Sleepy God?

The sun will not hurt you during the day,
nor the moon during the night.
The Lord will protect you from all danger;
he will keep you safe.
He will protect you as you come and go
now and for ever. (verses 6-8)

Read Psalm 121

I have often wondered if God ever sleeps; have you? If God did ever sleep, even for just one moment, we would be vulnerable to evil. If he ever put his feet up, switched on the answering machine and ‘chilled out’ for an hour or two, the universe he created and maintains every minute would cease.

If God ever slept, all those jibes of people who wish to discredit him, and us, would no longer be just jibes but truth, and our faith in our God would be a sham. ‘Where is your God?’ they often say. ‘Is he asleep? Has he gone on a holiday? Maybe he is too tired to be near you!’.

Because of what God has done for you through the ‘Sun of righteousness’, Jesus Christ, you can reply with rock-solid faith and eyes wide open that your God never ceases to sustain the universe, never ceases in his constant protection of you and all his people, and never, for even a moment, is less than the ultimate power and authority in the cosmos, even above sun and moon.

Father of sun, moon, stars and me, thank you for your ever-vigilant watchfulness and your highest authority by which you protect and sustain me. Amen.

by Adrian Kitson in ‘Renewed Hope for each Day’ (LCA, Openbook, 2000)

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