For a man who lives by a code, so to speak, it felt like a major failure. What’d I do? Well, I fell asleep. Our kids have a curfew to meet when they’re out for the evening. They’re good kids, but my practice is to wait up until I hear their hands turn the front doorknob. I want to know they’re home safe. I don’t have to do this: I choose to. But one night I awoke to my daughter saying through a smile, “Dad, I’m safe. You should go to bed.” Despite our best intentions, sometimes fathers fall asleep at their posts. It was very humbling, and also very human.
But that never happens with God. Psalm 121 is a reassuring song about our God as guardian and protector of His children. The psalmist declares that the Lord who watches over us “will not slumber” (v. 3). And for emphasis, he repeats that truth in verse 4: he “will neither slumber nor sleep.” Can you even imagine? The Lord never falls asleep at His post. He is always keeping watch over us—the sons and daughters and aunts and uncles and mothers, and even fathers. It’s not so much that God has to do this, but rather that, out of His great love, God chooses to. That promise is definitely something to sing about.