Overwatch
Overwatch
Apparently Overwatch is a popular video game. I did not know that but if it gets me some street cred...I will take it (unless it is a nasty game...then I plead ignorance). I know the term from war movies. A team moves into a dangerous situation and a team member or two are sent to a high place to keep watch for bad guys while the team moves in. Now a days, overwatch may be done by a drone high above the situation. I imagine that knowing that someone sees what you cannot see and is able to protect your back, would bring greater courage and peace to those walking into trouble. Advanced warning of four bad guys closing in on your right would be valuable information. In Bible times, the shepherd was a good example of an overwatcher (is that a term?). He kept watch over the sheep and took care of any predator that wanted to try and sneak up on the sheep. In my early life, my parents filled the role of overwatchers. When my wife and I had children, we fulfilled that role in their lives. As I get older, I have come to realize how much my church family plays that role in my life now. As good as my parents were at their job, they could not see every danger. They needed sleep. Sometimes the enemy was too great for them to stop. I was unable to always protect my children. Dangerous people often slipped into their lives. Some dangers were impossible to see. Diseases, hurts, and evil thoughts. We live in a scary world. So we look for help.
I lift up my eyes to the hills.
From where does my help come?
My help comes from the Lord,
who made heaven and earth.
He will not let your foot be moved;
he who keeps you will not slumber.
Behold, he who keeps Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.
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.
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 forth and forevermore.
Ps 121
In the old westerns, just at right time, the cavalry would come riding over the hills, trumpet blaring. That is what I think of when I read the first verses of this amazing Psalm. Feeling overwhelmed, nervous, and looking to the hills hoping that help would be riding over them at any time. The psalmist reminds us that we need not look to the hills but only to look up. Our creator is our help. He watches our every step and he makes each step firm. He is always vigilant and he never sleeps. There is never a trip that we take, whether it is traveling out or coming home, that he does not keep watch over us. He is, and ever more will be, our overwatch. He keeps our life.
Charles Spurgeon writes that the idea behind “the Lord is your shade on your right hand” is that God even measures the amount of blessings he bestows upon us. The right hand is the hand that provides blessings and God measures those, at this time, to make sure we continue to walk with him. He keeps us from evil but also knows that measured difficulties teach us to trust in him alone. I love how that demonstrates, to me, how much wiser God is than me.
Today, as I sit at my desk, I am overwhelmed by the sense of security I receive from meditating on the truth that God is watching over me. That He is keeping and protecting me. I am grateful to know that any difficulties that come are measured and designed to keep my eyes fixed on him. I am suddenly aware of the amount of car accidents he has kept me from, the amount of diseases he has shooed away from me, the number of enemies that he has not allowed to come near me, and how he keeps the sun at just the right distance. I find that my steps are secure and firm knowing that the creator God is keeping and watching over me. My day just got better.
Apparently Overwatch is a popular video game. I did not know that but if it gets me some street cred...I will take it (unless it is a nasty game...then I plead ignorance). I know the term from war movies. A team moves into a dangerous situation and a team member or two are sent to a high place to keep watch for bad guys while the team moves in. Now a days, overwatch may be done by a drone high above the situation. I imagine that knowing that someone sees what you cannot see and is able to protect your back, would bring greater courage and peace to those walking into trouble. Advanced warning of four bad guys closing in on your right would be valuable information. In Bible times, the shepherd was a good example of an overwatcher (is that a term?). He kept watch over the sheep and took care of any predator that wanted to try and sneak up on the sheep. In my early life, my parents filled the role of overwatchers. When my wife and I had children, we fulfilled that role in their lives. As I get older, I have come to realize how much my church family plays that role in my life now. As good as my parents were at their job, they could not see every danger. They needed sleep. Sometimes the enemy was too great for them to stop. I was unable to always protect my children. Dangerous people often slipped into their lives. Some dangers were impossible to see. Diseases, hurts, and evil thoughts. We live in a scary world. So we look for help.
I lift up my eyes to the hills.
From where does my help come?
My help comes from the Lord,
who made heaven and earth.
He will not let your foot be moved;
he who keeps you will not slumber.
Behold, he who keeps Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.
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.
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 forth and forevermore.
Ps 121
In the old westerns, just at right time, the cavalry would come riding over the hills, trumpet blaring. That is what I think of when I read the first verses of this amazing Psalm. Feeling overwhelmed, nervous, and looking to the hills hoping that help would be riding over them at any time. The psalmist reminds us that we need not look to the hills but only to look up. Our creator is our help. He watches our every step and he makes each step firm. He is always vigilant and he never sleeps. There is never a trip that we take, whether it is traveling out or coming home, that he does not keep watch over us. He is, and ever more will be, our overwatch. He keeps our life.
Charles Spurgeon writes that the idea behind “the Lord is your shade on your right hand” is that God even measures the amount of blessings he bestows upon us. The right hand is the hand that provides blessings and God measures those, at this time, to make sure we continue to walk with him. He keeps us from evil but also knows that measured difficulties teach us to trust in him alone. I love how that demonstrates, to me, how much wiser God is than me.
Today, as I sit at my desk, I am overwhelmed by the sense of security I receive from meditating on the truth that God is watching over me. That He is keeping and protecting me. I am grateful to know that any difficulties that come are measured and designed to keep my eyes fixed on him. I am suddenly aware of the amount of car accidents he has kept me from, the amount of diseases he has shooed away from me, the number of enemies that he has not allowed to come near me, and how he keeps the sun at just the right distance. I find that my steps are secure and firm knowing that the creator God is keeping and watching over me. My day just got better.
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