Time For God: Day 4

Focus: Psalm 121:5-6:
The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade at your right hand. The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night.
 
Reflect:
The world’s largest refugee camp sprawls across a swath of desert in N. E. Kenya. Comprising three camps triangulated around the small town of Dadaab (pop. 5,000), it is home to more than half a million people. Many of them find scant safety there. They have fled war zones, escaped political persecution, or run from civil unrest.

They have arrived at a place where food is rationed, water is scarce, the threat to personal safety is real. The desert sun beats down mercilessly. The moon’s glow gives light enough to enable night-time activity. Some is constructive; some criminal. The moon reveals its own dangers. Among those night walkers are people of good will. Others, of evil intent, weave their way among them.

I remember the desert sands at night. All glowed brightly in the fullness of the silver moon. Near the border with Somalia, I paced the sand-track back to my quarters. Somali refugees passed close by me. Silently, their long, flowing robes emerged as silhouettes against the moon’s radiance. I felt I walked through Bible pages.

The dangers encountered by displaced peoples in the camps mirror those of God’s people in the Psalms. David understood the threat. He saw how unexpected dangers lay in wait for pilgrims going up to Jerusalem. War and worship, peril and praise may sometimes shake hands awkwardly. David knew the certainty of trusting God’s unfailing love. He shares his insight today, “The Lord is your keeper.” David affirms, “Neither sun nor moon will strike you.” You can trust in God’s unfailing care, today.

Consider:
When did you cry out to God from a place of fear? How did you receive His faithful love for you? How can you share that testimony to encourage a friend in fear today?
 
Pray:
Master, Lover of my Soul, King of my Heart, teach me today to sing of the mercies of the Lord forever; [so that] with my mouth will I make known Your faithfulness to all generations (Psalm 89:1).