(Psalms 121:3-6.) Christians believe in good. It is the inward happiness and peace and joy which these things impart which gives them their value. We may not think that God estimates evil precisely as we do. Hashem shall preserve thee from kol rah; He shall preserve thy nefesh. The LORD shall preserve thee from all evil; He shall preserve thy soul. There shall not be even a slip of the foot, a thing so common in mountainous lands, and often so perilous, and the keeping shall be night and day alike, and close at hand (Psalms 121:5). ", II. How business life tends to absorb all time, all thought, all energy, so that scarce any are left for God! THE CREATOR OF THE UNIVERSE IS THE PROVIDENCE OF THIS WORLD. New American Standard Bible Chapter Parallel Psalm 121:7 (NAS) The LORD will protect you from all evil; He We think evil to be that which injuriously affects our circumstances; God sees evil as that which injuriously affects us. Our English dislike of using the same word repeatedly accounts for this change, and causes the loss of impressiveness which the repeated reverberations of the one emphatic word "keep" were intended to produce. This publication is written in EasyEnglish Level A (1200 words). 5. "The redeemed of the Lord shall come with joy and singing," etc. When the psalmist declared, therefore, He will not allow your foot to slip, he was most likely speaking of the perseverance of the saints. your foot *slide. 6The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night. What are we to say? The LORD shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore. It is constantly complained of that where, in the original Scriptures, the sacred writers employ only one word, our translators have put for that one word, two, three, four, five, or even several more different English words, thus conveying to our minds several ideas, where it was the intention of the Scriptures to convey only one. The voice calls continually, "Lift up your heads, for your redemption draweth nigh!". He will preserve us, ourselves; not only our home, our fortune, our credit, our reputation, but ourselves: "He shall preserve thy soul." 5 The Lord watches over you. you when you go out. v4 It is certain that We think so much of the keeping of the body, and of a man's outward circumstances. Shall I depend upon the strength of the hills? TO OUR EXPERIENCES OF SORROW AND OF GLADNESS. The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil; or, "keep thee." Psalm 121 is a treasure of promise for the suffering believer, whose help comes from the Lord (verse 2). Do not fear him, declares the LORD, for I am with you, to save you and to deliver you from his hand.. Jehovah preserveth thee from all evil, He doth preserve thy soul. It is only an agency for securing evil or good. There can come no difficulty, no entanglement, from which he cannot deliver us; there can come no sorrow in which he will not be able to support us. Isaiah 27:3). that sustains. Please enter your email address associated with your Salem All-Pass account, then click Continue. Whereas verse 3 suggests your Guardian will not slumber now, verse 4 stresses Israels Guardian will never slumber nor sleep. The LORD keeps you from all harm and watches over your life. Psalm 121:1-2 I lift up my eyes to the mountains where does my help come from? The Lord shall keep thee inwardly and outwardly soul and body alike, from all evil and in all thy ways. I. Commentary, explanation and study verse by verse. Were on a mission to change that. No doubt our translators did their best to find synonymswords, that is, which though, different in sound, have the same sensestill the senses so given are only similar, and may not be seen by ordinary readers to be so similar as it was thought they were. God has often refreshed his fainting servants with the sight of his everlasting hills. The Lord will protect you from all dangers; he will guard your life. Psalm 121 answers this question for us. In this "God's thoughts are not as our thoughts." Psalm 121:7 (GW) Look up, and grow strong. People that robbed you hid in the The LORD guards you from every evil. ", I. the Lord is your shade at your right hand; 6 the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night. Words in boxes are from the Bible. We do not see that the sense is obscured in this instance, but we think the emphasis and force are lessened. It has been remarked by a learned Bible scholar that part of the common complaints which are often brought against our English Bible is really owing to the likes and dislikes as to the usage of words in which we English people allow ourselves. "which is omnipotent.". The LORD shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul. The restored exiles may well gain and keep full confidence in God, seeing that he had kept their national life through such anxious and imperiling times. The Lord keep thee from all evil; the Lord keep thy soul. Consequently, some of the things which we call evil God does not so call, because their influence on us is good. Absolute security of defense lies in God, and we may fully trust in him. "The Lord shall keep thy going out and thy coming in." To get what Psalm 121:7 means based on its source text, scroll down or follow these links for He will keep thee in life and death; going out to thy labour in the morning of thy days, and coming home to thy rest when the evening of old age calls thee in. The Lord will keep you safe from all evil; he will take care of your soul. What mercy! Popularity relative to other verses in Psalm chapter 121 using average monthly Google searches. And if we truly desire it, the Lord will keep our going out and our coming in, in this sense also. And they do good because, at bottom, they are lovers of good. God helps every Christian in tough times. He made the *heaven and the earth. In Psalm 121:3b-4 we are told, [God] who keeps you will not slumber. The LORD will preserve thee from all evil: he will preserve thy soul. We must come within the circle of the covenanted people of God ere we can lay claim to the fulfillment of a psalm like this. (Psalms 121:3, Psalms 121:4). But there was someone to send help: the *LORD! 1. He is the one that *guards your life. Praise to God for His gracious acts. He shall preserve thy soul; or, keep thy soul. He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber. Not for one small moment will he forget us; day and night we shall be the objects of his watchful love. We are not required to ascend the mountainous track to Jerusalem, thrice yearly to plead for forgiveness and mercy, for we have the Spirit of God residing forever in our hearts and by the sacrifice of Christ's blood, we have access into the holy throne-room of God every moment of the day. The promise that the Lord watches over His people extends from every day to eternity (Psalm 121:8). Hashem shall preserve thee from kol rah; He shall preserve thy nefesh. Looking up, listen; you may hear the voices of the hills saying, "Be still! "Lord, art thou here? Copyright 2002-2023 Got Questions Ministries. Psalm 121:7 (MSG) It is in the form of a dialogue.. Ver. So, we probably did not misunderstand those verses. We must see all our help in God; from him we must expect it, in his own way and time. Enthronement Psalms. It is not that he expects help from the mountainshis hope is fixed on him who made the mountains. dangerous places. I. 2023 Caniry - All Rights Reserved "Certain" is another word for "sure". 39:23 ) . II. Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. Do not fear the king of Babylon, of whom you are afraid. Dishonesty found out is evil. Certainties; duties, difficulties, vexations, trials, temptations, opportunities. It can be through Scripture, sermons, articles, podcasts, or any other means He chooses. The sun and the moon. not in the *Hebrew Bible. He will keep your soul. But because of his ever-sustaining mercy, your faith will remain. It is his *covenant name. Coup de soleil was feared by day, and the deleterious influence of the moon's rays by night. IV. So let mountains stand for the supreme self-efforts a man may make in his times of distress; he must be brought to the assured conviction that they cannot bring him safety. And if this be so, the mere change of our circumstances is not the thing for us chiefly to desire; we should rather seek the Divine overruling, which includes defense from what God sees to be evil, and involves making "all things work together for good.". WE MUST LIFT OURSELVES UP IN THE WHOLE POWER OF OUR BEING TO REALIZE GOD'S NEARNESS TO HELP US. He *guards you from dangers that you know about. Proud member with someone). Men know this, and are duly warned to take all precautions. Evil takes many forms; it comes to us in every guise. No one can snatch Gods sheep out of his hand (John 10:2730), and the one who has justified will never again condemn (Romans 8:3334). The LORD will keep you from all harm he will watch over your life; Psalm 121:7 (NKJV) Their provision and protection came only from the Lord. THE GENERAL RULE OF GOD'S PROVIDENTIAL CARE IS AS HERE SET FORTH. Thee Lord shall preserve them from all evil. Oh, to lose the downward look which has so grown upon us by the pressure of life-cares! If he were but free from the answering of his moral evil, nothing that could happen would be a real calamity.R.T. Our soul is kept from the dominion of sin, the infection of error, the crush of despondency, the puffing up of pridekept from the world, the flesh, and the devil; kept for holier and greater things, kept in the love of God, kept unto the eternal kingdom and glory." Help us purchase electrical generators for churches. This is the second of the series of psalms which are titled A Song of Ascents. One important distinction may be Pointed out here. The LORD will preserve thee from all evil: he will preserve thy soul. What, then, would be any man's hope of preserving moral health and safety, if we might not cherish the assurance of the psalmist, that God understands all secret perils that gather about us, and will not let the moon smite us by night? If God keeps us in being, and gives us new days, then we may confidently hold him to his promise, "As thy day so shall thy strength be." Amazing Promises. Or, we must lift up our eyes above the hills; we must look to God who makes all earthly things to us what they are. Psalms 76-150, Holman Old Testament Commentary by Steven Lawson. God takes eternity into view; we think only of the present. Thats good, but understand that God is here to help you too. there. Keeping thee from whatever form of temptation and moral evil may come through the putting forth of human energy in the daily duties of life. The notes explain some of the words with a *star by them. Domestic woman is world-absorbed. God's people are, after all, the happiest people under the sun. Now the verses in Psalms are pretty straightforward, verse 4 says, God will neither slumber nor sleep. There are 22 letters in the Hebrew alphabet. It is a protection for life. I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. Its important to realize that every person will face challenges in their lives, especially Christians. What does Psalm chapter 121 mean? The LORD shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. The one that *guards you will not sleep. Indeed, the Hebrew word for "slumber" is the stronger term of the two. There is a very simple message here: God never sleeps, slumbers or naps. Praise God that our strength and help, provision and protection comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth, and He will never leave us nor forsake us but will be our ever-present help. Five kinds of psalms include praise, wisdom, royal, thanksgiving, and lament. II. Follow the buttons in the right-hand column for detailed definitions and verses that use the same root words. Now, in this beautiful psalm we have a notable instance of such different rendering. The story of Psalm 121 is in the note on Psalm 120. Psalm 121:7 (NRS) Psalm 121:7 (NIRV) Much of self, of man, and of things. In quite an instinctive way men in all ages and in every land have inclined to build their altars on high hills, as if thus they did get nearer God. And he wants to help you through lifes most difficult circumstances. Psalms 121:7 At first glance, Psalm 121:7 offers tremendous assurance. The LORD shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul. Copyright 2023, Bible Study Tools. Psalm 121:7 (CSB) Our Lord sought seclusion among the hills of Eastern Galilee, and entered into the Divine glory on a spur of Hermon. 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