He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber. Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord is thy keeper:
We learned yesterday that we have no need of fear because God is our Keeper. Today, we learn our Keeper is not a Sleeper. This is why you can rest in his protection. He is always on guard, watching over your life. He is always keeping because he is never sleeping.
The word slumber carries the idea of dozing. This is accidentally falling asleep. Dozing typically happens when weariness overcomes your best effort to stay awake. It's like when the Bible college student fell asleep in class and his friend elbowed him and whispered, "The teacher just asked you to stand up and pray." And so the class was interrupted by a barely coherent prayer by one tired student!
However, sleep is different from slumber. It is a deep sleep. A sleep on purpose. It is the sleep of the youth leader after an all-night youth activity with teenagers hopped up on caffeine. In both cases of slumber and sleep, tired and weary people find comfort in shutting their eyes and drifting away to the land of dreams.
But look at the text. "Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep." Your Keeper never sleeps, grows weary, or becomes exhausted. What a peace this brings! No matter how big your problems are, run to your Keeper because he has not drifted off to sleep. He is vigilantly watching over your life and future. If I was in charge of constant protection over you, you would quickly discover what a bad keeper I am. I have to sleep. I will sleep. And the enemy will wait for me to nod off.
Because God is your never-sleeping Keeper, you can sleep in peace. I don't know what's plaguing your mind at night. I don't know what fears grip your soul. But you should know your God. You are the treasure of his heart, and he has not gone to sleep on the job of protecting you. So cast your burdens on the Lord and let him worry about them. You need to be like the little daughter or son who burrows their head into their father's chest and falls into a deep, contented sleep. Let the winds blow. Let the fears come. Let the heartaches occur. This is normal in a sinful world. But Jesus is your Keeper. He is watching over you, and he will not sleep on the job.
Food for thought: Why do you think we cast our burdens on God only to take them back up after prayer?
- Andy Gleiser
Student Ministries Pastor | www.burgeterrace.org
Founder | www.3gministries.org
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