KNOWING GOD – THE PROTECTOR | LESSON 6 

KNOWING GOD – THE PROTECTOR

Lesson Six

Text:  Psalm 121 – [The CEV gives the psalm the heading, “The LORD Will Protect His People”]

V.7-8 – ⁷The LORD will keep you from all harm–he will watch over your life; ⁸the LORD will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.

V.7 – The LORD will keep you from all harm–he will watch over your life – Note Psalm 91:9-12 – ⁹If you make the Most High your dwelling–even the LORD, who is my refuge–¹⁰then no harm will befall you, no disaster will come near your tent.  ¹¹For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways; ¹²they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.

New Testament example of being kept from harm: Acts 28:1-6 (NLT) – ¹Once we were safe on shore, we learned that we were on the island of Malta.  ²The people of the island were very kind to us. It was cold and rainy, so they built a fire on the shore to welcome us and warm us.

³As Paul gathered an armful of sticks and was laying them on the fire, a poisonous snake, driven out by the heat, fastened itself onto his hand.  ⁴The people of the island saw it hanging there and said to each other, “A murderer, no doubt! Though he escaped the sea, justice will not permit him to live.”  ⁵But Paul shook off the snake into the fire and was unharmed.  ⁶The people waited for him to swell up or suddenly drop dead. But when they had waited a long time and saw no harm come to him, they changed their minds and decided he was a god.

V.8 – The LORD will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore – In the Old Testament, the term “coming and going” referred to several aspects of their lives.  Examples: (a) Their regular lives – Deuteronomy 28:6 – You will be blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out.

(CEV) – The LORD will make you successful in your daily work.

(GNT) –  “The LORD will bless everything you do.

(NLT) – You will be blessed wherever you go, both in coming and in going.

(b) – Leadership – Deuteronomy 31:1-2 (AMP) – ¹So Moses went and spoke these words to all Israel.  ²And he said to them, “I am a hundred and twenty years old today; I am no longer able to come in and go out [as your spiritual and military leader], and the LORD has said to me, ‘You shall not cross this Jordan.’

Numbers 27:15-21 – ¹⁵Moses said to the LORD, ¹⁶“May the LORD, the God of the spirits of all mankind, appoint a man over this community ¹⁷to go out and come in before them, one who will lead them out and bring them in, so the LORD’s people will not be like sheep without a shepherd.”

¹⁸So the LORD said to Moses, “Take Joshua son of Nun, a man in whom is the spirit, and lay your hand on him.  ¹⁹Have him stand before Eleazar the priest and the entire assembly and commission him in their presence.  ²⁰Give him some of your authority so the whole Israelite community will obey him.  ²¹He is to stand before Eleazar the priest, who will obtain decisions for him by inquiring of the Urim before the LORD. At his command he and the entire community of the Israelites will go out, and at his command they will come in.”

1 Kings 3:7 (KJV) – And now, O LORD my God, thou hast made thy servant king instead of David my father: and I am but a little child: I know not how to go out or come in.

See Caleb’s testimony about his “coming and going” – Joshua 14:6-15.  Let us ask the Protector to help us to imitate Caleb in “following Him wholeheartedly.”

Jesus’ ministry was referred to as His “coming and going” – Acts 1:21 – Therefore it is necessary to choose one of the men who have been with us the whole time the Lord Jesus went in and out among us,

Note what Paul said as he neared the end of his “coming and going.” 2 Timothy 4:6-8 – ⁶For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure.  ⁷I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.  ⁸Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day–and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.

Let us ask the Protector to help us to “long for His appearing.”