You Can Sleep Because God Doesn’t

Psalm 121:1-4

A song for the ascent to Jerusalem.

1I look up to the mountains—

does my help come from there?

2My help comes from the LORD,

who made the heavens and the earth!

3He will not let you stumble and fall;

the one who watches over you will not sleep.

4Indeed, he who watches over Israel

never tires and never sleeps.

In the seventeenth century the English envoy to Sweden was extremely disturbed by reports he was receiving from his home country. Unable to sleep, he began pacing the floor.

His servant piped up, “Do you mind, sir, if I asked a question?”

“Go ahead,” responded the envoy.

“Do you think God governed the world very well before you came into it?”

“Yes, of course.”

“And do you think that he will govern the world equally well when you have gone out of it.”

“Certainly.”

“Then don’t you think that you may trust him to govern it for the few years that you are alive?”

We have a never-sleeping God, who is watching over us and ours.

The Old Testament pilgrims who came to Jerusalem for their annual feasts often traveled roads where bandits roamed. Obviously, parents had concerns about the safety of their children, so this psalm addressed some very deep fears.

The pilgrim found assurance in the fact that the God who loved and preserved the nation (verse 4) is the same God who loves and preserves you (verse 3). And that is just as true for you today as it was for the pilgrim of the psalmist’s day.

What God’s almighty power hath made, his gracious mercy keepeth;

By morning glow or evening shade, his watchful eye ne’er sleepeth;

Within the kingdom of his might, lo! all is just and all is right:

To God all praise and glory.

J. J. SCHÜTZ

Bible Networking

This psalm reminds us that the Lord never sleeps. But do you remember the story of Elijah’s contest with the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel? When the prophets of Baal were unable to bring down fire from heaven, Elijah prodded them to yell louder to Baal, “Maybe he is away on a trip, or he is asleep and needs to be wakened!” (1 Kings 18:27).

Notable Quotable

“We are all tempted to look at the mountains, to the creature rather than the Creator, to things and people beneath the heavens, instead of to Him who dwells above the heavens, in His infinite majesty, and to whom all power is given in heaven and in earth.”

F. B. MEYER