The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore.
Psalm 121:8

Psalm 121 is the second Psalm in a group of Psalms referred to as "Songs of Ascent." Although they may not have been originally composed for this purpose, these psalms were later grouped together for use when worshippers traveled to Jerusalem for one of the three yearly Jewish festivals. The city of Jerusalem is situated on a high hill, and as pilgrims traveled they would sing these songs as they made the ascent to Jerusalem. So verse 8 was a prayer/song of praise to God. On their pilgrimage, they were guarded by an omnipotent God!

Nineteenth-century preacher Charles Spurgeon commented on this verse, "When we go out in the morning to labor and come home in the evening to rest, Jehovah shall keep us. When we go out in youth to begin life, and come in at the end to die, we shall experience the same keeping."

While it is only human and natural to desire protection from God for our "going out" and "coming in" as we literally travel the roads and we figuratively travel through life, our physical protection isn't nearly as important as our spiritual protection. We are quick to pray and ask God to "protect us" and "protect our family," but many Christians rarely pray for God's work to be done through them on the journey. You see "forevermore" matters much more than the 80 or so years you may be blessed to have on this earth.

I fear many professing Christians are pretty content with their "spiritual protection" because they have "eternal security." But I agree with John Piper that many have a confused view of eternal security.  He writes, "A lot of people think eternal security is like a vaccination. They think, 'When I was 6 years old, I prayed, and God vaccinated my arm. Therefore, I can’t get the disease of damnation.' That is not the way it is. Rather, it is more like entering lifetime therapy with a doctor who says, 'You are my patient. You will do what I say, and I will get you to the end, whole in the last day.'

I encourage you to do at least one of these three things in response to this email:

1. Listen/read John Piper's full comments on "Can a Christian lose salvation?"
2. Instead of only praying for physical protection, begin praying regularly for God to use you for His glory on the journey.
3. Read the story of Joseph in Genesis 45-50. Pray and meditate upon the suffering you have faced or are currently facing. Ask God to make you more like Jesus through this process. Pay particular attention to verses like Genesis 45:8 and 50:20.