When God Feels Far Away

Scripture Focus:

Psalm 127:5,8 (NIV) — “The Lord watches over you— the Lord is your shade at your right hand… the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.“

Most of our days are full of small trips. We walk out the door in the morning, drive to work, drop someone off, stop at the store, and come home again. We hardly think about those moments. Other comings and goings are harder, like hugging someone goodbye at the airport or driving away from a home we lived in for years.

Last week, we saw a guard standing on the city wall, and we learned that his work alone could never keep the city safe. This week’s song, Psalm 121, shows us the One who really keeps watch.

When we hear that God watches over us, it is easy to picture Him far away, looking down from somewhere above. But the word used here means to take care of, keep, and guard. It is the same word used for someone taking care of a garden. That kind of watching happens up close.

The psalmist shows us just how close by saying, “the Lord is our shade at our right hand.” For travelers walking for days under a hot sun, shade meant relief and protection. And this shade does not stay far off. It walks right beside us, as close as our own right hand.

That does not mean nothing hard will happen on the road. God’s people still faced long, difficult days, and so will we. But we never walk those days alone, and nothing that happens on the road can take us out of His care. He sees our coming and going both now and forever.