“I lift up my eyes to the mountains— where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth. He will not let your foot slip— he who watches over you will not slumber; indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord watches over you— the Lord is your shade at your right hand; the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord will keep you from all harm— he will watch over your life; the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.”
Psalms 121:1-8 NIV
When we moved into our new house about a year ago, we knew we were moving into a fixer upper. It needed a lot of work. Some of it the fun kind: new kitchen, new bathrooms, new landscaping. We were excited to put some time and energy into figuring out how to make these parts as aesthetically pleasing as possible. Some of the work, however, was not the fun kind, and unfortunately those were the dollars that needed to be spent first: a new roof, new doors, new chimney.
It wasn’t as exciting to think about these things as it was about the other, splashier updates. But as I drove away from my home this morning on a cold-ish, rainy Friday, I looked back at that house and felt an overwhelming sense of comfort. The new roof was protecting us from the rain. The new chimney would produce warm fires that would warm our house and our hearts. It would be family TV night later that night, and it wouldn’t happen in the kitchen or the bathroom, but under the roof, in front of the fire, and that was something to be excited about.
Like the feeling that I get from our home, so to do I take enormous comfort from this passage. I take comfort not just from the fact that the Lord is with us but also in the fact that the lord is never NOT with us. “The Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.” The eternal nature of this promise is so joyful. In a world where everything seems fleeting, something that is not just strong, reassuring, loving, and caring, but also eternal is such a wonderful gift.
Things in this life go by way too quickly. Our time with loved ones often seems too short, our vacations are over in the blink of an eye, the run of a Cinderella in the NCAA tournament is but a flash in the pan. And obviously, our house, too, is not eternal. There will come a time when it won’t be standing, hopefully long after I am gone. But it does keep us from harm, and watches over our lives, our comings and goings. And for that I am truly grateful.
What Lies Before 