Is that even really the promise of God?
The LORD will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life. The LORD will keep your going out and your coming in from this time on and forevermore. — Psalm 121:7-8
The LORD will keep you from all evil.
Is this true? Or are these just the hopeful words of the psalmist trying to make sense of the hurt and messiness of life? These are the kind of words that make for the “feel good… all is right in the world” worship songs we sometimes like to sing in our church gatherings. But declarations like this tend to do the opposite in me than what is likely their intended effect.
I’ve seen too much. Words like this don’t come to my lips lightly. It doesn’t work in my world to casually speak words like this or sing them on top of a pop melody with a snappy beat. No, speaking words like “The LORD will keep you from all evil” takes great effort for me. To say them with any kind of conviction I have to first excavate the layers of wreckage piled on top of my faith. I have to sift through the images forever embedded in my thoughts of the kids I’ve seen… beloved children of God, made in the image of God, yet neglected and violated and even killed by those who were supposed to love them. I have to slog through the muck and mire of memories of people… beloved children of God, made in the image of God, yet abandoned by their families and left to die alone amid strangers in a sterile hospital room. And there is more. So much more.
The LORD will keep you from all evil.
Is that even really the promise of God? Or are these simply the words of the psalmist (a person who has been through some serious crud and been victim to all kinds of evil BTW) written in hopeful desperation? Are they words of promise or are they written in faith that the cut and sting of even evil’s most powerful weapons will not have the final word? Maybe that’s it.
I may be crushed and scarred and broken…
I may be weakened and weary…
The threat of evil is real and it bears powerful weapons meant to kill and steal and destroy…
But evil doesn’t get the last word. No, amid my scars and wounds and brokenness, I still trust in the LORD of the psalmist. I trust the LORD will keep me from evil and restore me to life.