Trusting God As Your Personal Guardian

Jan 24

Jan 24 Trusting God As Your Personal Guardian

Devos and Studies, Psalms Devos_Studies, God's Word

A Trustworthy Guardian

God's design for the parent-child relationship is remarkable. It's a picture and model of God's original design for the relationship between Him and humanity.

Working with abandoned babies and children gave my wife and me a much greater appreciation of this. We saw the longing in every child to belong to their own family. No institution, no matter how well run, could ever fulfill this.

The personal trust and confidence a child has in their parents is sacred, and it is a great tragedy when it's violated or broken. It creates a vacuum in the soul that nothing else can fill.

The acceptance and approval a child receives from their parents brings a sense of safety and security that mirrors the relationship God desires with every person.

What about those who are abandoned and abused by their parents? God is still faithful. He never sleeps or forgets us. He is our Guardian. We just need to trust in Him.

When we look for help and trust in other ways than how God intends for us to trust in Him, we'll be disappointed over and over again.

Scripture

A song for going up to worship.

I look up toward the mountains. Where can I find help?
My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth.
He will not let you fall. Your guardian will not fall asleep.
Indeed, the Guardian of Israel never rests or sleeps. [vss 1-4]
The Lord is your guardian. The Lord is the shade over your right hand.
The sun will not beat down on you during the day, nor will the moon at night.
The Lord guards you from every evil. He guards your life.
The Lord guards you as you come and go, now and forever. [vss 5-8] (Psalms 121:1-8 GW)

[Psalm 121 is the first in a group of psalms known as the Songs of Ascent]

Psalm 121

Reflections and Insights

The opening line of this psalm begins with looking up "towards the mountains" and asking the rhetorical question, "Where can I find help?" I remember the first time I read this psalm as a young believer. I wondered, “Why would he look to the mountains for help?”

As I read through the psalm more carefully, I began to understand what the psalmist was getting at. Many people trusted in ritualistic, superstitious religion based on false gods. They set up idolatrous shrines in high places (hills and mountains).

The psalmist knew the answer to his question. He knew who to trust—the One true and living God—the Creator of all that exists. He says this in the second verse — My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth.

Then the psalmist explains why he puts his trust in the Lord—Yahweh, the Eternal One. In verses 3-8, the psalmist uses the same root word—samar—about the Lord five times. This emphasizes the whole point of this declaration of trust.

This word is translated in several ways, depending on the context where it’s used. A few ways it can be translated are—to keep, watch, guard, and protect. It describes God’s omnipresent care over those who trust in Him.

As you read through Psalm 121, consider how the Lord is a Guardian to those who trust in Him. Then ask yourself—Why would you trust in anyone or anything else? Why put your trust in anything or anyone less than the Creator and Sustainer of your life?

I would rather trust in my Creator, who is ever present and watchful over me regardless of where I am.

Reflection—

What and who do you trust? If not the living God, then it's a hopeless trust. Trust in the One who knows you and never sleeps or forgets you—the Lord your Guardian!

Prayer Focus—

When others let you down or disappoint you, ask the Lord to help you see how to trust in Him rather than in people or any other thing. Ask the Lord to help you realize how He is ever present in His care over you.

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