The LORD is thy keeper: the LORD is
thy shade upon thy right hand. The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the
moon by night. - Psalm 121: 5-6 (KJV)
Continuing in the awesome promises of God from Psalm 121, we come to verses 5 and 6. Once again, we are presented by the psalmist with several promises and realities of who God is that we should be more careful in never forgetting. This world is a very unforgiving place that can make us feel quite powerless in our day to day lives. The truth is that we have no real power without Jesus Christ. We not only have no real hope in this life but none beyond it either. But as Christians, as followers of Jesus Christ, we are powerful beyond the measure of this world.
Not that I was ever in need, for I have learned how to be content with
whatever I have. I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I
have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full
stomach or empty, with plenty or little. For I can do everything through Christ, who
gives me strength. -- Philippians 4: 13 (NLT)
Philippians 4: 13 is often misused to excuse trying to do things one is not perhaps equipped to do when it really speaks to the power of having Christ in us. Paul is not speaking of physical ability to "do anything" but rather of having figured out true contentment. True peace. I would wager of you asked the majority of people in the world, saved or otherwise to describe the one thing they lack -- peace would be at the top of the list. Paul had received the 39 lashes, been stoned, and shipwrecked yet amidst that he still was at peace. He was content in every situation because of the strength Christ provided for him. That is real power. That no matter what happens to us we are at peace. Laid off -- at peace because God is our provider. Bad medical report -- at peace because God is our healer. Forces coming against us -- at peace because God is our banner.
How do we get there? We start by understanding the promises of God and truly believing them by faith -- not as some abstract educational exercise. As we have seen so far, Psalm 121 is loaded with the promises of God. In verses 5 and 6 we start with the Lord being our keeper. The word "keep" is defined as "to be faithful, to preserve and to tend to." For more on that see yesterday's Thought of the Day. The word "keeper" however is defined as "someone who is charged with the preservation of something valuable." God has charged Himself with preserving us beloved and according to this definition -- we are valuable to Him!
See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are ever
before me. -- Isaiah 49: 16 (NIV)
Your name is engraved on the palm of God's hand beloved. We are valuable to the maker of the heavens and the earth! The next promise is that the Lord is our shade. To us as believers this means that the Lord is our protection and our comfort -- the two things shade does for us. It protects us from the sun when things get to hot and it provides relief and comfort. God realizes that sometimes our lives get very hot. Even though God will use those times to purify out of us the dross of sin; He recognizes that we can only take so much. It is at these times of great trial that we should be seeking the shade in our lives. We should be seeking the only one who can truly provide us with relief and comfort -- God.
When
you go through deep waters, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of
difficulty, you will not drown. When you walk through the fire of oppression,
you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you. -- Isaiah 43: 2
(NLT)
The flames will not consume us! God will be with us. But we need to seek the shade. Sometimes we simply seek the shade in the wrong places. We can seek the shade in alcohol or prescription drugs. We can seek the shade in therapy or worldly solutions. None of these though provide the protection, relief and comfort that Almighty God can. It is not like God is someplace far away either because the very next promise is that this shade is available to every believer - at their right hand! What we so desperately seek is at our right hand, whenever we call on the name of Jesus. He is our portion, our deliverer, our strong tower, our rock, and our King, yet we treat Him as if we have to send Him an email in order to get His attention! We seek healing by waiting for a prayer service. We seek deliverance by waiting for our small group session so we can be prayed over. We seek restoration by waiting to have hands laid upon us. This is not to say that these are not legitimate means for Christians to seek. Prayer services can certainly be powerful. Small groups can be beneficial and the laying on of hands is certainly Biblical. The point though is that we wait. We wait and often times suffer, as if that is the Christian lot in life. We forget the Words of Christ Himself when He said, "I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly." Christ did not come to die for our sins so that we might wallow in misery, but that we be set free. Psalm 121 daringly reminds us that WE have the power. We have that power because of the Holy Spirit, who dwells within us. It is Christ in us. It is God, at our right hand. Hallelujah!
The final promise in the key verses is that the sun shall not smite thee by day nor the moon by night. First of all, the word smite is defined as to strike down, injure or slay. This does not mean that we should not expect forces to array themselves against us. It also doesn't mean that we are exempt from being hurt in this world. It means that if we are found in Christ Jesus that the things of this world can hold no power over us. It does not matter if it is day or night. It does not matter if the sun or the moon is out. It doesn't matter if it is blistering hot or in the deepest darkness.
Nothing can match who God is in us if we would only tap into that power. If we would only look to our right hand instead of relying upon our own understanding or the so called solutions this world offers. Psalm 121 keeps rolling out the promises of God. That He finds value in me at all blows my mortal mind. Then you add to that the fact that I have the comfort and relief of God Himself available to me 24-7 at my right hand! Lastly, just from these two little verses, that God provides us with power to overcome anything this world can throw at us. Amazing God. Look to your right hand today.
Rev. Anthony
