He will not let your foot be moved;
he who keeps you will not slumber.
He who keeps Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.

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.

The Lord will keep you from all evil;
he will keep your life.
The Lord will keep
your going out and your coming in
from this time on and forevermore.

Definition of KEEPER

No sleeping on the job

Looking at the definition of keeper, you quickly see the list of jobs that are considered keepers. Keepers are people who protect something important. There is something of value which someone else would want to take away. If you’re a good keeper you don’t go to sleep on the job. Often in movies we see security guards who are hired to be keepers of a building, safe, or anything else of importance falling asleep on the job. I pray it’s not as common as it is shown in movies, but I fear it probably is true. As humans it’s hard for us to be vigilant all the time. For God though, we are assured in this Psalm that “He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber.” God is not going to be falling asleep on the job. He’s vigilant on your behalf.

The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time on and forevermore.

It’s like the Lord is our Secret Service. He’s aware of everything that is going on around us. He’s protecting us from the evil one at all times. Like the secret service, He can see threats we can’t see. He knows that the seemingly innocent drink with the interesting stranger might not be what it seems. He knows that those who act like your friends aren’t always true friends. The devil is constantly working to lead us off course. God is constantly working to keep us. He never sleeps. If the devil and God were the only two involved, God would always win, but sadly we’re part of the equation. We often think we know better than God. We think that drinks with the handsome man from work is fine, because he’s only a friend. But the Lord knows our heart. He knows if you’re truly tempted by that person (or if they are with you). We put ourselves in situations that can get us into trouble.

You’re a keeper

You are super important to God. If it weren’t so, why would He be your keeper? By definition, the one keeping something is highly valuing the thing they’re keeping. God wants to protect you from the devil. In this sinful world, the devil still has some power, and he can throw a wrench into things. He stirs up trouble. Most of which we could avoid. When a president is being kept by the secret service, the president is briefed about how they’re all going to behave at certain events. The secret service has briefed the president on the safest way to behave. Sometimes a president will go rogue. He’ll decide he knows better than the secret service. He’ll go into a crowd where it is harder to protect him. The president might turn a different direction where there isn’t any proper protection. We’re the same way. God has shown us the way, through His Son Jesus, in scripture. Many of us know it well. Scripture tells us all sorts of things, for example the ten commandments, that would help us to remain safe. God wants us to be safe, and the closer we are to Him, the safer we are. Ultimately God is not as concerned with our physical safety as our spiritual safety. In fact sometimes He uses an injury or an ailment (that one might see as God not protecting us) as His way of ensuring our faith and securing our relationship with Him.

The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life.

The Lord is protecting your life, your eternal life. He has done everything necessary for your eternal life. He has prepared you. He has paid the price with His own son’s blood on the cross to make sure that you would be able to live forever with Him. Don’t go into a crowd where you are taken away from safety. Don’t ignore the calls of your Lord to stay close to Him. When we ignore the call He has placed on our lives to be believers, we are putting ourselves in danger of losing our eternal lives with Him. He will never stop protecting us, but if we ignore His truth, His keeping, we put our very souls at risk.

God keeps you, therefore you are of value. You are a keeper.