Jesus throughout the Scriptures: Psalms 7 (4)
Pray Psalm 121.5-8.
The LORD is your keeper;
The LORD is your shade at your right hand.
The sun shall not strike you by day,
Nor the moon by night.
The LORD shall preserve you from all evil;
He shall preserve your soul.
The LORD shall preserve your going out and your coming in
From this time forth, and even forevermore.
Sing Psalm 121.5-8.
(Duke Street: Jesus Shall Reign)
You are our Keeper and our Shade; You have our debt of sin repaid!
You will preserve us by Your might; naught shall afflict us day or night.
LORD, You will guard our lives from ill; You will our trembling souls keep still.
All our endeavors You will guard; eternal praise be Yours, O LORD!
Read Psalm 121.1-8; meditate on verses 5-8.
Preparation
1. Where did the psalmist find his help?
2. How was he helped?
Meditation
As Christians, we rejoice in the promise that Jesus is with us always, even to the end of the age (Matt. 28.20). But do we ever pause to ask, “What is He with me for?”
The psalmist allowed the hills surrounding Jerusalem to lead his eyes upward, so that he set the eye of his heart on the LORD of glory. The hills and mountains in their beauty, majesty, exaltation, and fixedness bore witness to him of the LORD, his Creator, Keeper, Redeemer, Sustainer, Guard, Guide, and Friend.
We know this great God to be Jesus, and we see Him with us in all the things He has made.
This is what creation should do for us. It should speak to us of the Lord Jesus and remind us of His Presence with us, together with His greatness, power, wisdom, goodness, love, and care. The more we learn to observe and participate in creation with a view to its witness, the more we will be aware of the Lord’s Presence, and thus to rest in His love and care, banishing anxiety and dwelling always in His peace.
Jesus is with us to guard and shade us, reminding us of the path He has marked out for us, alerting us to temptation, strengthening us for work, shading us from spiritual forces of wickedness, renewing our soul, and keeping us to Him now and forever.
He is with us to keep and shade us, and all creation reminds us of this as it speaks to us of His nearness.
Treasure Old and New: Matthew 13.52; Psalm 119.162
“The LORD shall preserve you from all evil; He shall preserve your soul.
The LORD shall preserve your going out and your coming in
from this time forth, and even forevermore” (Ps. 121.7, 8).
The Triune God, His constancy, and His creation, “speak to us of His nearness.”
“He guards the paths of justice, and preserves the way of His saints” (Prov. 2.8).
“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
and through the rivers, they shall not overflow you.
When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned,
nor shall the flame scorch you” (Is. 43.2).
“Blessed shall you be when you come in,
and blessed shall you be when you go out” (Deut. 28.6).
“For He Himself has said,
‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’
So we may boldly say:
‘The LORD is my helper; I will not fear.
What can man do to me?’” (Heb. 13.5, 6; Deut. 31.6; Josh. 1.5; Ps. 118.6)
“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever” (Heb. 13.8).
“…the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard.
Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer;
you shall cry, and He will say,
‘Here I AM’” (Is. 58.8, 9).
Our Ever-Present, constant Keeper and Guard—Jesus.
I thank God for the mountains,
And I thank Him for the valleys,
I thank Him for the storms He brought me through.
For if I’d never had a problem,
I wouldn’t know God could solve them,
I’d never know what faith in God could do.
Through it all,
Through it all,
I’ve learned to trust in Jesus,
I’ve learned to trust in God.
Through it all,
Through it all,
I’ve learned to depend on His Word.
(Andrae Edward Crouch, 1971)
Reflection
1. How do you experience Jesus keeping and shading you through the day?
2. Is there one recent experience of this that stands out? Share that experience with a friend today.
3. Is there someone in your Personal Mission Field who could benefit from being reminded that Jesus is with them, guarding and shading, “through it all”?
How few are to be found who yield to God the honor of being a keeper, in order to their being thence assured of their safety, and led to call upon him in the midst of their perils! On the contrary, even when we seem to have largely experienced what this protection of God implies, we yet instantly tremble at the noise of a leaf falling from a tree, as if God had quite forgotten us. John Calvin (1509-1564), Commentary on Psalm 121
Pray Psalm 121.1-4
Thank the Lord, your Creator, for life and redemption, and call on Him to watch over your way today and keep you in His path.
Sing Psalm 121.1-4.
(Duke Street: Jesus Shall Reign)
I lift my eyes up to the heights: Whence comes my help by day, by night?
My help comes from the LORD above! He made creation by His love!
God will not let our footsteps fall; He will preserve us all in all
He does not slumber, does not sleep; God will His chosen people keep.
T. M. and Susie Moore
If you have found this meditation helpful, take a moment and give thanks to God. Then share what you learned with a friend. This is how the grace of God spreads (2 Cor. 4.15).
For more teaching about the subject of this series, “Jesus throughout the Scriptures”, download our free ReVision study, “We Would See Jesus”, by clicking here.
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Except as indicated, all Scriptures are taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. For sources of all quotations, see the weekly PDF of this study. All psalms for singing are from The Ailbe Psalter.
