Psalm 121

Verse 3
"He will not let you stumble;
the one who watches over you will not slumber."
Verse 4
"Indeed, he who watches over Israel never slumbers or sleeps."

I read this last week and it really jumped out at me (obviously).

I'm a Jr. High pastor. There is a certain level of thinking like a Jr. Higher that I have to keep up with. This not only means that I have immature thoughts, but that I think about curious things. One of the things I have thought about before is "will we get bored in heaven?" I only think about that because it is hard for me to sit still now. Of course I know we won't get bored in heaven, but I have even wondered if God gets bored sometimes. In fact I wondered that last week, when I read this verse. If God never sleeps, then he must have some time on his hands. I wondered about why he never sleeps, I mean, surely he has set up such a system that things kind of run automatically, or that maybe he has delegated in such a way that people and angels all over the world can take care of the minor stuff.

Now theologically I get it and know that those previous thoughts aren't true, and I am the kind of christian that relies heavily on the fact that we each can have personal relationships with him. Each. Personal. Relationship. That takes up a lot of his time I'm sure. But even here in Psalm 121 it says that he always watches over you and we get from the context that he is protecting us constantly.

I felt impressed that one other possibility for him not sleeping or slumbering is because he is in constant pursuit of us. Granted it does not say that here, but one thing I know about God is that he is crazy in love with his bride; the church. Israel was created thousands of years ago as his chosen people, a nation that he picked out of all the nations of the world for himself. And yet, the people of Israel all through the Old Testament were drawn away by other gods and selfish temptations. He speaks of it in Judges 8, Isaiah 1, Jeremiah 2 and 3, Ezekiel 16, and throughout the whole book of Hosea. And yet, he has always honored his covenant with his people. A covenant that even extends to us today; not only for the Jews but for those of us that believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.

That means he is in constant pursuit of me because of his intense love for me, and yes for you. I felt the Lord ask me, "What if your bride's attention was continuously drawn away from you and the vows you have made to each other? What if you constantly had to fight for her attention and affection? That's what I do with you. That's why I never sleep. I love you dearly and will always long to be with you. I don't have time to sleep because I treasure every moment I get with you." How is it that he is so crazy in love with us? I realized in that moment that my attention and my affection is always being drawn away from my first love, and that I don't deserve his consuming love. But, I sure am glad that he loves me anyway, and there is nothing I can do to mess up this love. Oh, I have had times when I ignored his love, but that does not mean that it ever went away.

I feel that all throughout 2010 he has been wooing me. He has been romancing me and letting me experience more revelation of his love. It does not have anything to do with the stuff he can get for me, but that the creator of the universe, the one that holds everything together, never sleeps or slumbers because he is constantly watching over me and that he loves to be with me. I have a feeling that I will never be able to fathom the depths of this love, but I want to spend each day exploring it.