I, the LORD, am its keeper; I water it continually. I guard it night and day so no one can disturb it;I, Yahweh, am its keeper. I will water it every moment. Lest anyone damage it, I will keep it night and day.I the Lord do keep it; I will water it every moment: lest any hurt it, I will keep it night and day.I Jehovah am its keeper; I will water it every moment: lest any hurt it, I will keep it night and day.
3 sermons cite this verse
worldling is a stranger to God, but the true Believer in Jesus is a stranger with God—and there is an eternal difference between the two! What is the meaning of the sentence, "I am a stranger with You"? I think it means, first, that although we are strangers in the world, we are constantly under God's eyes and care. "The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous and His ears are open unto their cry." Beloved, you are always under Gods discerning eyes. He searches you, tries you and sees if there is any wicked way in you—and leads you in the way everlasting. You are all constantly under Gods protecting eyes. You know what He said of old concerning His vineyard—"I the Lord do keep it; I will water it every moment: lest any hurt it, I will keep it night and day." Further, you are continually under Gods directing eyes—"I will guide you with My eyes." You are also always under Gods pitying eyes. "Like as a father pities his children, so the Lord pities them that fear Him." You, too, are never absent from Gods providing eyes. One of the Lord's most precious names is Jehovah-Jireh, which means, "The Lord will see, or provide." And you are perpetually under God's delighting eyes. He says to you, "You shall no more be termed Forsaken; neither shall your land any more be termed Desolate: but you shall be called Hephzibah, and your land, Beulah, for the Lord delights in you, and your land shall be married." …
IT is a great mercy that God never leaves His Church. He has not made a Church as a watchmaker constructs a watch, which, after being wound up, is left to depend upon the strength and fitness of the machinery, but He has made a Church which, though fitted with the best of machinery, needs His hand every moment to keep it in motion. He has lighted the lamps, but He walks among the golden candlesticks. He has fixed the pillars of the Temple, but His own almighty shoulders are the actual support thereof. He has not left the Church to His ministers, but He, Himself, is the great Bishop and Shepherd of souls. Even if, as some affirm, there were no immediate Divine interpositions in the works of Providence, we know that there are such interpositions constantly in the works of Grace. We have direct experimental evidence of God's ever-watchful care over His Church. He does not deal with His people only through instruments, but He Himself takes the Church in His own hands. This is His own declaration, "I the Lord do keep it; I will water it every moment: lest any hurt it, I will keep it night and day." Thus does He speak of His vineyard. So, too, in this chapter, for a while, the shepherds had domineered over the flock. Evil shepherds had crept into the office, fed themselves, but not the sheep. It would have been an ill day for the Church if Divine interposition were not the rule of His government, but because it is so, God said, "Away, you shepherds! I am against you; and I will require My flock at your hands. Behold I, even I, will both search My sheep, and seek them out. Away, you that have dispersed and scattered My flock! I am about to make bare My arm. As you have proved unworthy servants, your Master, Himself, is coming; as you have not fed the people of My pastures and have not gathered together My flock, I Myself will grasp the crook in My own hand." He speaks in His wrath to the foolish shepherds, yet He mingles His threats with pity for those He elsewhere calls "the flock of slaughter." He says, "I will feed even you, O poor of the flock! I will seek that which was lost, and bring again that which was driven away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen that which was sick." …
I have already trespassed upon that domain. "Gather the wheat" Nothing but "the wheat" will be placed in the Lord's homestead. Lend me your hearts while I urge you to a searching examination for a minute or two. The wheat was sown of the Lord. Are you sown of the Lord? Friend, if you have any religion, how did you get it? Was it self-sown? If so, it is good for nothing! The true wheat was sown by the Son of Man. Are you sown of the Lord? Did the Spirit of God drop eternal life into your bosom? Did it come from that dear hand which was nailed to the Cross? Is Jesus your life? Does your life begin and end with Him? If so, it is well! The wheat was sown of the Lord—it is also the object of the Lord's care. Wheat needs a deal of attention. The farmer would get nothing from it if he did not watch it carefully. Are you under the Lord's care? Does He keep you? Is that word true of your soul, "I the Lord do keep it. I will water it every moment: lest any hurt it, I will keep it night and day"? Do you experience such keeping? Give an honest answer, as you love your soul. …