There is some existing background of
faith that allows a particular person’s eyes to be lifted upward toward God in
the heavens. Yet the power of certain concerns, loneliness or need require a
specific and concerted search for the source of help. People who have lost
their job or just cannot find work, start to lose hope and become frustrated.
Mothers can feel desperate under considerable pressure to respond to the
nurturing needs of their children, sometimes feeling ill-equipped or generally
just too tired.
It only takes to the next phrase for
this psalmist to express the certainty that God hears and will respond. This is
not a private little wishing-well being addressed, but rather the God
who created the whole universe. And this God never takes his eyes of his loved
creation (God neither slumbers nor sleeps) – God is always available for a
consultation. We are being encouraged to bring to God the areas of life that
worry us, or cause us to feel alone, or where we feel weak and lack hope; and
it is an act of maturity to do so. Where we put our trust firmly and resolutely
in God … ultimately we will never be disappointed. Even when one door closes,
another door will no doubt open!
Just off now on a couple of tangents
briefly. We must feel for those who actually, unlike the psalmist, throw their
hands in the air in desperation but have no background in faith at all
through which to find God at the end of their search for help. This is where
tragically many people, especially young people, resort to pain-softening
substances, that only ultimately make their problems bigger and broader.
Sometimes their outrageous behaviour makes us want to squirm, yet really this
is a loud cry for help (from the hills)!
The second tangent … if God is
constantly watching over all his creation, then God must feel a lot of
disappointment, frustration, even anger, for what has been done to it … not
just the physical environment, but also to the human spirit over the centuries.
God has had to endure so much violence, and so much evil that humans have
unleashed on other humans – imagine entering into all that suffering. Yet God
has been willing to enter all this suffering … we see this most plainly as
Jesus hangs tortured on a cross. For God can’t just watch passively; God
desires to engage with us as we journey through whatever life throws at us.
When we read that, “God will not let
your foot be moved” (v.3a), this signifies that God will help us build our life
on a firm footing (or, foundation) from which we will not easily be moved. A
careful building process has been begun well, leading to a ‘house’ with all the
right characteristics and features. This will also mean that we will not
be destructive nor negative people, and more often than not, that we will
be helpful builders in our neighbourhood (despite any strong winds that come
against us).
Then when we read that, “The Lord is
your keeper” (v.5a), we sense protection, or at least a sustaining influence
upon our lives. As we trust in God, we can experience God’s presence with us;
so that the excessive heat in the day or the danger of the night, don’t have
the destructive force that they otherwise might have. We might also sense God
bringing certain light into situations that just expose the otherwise dark and
unseen dangers. God does not want evil to touch us to take away our joy, hope
or life itself. God does not want fear to mean that we become distrustful or disengaged.
The New Living Translation (NLT) translates the second part of verse 5 as: “The
Lord stands beside you as your protective shade” … taking us back to that
thought of God being our constant companion. So when it gets hot in the oven,
so to speak, “the Lord stands beside you as your protective shade”.
G. Campbell Morgan wrote that God
keeps his children safe in “the faithfulness of his tender vigil”. So, when we
are short on ideas or resources, no soon as the words ‘Lord help me’ spring
from our mouth, (in some form or another) God is there! The Lord being our “keeper”
is never imprisoning like a zoo-keeper (nor even controlling), but rather a
benevolent offer of love and care for our own good (or in our best interests)!
None of this of course represents any promise of a soft care-free existence, as
we well know, but rather brings the opportunity of a well-prepared life. We
know that very bad things can happen even to people who wholly put their trust
in God, so there is also a sense here of the eternal spiritual destiny that
remains safe as we continue to trust in God – “he will keep your life” (verse
7b).
The “going out” and “coming in” of
verse 8, signifies that God’s care is continual … at all times in all places. God
has plenty of time for us, though we probably should try not to waste too much
of God’s time. God doesn’t want to be just involved in our lives, God wants to
be fully involved; yet this remains a matter of our freewill whether we are up
for this or not. By the same token, we should remember too, that there is a
degree to which God’s love and care is unconditional and inclusive –
remembering the parable Jesus told about the shepherd leaving the ninety-nine
sheep to chase after the one rebellious sheep. So in one way, each of us can
resist, but in another God is hard to put-off!
Having gone to the source of grace and
blessing, we should also recognise that God’s way of providing help will often come
through other people. So if we have expressed need (whether only to God or
quite publicly), we should be open to receiving the generous support of those
around us (rather than remaining aloof and self-reliant). As we experience some
resolutions to our areas of concern, there is a release of anxiety, a lessening
of isolation, and a new feeling of worth. Also through this process, which
might be later seen as a source of growth, faith actually deepens, and a joy in
life is possible again. So we emerge from this psalm, I trust, with some encouragement
and new confidence in God. We can press deeply into God, as God companions with
us.
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