Tuesday, 30 August 2016

Psalm 121 - God is our guardian at all times

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Psalm 121:5-6 "The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade at your right hand. The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night." NKJV

Remember, the Psalmist is writing poetry. Since Hebrew is foreign to most of us, it is hard to appreciate the poetic effect of the words. Every poet tells a story, or makes a point with just a few words. These few words are then cleverly arranged to provoke thought.

Psalm 121 is no exception, in fact, it makes the point. Verse 4 ends with "Shomair Yisrael". Verse 5 begins with "Adonai Shom'recha" meaning "the Lord is your watchman". Al-Yad is an idiomatic phrase. Literally, it means "on hand" but idiomatically it means "next to". So, a better translation of verse 5 would be, "The LORD is your watchman, the LORD is your shade next to your right (side)."

The next verse (6) begins with "Yomam" which is the adverb form of "Yom" (day), meaning "daily". "Lo-Yikeka" mean "Shall not smite, strike, or defeat (you)". What will not strike you? "The sun daily" in the first part of the verse and "the moon in the night" at the end of the verse.

It is easy enough to call on the Lord for protection from the sun during the heat of the day, but who needs protection from the moon at night? Remember, the Bible is written to a people who lived in wide open spaces. Being "smitten" by the moon could be by freezing at night. Alternatively; a full moon can make people a little "off their rocker" which is where we get the term "lunatic".

Our take-away thus far is that God will protect us at all times and in all conditions. Blessed assurance as we continue to climb the steps of ascension.