Lift Your Eyes: 10 Days of Beholding Christ in Motherhoodਨਮੂਨਾ

Day 8: The Lord Is Your Shepherd

The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life.
—Psalm 121:7

As you reflect on the phrase, “The Lord will keep you from all evil,” you may question how such a promise could possibly be true. We all bear the scars of this life, and even Jesus acknowledges in John 16:33 that in this world, we will have trouble. Maybe even now, you’re walking through a season of profound hardship, such as the loss of a loved one, a complex medical diagnosis, or the betrayal of a friend.

The point of Psalm 121:7 is not that the effects of sin and evil won’t touch us. Rather, the psalmist reminds us that the Lord himself will safeguard our souls. You can be confident that Jesus, your Shepherd, is not surprised by what you are going through. He is not standing on the sidelines, wondering what to do next. The afflictions he permits are intended to strengthen your faith, not to shatter it. The suffering and evil that may touch your life are still under his sovereign control. Because of this, you can face these challenging days knowing that your Shepherd is there and will keep you.

Psalm 23 vividly portrays our Lord as our Shepherd. In ancient times, a shepherd’s staff was curved like a hook to keep the sheep on the right path, protecting them from their wanderings. The shepherd’s rod was a weapon to defend the sheep from their enemies. In the same way, God guides and protects us, both ensuring we stay on the right path and defending us from harm.

When our work as mothers seems fruitless, the Lord is our Shepherd. When we feel the sting of loneliness, the Lord is our Shepherd. He is always there, observing, preserving, and guiding us, his beloved sheep. Like the psalmist, we can confidently sing that God will not allow evil to harm our souls. As Charles Spurgeon wrote, “If the soul be kept all is kept.”