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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…
Psalms 121: 3-8 (ESV)
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INTRODUCTION
The Most High is our keeper. He never sleeps or slumbers. He keeps His watchful eyes ever upon us to protect us from any evil. Not all threats come from the outside though, some may come from within. And Abba makes sure He shows them to us, so that righteousness can restored be.
THE EVER-WATCHFUL EYES
You never slumber,
you never sleep,
with watchful eyes your beloved you keep.
All was quiet behind the ancient walls of Jerusalem in the middle of the night. No sound could be heard, not even one, except for a soft rustle of the wind caressing the leaves here and there.
It seemed as though all was sleeping. That no one was watching over the souls dwelling within. If an enemy came upon this scene they would think the battle was already won. But would they ever be more shocked when they realized, the ever-watchful eyes of the Almighty and His faithful watchmen were looking out for His own.
Well-hidden guards were standing and watching over Jerusalem, the apple of the eye of the Almighty. And they never slumbered as the Almighty never does.
Fortified and tall walls would not mean as much if there were not watchful eyes standing guard against the enemy. Day in and day out, watchmen stood guard over each city in Israel. Great soldiers were tasked to detect any anomaly. To intercede with any enemy and sound the alarm if ever necessary.
God has always searched for willing people who would partner with Him to bring forth great things on Earth and achieve greatness and bring Him glory and also deliverance and prosperity to all as confirmed in 2 Chronicles 16: 9.
For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.
2 Chronicles 16: 9 (NIV)
MY KEEPER - YAHWEH SHAMAR
Charles (CHAS) C. Morse in his article A Keeper At All Times introduces us to the Hebrew word for keeper used in Psalm 121, the word shämar. It means to guard, to keep watch. As he says we all need that one person “who has our back”. We all need a brother who keeps watch over us. (1)
Many external threats we may encounter daily. And the Creator of all is watching over us in like manner. He watches us from external threats coming to destroy us. Not only that but the internal ones preying upon us from within.
He watches over our deeds, over the desires of our hearts, He watches over the thoughts in our hearts. Keeps us from external or internal evil preying upon us. He reprimands, corrects gently when needed, and returns us to the righteous paths if we ever stray.
He never leaves us and never forsakes us. As He has begun our walk of faith He will also finish it. He will bring us to the finish line. he did not call us out to leave us behind. And He loves us no less when we fail, and He also loves us no more even if we do everything correctly. His love is perfect and unconditional.
And as He called Gideon a valiant warrior when he was still hiding from the enemy, He can call us by another name and it is up to us to believe and remain in that word. Remain no matter the circumstances surrounding us. But of course let us not remain in sin when confronted.
Your eyes watch over me,
deception they detect and see.
From temptation, your Word keeps me,
righteousness restores and sets me free.
CONCLUSION
Abba keeps us from evil prowling about trying to destroy us - all the external and internal threats rising to tempt us from the righteous paths. He keeps a watchful guard, and never sleeps nor slumbers. He is always standing guard over us and our deeds. He is our YAHWEH SHAMAR.
Application
Take some time throughout the week and write down all the different times God kept you from something.
SOURCES
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Charles (CHAS) C. Morse. A Keeper At All Times. June 29, 2022. Available at https://www.icr.org/article/keeper-at-all-times
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