Psalms 77:10: And this is my sickness, the years of thy right hand of the most high.

Transcription

1 Word Study:Our Sickness הלח WORD STUDY OUR SICKNESS הלח Psalms 77:10: And this is my sickness, the years of thy right hand of the most high. Asaph is very troubled in this Psalm. He has cried to God, but has found no peace. Throughout the night, he is unable to sleep, his spirit feels overwhelmed. He is so troubled he can not even speak. He communes with his heart and diligently searches his spirit but he finds no relief. Then he says a curious thing, that his sickness is the right hand of the Most High. The right hand of God is suppose to be a good thing, yet he considers it his sickness. It seems every translation has their own take on this. The NIV says: I will appeal to the right hand of God. The Living Bible says: This is my fate, your right hand has turned against me. The NASB says: It is my grief that your right hand has changed. They are all, of course, paraphrasing trying to put it into something politically correct. Literally from the Hebrew the passage says: The is my sickness, the years of the right hand of the most high. It seems translators just do not have the stomach to translate

2 this verse literally. I mean how can the right hand of God be a sickness. The word sickness is chalah which has the idea of weakness. What we in the Western world fail to notice is the Semitic tendency to make a play on words. Asaph is a chief musician, he is speaking like a musician and in his poetry he is most likely making a play on the word mahalath which comes from the same root word chalah. A mahalath is a stringed instrument like a harp, lute or lyre. Such an instrument was noted for it s ability to sooth a troubled soul. David played such an instrument before King Saul to sooth his troubled soul. Asaph is saying that the right hand of God, is both at the same time a source of comfort but an affliction. I think I can relate to this old boy. I go through a time where my soul is troubled. I do all the right things, pray, cry out to God, remember Him, I search my own heart and spirit for anything that may be causing this lack of comfort from God. Then, like Asaph, I begin to think on the many times God rescued me in the past, how He always has been faithful. I find comfort in these thoughts, like the soothing sounds of a harp. Yet, I continue to be afflicted with the thought: Well, He delivered me in the past, why is He not doing so now? Then I meditate on His past faithfulness and I find comfort knowing that He has proven the power of His right hand in the past. Asaph, meditates on the right hand of God. The right hand of God yaman expresses the close friendship of God who shares His secrets and divine revelation. He remembers that God is his close friend. He meditates on all His works and miracles, and talks to others about His deeds. There is a shift in the tone of this Psalm when we get to verse 11. Asaph is now focusing on the mighty works of God rather than his own problems. He remembers how He has delivered in the past, how He controls nature. Then in verse 19 he declares Your path led through the sea, your way through the mighty waters, though your foot prints were not

3 seen. Although an allusion to the crossing of the Red sea we also see that the sea is a symbol of the hidden mysteries of God. Asaph is concluding this Psalm on a note of faith. God has not failed in the past, He will not fail now. Although his circumstances are unchanged, he still faces whatever problem it is that started this Psalm off, he is going to trust in God and accept the fact that the solution to his struggle remains a mystery, known only to Him. During some of the dark days of Elvis Presley s life an old cowboy songwriter and friend names Stuart Hamblin wrote a song that Elvis recorded and made famous. Known only to him are the great hidden secrets I ll fear not the darkness when my flame shall dim I know not what the future holds But I know who holds the future It s a secret known only to Him. In this world of fear and doubt On my knees I ask the question Why a lonely, heavy cross I must bear Then He tells me in my prayer It s because I am trustworthy He gives me strength far more than my share. All of us, even a man who had everything like Elvis Presley still must face the future. It future means we us to do so, it the fact that we cannot control many things in is all in the right hand of God. Maybe that must carry a lonely cross but if He calls upon is because we have been found trustworthy.

4 WORD STUDY RIGHT WAY דרכ ישׁר Proverbs 16:25: There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof [are] the ways of death. There are probably two things we dread the most when driving our disability buses, school traffic and snow. Fortunately both do not occur concurrently. If the snow reaches a depth where it becomes a real driving issue the schools will usually cancel. However, on this occasion we had the third heaviest snow storm in the recorded history of Chicago and the schools only remained closed for two days. This was not enough to get all the streets clean and this particularly morning traffic was really backed up. To make matters worse I found myself stopped in front of a school bus with his flashers flashing and his Stop sign extended. I had to wait for a child to get on the bus before I could continue on my journey and from the looks of things I may have been in for quite a wait. The weather was bitter cold and I saw a young mother dressed in just a housecoat and in bare feet at the door of her house desperately trying to persuade her young scholar to board the

5 bus. The little guy was only like five years old and the mother had him outfitted like he was going to make a trek to Antarctica. He had on heavy boots, snow pants, a heavy jacket, scarf, hood, hat and mittens which appeared to be a one size fits all. The little mother said as calmly as she could muster, Now go on get on the bus. The little munchkin stood in rebellion, I don t want to go to school! The mother replied, But you like school The kid looked her quizzically and asked, I do? Now go on, off with you, encouraged the mother, obviously freezing in a housecoat and no shoes. But the little rebel stood his ground and gave what I thought as a pretty good excuse considering his outfit. But I can t move. The mother was now beginning to lose it and this time she said in no uncertain terms, Go or I will carry you onto the bus. That worked its magic and he turned to walk or more like hobble his way down the stairs. He looked like an astronaut on the moon walking down the steps of the moon lander. Once on the ground he headed straight for a huge pile of snow. After two days of plowing the trucks dumped a mountain of snow at least six feet high on in front of the house. The mother began shouting, The curb, go to the curb. But the little adventurer was determined to climb Mt. Cicero for no other reason than the fact that it was there. By this time there was a line of traffic and I could sense everyone holding their breath as Edmund Hillary in miniature form began to scale his mountain. In no time flat he reached the summit and threw his arms out in triumph which at the same moment caused him to lose his balance and begin a rapid descent down Mt. Cicero. All we heard was Mommy! In an instant mommy in her house coat and bare feet was on the spot to pick up her brave young mountain climber. The bus driver too had taken a dive out of his bus to catch the bundle snow clothes which he assumed had a kid inside.

6 Once on his feet and thoroughly admonished by his mother the little guy turned around and started to ascend up Mt Cicero once again. He had no sooner taken his first step when mommy grabbed him by the coat and bodily carried him into the bus. As mommy made her way back to the warmth of her house suddenly drivers jumped out of their cars and began to clap and cheer for this triumphant mother, the unsung hero of the day. As usual I tried to make the best of my delay by finding some spiritual value out of the experience and of course I did. Proverbs 16:25: There is a way which seems right unto man but the end there of are the ways of death. Probably every driver that was delayed by this little drama was thinking of various ways they would employ to get that kid into the bus. In the end the mother did what we all would probably have ended up doing, bodily picking up the little prodigal and carrying him into the bus. The word way is derek in the Hebrew which means a direction, a road, a path, a distance, life course or a manner. Only the context will tell you which English word best suits this verse and I believe it is the word manner or life course. The idea is that, like this little rebel, man is blinded by his own desires, passions and self-will. What is right for him is what he feels is most desirable. What was right in the eyes of our little hero was based upon his own desires and selfwill. He did not want to go to school so he did not, he wanted to climb Mt. Cicero and so he did. However there was a mother there to steer him in the right direction. The end of following your personal desires and passion which are not in the will of God are death. The word in Hebrew used for death here is moth which is the word for death, but this

7 is pretty general term meaning ruin, destruction, or in the case of our little tyke, something very painful. He did not see the danger in climbing that hill but everyone else did. He was so ruled by his passions that he almost got himself into a painful situation. We are so like that little child, all we see are our passions and desires and we cannot understand why we can t have what we want and so we just go ahead after it, following our own way. Yet God has a way whose end result is joy and happiness. We only see the moment, but like that little mother she saw the future, she saw the need for her child to attend school and get an education something of whose value that little five year old could not grasp. God s way may not always seem the best for us, we may not understand why we cannot have immediate gratification, but God knows He sees the future and if we follow his way we will eventually end up with what our heart really desires and not end up in a painful situation. But if we do go our own way, we do have a God who will chase after us and catch us when we begin to fall. And if we try to climb that mountain again, He may just pick us up and put us where we belong.

8 HEBREW WORD BLANK RANGE STUDY POINT Psalms 16:7: I have set the Lord always before me, because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. I shall not be, I shall not be moved, Just like a tree, planted by the water, I shall not be moved. Traditional Folk Song/Spiritual This song is really an old spiritual sung by slaves during the 1800 s. Woody Guthrie picked it up in the 30 s to fight for the cause of the unions and then it made its way into the church in the sixties as part of the chorus explosion in youth groups and then went back into obscurity. I recall sitting around a campfire with my church youth group

9 singing this song, in three part harmony. I never once gave a thought as to what the message of this song was. However as I find myself now walking a road where my faith is being tested, this song has returned to me and has become my battle cry. No matter what ill wind blows, I will not be moved from my position in Jesus Christ. This old ship may be battered and broken, its mast is down, the rudder is damaged and haul is taking in water, but the rock that I am anchored to still holds. I have set the Lord before me. That is a loaded statement. The word rendered as set is shavah which has the idea of being equal or being similar. Actually this is in a Piel form so it would be more like being identical to. This does not necessarily mean identical in a physical sense but to be identical in thinking. In other words David has made his heart and mind to be identical with the heart and mind of God. Always before him before anything are the desires of God. It is the heart and mind of God that is first place in David s heart and mind. From this he will not be moved. The word for moved is mot which means to be shaken or become weak. This is in a Niphal Imperfect form. Recent discoveries from the Dead Sea Scrolls and related research has led many Hebrew scholars to believe that the Niphal form carries a reflexive nature. If that is the case you could very well render this passage as: I have made my mind and heart to be identical with the mind and heart of God and I will not allow this resolve to be weakened. In other words, the Niphal is showing that if David weakens, it will be because he has chosen to do so. It seems that once you make a resolve to identify with the mind and heart of God you suddenly get hit with major storms. Your whole life is rocked. You begin to think like the nation of Judah in Jeremiah 44 where they said that when they

10 sacrificed to the Queen of heaven things were going well. Now when they seek to serve God the roof falls in. We were better off serving the Queen of heaven. When we make the resolve to identify with the heart and mind of God, the enemy will not take that lying down. He comes at us with both guns blazing. It is then that we must make the resolve to not be moved. In is then that we resolve to pick up the flag and keep moving forward and resolve not to weaken. I was reading about the American Civil War and how the generals had all studied the tactics of Napoleon and tried to apply them to the battlefield of the Civil War. They had neglected to take one thing into account and that was that technology had advanced since the Napoleonic wars and rifles were far more accurate than the muskets used by Napoleon. If someone during Napoleon s time aimed a musket at you, chances are the ball would miss you by a mile. However by the time of the civil war if someone aimed a rifle at you, you could expect an undesirable bullet to flesh interface. As a result the first two years of the Civil war brought horrendous casualties because the generals failed to understand that technology made Napoleon s tactics obsolete. The point, however, is that the grunts, the soldiers themselves kept marching right into direct fire. It was during the Civil War that the phrase point blank range was coined. The soldiers knew that once they came into a certain range called point blank range, they could stop marching, kneel down aim and fire their rifle. Unfortunately, the enemy could also aim and fire his rifle at you. Whoever shot first was the winner, so to speak. That could be a pretty unnerving experience when you reach point blank range. Oh, yes, we receive all our strength and power from God. He gives us everything we need, just as the government gives a

11 soldier all he needs to fight a war. But there is one thing the government and even God cannot equip His soldiers with and that is the will to fight the ability to not be moved when you reach point blank range so you can take aim at the enemy who is also taking aim at you. I tell you, once you march toward the enemy at point blank range, your resolve begins to take on issues. That old barrel of the enemy s rifle gets bigger and bigger. The problems get bigger and bigger and it is then a question of who fires first. When God marches us into point blank range of the enemies attack, it is then we can decide to run, or like David, put mot (to be weakened) into a Niphal form and resolve that we will lo mot (not be weakened), but stand our ground and take careful aim at the enemy. God will see to it that we get off the first shot. During the Civil War, General Lee was the first general to realize that technology had changed the tactics of war and he allowed his men to take cover behind trees and other defenses and just let the Union Army walk into point blank range. Before the Union Generals woke of to the realities of the advanced accuracy of a rifle General Lee counted on the Union Army to always turn back in the face of tremendous casualties when they marched into point blank range. General Lee kept his casualties light until he came up against General Grant. General Grant did not back down in the face of mounting casualties but kept moving forward and taking aim at point blank range until his superior numbers finally forced General Lee into defeat. General Grant took horrendous casualties and criticism. Yet, General Grant kept pushing his men into point blank range until he hated the sight of blood such that he could never eat red meat. His cooks had to literal burn the meat before he would eat it. He would go privately into his tent and weep after reading the news of the casualties he took in each battle. Yet, he also knew that the only way to defeat General Lee was to keep moving forward into a wall of fire at

12 point blank range of the enemy and flush them out of hiding so his soldiers could take careful aim. When we resolve to be one with the heart and mind of God the enemy declares war on us. He comes along and kicks us in the rear and we look up at that wall of fire and see we have no job, or we face financial or health issues and the enemy stands over taking careful aim as he is saying: So where is your God now? It is at that moment we must choose to either high tail it and run or face that wall of fire at point blank range and not be moved but to carefully take aim at the enemy with our weapon which the Bible tells us is the Word of God. We will not be moved from my commitment to Him. But we will stand and take aim, even at point blank range, knowing God will give us the strength and power to shoot first. WORD STUDY FEAR NOT Isaiah 41:12-13, Thou shalt seek them, and shalt not find them, [even] them that contended with thee: they that war against thee shall be as nothing, and as a thing of nought.

13 For I the LORD thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee. I was driving an elderly woman to her doctor s appointment in my disability bus. She started to relate a story of how she used to walk to the doctor before her legs gave out. She said one day she was crossing Cicero Avenue and Cermak Road. Cicero Ave is a main artery through the center of Chicago and a direct link to Route 55. Hence there are many large trucks that travel down Cicero Avenue, usually going at a very rapid clip. Just as our hero crossed the street to her doctor s office, three large semi-tractor trailers came roaring by. Poor little Beverly had a panic attack and she ran into the doctor s office screaming, Help, Help, you ve got to help me!! The nurse ran up to her and asked, Beverly, what s wrong? In between tears of panic she said, They re after me. By this time the doctor had come out and said, Now, now Beverly, whose after you? With absolute terror in her eyes she said, Trucks, big trucks, they re trying to run over me. The doctor motioned to the nurse who picked up a phone and within a few minutes poor Beverly found herself strapped to a gurney, and on her way to the hospital in an ambulance. She commented, They thought I was crazy. Many Christians live in constant fear. They fear for the loss of their jobs, for the safety of a family member, for their health, for possible natural disasters, being a victim of crime, or even a terrorist attack. God is saying in Isaiah that, I am in charge, I love you and I will let nothing happen to you that I have no control over. Yet, even with these assurances, we still fear, you know, what if God wants me to go through poverty, pain or suffering? Some Christians live in constant fear that they will go to hell. I remember I picked up some people from Mass in my disability bus one

14 Sunday. There was one elderly woman who had had a stroke and had difficulty keeping her balance. She accidently knocked over the holy water. Her first comment was, I am going to hell. The enemy wants to fill us with unreasonable fear and dread so that he can destroy our faith. Yet, God is telling us that all these enemies that try to create fear in us are a thing of nought, they are totally unreasonable. A thing of Practically Actually the rendered as Semitic root nought in the Hebrew is very interesting. every translation translates this as nothing. word in Hebrew is ke epem. This word could be nothing, but when you trace this word to its you find it has the idea of the bottom of your foot, the sole of your foot. As the word evolved through the various Semitic languages it eventually carried the idea of the extreme portion of your body that is the ankle or sole of the foot. The word ke epem is prefixed with a Kap indicating a preposition like or as. So all your enemies are like the sole of your foot. Like walking on an ant, the sole of your foot will crush it. God is not saying your enemies are really not out there, they are and they are real, but they are at such an extreme length from you that they hardly matter. Like President Calvin Coolidge said when asked how he could be so calm as a President of the United States, he replied, If I see ten problems coming down the road, I can be sure nine will fall into a ditch before they reach me. If the enemy does reach you then all you have to do is simply need to step on him. Another use of the word for a thing of nought ke epem is to render it as something that is limited. That problem that you see walking down the road toward you may appear very fearsome and frightening, but God is going to make them ke epem He is going to limit their power over you so that you can crush them

15 under the soles of your feet. The Apostle Paul understood this very well. When he became a believer, man took everything away from him. He lost his status, his reputation, his wealth, his family and became an itinerate preacher who was stoned, beaten and shipwrecked, yet through it all he said in Romans 8:38-39, For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. You see the Apostle Paul had nothing to fear, for fear often is based upon our concern for losing something that is of value to us, our job, health, money market accounts etc. Yet the only thing of value to the Apostle Paul was the love of God in Christ Jesus. Man could take away his wealth, influence, health but there is one thing they could not touch and that is the love of God in Christ Jesus. The Greek uses the word agape for love. The Aramaic used the word chav which is many times expressed as lovingkindness. Chav expresses a love that is given out more than one that is received. God is constantly giving out His love and nothing can prevent Him from doing so. No matter what forces are out there to block His love, His chav, love will still flow through any blockade. If His love is the most important thing in your life, then what do you really have to fear, for it is something you could never lose. Nothing will ever separate you from what is most important to you if it is the love of God in Christ Jesus.

16 WORD STUDY KNOWN ONLY TO HIM Psalms 77:10: And this is my sickness, the years of the right hand of the most high. The writer of this Psalm is very troubled. He has cried to God, but has found no peace. Throughout the night, he is unable to sleep, his spirit feels overwhelmed. He is so troubled he can not even speak. He communes with his heart and diligently searches his spirit but he finds no relief.

17 Then he says a curious thing, that his sickness is God s right hand. The right hand of God is suppose to be a good thing, yet he considers it his sickness. It seems every translation has their own take on this. The NIV says: I will appeal to the right hand of God. The Living Bible says: This is my fate, your right hand has turned against me. The NASB says: It is my grief that your right hand has changed. Literally from the Hebrew the passage says: The is my sickness, the years of the right hand of the most high. It seems translators just do not have the stomach to translate this verse literally. I mean how can the right hand of God be a sickness. The word sickness is chalah which has the idea of weakness. Yet this is a play on words. The writer is a musician, he is speaking like a musician and in his poetry he is most likely making a play on the words sort of a pun on the word mahalath which comes from the same root as chalah (weakness). A mahalath is a stringed instrument like a harp, lute or lyre. Such an instrument was noted for it s ability to sooth a troubled soul. David played such an instrument before King Saul to sooth his troubled soul. The writer is saying that the right hand of God, is both at the same time a source of comfort but an affliction. How is that possible? I don t know about you but I think I can relate to this old boy. I go through a time where my soul is troubled. I do all the right things, pray, cry out to God, remember Him and I search out my heart and spirit for anything that may be causing this lack of comfort from God. Then, like the writer of this Psalm, I begin to think on the many times God rescued me in the past, how He always has been faithful. I find comfort in these thoughts, like the soothing sounds of

18 a harp. Yet, I continue to be afflicted with the thought: Well, He delivered me in the past, why is He not doing so now? Then I meditate on His past faithfulness and I find comfort knowing that He has proven the power of His right hand in the past. The writer is meditating on the right hand of God. The right hand of God is the word yaman which expresses a close friendship of God who shares His secrets and divine revelation. He remembers that God is his close friend. He meditates on all His works and miracles, and talks to others about His deeds. But the reason for his affliction remains a mystery something that is only known by God. Then there is a shift in the tone of this Psalm when we get to verse 11. The writer is now focusing on the mighty works of God rather than his own problems. He remembers how He has delivered in the past, how He controls nature. Then in verse 19 he declares, Your path led through the sea, your way through the mighty waters, though your foot prints were not seen. The sea is a symbol of the hidden mysteries of God. God leads him through these hidden secrets, these things known only to Him and the writer concludes his Psalm on a note of faith. Although he does not understand the reason for his affliction, God has not failed in the past, He will not fail now. Although his circumstances are unchanged, he still faces whatever problem it is that started this Psalm off, he is going to trust in God and accept the fact that the solution to his struggle remains a mystery, known only to Him. Back in the early 50 s there was a famous cowboy named Stuart Hamblen who played in many movies and wrote many of the songs that were sung by Roy Rogers and the Sons of the Pioneers. He

19 hosted a very popular radio program. Through the ministry of Billy Graham this successful entertainer and song writer found Jesus. His life was completely changed. God cleaned up his language so much that he lost complete control of his hound dogs. Stuart Hamblen was also an alcoholic and God delivered him from alcoholism. He returned to his radio program and found that his new sponsor was a beer company. Alcohol had almost ruined his life and marriage before he found Jesus that he could not stomach selling it on his radio show. He refused to sell beer and because of his refusal to sell beer and for his stand for Jesus, he was fired. Not only that God had so cleaned up his life that he was no longer the rough, hard drinking cowboy that made him famous and no one wanted to hire a cowboy that had gotten himself religion. Because his personal life and image had so changed he was no longer in demand and was unable to find any work. His money quickly ran out. Yes, he could have went back to his hard drinking, foul mouth cowboy image and he could have gotten his radio program back, but his new relationship with God was worth more to him than his career. Eventually the bank was ready to foreclose on his house. In the midst of his struggle, he, like the writer of Psalms 77 could find no peace. You would expect things to get better in life when you accept Jesus as your Savior, but for Stuart Hamblin things only got worse, yet, his walk with God was so precious he clung to his faith and resigned himself to the fact that the reason he lost his fame and fortune such that he would lose his home was just a mystery and a secret held by God. He even wrote a song for Elvis Presley about it. Known only to him are the great hidden secrets I ll fear not the darkness when my flame shall dim I know not what the future holds

20 But I know who holds the future It s a secret known only to Him. In this world of fear and doubt On my knees I ask the question Why a lonely, heavy cross I must bear Then He tells me in my prayer It s because I am trustworthy He gives me strength far more than my share. Because of my books I tend to receive messages from people all over the world. I received two yesterday from people just like the writer of this Psalm and Stuart Hamblin who have found the right hand of God to be a chalah (sickness). As they live their life for God they find they are going through a dark valley but at the same time they have also found the right hand of God to be a mahalath, a stringed instrument of comfort. Oh by the way, just a side note. As the bank was foreclosing on Stuart Hamblin s house a song he wrote It Is No Secret was recorded by Jo Stafford and became number one on the Hit Parade and Stuart Hamblin received a royalty check for enough money to pay off his house. As Stuart Hamblin said, Sometimes the Lord waits until the furniture is loaded on the truck before he tells the driver, hey put it back. I mean that s hard on your heart.

21 WORD STUDY WATCH OVER YOU Psalms 121:5 The LORD is thy keeper: the LORD is thy shade upon thy right hand. There s a somebody I m longing to see I hope that he turns out to be Someone to watch over me I m a little lamb who s lost in a wood I know I could always be good To one who ll watch over me George Gershwin The KJV version renders the Hebrew phrase: YHWH shomereka as The Lord is thy keeper. That is an accurate translation but it makes God sound like a zoo keeper. I like the more modern rendering that you find in translations such as the NIV which renders this as: The Lord watches over you. If you read the entire Psalms 121 you can easily tell that this was written by a shepherd, most likely King David himself reflecting on his boyhood years as a shepherd. The whole verse alludes to and actually follows a shepherding motif. In Luke 15:4 Jesus tells a parable of a shepherd leaving behind his ninety nine sheep to find one lost sheep. One hundred was considered a high figure in Ancient Eastern culture. It was often the highest figure that most people of that day, which were simple and illiterate, could count and really understand. One hundred sheep was the desired figure for a man to consider himself as secure and content. In fact that number of sheep had such a powerful effect on the Eastern mind that if that number fell behind by one sheep it would arouse a sense of panic in that shepherds family. To fall below the number one hundred was such a traumatic feeling that the shepherd would become more desperate to find that one lost sheep than a shepherd who had hundreds of sheep and lost, say fifty sheep.

22 People of that day could easily understand what Jesus was referring to when he spoke of the ninety and nine. They knew a man with one hundred sheep would find each little lamb more precious than a man who had multitudes of sheep. That is why Jesus told the story of a man having exactly one hundred sheep for such a shepherd would carefully watch over everyone of those sheep. David knew this very well, he had been a shepherd and each sheep was carefully guarded by him for he knew how precious each little lamb was to his family. He was constantly counting each sheep, knew each one by a name and watched for any sign of an injury, illness or anything that might threaten just one of those lambs. The word which is rendered in the KJV as keeper is from the Hebrew root word shamar which means to watch or keep. It also means to guard, preserve, and keep safe. But all these words can easily be applied to a zoo keeper or a police officer. The word shamar has one more element to it that is often overlooked. I have found the word shamar in extra Biblical literature to be used for a diamond or something that is so precious, so glowing that you cannot take your eyes off of it. You see, when David is telling us that God shamars us, he is saying that is doing more than just watching over us, he is admiring us as something so precious that He will guard it with His life. George Gershwin wrote a song about 90 years ago called Someone to Watch Over Me. In this song a young woman is making a plea not for just someone to protect her and watch over her physically, but to also watch over her heart and protect her heart. For someone who would find her so precious that he would guard her with tender loving care. Unwittingly, George Gershwin wrote a song that best describes Psalms 121:5 and the word shamar. God is doing more than just watching over us like some police officer, He is also protecting us and our hearts as if it were a precious gem. Are you a little lamb just lost in the woods; is there someone you are longing to see? David is assuring us that He will turn

23 out to be someone who will shamar (watch and protect as a precious jewel) over you.