God is Keeper

God is Keeper. In Hebrew shamar means to keep, to guard, to watch. When keeper is used as a noun in the bible it is mainly to describe an occupation, for example, you can say shepherd or a keeper of sheep.

A king in the OT was one appointed by God to be keeper of God’s people, Israel. It wasn’t to be just a position to reign over but God set it up so that they should keep, guard, and watch over His people. Much more personal. God wanted to occupy that position over His people but they demanded a king. Unfortunately, no human king would truly keep His people as God wanted to keep His people. They rejected His care over them.

Prov 24:12 – The Keeper of my soul is He who knoweth. Is 27:3 – I, Jehovah, am [my people’s] Keeper, every moment I water it, lest any lay a charge against it, night and day I keep it. Ps 121:7-8 “The Lord will KEEP you from all harm—He will watch over your life; the Lord will watch over (and guard) your coming and going both now and forevermore. The Lord will protect you from all evil; He will keep your soul.”

When God says that He will keep your soul, that is a promise. God is a Promise Keeper. [II Chron 6:14] “O Lord, God of Israel...you who KEEP your covenant of love with your servants who continue wholeheartedly in Your way.” There are literally thousands of promises like this in the bible and God keeps every single one of them without fail.

When you feel weak, the bible says [II Chron 16:9] His eyes look to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to Him. When you feel alone, you can count on God for He says He will never leave you. When you are afraid, God says He will fight for you. When you cannot manage, God says I will supply all your needs. When you feel you are not smart enough, His word says I generously give wisdom, just ask. When you confess your sins, God promises to forgive every time. When you cannot figure life out, God promises to direct your steps. When you feel temptation at your door, He will provide a way of escape. When you are weary, He promises to give you rest. When you think you cannot go on, God says you can do all things through Him. When you feel no one loves you, God says I love you more than you know. He never fails in keeping His promises. 

God is described as the Shepherd or Keeper of Sheep.  Is 40:11, “He tends His flock like a shepherd; He gathers the lambs in His arms and carries them close to His heart.” Jesus is the Good Shepherd who lays down His life for His sheep. God's followers are described as the sheep and His flock.

The shepherd would build a corral. The shepherd would then guard over the flock and the corral would be a hedge of protection around them. They hear it and follow Him. They won’t listen to or follow a stranger’s voice. The Shepherd knows them and they know Him.

Matt 25:32 – But when He [Jesus] saw all the people, He was moved with pity for them, because they were troubled and wandering like sheep without a keeper/shepherd. Jesus came to seek and save what was lost. Jesus told a parable where a shepherd left 99 sheep in open country to go and find one lost sheep. Jesus says, “in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over 99 righteous persons who do not need to repent.” 

Allow God to be your Keeper because that is what Jesus did. In John 15:1 – Jesus says, I am the true vine, and My Father is the Vineyard Keeper. He yielded to the Vineyard Keeper to do the pruning and maintaining so the branches would be more fruitful. God wants to keep us all our days if we let Him, but always through Jesus. I Cor 1:8 - God will keep you strong to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ’s return. 

Here is a blessing from Num 6:24-26, “The Lord bless you and KEEP you; the Lord make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace.” 

Transcript

Intro to Attribute

This was a surprising attribute of God that I realized only a few years ago. In all the years I have been reading about the attributes of God this one never came up or stood out until I was reading a devotional and it mentioned that God was Keeper. I was putting together my ABC’s devotional and needed a word for K for God. It was in the bible all along but I never saw it or put two-and-two together. It was a beautiful “ah-ha” moment where God revealed something new to me about Himself. Don’t you just love it when He does that. When you see something fresh and new that you never knew before about Him. Remember that God is infinite and the depths of Him are unsearchable. And when He reveals something new to you, He tends to do it in such a way that you feel loved by Him that He would show you it in His perfect timing. And that is what it was like for me.

So, God is Keeper. The word is being used in this instance as a noun, and because it is God it is used with a capital K. But we will also use the verb form in our study such as God keeps His word. We will mainly be talking about the Hebrew word ‘shamar’ means to keep, to guard, to watch. 

When the word keeper is used as a noun in the bible it is mainly a word to describe an occupation, like a keeper of the vineyard, keeper of chariots, keeper of the prison. Depending on what translation you use, if someone is keeper of a gate, they can also be called the Gatekeeper or a Watchman, a shorter way to say it but they are essentially keepers of something. A job to oversee and manage something. Like, a keeper of money can also be described as the Treasurer. So, you can say it either way. For example, you can say shepherd or a keeper of sheep.

A king in the OT was one appointed by God to be keeper of God’s people, Israel. It wasn’t to be just a position to reign over but God set it up so that they should keep, guard, and watch over His people. Much more personal. God wanted to occupy that position over His people but they demanded a king. Unfortunately, no human king would truly keep His people as God wanted to keep His people. They rejected His care over them.

I.        How does God reveals Himself as Keeper through the Word

Ø  Job 7:20 – O You Watcher and Keeper of men.

Ø  Ps 80:1-Give ear, O Keeper of Israel.

Ø  Prov 24:12 – The Keeper of my soul is He who knoweth. 

Ø  Ps 121:5 – The Lord is the Keeper, the Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand.

Ø  Is 27:3 – I, Jehovah, am [my people’s] Keeper, every moment I water it, lest any lay a charge against it, night and day I keep it.

Ø  Ps 127:1 – Unless God builds the house, in vain do its builders labor; unless God keep the city, the keeper watcheth in vain.” God is the ultimate keeper of all things. Our own achievements and works to keep something mean nothing unless God is involved.

Ps 121:7-8 is often used when describing God as Keeper. It says, “The Lord will KEEP you from all harm—He will watch over your life; the Lord will watch over (and guard) your coming and going both now and forevermore. The Lord will protect you from all evil; He will keep your soul.”

You do not have to fear when God is the keeper of your soul. This verse implies that He is nearby, ever watching all you do, He is not distant but caring and very protective of you. Whatever difficulties you may go through, nothing will harm your soul. Your soul is a part of you that you cannot see but it is super important. I have heard it described as a culmination of your heart, mind, and will; your inner core being. We have a tendency to focus on the tangible things that we do see but all of those things will pass away. It is the intangible that we should focus on. That includes your soul and that is what God is guarding and watching over in these verses.

God isn’t saying here that there won’t be any problems. For example, all of us are going to experience death of a loved one during some time in our life. It is not something God will keep you from. It is a part of life that happens, we all die and death has an effect on others. So, after a death, God will keep your soul. Which means He is be right beside you during your time of grief. He is there to comfort, protect you, and keep you through the process. Nothing will harm your soul if you put it in God’s hands. 

You do not need to trust anyone or anything else to keep you safe, God will keep you safe. Although you may go through pain or trials, He will enable you to endure hardships, battles, or struggles by giving you wisdom, strength and guidance. His love will watch over you wherever you go.

I just want to talk about the soul as a side note. People are afraid that they will have to surrender their heart, their mind, and their will to God. They view it as releasing control over it. I am suggesting what the bible asks you to do is to intentionally yield your heart, mind, and will to God for a specific reason. For the health and well-being of your entire life. God’s word says we should renew our minds. God’s word says that His peace will guard your heart. These actions will keep you in a balanced and mentally healthy place. And you are not giving up your will, you need your will to follow God’s will. The bible says He works in us to do His will but you still need your will. You are not giving it up. You need your will to capture every thought, you need your will to fight the enemy, you need your will to say I will not let my emotions run my life. You need your will to say I will yield my soul to God and then He will keep your soul and protect you from all evil. God says to love Him first with all your heart, mind, soul and strength. Do this and your will live in peace.

Stand up, stand up for Jesus, ye soldiers of the cross. A soldier doesn’t give up his will, he yields his will to his commander and then uses that redirected will to follow in complete obedience. I hope this helps in understanding that you are not giving up yourself. You are choosing with your own will to follow Jesus.

Now when God says that He will keep your soul, that is a promise. And one of the biggest things in the word is that God is a Promise Keeper or you can say a Covenant-Keeper. [II Chron 6:14] “O Lord, God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven or on earth—you who KEEP your covenant of love with your servants who continue wholeheartedly in Your way.” There are literally thousands of promises like this in the bible and God keeps every single one of them without fail.

Some have argued that He didn’t keep His promise on everything He said but they are not looking carefully enough into the scriptures.  They didn’t check out the if/then clause to the promise. Many times God says, if you keep you ways in line with His, then He will bless you.  It is an if/then clause. He has also said, if you don’t do something, then bad things will happen. In those, He doesn’t have to keep those promises when we fail to do our part. There are other promises where for example, He tells David that His throne will endure forever through his blood line. Even though David sins, and many kings afterwards do not follow God rightly, God still keeps His word on that promise regardless of man’s obedience because it is not an if/then clause. And when God makes a promise, one of the reasons you can rely on it is because God says I will keep my covenants with my people for my name’s sake. Which means if He didn’t keep His word, what good would His word be, what good would His name be? He is very protective our His name and word. You can trust that He will never go against Himself or who He is. He never lies. He will never make a promise He can’t or won’t keep. 

His faithfulness to keep His promises is of great comfort to many. When you feel weak, the bible says [II Chron 16:9] His eyes look to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to Him. When you feel alone, you can count on God for He says He will never leave you. When you are afraid, God says He will fight for you. When you cannot manage, God says I will supply all your needs. When you feel you are not smart enough, His word says I generously give wisdom, just ask. When you confess your sins, God promises to forgive every time. When you cannot figure life out, God promises to direct your steps. When you feel temptation at your door, He will provide a way of escape. When you are weary, He promises to give you rest. When you think you cannot go on, God says you can do all things through Him. When you feel no one loves you, God says I love you more than you know. And I could go on and on. He never fails in keeping His promises. 

II.      How does God reveals Himself as Keeper through Creation

In the section we are going to combine two of our normal categories to discuss how God reveals Himself as Keeper through Creation and through His Son Jesus Christ.

God has laid out certain things in creation to show us who He is and how He works. In this respect, let’s think about God as Shepherd or the Keeper of Sheep. 

·         All throughout scripture, God is described as the Shepherd.  Is 40:11, “He tends His flock like a shepherd; He gathers the lambs in His arms and carries them close to His heart; He gently leads those that have young.”

·         Jesus is also described as the Good Shepherd who lays down His life for His sheep. He is also the Chief Shepherd who, when He returns, will give His followers the eternal crown of glory. He is the great keeper of His flock, the church. And He is called the Lamb, who is on the high seat, will be their keeper and their guide to fountains of living water.

·         His children and followers are described as the sheep and the church His flock. God set up the dynamics of this profession in His creation and how the shepherd takes care of the sheep to reveal Himself to the world. It was very intentional on His part.

In bible days, shepherds or keepers of sheep were considered a low position and not highly regarded at all. Yet God calls Himself a Shepherd of His people. Usually what the world thinks as low is considered high in God’s eyes. The angels proclaimed the birth of Jesus to lowly shepherds, not to kings. I think it is interesting too that sheep are not the brightest creatures on the planet but the shepherd loves them and guards them with his life.

In Ps 23 – Richly describes the relationship between shepherd and sheep. Here we acknowledge that the Lord is my shepherd and so we have no wants because He provides all that we need. The shepherd leads us to green flourishing pastures and quiet resting places. He restores and refreshes our soul. You can see here again how important the health of your soul is to God. We focus so much on outward comfort but God knows better than us that our inward health and well-being are critical to a life lived well. So, He guides in paths of righteousness not evil and not mediocrity but paths of truth that provide safety and spiritual prosperity. Like I previously mentioned, even though you might walk through the valley of death, you do not have to fear when the Shepherd is near. He has a rod of authority over the enemy and a staff of support. This brings comfort and reassures us that He is in control and you don’t have to worry. For surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

In order to protect the flock, the shepherd would build a corral. The shepherd would then guard over the flock and the corral would be a hedge of protection around them. In John chapter 10, it says there is a gate in the corral for the sheep to go in and out of. Those who belong to the shepherd, know and trust only His voice. They hear it and follow Him. They won’t listen to or follow a stranger’s voice or the enemy’s voice. The enemy comes only to steal, kill, and destroy. The Shepherd comes to give abundant life and they will only follow Him. The Shepherd knows them and they know Him. It is a very personal relationship and that is the type of relationship God and Jesus want to have with us. 

We need a shepherd in our life although we might not like to admit it. God knows our state of well-being. Num 27:17 – God says He will “go out and come in before them and be their guide; so that the people of the Lord may not be like sheep without a keeper.” Zech 10:2, they are troubled because they have no keeper.

Matt 25:32 – But when He [Jesus] saw all the people, He was moved with pity for them, because they were troubled and wandering like sheep without a keeper/shepherd. 

When you are living a life without God, you have no keeper and God is moved with compassion for you. You are a like a lost sheep. The good news is that the Son of Man came to seek and save what was lost. Jesus told a parable where a shepherd left 99 sheep in open country to go and find one lost sheep. When he found it, he joyfully calls all his friends together to rejoice with him because he found the lost sheet. Jesus says, “in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over 99 righteous persons who do not need to repent.” 

The key phrase is “in the same way.” God uses His creation to show that He is a Good Shepherd who loves His people. He is a good keeper of His people.

III.    How does God reveals Himself as Keeper through Jesus

A couple more items about Jesus:

1.      Yield to God. Allow Him to be your Keeper because that is what Jesus did. In John 15:1 – Jesus says, I am the true vine, and My Father is the Vineyard Keeper. Jesus always maintained the right perspective. He clearly knew His position as the Vine but never thought that equality with God something to be grasped. He yielded to the Vineyard Keeper to do the pruning and maintaining so the branches would be more fruitful.  We would do well to have that same perspective of our lives to the Keeper of our Souls. He knows us best and way better than we know ourselves.

2.      God wants to keep us all our days if we let Him, but always through Jesus. 

a.      Sometimes you especially feel Him keeping you through certain time periods. In John 17:12 – Jesus said in a prayer to God about His disciples, “While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost.” Jesus kept them safe for the 3 years they were together. He saved them by the name God gave him. Jesus will keep you too by His name. After Jesus ascended to heaven, He then sent the Holy Spirit and promised to be with them always. Nothing can separate us from His love. He is continually with us, keeps us, and overseeing our lives.

b.      In the NT when it talks about God keeping us it is always through Jesus. I Cor 1:8 - God will keep you strong to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ’s return.  Jude 24 – To Him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy—to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.

IV.   How does God reveals Himself as Keeper through your Heart

One of my favorite verses that I have memorized and quote out loud comes [even created a little jingle] from Is 26:3 – “He keeps in perfect peace whose mind is steadfast, because his heart trusts in God alone.” I so need God to keep me in perfect peace. My inner being craves His peace. His peace guards my heart and mind, that guards my very soul. That soul in you that we have been talking about being key to your well-being. This is not a peace that the world gives but a perfect peace that is beyond understanding. 

Please note that there is action required on our part. We need to steadfastly engage our heart and mind to trust in this God alone, in the God we have been studying about. The more you believe and know who He is, the more peace can come in and bring you freedom from worry and fear, freedom from anger and strife, freedom from depression and despair.

I want to end with an Aaronic Blessing it is called found in Num 6:24-26. Aaron was Moses’ brother and the Lord assigned him to be the first priest of the Jewish nation. I am sure you are familiar with this blessing, “The Lord bless you and KEEP you; the Lord make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn His face (countenance) toward you and give (grant) you peace.” 

Seven words to explain in more detail:

1.      Bless-to give something of value to another.

2.      Keep-to guard and protect, to watch and preserve.

3.      Face Shine-to give light, illuminate or reveal what has been dark, to receive a reflection of His glory and beauty

4.      Gracious-to receive healing, help, being lifted up, finding refuge, and strength.

5.      Countenance (face)-to have His presence or the wholeness of being of an individual

6.      Grant (give)-to set down in a fixed and arranged place.

7.      Peace-to make whole or complete, being in a state of wholeness, or being without deficiency.

My prayer is to restate this blessing:

May the Lord bless  you - May God present you with gifts.

May the Lord keep you – May God guard you with a hedge of protection.

May the Lord make His face shine upon you - May God illuminate the wholeness of His being toward you, smile on you and bring order to your life.

May the Lord be gracious unto you – May God give you comfort and sustenance.

May the Lord turn His face towards you/countenance upon you. - May God lift up His wholeness of being and look upon you full in the face.

May the Lord grant you peace – May God set in place all you need to be whole, complete, and prosperous. 

Amen.

Living a Radical Life for Jesus means believing that God is Keeper