I’m reading Psalm 121, and I see the same verb six times. It’s shamar in Hebrew; this verb means to keep, guard, protect, and watch carefully.
If you remember this beautiful psalm, it reads like this:
I life 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 or 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 your coming in
from this time forth and forever more.
I loved reading Charles Spurgeon’s commentary on this psalm. In particular, he reminds us that God’s help is “never known to be too late.” And of this verb, “to keep,” Spurgeon writes this:
“Our soul is kept from the dominion of sin, the infection of error, the crush of despondency, the puffing up of pride; kept from the world, the flesh, and the devil; kept for holier and greater things; kept in the love of God; kept until the eternal kingdom and glory. What can harm a soul that is kept of the Lord?”
He concludes by asking, “What anxiety can survive this. . . promise?”
God keeps our life. Everything about this day is in God’s keeping, and His help is never late.