Life Without Mother

[A brief personal commentary on Psalm 121:3-4]

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.

Psalm 121:3-4

How often have I stumbled? How often has my foot slipped? Would the answer to those questions not prove this promise false?

No. For, though the number of my sins (and this is after salvation) is too many to count, the LORD did not “let [my] foot slip” (emphasis added). My LORD did not sit by and watch without care or concern. He was not off doing His business elsewhere and lost sight of me, lost sight of my struggle, lost sight of my choices, lost sight of my misstep.

My God was there. He grieved my misstep. As this passage says, He never sleeps. He never slumbers. He is always watching over my life (as it says later in that chapter). 

So, how have I thus stumbled time and time again? Not because He lost sight of me, but because I lost sight of Him. 

Every time I’ve fallen short, I confess–I knew better. Even when I didn’t know the full extent of the consequences, I knew those choices were not of God. 

What a comfort this passage is! That my God will not let my foot stumble. He has given me power and victory over sin. All I must do is cling to this truth. To speak His promise in the face of temptation. I do not have to give in to sin, no matter the strength of the desire or temptation. He will never give us “more than we can bear,” even going so far as to “provide an escape!”¹

I am not powerless. His Holy Spirit within me is the “love, power, and self-discipline” I need to say “no” to sin.² The love of Him more than my sin.³ The power necessary to flee such temptations.⁴ The self-discipline to choose what is good and of GOD instead.⁵

And what sweet mercy lies in the last two verses of Psalm 121–the promise of mercy and grace that is in Christ! This side of the cross, by way of Christ’s intercession as my Great High Priest forever, I need not fear my Almighty GOD’s holy, righteous wrath toward my failings.⁶ Thus, though trouble will come to my life, true harm is nothing to me, for “to live is Christ, but to die is gain!”⁷

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.

Psalm 121:7-8

1. 1 Corinthians 10:13 ↩︎
2. 2 Timothy 1:7 ↩︎
3. 2 Timothy 2:3-5 ↩︎
4. James 4:7 ↩︎
5. 1 Timothy 6:11, Philippians 4:8 ↩︎
6. Hebrews 4:14-16 ↩︎
7. Philippians 1:21 ↩︎