The Lord as Keeper: Six Ways Yahweh Guards His People

Self-confidence is humanity's most dangerous natural inclination, yet relief comes when we abandon confidence in ourselves to trust in Him without whom we can do nothing. The Lord keeps His people in six distinct ways.

First, He keeps them as a fortified city defended against enemies. Second, He guards them as a vineyard against foxes—those small, seemingly innocent temptations that undermine indwelling grace, as Solomon's Song describes: "Take us the foxes, the little foxes that spoil the vines." Third, He treasures them as the apple of His eye, with infinite tenderness. Fourth, He preserves them through fires of persecution. Fifth, He sustains them through drought by constant supplies of mercy and grace, saying "I will water it every moment." Sixth, He watches them by day and by night—through prosperity's brightness and adversity's darkness.

Yahweh executes this keeping through four instruments: His angels (Hebrews 1:14), His ministers with their warning voice and private instruction, His providential dispensations, and His omnipotent arm. Believers possess warrant for this protection because they belong not to themselves but to Christ, given to Him eternally. The faithfulness of Jesus (2 Thessalonians 3:3), His love for His people, and the covenant of the Triune Jehovah guarantee this keeping until the time when faith becomes sight.