Good morning. I would like to focus our thoughts this morning on Psalm 121. It is a Psalm that promises the watchful and abiding care of God for His people. It is a Psalm of promise, a Psalm that should provide peace and confidence when we face uncertain times.
But first, I would like to tell you about Glen and Claire. Glen is pastor of a church of about 100 in a small city, and Claire is a county social worker. They met while they were in college, finding that they had important things in common. Ultimately, they fell in love and were married. And oh, by the way, they are both blind. Not sight challenged, but completely blind.
As I read about their story, I found it interesting that two people who had lived their lives with blindness, a challenge that seems overwhelming to those of us with sight, had chosen to devote their professional lives to work that was centered around helping others. In reading about them it seemed obvious that they are people with great hearts of love and compassion.
Glen and Claire are now in their late twenties, and it was a few years ago, after four years of marriage, that their lives became even more interesting. That was when their son Bobby was born.
Their newborn son came into the world without complications and with fully functioning eyes. They were immediately delighted with their new son, and Claire’s mother was able to stay with them for the first month after he was born.
I have had some experience with people who are blind, and I have always been amazed at how well they manage, often being seen to be remarkably capable. But how does a sightless couple care for a baby? Actually, Glen says that it all went quite well for the first several months. The baby was always where they left him, and they were fully capable of loving and caring for him. But naturally, the baby learned to crawl. So much for him always being where they had left him. Claire decided that the best way to deal with the situation was to sew little bells into all of his clothing. Although they had to put up with some teasing from others about their little one ringing his bells every moment that he was awake, it worked. Glen says that his congregation had to get used to the sound of little bells being fiddled with while he was preaching, but before long they didn’t even notice them. Now that Bobby is a little over 3 years old, he has taken to stuffing tissue bits into the bells. Why? So that he can sneak around the house and make his parents worry and work as they try to find him. Great fun!
Glen, Claire, and Bobby are a wonderful Christian family, with a great motto for their parenting efforts: Whatever it takes! They will do whatever is needed to keep little Bobby safe and well, just as any loving parents will do. Just as our loving Father God promises to care for us.
Now for Psalm 121:
I lift up my eyes to the hills.
From where does my help come?
My help comes from the Lord,
who made heaven and earth.
He will not let your foot be moved;
he who keeps you will not slumber.
Behold, he who keeps Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.
The Lord is your keeper;
the Lord is your shade on your right hand.
The sun shall not strike you by day,
nor the moon by night.
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 forth and forevermore.
Whatever the challenge, whatever the problem, whatever the cause of heartache, where does our help come from? Our help comes from the Lord. Our help comes from the Creator. Our help comes from the One who never sleeps or naps, He is always vigilant.
If your kids are driving you a bit crazy, praise God for them and their energy. If your job is feeling like a problem, praise God for the work and what it provides. If your friends have disappointed you, praise God that you have friends, realizing that it is part of our humanity to disappoint one another from time to time.
But above all, give thanks to the Lord of Hosts, the God of creation, your loving Father of heaven. Give thanks because whatever the need, He has you in His arms.
Vern