As I consider these verses, I often think of the extreme heat, which has afflicted many in the midday summer sun. The sun and moon in this psalm are metaphors for dangers which can occur in both the day and the night. The thrust of the verse is the fact that the Lord looks after and keeps His own, whether at night or in the day.

We read in verses 7 and 8, “The Lord shall preserve you from all evil; He shall preserve your soul. The Lord shall preserve your going out and your coming in from this time forth, and even forevermore.” These verses seem to complete the picture of the Lord’s continual care for His own. I believe the words “keep” and “preserve” amount to about the same thought: our Lord Jesus is with us, and has His eye upon us at all times and under all possible circumstances. His love and care for us is limitless, and it is everlasting, and no obstacle or force in heaven or earth can hinder Him as He watches over the souls of His own. In Romans 8:38–39 we read: “For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities … nor powers, nor things present nor things to come … shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Always remember that whatever our circumstances in this life—whether sickness assails us, or we experience natural disasters, or whether there is public unrest and calamities of any kind, whether in storm or in sunshine—our Lord Jesus will not suffer our foot to be moved from the path that leads to glory.