The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time on and forevermore. Psalm 121:8  

The Lord is faithful: he will strengthen you and guard you from the evil one. 2 Thessalonians 3:3  

Psalm 121 is a favorite psalm of many; it starts with verses 1 and 2: “I will lift up my eyes to the hills, from where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord, maker of heaven and earth.” Then it ends with verse 8, our verse for today. Other translations say the Lord will protect us, He will guard us – and when will this happen? It will happen whenever we go out somewhere and when we come in. When we are traveling on a road, on the sea, in the air. In our own community, or country and in other countries too.   

This encompasses our entire life. There is a lot in this world that we need to be protected from. Many are homeless, hungry, or in war zones. We have anxiety about the economy, about diseases, potential violence which in itself can be debilitating. If only we could focus more on what a great protector we have, rather than all that can go wrong. We need strength to confront the evils in our world. With the help of God, we can accomplish much. We can supply food, as we do through Loaves and Fishes, and donations to VEAP. We can try and alleviate homelessness through our partnership with Beacon, including Families Moving Forward, in supporting affordable housing. We can support mission work in other countries and contribute to disaster relief.   

Turning to our faithful God, fully trusting in His protection helps us. We may not be so good at being faithful and following God’s plan for us. However, God is faithful even when we aren’t. He provides us with strength to persist as we confront the evil in our world. This is a wonderful God to have. We are always under His protection, and this will happen forevermore – everywhere and for always.   

Eternal faithful God, thank you for your attentive, loving, faithful presence. In you we find strength and protection. Be our strength when we feel overwhelmed. Guard us from the evil that tempts us in this world. We thank you for your all-encompassing greatness and love towards us. Help us to share this Good News with those we meet today. Amen.  

Chris Gabel 

Ministries
Teaching Mission Party