He Will Keep Your Life

Psalms 121:1-2 ESV

 

“I lift up my eyes to the hills.

    From where does my help come?

My help comes from the Lord,

    who made heaven and earth.”

 

Last night my husband and I were caring for our two youngest grandchildren (out of 14 total). We had just had dinner with the family, and then the parents and the oldest of their children went to band practice where their local church gathers. But shortly after the parents left I started to not feel so well, and it got worse throughout the evening. So, when our daughter came to gather up her two youngest children I went to bed and slept for 2 hours.

 

On my way to bed this song, “Breath of Heaven” was playing in my mind. It is a song written about Mary the mother of Jesus when she was called of God to carry the Savior of the world in her womb and then to give him birth, and to raise him, too. The writer of the song expressed what she felt might have been some of Mary’s emotions and prayers at that time. And if we could put ourselves in Mary’s place, we might have felt somewhat the same.

 

Sometimes we get sick, sometimes suddenly. Sometimes we get injured, either physically or emotionally. There are times when we are sad over situations going on in our lives. And there are times when we might feel as though we are all alone, as Mary most likely felt at times, too, since she was pregnant before consummating her marriage to Joseph. And probably not many people believed she was carrying the Savior of the world inside her.

 

But if we are followers of Jesus Christ, when those times come upon us, whatever they might be, we can look to the Lord Jesus for our help, for he is our Lord and Savior, and he is our healer, too. His Spirit is our comforter and counselor who gives us strength and courage, and who empowers us to move forward in the strength of the Lord and to not cave to our circumstances. So, no matter what you are going through, look to Jesus.

 

Psalms 121:3-4 ESV

 

“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.”

 

Whatever you are going through in this life, the Lord Jesus will enable you to stand firm and to not fall into temptation, providing that you submit to him and to his watch and care over you. If you choose to go out from underneath his care and to do what you know is wrong, then you are on your own because you refused his protection and his strength to resist the devil, to flee temptation, and to draw near to God in full assurance of faith.

 

For, the condition here for this promise from the Lord is that we are looking to the Lord for our help. And looking to him for help is not just saying “Help me, Lord” when we are drowning, especially if we are causing our own selves to drown. Lifting our eyes to the heavens and looking to the Lord for our help means we are trusting the Lord completely with our lives and we are not going outside his realm of protection.

 

If this is the case, he will give us all that we need to resist the enemy, to say “No!” to temptation to sin, and to continue to walk by faith in his holiness and righteousness. If our dependency is in him, and in him alone, and we are trusting him with every aspect of our lives, then we have to trust him and not try to go it alone. We have to believe what he says, and we must follow him in whatever he commands us to do. For, he will not fail us.

 

But this doesn’t mean that he won’t allow us to go through difficulties in this life to test our faith and to mature us spiritually. He said that we would share in the fellowship of his sufferings, becoming like him in his death. He said he would discipline us, and that the discipline would be painful, and in order that we might share in his holiness and that the discipline would yield the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

 

Psalms 121:7-8 ESV

 

“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 forevermore.”

 

This is not saying that evil people won’t come against us to harm us. And it is not saying that we will never be tempted to do evil. But the Lord will keep us from giving in to evil and from letting other people’s evil acts against us discourage us to the point to where we want to give up and retreat. But again, it goes back to verse one here. We have to be those who are looking to the Lord for our help and support and who are not going outside his boundaries of protection if we want his protection.

 

Breath Of Heaven (Mary's Song)

 

Songwriters: Amy Lee Grant / Chris Eaton

 

I have traveled many moonless nights

Cold and weary with a babe inside

And I wonder what I've done

Holy father you have come

And chosen me now to carry your son

 

I am waiting in a silent prayer

I am frightened by the load I bear

In a world as cold as stone

Must I walk this path alone?

Be with me now

Be with me now

 

Breath of heaven

Hold me together

Be forever near me

Breath of heaven

Breath of heaven

Lighten my darkness

Pour over me your holiness

For you are holy

Breath of heaven

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6VGVXjGLBQ

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