Mensa Otabil - The Lord Is My Keeper (10/02/2025)
One more day to the end of 2020. God has been good to us, and we thank Him, celebrate Him, and honor Him for how far He has brought us this year. Psalm 121, verses 5 and 6: The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade on your right hand. The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. In 2021, the Lord will keep you; the Lord is your keeper, and the Lord is your shade. He’s your covering; He’s your protection. He’s the one whose arms are all around you, covering you like a mother hen covers her chicks, just as a brooding bird broods over its little ones. May the Lord brood over you, cover you, and shade you.
The passage says that the Lord will be your shade, and the sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. The sun and the moon stand for dangers that occur during the day and at night. So wherever the danger is, the Lord is your shade, the one who covers you, and He will keep you from pestilence by day and from secret traps by night. Those who want to attack you by day or night shall not succeed against you. No weapon that comes against you by day or by night shall succeed. The Lord is your shade by day, and the Lord is your shade by night. He will keep you from the sun, and the scorching sun of the day will not burn you, nor will it destroy you. God does not promise us an affliction-free life; He never promises us that there will be no trouble.
The Lord says that many are the afflictions of the righteous. As a matter of fact, the more you live for God, the more afflictions come your way. But the Lord delivers him and her out of them all. They will come out against you one way and flee before you seven ways. There may be some threats coming against you, but God will deliver you. The sun will shine, but it will not hurt you; there will be things in the dark against you, but they will not destroy you. Why? Because the Lord is your shade. May the Lord provide you shade, may He provide His shade against every attack, against rainstorms, against thunder, against lightning, against shakings, and against disruptions. May the Lord be your covering, and may He be your shade. He’ll keep you from the cold of the night when you are alone, when it seems like nobody cares for you, and nobody stands with you.
God cares for you; God stands with you. He has brought you through this year, and He will take you through 2021. We don’t know what 2021 holds, but we know who holds 2021. We trust Him; we believe in Him. Our faith is in Him, and the Lord will keep us. The Lord will keep you, and He’ll keep everything that concerns you. So trust Him with your life, trust Him with your sustenance, with your livelihood. Trust Him with the work of your hands, trust Him with your education, trust Him with your marriage, and trust Him with your children. Trust Him with everything that concerns you; trust Him with decisions you are about to make, decisions where you don’t know which way to turn, whether to go to the left or to the right. Trust God to navigate your path; He will guide you; He will lead you.
The next year is not coming to destroy you; it is coming to bring you to the expected end that God has promised you. So the Lord is your keeper, and He is your shade. Let’s share a word of prayer together. Say with me: Heavenly Father, You are the shade on my right hand. Keep me by day and by night under Your covering, Lord, in Jesus' name. Amen and amen. He will keep you; He’ll neither slumber nor sleep. I’m Pastor Mensa Otabil. Shalom, peace, and life to you.