Neither Slumber Nor Sleep
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Psalms 121:1-8
I lift up my eyes to the hills. From whence 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 nor sleep. The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade on your right hand. The sun shall not smite 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 for evermore.
I’m not sure how many times I’ve read these verses, or how many times I have used them in a posting. I think these are some of the most beautiful words ever written. They’re not extremely poetic, yet they have a lilting flow. They aren’t very dramatic, yet there is a crescendo as the verses progress. The references to God not slumbering nor sleeping have a great deal of meaning to me. When my children were babies and would awaken in the night, I remember sitting in the rocking chair, holding them, looking at their faces, examining their fingers, and singing lullabies to them. All too often, I would fall asleep – soundly asleep still in the rocking chair, baby clutched tightly to me. Each time I awoke with a start, certain I had dropped a baby on the head yet I never did!
That is only one example of the ways God helped me as a parent. And in every other experience and undertaking throughout my life, I have no doubt God was standing by, on duty, watching, ready. I have often tried to grasp God’s love for me – for any of us. It is, of course, impossible. But I think the closest I have ever come to understanding it is on those nights I spent in the rocking chair, caressing my babies’ brow, noticing their eyelashes flutter as they began to dream. Those were sacred moments. For some those moments occur when they have spent the day hiking, and come to a clearing along a river. Or perhaps a mountain peak, overlooking a valley speaks of God’s majesty and love. Because of God, and his love and care for us, every moment of our lives becomes sacred. He knit us together in our mother’s womb. He knows every aspect of our inner being.
I find myself in complete awe of it all! It’s not a new concept to me. It’s not a new thought or theory. It’s not even a different slant on the same story. It is the story. The one God wrote in eternity. God loves us. That is all we need to know. That is all that matters. God love me. And God loves you. And as you live your life, your days and nights, weeks and months, years and even decades will rush past you in a whir. And God will be in it all – never slumbering nor sleeping. He will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life. He will keep your going out and your coming in. He always has. He always will. Sometimes, though the story is as old as time itself, I feel as though I’ve heard it for the first time. And I like it even more.
My prayer today is that you take a moment to realize how very much God loves you. And that you will be confident that he never slumbers nor sleeps throughout your entire life.
Mary
