Psalm 121:8 The Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore. (NIV)
Have you seen the Duck Duck Go commercials? A man sings, “I’ll be watching you” as he peers over someone engaged on the internet with a different search engine. The implication, of course, is that Duck Duck Go won’t track your searches as other providers might. It’s actually pretty creepy. Funny, but with the creep factor.
I thought of this commercial the other day as I read Psalm 121. Did you know the NIV version refers to God watching over us five different times in the eight-verse passage? Maybe he wants us to know something! God watches over us while we sleep and when we wake. He protects us from harm 24/7. He witnesses all our “comings and goings.” While we work…he’s watching us. Enjoying coffee with a friend…he’s watching us. Praising him at the top of our lungs when no one else is around…he’s watching us. He watches over us because he loves us. Nothing like the creepy eavesdropper in the commercial.
I have a friend whose father left her family when she was a teenager. The devastation to her and her five siblings, as well as her mother, shattered their sense of security. The dad rationalized his actions by telling them he would still be “watching over” them, just from a distance (with his new wife). In other words, “watching over” them actually meant leaving them on their own.
So it’s difficult for some to conceive of God as being present at all. We see the state of the world and wonder, if like my friend’s father, he’s gone AWOL. But just because we don’t see evidence of him, it doesn’t mean he’s not there. Jesus’ last recorded words before his ascension brought a strong assurance he would be with us always, even to the end of the world (Matthew 28:20). Our Father cares for us far too deeply to leave us dangling.
So the next time you hear the strains of “I’ll be watching you,” think of our Father God’s sovereign tender care. Dismiss any faulty misperceptions of him. He’s neither invasive nor distant.
Be thankful that he’s watching you.