Many churches throughout the world use a Bible reading schedule called a "lectionary." It's just a fancy word meaning "selected readings." Posts like this reflect on the readings for an upcoming Sunday or other Church holiday, as found in the historic one-year lectionary.
Psalm 121:4 describes God as the one who never sleeps. He is always on duty watching over his people. This should be a great encouragement to us. We increasingly live in a world that tries to operate 24/7. In the interest of employee wellness some companies are telling their employees not to respond to emails at night and on the weekends. For those readers who are younger than 40, I will simply observe that I have a vivid recollection of a time when people left the office at the end of the work day and they would never, never, never be expected to interact with any of their work responsibilities until the start of the next work day, when they arrived at the office. It was very rare for people to be on call.
We aren’t normally able to be on duty all the time. It’s difficult physically, mentally, and spiritually. It take a toll on our bodies and on our families. We just don’t do it very well. As humans we were created to have periods of work and periods of rest, and in general if our work is much more than about ⅔ of our waking hours, our productivity declines, our stress level increases, we become less healthy, and we eventually end up in trouble of some sort.
Who is on duty? Our Lord is on duty. He never sleeps. He never needs to put his feet up and lean back in his recliner. He remains ready to hear our prayers, to rejoice in our good, and to mourn in our suffering, no matter what. He is the Lord who doesn’t quit.
This is a matter of great comfort. We can rest. God is in charge. We can step back from our labors. God has appointed times of work and rest, and He will keep them in order. We do not need to be vigilant about everything all the time. The Lord raises up people ho will sound the alarm when we need to hear it. And he will give his people perfect peace and rest.
In a world that is frantic about seeming chaos, Psalm 121 reminds us that the Lord is utterly, completely in control.
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