Daily Devotions
Monday, October 13, 2025
Psalm 121:5-7 – 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.
Ancient Persian kings were kept safe by a personal guard called the Ten Thousand Immortals. These warriors were not, of course, immortal. But when any were killed, new recruits quickly replaced the fallen, giving the illusion of soldiers that could not die. We do not need a bodyguard of ten thousand to keep us safe from evil. We only need one keeper who is, in fact, immortal. “The Lord is your keeper.” The Lord is our guardian, our personal protector and shield. He is also, according to the psalmist, a shade at our right hand. We may not think too much about being shielded from the sun, but in desert lands, shade is a welcome and life-saving place of safety and rest. Our Lord provides that rest and protection for us.
“The Lord will keep you from all evil.” In the Lord’s Prayer, we ask for God’s help and protection: “Deliver us from evil.” What are the evils that threaten us? So much of the world around us is filled with what is good. We enjoy the gifts of home, family, and friends. We rejoice in the beauty and majesty of God’s creation. Yet we cannot deny that there is evil in the world. Violence and crime, warfare and quarrels stain God’s good creation, and sometimes that evil strikes very close to home. The wicked and worldly darkness that we encounter is an outward expression of spiritual evil. “Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith” (1 Peter 5:8b-9a). Just as Jesus resisted the temptations of Satan, we too resist the devil and his evil ways. With the help of the Holy Spirit, we stand firm in faith, kept safe by the Lord, who is our keeper and our shade.
Our Lord keeps us in His care, safe from the evil one, because Jesus, for a time, allowed the powers of darkness and evil to overcome Him. He died on the cross, suffering the penalty of death for our sins and for all of the world’s evil. He was buried in the shadowed darkness of a tomb. Then, on the third day after His death, Jesus rose to life in victory over sin, death, and the devil. We pray in Jesus’ own words, “Deliver us from evil,” knowing that our petition has been answered before we even speak the words. Trusting in our crucified and risen Lord, our keeper and our shade, we can say with the apostle Paul, “The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and bring me safely into His heavenly kingdom. To Him be glory forever and ever. Amen” (2 Timothy 4:18).
WE PRAY: Lord, deliver me from evil and keep me in Your care. Amen.
This Daily Devotion was written by Dr. Carol Geisler.
Reflection Questions:
- Why do we need a keeper and protector in this world?
- When was the last time you needed God’s help and safety?
- How do we know that Jesus has been victorious over the sin, death, and the devil?
Today's Readings:
Micah 6-7Acts 22