Psalms 121:4

Verse Psalms 121:4. He that keepeth Israel] The Divine Being represents himself as a watchman, who takes care of the city and its inhabitants during the night-watches; and who is never overtaken with slumbering or sleepiness. There is a thought in the Antigone of Sophocles, that seems the counterpart of this of the psalmist,

Ταν σαν, Ζευ, δυναμιν τις ανδρων

Ὑπερβασια κατασχοι,

Ταν ουθ' ὑπνος αἱ -

ρει ποθ' ὁ παντογηρως,

Ακαματοι τε θεων

Μηνες;

Antig. ver. 613, Edit. Johnson.

Shall men below control great Jove above,

Whose eyes by all-subduing sleep

Are never closed, as feeble mortals' are;

But still their watchful vigil keep

Through the long circle of th' eternal year?

FRANKLIN.