I slept well as the pitch-black and sticky night relaxed,
freed from the cacophony of hooting car horns and the
gossip of the day—until I heard the whack of wood on
concrete. John, our night watchman, had just killed a
poisonous viper that had slithered near the front door of our
home in Ghana, West Africa. My wife, Safiyah, and I served
there as missionaries. Friends had told us, “Get a night
watchman to guard your house so you can sleep at night.”
The Israelites trusted God to keep divine watch over
them, a trust not available to followers of other gods. In
verses 3-4 of Psalm 121, the psalmist declares that Israel’s
God does not slumber or sleep. This statement stands in
contrast with Israel’s neighbors who commonly believed
that their gods “slept” during the winter months and revived
during seasons of growth.

I once toured the temple of another religion. It contained
physical representations of the gods worshiped there and
a gong. When asked the purpose of the gong, the guide
replied, “We beat the gong to make sure the gods are awake.”
The psalmist took every opportunity to affirm faith in
the God of Israel. This God made heaven and earth. This
God never slept. This God provided shade as a refuge.
The belief that God could provide shade for the pilgrims
indicated their belief in a huge God capable of shading them
from the sun by day and the moon by night. The psalmist
goes on to say that God will keep us from all evil.
What about you? Of what do you boast about God?
Which of God’s characteristics do you rehearse to yourself
and with others in corporate worship? Your declarations
about God help you see life with the eyes of faith.
God, since you never slumber or sleep, free me from anxious

By Kwasi Kena from The Upper Room: 60 Days of Prayer for General Conference 2016