Psalms 121:4

Behold, He that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.

God, the Keeper of Israel

Why was this added? Was it not enough to say, “He that keepeth thee will not slumber”? Nay, this is not mere repetition. In the one sentence God is spoken of as the Keeper generally of His Church, or people; in the other sentence as the keeper of the believer individually. And the transition from the believer to the Church is exquisitely beautiful and comforting. For the individual, on being told of the wakefulness of his heavenly Keeper, might say--“Can I dare to hope that one so insignificant as myself is to be the object of so unwearied attention?” And why not, “O thou of little faith”? Thou art a member of that body which God hath purchased to Himself at inestimable cost. Dost thou not know, that to touch this body is to touch “the apple of His eye”? and is not the body touched, if touched in the very least of its members? If thou canst believe that “He that keepeth Israel never slumbers,” is not the wakeful eye upon thyself? What is “Israel” but the aggregate of such units as thyself? and how can “Israel” be incessantly watched if a single unit be overlooked? Or there is another way, in which the third and fourth verses may be connected. There is nothing of selfishness in religion. It does not content the believer that great privileges are his; he longs to share them with others; they seem but half enjoyed, unless enjoyed in fellowship and communion with multitudes possessing “like precious faith.” Does his heart, then, bound at being told--“He that keepeth thee will not slumber”? Yes, but his joy is not full till the celestial voice adds--“He that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.” Then he feels--“There is a blessed company who share with me this unwearied protection. I am not alone, and I would not be alone, in the favour of that glorious Being, who made heaven and earth.” Friends, kinsmen, children, all may be included. There is room for an innumerable multitude:--oh! that an innumerable multitude may suffer themselves to be gathered under the shadow of His wings. (H Melvill, B. D.)

The wakeful eyes of God

I. The Lord keeps Israel--

1. As a shepherd keeps his sheep--by feeding them, by supplying all their needs, and also by guarding them from all their adversaries. He keeps the flock with vigilance so that it is not diminished either by the ravaging of the wolf or by the straying of the sheep.

2. As a king keeps his jewels. God hides His people in the casket of His power, and protects them with all His wisdom and strength.

3. As a governor keeps the city committed to his charge.

II. He shall neither slumber nor sleep.

1. Think of God’s eyes as never wearying of His people. Infinite patience!

2. God is never forgetful of His people for a single moment.

3. God is always ready to show Himself strong on behalf of those who trust Him.

4. God is never asleep in the sense that He ceases to consider us. You and I, in thinking of one thing, often forget another; but it is not so with God. He is so great that His centre is everywhere, and His circumference is nowhere; and you, dear brother or sister, may be the very centre of God’s thoughts, and so may I; and all His redeemed may at the same moment have His thoughts fixed upon each one of them. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

There is no sleep with God

His eye is ever upon His people for good. That great eye never closes. That great eye is as bright and piercing as ever, and not for a single instant is the vigilance relaxed. A poor woman, as the Eastern story has it, came to the Sultan one day, and asked compensation for the loss of some property. “How did you lose it?” said the monarch. “I fell asleep,” was the reply, “and a robber entered my dwelling.” “Why did you fall asleep?” “I fell asleep because I believed that you were awake.” The Sultan was so much delighted with the answer of the woman that he ordered her loss to be made up. But what is true, only by a legal fiction, of human governments, that they never sleep, is true in the most absolute sense with reference to the Divine government. We can sleep in safety, because our God is ever awake. We are safe, because He never slumbers. (N. McMichael.)

All preserved for Israel’s sake

As He preserved the ark for Noah’s sake, and Goshen for the ancient Israelites’ sake, and all that were in the ship for St. Paul’s sake, and all that were in the bath for St. John’s sake, and all that fled to the tombs of the martyrs in Rome, when the Goths sacked the city, for the Christians’ sake: so at this day He supporteth all kingdoms and states for the Churches’ sake. The world is as a hop-yard, the Church as the hops, kingdoms, states, and commonwealths as the poles; and as the owner of the hop-yard preserveth the poles and stakes carefully, not for themselves, but that the hops may grow upon them: so God preserveth all states and societies of men, that they may be a support to His Church. We may take this note higher, and truly affirm that He keepeth heaven and earth for her sake; the earth to be as a nursery for her children, to grow awhile; and the heaven for His garden and celestial Paradise, whither He will transplant them all in the end. Wherefore, although the world never so much scorn, and contemn, and malign, and persecute God’s chosen, yet it is indebted to them for its being and continuance; for God keepeth the heavens for the earth, the earth for living creatures, other living creatures for men, men for Israel, and Israel for the elect’s sake. For their sake it is that the heavens move, the sun, moon and stars shine, the winds blow, the springs flow, the rivers run, the plants grow, the earth fructifieth, the beasts, fowls, and fishes multiply; for as soon as grace hath finished her work, and the whole number of the elect is accomplished, nature shall utterly cease, and this world shall give place to a better in which righteousness shall dwell. Yet when heaven and earth shall pass, this word of God shall not pass; for He that now keepeth militant Israel in the bosom of the earth shall then keep triumphant Israel in Abraham’s bosom. (D. Featly, D. D.)