That’s a simile. If I’m a fish, it means that I’m big enough to lawfully keep to eat for tonight’s dinner. If I’m a wife, it means that I’m doing a good job loving and preserving my husband, and he knows it. If I’m a child of God, it means I’m safe and protected by Christ who stays awake to guard me from danger, provides me with a place to rest, and gives me life forevermore.
How do I know this is true? God wrote a Song declaring to me and to the world that “I’m a keeper!” In fact, He’s written so many Songs that they’re numbered and kept in a book where I can read them any time I forget He’s close by me. It’s like having a radio station where you only listen to the songs you want to hear. That’s a metaphor.
The original Hebrew word God used is natsar (naw-tsar) which means to watch, guard, observe, preserve, protect, keep, etc. You get the idea! In English, Mr. Webster says nearly the same thing about the word, KEEP. I like being a keeper; it’s reassuring. Except that when you add -er to KEEP, then you change it from a verb to a noun. Maybe I should have entitled this blog, “I’m kept.” Except, it sounds awkward to my Midwestern ears so I’ll stick with being a keeper.
The problem is that while I had my dictionary open I learned that a KEEP-er has responsibilities. A keeper guards, watches, assumes responsibility for another; it’s a person who maintains, preserves, or conserves. That is, of course, God’s relationship toward us, “My help comes from the Lord.” He is our Keeper! No need to think about this any further as I pick up Psalm 121 and re-read it.
I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade on your right hand. The sun shall not strike you by day nor the moon by night. The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life. The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore. PSALM 121
So, I’m not a keeper; I’m kept. Except that like Cain and Abel, I am my brother’s keeper (Genesis 4:9). Are you a little confused? Maybe we can dismiss this whole thing as nothing more than a problem with translation and hit delete. Nope, it’s simple; I am both KEEP-ed (kept) by God and a KEEP-er of my brother.
I rail against that idea just like you do. I have enough to do taking care of myself. I don’t need any more responsibility! And I guarantee that my “brother” won’t appreciate me being his keeper any more than Cain did. But I will persevere. I will keep going. I will be my brother’s keeper. I will succeed and I will fail. And when I am sleep-deprived, exhausted, injured, burnt-out, misquoted, and maligned I will lift my eyes to the Appalachian hills and remember from where does my help come from. My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. I’m a keeper! Amen. Come Lord Jesus.
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