January of 1981, I left home for my first semester at Baptist Bible College in Springfield.  I believed I was being called to prepare to be a youth minister.  My study habits however said something different and I failed my first semester.  I returned in the fall and did a little better but I had used up my $2,500 student loan and I wasn’t eligible for another one.  I joined a couple of other guys and during the winter break we went to the panhandle of Oklahoma hoping to get a grunt job on an oil drilling platform.  The goal was to make enough money to pay for my next semester of school.  Nine days later - no job and I was at my wits end.  I called my parents collect and asked them for a bus ticket home.  Shortly after the first of the year I went into the Air Force recruitment office and volunteered for active duty.  July of 1982, I reported for basic training.  Several years later, my marriage dissolved to the point that I was divorced and because of the conversative tradition that I grew up in, I thought my call to ministry was dead, done for . . . null and void.  So, I made plans for the rest of my life and none of them involved being in active ministry in a local church. 

You have probably heard the following, “Humans make plans and God laughs.”  I really did not understand the idea that God is our ever-present help, constantly attentive, and always working out God’s will for us.  I really did not have my finger on the pulse of Psalm 121 or any comprehension of how vast God’s grace and love truly is for us. 

Psalm 121 is the second Psalm of Ascent and would certainly be natural for a pilgrim on a perilous journey to recite on their way to Jerusalem.  It is a Psalm that reminds all that God protects the path of the sojourner.  God is vigilant and does not sleep, does not turn away or lose sight of us.  Or that God is endlessly awake and fully attentive no matter what our level of need, safety, or distress.  For the Psalmist to open with “I look to the hills, from where does my help come?” is a rhetorical question.  The writer already knows that it is the “maker of heaven and earth.”  This Psalm is a reminder that each of us can have confidence in God’s watchfulness and that we can persevere – we can keep on going and never give up because God is with us.  Through all of life, God is with us.  God’s goodness and mercy are with us and will continue to go before us no matter what life may bring our way.

This might bring to mind the words of a 20^th century folk song.  The lyrics remind us that “He’s got the whole world in his hands.”  But they don’t simply speak of creation, they go on to say, “He’s got you and me brother/sister, in his hands.”  Each one of us are the focus of God’s attention and that kind of love is intended to invite us – invite us to follow “the way.”  God desires that we follow the way that will lead to life and life abundant.  This is life found in God’s grace and goodness; this is life under the watchful eye of God who is our “keeper.”

I invite you to take time and read each of the scriptures above followed by reflection on the questions below.  Ponder the ways in which God is watching over you, protecting you, and keeping you.  Lastly, I pray that God bless the reading of God’s Word and the meditations of your heart.

Questions to Consider this week:

• Monday:  Name one or two key concepts about God that come from the readings.
• Tuesday:  What does it mean for God to be your “help?”
• Wednesday: What do you think the writer means by God “will not let your foot be moved?”
• Thursday:  How is God your keeper?  What specific ways are you experiencing this?
• Friday:  How is your faith in God your keeper helping you to persevere?
• Saturday:  How is God your shade and protection?

 Actions for the Week:

• Head:  Contemplate the ways in which God watches over you.
• Heart:  Center your meditation on God who is your helper and keeper.
• Hand:  Recite this Psalm while you take a short walk.