God answers this simple faith. He unfolds the blessings of the one who looks to the LORD for his help. The one recurring thought in these verses is the constant care of the LORD. The word "keep" is the characteristic word of the Psalm. It appears six times in the last six verses.
- Need — Pressure is not a mistake. The deeper the sense of helplessness, the fuller the discovery of what God is for us.
- Question — The hills look strong but give no help. Real need drives the soul past the creature to the Creator.
- Answer — Faith replies with a name, and it says "my." A general truth about God's help carries no one through trouble.
- Maker — The One who made heaven and earth made the mountains too. Nothing in the way is stronger than the Helper.
- Keeper — The confession leads on to constant care. The psalm says "keep" six times as God's answer to that faith.
He will not suffer thy foot to be moved; he that keepeth thee will not slumber.
The pilgrim has just said where his help comes from: the LORD. Verse 3 is the answer he gets back — two promises, one about his feet, one about the eyes that watch them.
Verse 3 does not begin a new subject. It replies to the confidence just expressed.
Now we come to verse 3. Here, through the Spirit, God answers the faith of the second verse. The soul turns in the confidence of faith to the LORD, who made heaven and earth. And it can be sure of the support and protection of its all-powerful Keeper.
The foot stands for the way a person lives. One writer weighs God's watch over that walk against the lightest human sleep.
"He will not let your foot be moved" (v. 3). Of course, the foot reminds us of our walk, and God will not let it be moved away from the path of obedience. He is the Keeper of Israel. Sleep never interrupts the watch He keeps, and nothing else does either. Slumber may be broken and short, but not even this is possible for the Creator of the universe. He never stops watching over the welfare of all believers.
The promise is not that the road will be smooth. It draws a line between the hardships God permits and the one thing He refuses.
The road we travel may at times be rough. The enemy may oppose us with his tricks and traps. Temptations may abound, and difficulties arise. The LORD may allow all these trials. But there is one thing He will not allow. He will not let the feet of those who trust in Him be moved from the path that leads to glory. The LORD says, "He will not let your foot be moved." So in the next Psalm the godly soul can answer with complete confidence, "Our feet have been standing within your gates, O Jerusalem" (Psalm 122:2).
One writer sets out what this promise covers: a slippery path, a dark night, and the word "Keeper" itself:
Whatever the dangers, however slippery the path, the Lord will not let the foot of one who trusts in Him be moved — or, perhaps, "slide." The night may be ever so dark around us, but for Him the night shines as the day. Jesus saw from the mountain top His disciples struggling at the oars. In the same way God does not withdraw His eyes from the righteous. He always sees them in all their circumstances of trial and sorrow. And notice: He who watches over His saints this way is their Keeper. The word used here means to guard, to keep safe, to preserve.
Even God's own people fall asleep — in glory, in grief, and in disobedience. The Keeper never does.
An apostle may sleep on the mountain, in the presence of a glory too bright for nature. He may sleep again in the garden, in the presence of a sorrow too deep for us to bear. But the One who is our Keeper will "neither slumber nor sleep." A backsliding saint, like Jonah long ago, may be "fast asleep." He sleeps while the LORD is working, the wind is rising, the sea is raging, the ship is sinking, and the men of the world are trembling. But there is One who loved His own who are in the world, and loves them to the end. His love never stops caring for His own in all the storms of life.
The keeping promised here reaches in two directions at once.
The believer learns that the care of the Lord never stops: "He who keeps you will not slumber." He keeps each individual believer. And He is the Keeper of Israel as a whole.
Commentators differ on how directly the promise carries over to Christians now. One sounds a caution:
We must note that the literal application of this is not exactly ours now. Christ was counted among transgressors, and we have to go on without looking for complete deliverance. Yet we can be sure that the hairs of our head are numbered. God does not withdraw His eyes from the righteous now. But we do not expect Him to keep us safe on earth, as the Jew rightly will in the path of faithfulness. Still, our Father does watch over us with unceasing vigilance.
- Faith first. The promise arrives as the Spirit's answer to a soul that has just said its help comes from the LORD.
- Feet next. The foot stands for the walk, and God keeps that walk on the path of obedience.
- Rough, but not lost. God allows a hard road, enemies and temptations. He refuses one thing only: to let trusting feet leave the path.
- A Keeper who never blinks. The word means guard, keep safe, preserve. Darkness changes nothing: night shines as day for Him.
- Held to the end. The same care covers one believer and the whole people, until those kept feet stand inside the gates.
Behold, he that keepeth Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.
The traveller in this psalm has already asked where his help comes from. He answered it himself: the LORD. Verse 4 answers him. It moves from his own safety to the safety of a whole nation, and rests everything on one claim: God never stops watching.
The whole song turns on a single verb, repeated until the reader cannot miss it.
In the rest of the Psalm the Spirit of God answers this simple faith. He opens up for us the blessings of the one who looks to the LORD for help. The one recurring thought in these verses is the constant care of the LORD. The word "keep" is the characteristic word of the Psalm. The word "preserve" in verses 7 and 8 should be translated "keep." Once you see that, you can count this encouraging word six times in the last six verses.
The word translated "keeps" means a guard on duty. This guard is never off duty, even in the dark.
There is never a moment when the eyes of the Lord are off His people. He never stops His constant watch on their behalf. The night around us may be as dark as it can be, but for Him the night shines like the day... And notice this: the One who watches over His saints this way is their Keeper — the One who guards, keeps safe, preserves. That is the force of the word used here. What encouragement this gives to God's tested and suffering people! And what an invitation to rest in Him without wavering, in the middle of the trials and unrest around us!
Verse 3 has already said He will not slumber. Verse 4 says it again and adds a second word — and the doubling is deliberate.
So it is not just that Jehovah will keep His people safe in their special difficulties. He is introduced here as Israel's Keeper. This is a relationship that marks Him out. So the words "nor sleep" add even more force to the statement that Jehovah does not slumber. He is always awake. He never forgets His own for a single moment. So there is no break in His watchful care and keeping. And do not miss the picture of the unity of God's people here. He is not only the Keeper of the believer, but He is also the Keeper of Israel.
So the verse widens the promise. The care given to one person in verse 3 now covers the whole nation.
The contrast is not with nature in general. It is with God's own people, who do fall asleep.
An apostle may sleep on the mountain, in front of a glory too bright for human nature. He may sleep again in the garden, in front of a sorrow too deep for us to bear. But the One who is our Keeper will "neither slumber nor sleep." A believer who has drifted from God, like Jonah long ago, may be "fast asleep." The LORD is working, the wind is rising, the sea is raging, the ship is sinking, the men of the world are trembling — and still he sleeps. But there is One who loved His own who are in the world, and loves them to the end, with a love that never stops caring for them in all the storms of life.
The Lord Jesus once slept through a storm at sea. Set beside this verse, that sleep says something about who He is.
On board a sailing vessel the Lord Jesus calmly slept. So He must be Man, because God does not sleep (Ps. 121:4). Then the disciples woke Him, afraid the raging storm would capsize the boat. He rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. He showed that He is God, the master of the elements. He could sleep only because He is Man; He has authority over wind and sea because He is God.
This keeping is not only an inward comfort. It works in real events: Herod could not block the way.
It had been said, "Behold, He who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep" (Ps. 121:4), and that watchful eye and hand had prevented Herod from closing the door of entrance against Him. God saw to it that He had full access to the sheep.
In one line, the psalm shows Jehovah as "Israel's help and keeper, who does not slumber or sleep, in all circumstances and for ever" (William Kelly).
- Keeper — the word means to guard, keep safe, preserve. It is the key word of the psalm, used six times in the last six verses.
- Keeps you — verse 3 speaks to the single believer: He is the Keeper of each one.
- Keeps Israel — verse 4 widens the same care to the whole people, so the promise is corporate as well as personal.
- Keeps awake — "nor sleep" adds force: no gap, no forgotten moment. His saints sleep; He does not. The One who never sleeps became the Man asleep in the boat.
- Keeps forever — the guard is unbroken in all circumstances and without end.
Jehovah is thy keeper, Jehovah is thy shade upon thy right hand;
Psalm 121 asks one question: where does my help come from? This verse is the heart of the answer. It gives two pictures — a keeper who never looks away, and a shade against the burning sun.
One writer notes that the answer keeps circling back to one word, and counts how often it appears.
In the rest of the psalm the Spirit of God answers this simple faith. He unfolds for us the blessings of the one who looks to the LORD for his help. The one recurring thought in these verses is the constant care of the LORD. The word "keep" is the characteristic word of the psalm. In verses 7 and 8 the word "preserve" should be translated "keep." Once you see that, you find this encouraging word six times in the last six verses.
Everything else in the psalm rests on this one statement. Note the warning at the end: the truth stands whether or not we feel it, but only faith draws on it.
"The LORD is your keeper" means nothing less than this: He is an absolute and perfect Keeper. The details that follow are only the consequences of that, or the general truth applied. In itself, it is an immense thing to know that the Lord is our Keeper. In dangers, difficulties, and trials, this assurance would calm our fears at once and clear away our anxieties, if we really took hold of it. No one can deny it is true, whatever our state of soul. But remember: faith alone can make use of the blessing of being kept by God. Faith alone turns to Him for help at the moment of need and pressure.
Shade in a hot land is survival, not decoration. One writer applies it to more than the weather.
Of course, as the Keeper He is our protector. As the shade He steps in between us and the heat of oppression or of hard circumstances. So we need not fear the sun by day, as many do in lands of extreme heat.
The phrase points to nearness, not just strength. The same writer finds the sense of it in Isaiah's picture of shelter.
"Shade" may be understood, from what follows, as protection. We read the same in Isaiah: "You have been … a shade from the heat, when the blast of the ruthless is like a storm against a wall." So the expression seems to mean that the Lord's protection is always available — always, to use a common phrase, "at hand" for His people.
The right hand is also the side where a companion walks.
A friend at our right hand is a friend at our side, whom we can turn to at any moment… How good to realise there is a Friend beside me, whom I can turn to! He has all wisdom to guide in every difficulty, all the power to overcome every opposition, all sympathy in every sorrow, all grace for every weakness, and mercy for every need.
The picture recalls Israel's journey through the desert, when God went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud.
The pillar of cloud by day appears again in the shade on the right hand. It stops the scorching desert sun from striking the people of God, and the moon by night too (for the moon can affect both eyes and brain). But this is only an illustration of a wider and perfect protection: "The LORD will keep you from all evil; He will keep your life."
Writers weigh carefully who this promise is for. One ties it to Israel's future deliverance on earth.
Psalm 121:5, "The LORD is your shade on your right hand," is plainly a prophetic song for Israel in a coming day.
That does not empty the verse for a Christian reader. But it does change what we can claim from it.
But note that the literal application of this does not fit us now… we have to go on not looking for absolute deliverance. Yet we can be sure that the hairs of our head are numbered. God does not withdraw His eyes from the righteous now. But we do not expect, as a result, to be preserved on earth, as the Jew who walks in faithfulness rightly will. Yet our Father does watch over us with unceasing care. We may be at peace under the shadow of His wings. Our instruction is, in the middle of every evil, to look only to the Lord.
- Keeper. The psalm's answer to "where does my help come from?" is one repeated word — "keep" appears six times in the last six verses.
- Absolute. "The LORD is your keeper" is a complete statement; every promise after it is only that truth applied.
- Available. "At your right hand" marks nearness — protection always at hand, and a Friend at your side to turn to at any moment.
- Shade. He steps between His people and the heat, as the pillar of cloud shielded them in the desert.
- Applied. Israel will yet see this kept on earth. For the Christian it is not escape from trouble, but a Father whose watch never stops.
The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night.
The Psalm has just called the LORD a keeper and a shade. Now the two great lights of the sky lose all power to hurt. Is this a promise of a life without trouble, or something else?
Writers read the two lights as pictures of what can harm, each in its own hours.
The "shadow of the Almighty" would block the rays of both. He surrounds His people with that shadow, and under it they stay safe forever. The "sun" and the "moon" are only emblems of the evil influences of the day and the night, which these two lights rule in turn. The scorching rays of the glaring day have no power over those who rest under Jehovah's overshadowing care. Neither do the harmful evils of the night. These promises apply first of all to God's earthly people, but they are also available, in an even higher sense, for the Christian.
Commentators differ on how far to press the two images. One reads them as pointing to persons rather than perils:
The sun speaks of supreme light, and so is a picture of God revealed in the Lord Jesus Christ (Mal. 4:2). He would have a right to use His punishing power, and He will use it over those who oppose Him. But for believers His influences are sweet, like the sun in normal weather. The moon pictures the nation Israel, made to reflect the light of God's glory. But in some cases it can also be a source of trouble. Yet God will keep Israel from harming its own people who trust in Him.
The picture behind the promise is a desert march. God once went ahead of His people there as a pillar of cloud.
The LORD is Israel's Keeper: so faith, even from far off, claims Him — Jehovah, the faithful covenant-keeping God. The Pillar of Cloud by day appears again in the shade at the right hand. That shade forbids the scorching desert sun to strike the people of God. It forbids the moon by night too, for the moon can affect both eyes and brain. But this is only an illustration of a wider and perfect protection.
The promise covers every hour of the day. But being kept is not the same as escaping the danger.
The believer who looks to the LORD for help can be sure that the LORD will keep him at all seasons. In a world of warring nations we have to face ever-present dangers, both "by day" and "by night." The LORD does not say to the believer, "You will not have to face these terrors as others do." Instead He says, "If you make Me your 'refuge', and put your 'trust' in Me, 'You will not be afraid of the terror by night, nor of the arrow that flies by day; nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness, nor of the destruction that wastes at noonday'" (Psalm 91:2, 5, 6).
This pledge rests on the line just before it: the Lord is your keeper. And it only helps a person who believes it.
"The Lord is your keeper" means nothing less than that He is an absolute and perfect keeper. The details that follow are only the consequences of this, or the general truth applied. Hold this assurance in power, and in dangers, difficulties, and trials it would calm our fears at once and clear away our anxieties. It is true whatever our state of soul — no one can deny that. But we must remember: faith alone can make use of the blessing of being kept by God. Faith alone turns to Him for help at the moment of need and pressure.
Taken at face value, the verse promises that no harm lands. One writer warns against claiming that literally today, but insists God's care is unbroken.
We must notice now that the literal application of this is not right today. Christ has been counted among transgressors, and we have to go on without looking for absolute deliverance. Yet we are to be sure that the hairs of our head are numbered. God does not withdraw His eyes from the righteous now. But we do not expect to be kept for earth as a result, the way the Jew rightly will be when he walks in faithfulness. Still, our Father does watch over us with unceasing watchfulness.
- Keeper first. "The Lord is your keeper" carries the whole promise about sun and moon. The details are just that one truth applied.
- Shade next. The desert cloud stands between the traveller and the blaze. The protection is at hand, on the right side.
- Day and night covered. Sun and moon rule the two halves of the clock. Under that shadow, neither the glare of day nor the harm of the dark can reach you.
- Kept, not exempt. He does not promise you will meet no terrors; He promises you will not be afraid of them.
- Faith uses it. The keeping is true whatever your state of soul. But only faith turns to Him under pressure and gets the good of it.
Jehovah will keep thee from all evil; he will keep thy soul.
Psalm 121 has been building toward this line: the LORD who made heaven and earth guards one person, and guards them completely. Two questions follow — how far does "all evil" reach, and what does God keep when He keeps the "soul"?
The English wording hides a repetition that shapes the whole psalm:
The one recurring thought in these verses is the constant care of the LORD. "Keep" is the characteristic word of the Psalm. Remember that the word "preserve," in verses 7 and 8, should be translated "keep." Then you will notice that this encouraging word occurs six times in the last six verses.
Verse 7 drops the pictures of verse 6 and names no limit. Part of the comfort lies in what we never notice:
(v. 7) Fifth, the Lord is a Keeper from "all evil." We see only a few of the evils that lie in our path. The Lord sees and keeps us "from all evil."
That evil is not only physical. The same writer lists the shapes it takes and where the real pressure falls:
Scripture speaks of evil thoughts, evil imaginations, evil words, evil deeds, and evil doers. The Christian is blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, so he faces special opposition from the "spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places" that work behind the scenes. Still, the believer who looks to the LORD can stand against every attack of the enemy on "the evil day," "in the strength of His might," and so be kept from evil.
Commentators differ on the second half of the verse. The word behind "soul" has no one fixed sense, which is why the ESV renders it "he will keep your life":
The next clause is, "He will keep your soul." The word translated "soul" is a little ambiguous, as it is in Greek too. It is sometimes translated "life." Being kept for the blessings of Messiah's kingdom is a typical Jewish promise, so it is possible that this is its meaning here.
Another writer reads it of the inner life held firm under pressure, and is frank about death:
So He kindly preserves the godly from all evil. He does not only keep the body from harm; He keeps opposition from overwhelming the soul (v. 7)… Believers today may certainly count on the same preserving care, whatever the affliction they meet — even the pain of death. In that case He preserves in death, though not from it.
The promise is not a guarantee of an untouched life. Faith takes hold of it, and it matches the way Jesus prayed for His own:
The promise, "The LORD will keep you from all evil," should not, we think, be treated as if it worked apart from the state of the soul. As said before, the living link between the soul and God is faith, and God works through it to bless and protect the believer. So faith can take up this word of comfort and rest on it in the darkest days, when Satan shows his power on all sides. The believer will also remember that, when the Lord presented His own before the Father, He said, "I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one."
Another writer marks off what belongs to Israel from what belongs to us now, without losing the comfort:
But we must note that this does not apply literally at the present time. Christ has been counted among criminals, and we have to go on without looking for absolute deliverance. Yet we are to be sure that the hairs of our head are numbered. God does not withdraw His eyes from the righteous now. But we do not therefore expect to be preserved in earthly life, as the Jew rightly will in the path of faithfulness. Still, our Father does watch over us with unceasing care. We may be at peace under the shadow of His wings. Our instruction is, in the middle of every evil, to look only to the Lord.
The verse says nothing about the strength of the one kept. That is the point:
It is good to think this over, and to notice that the foundation of all our security lies in what God is for His people… "But must we not watch and pray, and so on?" Even for the power to watch and pray we depend on the Lord, and it is as we realise this that we rest quietly and peacefully on Him.
- Keep — the verb, not "preserve," is the psalm's heartbeat, sounding six times in six verses.
- All — the guard covers the dangers you see and the many you never notice, including evil thoughts, words and unseen opposition.
- Soul — commentators differ: some read the inner person held steady under attack, others read "life" kept for Messiah's kingdom.
- Faith — the promise is no charm; faith takes hold of it. Jesus asked not that His own leave the world, but that God keep them from the evil one.
- God — safety rests on what God is for His people, not on the strength of the one kept. Even the power to watch and pray comes from Him.
Jehovah will keep thy going out and thy coming in, from henceforth and for evermore.
This closing line ends a run of promises where one word keeps coming back. It stretches the Lord's care over both halves of ordinary life, and over all the time to come. It raises two simple questions. How much of my life does "going out and coming in" cover? How far does "forevermore" reach?
Older translations say "preserve" here, which hides the link between this verse and the ones before it. One writer counts the repeats and finds one theme in the whole song.
In the rest of the Psalm the Spirit of God answers this simple faith. He unfolds for us the blessings of the one who looks to the LORD for his help. The one recurring thought in these verses is the constant care of the LORD. The word "keep" is the characteristic word of the Psalm. The word "preserve," in verses 7 and 8, should be translated "keep." Then you can see that this encouraging word occurs six times in the last six verses.
The two words picture a life that never stays still. The promise meets that restlessness head on.
"Going" and "coming" speak of the changing circumstances that mark a world of unrest. In the gospel day, the Lord could say to His disciples, "Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while. For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat" (Mark 6:31). In His compassionate care the Lord will give us times of rest "apart" from the busy world. But down here it will only be "rest a while" — words that show we must be on the move again. For the eternal rest we must look ahead. "There remains … a Sabbath rest for the people of God." Of the one who enters that blessed rest we read, "Never shall he go out of it" (Heb. 4:9; Rev. 3:12). In the meantime life is a busy round of toil in a world of need. Yet the one who looks to the Lord for help can count on the Lord to keep him in every circumstance.
Another writer reads the pair differently, and takes the second word as the answer to the first.
The first of the two is the evil God's people were liable to; the second is their sure, safe, and secure refuge, and that for ever.
One writer traces how far the last phrase reaches. It runs far past our own lifetime.
Finally, Jehovah's sheltering care covers the going out and the coming in of His people "from this time forth and forevermore." It runs on through the thousand years, to the close of the millennial kingdom. God thinks of everything. So He gives us a glimpse into His heart for His people. We see it in the daily, tireless watch He keeps over them, to preserve and bless them.
One writer takes that endless reach one step further. Eternity is not idleness.
Eternity will have its blessed activities, lived in equally blessed dependence on the unfailing God.
So where does this security rest? Not on us. Dennett presses that home against our instinct to add something of our own.
This is worth pondering. Note that the foundation of all our security lies in what God is for His people. We need to remember this at all times. Our hearts cling to a wretched legalism. If we are not settled in grace, we are tempted to think that something depends on ourselves. No! We depend wholly on God, on what He is as revealed in Christ. "But must we not watch and pray, and the like?" Even for the power to watch and pray we are dependent on the Lord.
Dennett passes on another writer's words on how a Christian should read this psalm today. Being kept is not the same as being spared trouble.
Certainly, believers today may count on the same preserving care, whatever may be the affliction they encounter — even the pain of death — for in this case He preserves in death, though not from it.
Dennett quotes another writer making the same distinction more sharply, and adding what the Christian does keep.
We must note that the literal application of this Psalm does not hold for us now. Christ was counted among transgressors, and we go on our way without looking for complete deliverance. Yet we can be sure that the hairs of our head are numbered. God does not turn His eyes away from the righteous. But we do not expect, in the end, to be kept for earth, as the Jew rightly will while walking in faithfulness. Yet our God and Father does watch over us with unceasing vigilance. We may be at peace under the shadow of His wings. Our instruction is, in the midst of every evil, to look only to the Lord.
- Kept — the word. "Preserve" means "keep," and it sounds six times in the last six verses. This verse is the final beat of one drum.
- Kept everywhere. "Going out" and "coming in" cover the whole restless round of leaving and returning. The Lord keeps in every circumstance, not just some.
- Kept always. "From this time forth and forevermore" runs on through the thousand years, to the close of that kingdom. Eternity itself will have activity, lived in dependence on God.
- Kept by God, not by me. All security rests on what God is for His people; even the strength to watch and pray comes from Him.
- Kept, not exempted. The Christian should not expect complete deliverance from trouble. Yet the hairs of our head are numbered, and our Father watches over us without a break.