March 13

”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 forever more.” (Psalm 121: 7-8 NIV)

Do you sense the serenity and rest found in today’s verse? The person who fully takes the words to heart, ’the Lord will keep you from all harm’ can truly be at rest and simply enjoy the day that is. That which would steal our peace of mind is often found in what has been, or that which is yet to come. If the threat stems from what has been in the form of accusations or perhaps a wrongful act, or if the threat comes from what might be an eventual act, it always concerns an act that we seek to control. We either want to change that which has been, or we want to control an unseen future. But God wishes to oversee, carry and protect you from all assumed threats.

In an older Bible translation the eighth verse reads. ’The Lord protect your going out and your coming in from now and forever more.’ I’ve always felt it a little strange that the ’going out’ preceded the ’coming in’. However, I have experienced many times that is actually the case; I must let go of that which has been – step out – before I can venture into something new. Regardless, the sum total of the new version translates as, The Lord will keep you from all harm…

Prayer
Lord, thank You for protecting me from all that I would sense as a threat, during all the shifting tides of life. Thank You for shielding me today.