I will lift up my eyes to the hills;
From where shall my help come?
My help comes from the Lord,
Who made heaven and earth.
He will not allow your foot to slip;
He who keeps you will not slumber.
Behold, He who keeps Israel
Will neither slumber nor sleep.
— Psalm 121:1-4
We must realize that the Lord’s keeping of us is not for our sake. At first we may think, “He keeps my foot.” But eventually we realize, “He is keeping Israel.” He is not keeping a person, He is keeping a testimony. He is not keeping us for our own sake, He is keeping us for His testimony’s sake.
Such a realization means that we are ascending in our experience and understanding. When we are young in the Lord, we feel many times that we are being kept for our own sake. After we have a little growth in life, we begin to realize, “No, this is not for me. This is for His testimony. He is keeping me for His testimony’s sake.” This is a spiritual “ascent.” We not only ascend out of the world, we not only ascend into Christ, but we also ascend into the very desire of God. We begin to realize, “My God is a God of purpose. My God has a desire. My God has something to accomplish —œ that is, His testimony.” At such a moment we have had some ascending. Our Lord is the Lord that keeps Israel. This One shall never slumber nor sleep.
Adapted from The Journey of Life, pages 19-20.
Tomorrow: “Knowing God In Our Failure”