replied, Well, you see, I always sleep peacefully. The pastor says that God never slumbers or sleeps, so my feeling is that there’s no use for the both of us to stay awake. As long as He’s watching, there’s no use for me to do so too.” That’s a good principle by which to go. Our care and protection is actually God’s busi ness. All too often we live as though we were orphans and that no one was concerned about us. The fourth verse of this Psalm tells us of refreshment: “Behold he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber or sleep.” There is a line of differentiation between slumbering“ and sleeping. To simplify it, slum bering could be though of as dozing or dazing the few moments before one slips into sleep. The Lord doesn’t get sleepy, nor does He go sound asleep. You remember that gods in ancient times were allowed to sleep once in awhile as mortals do. Re member when Elijah was contend ing with the prophets of Baal, as recounted in I Kings 18:27? There is in it a passage of very -wry hu mor. The old prophet, the man of God, Elijah, urges the followers of Baal, “Call them a little louded; may be they’re alseep. Or maybe they’ve gone off on a vacation.” It must have been quite an embarrassment for those foolish pagan priests. Psalm 127:2 expresses it in these beautiful words, “He giveth his beloved sleep;” In other words, “He that giveth His beloved sleep will never Himself go to sleep.” The next thing we are told is that the Lord will keep us. The words keep and preserve are actually the same in Hebrew. In these eight verses of Psalm 121 we find them used no less than six times. In verse 5 of Psalm 121, we read, “The Lord is thy keeper. The Lord is thy shade upon the right hand.” We need this covering, this protection from heat of the day. “He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High, shall abide under the shadow of the Al
mighty. There are scorching prob lems that arrive in full bloom as a result of the heat of the noon day sun. Our lives are so often filled with problems. We need that avail able help which only the Lord can give. We are told that He is our shade upon our right hand. This was the side which was left unprotected by A DEATH BED A s I lay s ic k u p o n m y bed I heard the m sa y " I n d a n g e r." T h e w o rd seem e d ve ry stra n g e to m e C o u ld a n y w o rd seem stra n g e r?
" I n d a n g e r " o f escape fro m sin, F ore ve r a n d fo re v e r? O f e n te rin g that m o st h o ly place W h e re evil entereth n e v e r? " I n d a n g e r " o f b e h o ld in g H im , W h o is m y s o u l's salvation, W h o s e p ro m ise s su sta in m y soul In blest a n tic ip a tio n ? " I n d a n g e r " o f so o n s h a k in g o ff E a rth 's last re m a in in g fetter, A n d o f d e p a rtin g h e n ce to b e W it h C h ris t w h ich is fa r better? It is a so le m n th in g to die, T o face the K in g im m ortal; A n d each fo rg iv e n sin n e r sh o u ld T re a d so ftly o 'e r the portal.
B u t w h en w e h a ve co n fe sse d o u r sin s T o H im w h o can d isce rn the m A n d G o d h as g iv e n pardon, peace, T h o u g h w e co u ld n e 'e r deserve them , T h e n d y in g is n o d a n g e ro u s th in g; S a fe in the S a v io u r's k e e p in g T h e ra n som e d o n e is g e n tly led B e y o n d the reach o f w e ep in g. the shield which was generally car ried on the left side in order to cover the vulnerable heart. So, this sug gestion is that whatever the need may be, whatever the side that has the potential spot of attack from the enemy, God will be there to protect us. Now verse 6 says, “The sun shall not smite thee by day nor the moon
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