“The Lord is thy keeper… The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil,… He shall preserve thy soul” Psalm 121:5,7.

“I know Him whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day” 2 Timothy 1:12.

The Lord has not only received you, but He will also keep you.1 For young disciples of Christ who are still weak, there is no lesson that is more necessary than this. The lovely name, “the Lord thy keeper,” must be carried in the heart until the assurance of an Almighty keeping becomes as strong with us as it was with Paul, when he spoke that glorious word, “I know Him in whom I have believed, and I am persuaded that He is able to guard that which I have committed unto Him against that day.” Come and learn this lesson from him.

Learn from Paul to deposit your pledge with Jesus. Paul had surrendered himself, body and soul, to the Lord Jesus–that was his pledge which he had deposited with the Lord. You have also surrendered yourselves to the Lord, but perhaps not with the clear understanding that it is in order to be kept every day. Do this now daily. Deposit your soul with Jesus as a dear pledge that He will keep it secure. Do this same thing with every part of your life. Is there something that you cannot properly hold? Yom heart, because it is too worldly?2 Your tongue, because it is too idle?3 Your temper, because it is too passionate?4 Your calling to confess the Lord because you are too weak?5 Learn, then, to deposit it as a pledge to be kept with Jesus, so that He may fulfill in you the promise of God concerning it. You often pray and strive against a sin in vain. It is because-although this too is done with God’s help–you want to be the person who overcomes. No, entrust the matter wholly to Jesus, “the battle is not yours, but God’s.”6 Leave it in His hands. Believe in Him to do it for you. “This is the victory that overcometh the world, even your faith.”7 But you must first place it wholly out of your hands and into His.

Learn from Paul to set your confidence only on the power of Jesus. I am persuaded that He is able to keep my pledge. You have an Almighty Jesus to keep you. Faith keeps itself occupied only with His omnipotence.8 Let your faith be especially strengthened in what God is able to do for you.9 Expect, with certainty, that He will do great and glorious things for you, entirely above your own strength. See in the Holy Scriptures how constantly the power of God was the foundation for the trust of His people. Take these words and hide them in your heart. Let the power of Jesus fill your soul. Ask only, “What is my Jesus able to do?” What you really trust Him with, He is able to keep.10

And learn also from Paul where he obtained the assurance that this power would keep his pledge. He found it in his knowledge of Jesus. “I know Him whom I have believed,” therefore I am assured.11 You can trust the power of Jesus, if you know that He is yours, if you converse with Him as your friend. Then you can say, “I know whom I have believed. I know that He holds me very dear. I know and am assured that He is able to keep my pledge.” This is the sure way to the full assurance of faith. Deposit your pledge with Jesus, and give yourselves wholly into His hands. Think much on His might, and rely upon Him. Live with Him so that you may always know in whom you have believed.

Young disciples of Christ, please receive this word, “The Lord is thy keeper.” For every weakness, every temptation, learn to deposit your soul with Him as a pledge. You can depend on it, you can shout joyfully over it. “The Lord shall keep you from all evil.”12

Holy Jesus, I take You as my Keeper. Let Your name, “The Lord thy keeper, “sound as a song in my heart the whole day. Teach me to deposit my case as a pledge with You in every need, and to be assured that You are able to keep it. Amen.

Footnotes

1)Gen. 28: 15; Deut. 7:9; 32:10; Ps. 17:8; 89:33,34; Rom. 11:2,29

2) Ps. 51:17; Jer. 31:33

3) Ps. 31:6; 141:3

4) Ps. 119:165; Jer. 26:3,4; John 14:27; Phil. 4:6,7; 2 Thess. 3:16

5) Isa. 1:7; Jer. 1:9; Matt. 10:19,20

6) Ex. 14:14; Deut. 3:22; 20:4; 2 Chron. 20:15

7) Matt. 9:28; 1 John 5:3,4

8) Gen. 17:1; 18:14; Jer. 32:17,27; Matt. 8:27; 28:18; Luke 1:37,49; 18:27; Rom. 4:21; Heb. 11:19

9) Rom. 4:21; 14:4; 2 Cor. 9:8; 2 Tim. 1:13

10)John 13:1; 1 Cor. 1:8,9

11) John 10:14,28; Gal. 2:20; 2 Tim. 4:18; 1 John 2:13,14

12) Josh. 1:9; Ps. 23:4; Rom. 8:35

Notes

1. There was once a woman who for years, and with much prayer, had striven against her temper but could not obtain the victory. On a certain day she resolved not to come out of her room until by earnest prayer she had the power to overcome. She went out in the opinion that she would succeed. Scarcely had she been in the household when some thing gave her offence and caused her to be angry. She was deeply ashamed, burst into tears and hastened back to her room. A daughter, who understood the way of faith better than she, went to her and said, “Mother, I have observed your conflict. May I tell you what I think the hindrance is?” “Yes, my child.” “Mother, you struggle against temper and pray that the Lord may help you to overcome. This is wrong. The Lord must do it alone. You must give your temper wholly into His hands. Then He takes it wholly and He keeps you.” The mother could not understand this at first, but later it was made clear to her. And she enjoyed the blessedness of the life in which Jesus keeps us, and we by faith have the victory. Do you understand this?

2. The expression, “The Lord must help me to overcome,” is altogether outside of the New Testament. The grace of God in the soul does not become a help to us. He will do everything. “The Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin” (Rom. 8:2).

3. When you surrender anything to the Lord for keeping, take heed to two things:

–that you give it wholly into His hands,

— and that you keep it there.

Let Him have it wholly. He will carry out your case gloriously!