Psalm 121 (NRSV)
Read Psalm 121 on biblegateway.com
Verse 1I lift up my eyes to the hills- from where will my help come?
Verse 2My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.
Verse 3He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber.
Verse 4He who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.
Verse 5The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade at your right hand.
Verse 6The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night.
Verse 7The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life.
Verse 8The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time on and forevermore.
Devotion
On the seventh day, God rested. For millennia, the resting of God has been a cherished, distinctive part of the Jewish and Christian traditions. However, even though God rests, this psalm repeatedly promises that God is never sleeping. God is not passive, nor absent, nor unaware of what is happening to us. Day and night, when we come and when we leave, from our birth until our death, God is active in our lives, bringing us help and protection. It's not always easy to proclaim this in a world twisted with injustice and battered by tragedy, but our faith teaches us to be watchful for how God is at work around us. In Christ, we can trust that God is always with us, even in our deepest sorrows.
Prayer
Protector God, teach us to look to you for help, and show us signs of your saving presence in our lives. Amen.