It’s always good to remember that we know and serve a God who is unchanging, especially in turbulent times.
Very little stays the same for very long nowadays, but our Lord remains our solid, reliable constant Friend.
Psalm 121 is filled with reassurance of God’s presence and care for his people as they made the dangerous journey to worship in Jerusalem. Today, by the grace of God who redeemed us, we are on a different sort of pilgrimage; this one leads to our eternal home.
On this long and faithful trek, we too are surrounded by hidden dangers and adversaries, a consequence of a world of sin and brokenness.
King David held a position power and was also known as a worshipper. However, we know that neither his position or love for God could keep him from trials and hardship in a fallen world. Still, his trust in God never wavered. He could say with the pilgrims of Psalm 121, “My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth”.
There is great comfort and encouragement for us in Psalm 121. Five times the psalmist repeats that God watches continually and carefully over his people.
Glory be to God who watches over us! He protects, provides, leads and guides us through the storms, through the nights, and through many dangers, toils and snares.
The Lord is with us. He is our Immanuel just as the prophet wrote. He is our shepherd, and our personal Saviour. He is with us, for us, in us and works through us even in stressing and distressing circumstances throughout the whole span of our life on earth.
There’s a hymn that was written three centuries ago, inspired by a psalm that brings the proper focus for our circumstances. Many of you will recognize these few lines.
O God, our help in ages past,
Our hope for years to come,
Our shelter from the stormy blast,
And our eternal home.
Whatever you may be facing in the days ahead, I invite you to set aside time to prayerfully and slowly read the Psalms. You might want to do this with a notebook at hand and note the human difficulties and the faithfulness of God. Notice the calls to worship him and the assurance that he will watch over us and be our help day by day. These days I’m pondering Psalms 120-125 and Psalms 70-71. Like all of Scripture, they are a solid source of unfailing help and hope!