Bible Study for Saturday, October 4th, 2025
The Lord Will Watch Over You
This week’s Lesson Sermon Subject: Unreality
Click here to play the audio as you read:
Bible Study Questions and Readings
In heavenly Love abiding,
No change my heart shall fear;
And safe is such confiding,
For nothing changes here.
The storm may roar without me,
My heart may low be laid;
But God is round about me,
And can I be dismayed?
Wherever He may guide me,
No want shall turn me back;
My Shepherd is beside me,
And nothing can I lack.
His wisdom ever waketh,
His sight is never dim;
He knows the way He taketh,
And I will walk with Him.
Green pastures are before me,
Which yet I have not seen;
Bright skies will soon be o’er me,
Where darkest clouds have been.
My hope I cannot measure,
My path in life is free;
My Father has my treasure,
And He will walk with me.
Hymn 148, words written by Anna Laetitia Waring
Topic: The Lord will watch over you
Moderator: Thomas from NY
Readings: Psalm 121 : 1-8 (link)
Questions:
- What do we know about Anna Laetitia Waring?
- What are the Songs of Ascent?
- Where does help come from? (Psalm 121:1))
- How meaningful is God’s preservation?
References:
To a Student about to Travel
“Remember that unless you travel mentally, that if you don’t traverse new lands spirituaIIy, if you don’t cross metaphysical waters, that is, and reach shores hitherto unvisited in Soul, you have wasted your time, money, and effort, and you will get nothing out of it.
Don’t do less Science but more. May God enfold you in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake, where no evil, no accident, no allurements. no blame lies, claiming some world more dazzlingly beautiful than the radiance of divine Love, for straight is the gate and narrow the way thereto.”
Course in Divinity and General Collectanea, (the Blue Book) Compiled by Richard F. Oakes, page 133
SELECTED BIBLE COMMENTARY
Psalm 121 : 1-8 (link)
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
121:1-8 The safety of the godly. – We must not rely upon men and means, instruments and second causes. Shall I depend upon the strength of the hills? upon princes and great men? No; my confidence is in God only. Or, we must lift up our eyes above the hills; we must look to God who makes all earthly things to us what they are. We must see all our help in God; from him we must expect it, in his own way and time. This psalm teaches us to comfort ourselves in the Lord, when difficulties and dangers are greatest. It is almighty wisdom that contrives, and almighty power that works the safety of those that put themselves under God’s protection. He is a wakeful, watchful Keeper; he is never weary; he not only does not sleep, but he does not so much as slumber. Under this shade they may sit with delight and assurance. He is always near his people for their protection and refreshment. The right hand is the working hand; let them but turn to their duty, and they shall find God ready to give them success. He will take care that his people shall not fall. Thou shalt not be hurt, neither by the open assaults, nor by the secret attempts of thine enemies. The Lord shall prevent the evil thou fearest, and sanctify, remove, or lighten the evil thou feelest. He will preserve the soul, that it be not defiled by sin, and disturbed by affliction; he will preserve it from perishing eternally. He will keep thee in life and death; going out to thy labour in the morning of thy days, and coming home to thy rest when the evening of old age calls thee in. It is a protection for life. The Spirit, who is their Preserver and Comforter, shall abide with them for ever. Let us be found in our work, assured that the blessings promised in this psalm are ours.
Psalm 121 : 1 (link)
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
The mountains are not the “mountains of Israel” (Ezekiel 6:2 and often), to which the exile turns his longing eyes, but the mountains upon which Zion is built (Psalm 87:1; Psalm 125:1-2; Psalm 133:3), the seat of Jehovah’s throne (Psalm 78:68), from which He sends help to His people (Psalm 3:4; Psalm 20:2; Psalm 134:3).
Psalm 121 : 2 (link)
My help cometh from the Lord – From Yahweh. This is the answer to the anxious inquiry in Psalm 121:1. It indicates
(a) a consciousness that help could come only from God;
(b) a belief that it would come from him; and a confident yet humble reliance on him.
Psalm 121 : 3 (link)
He will not suffer thy foot to be moved – He will enable you to stand firm. You are safe in his protection.
Psalm 121 : 5 (link)
Verse 5. – The Lord is thy Keeper; the Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand. “Thy shade” means “thy protection.” “thy defense.”
Psalm 121 : 7 (link)
The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil – This is an advance of the thought. The psalmist had in the previous verses specified some particular evils from which he says God would keep those who put their trust in him. He now makes the remark general, and says that God would not only preserve from these particular evils, but would keep those who trusted in him from all evil: he would be their Protector in all the perils of life.
Psalm 121 : 8 (link)
Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The Lord shall preserve thy going out, and thy coming in,…. In transacting all the business of life, in going in and out about it; in all ways, works, and conversation; in journeying and travelling; in all affairs, civil and religious; and not only preserve, but prosper in all,
Notes from the Discussion
Anna Laetitia Waring: Born in Neath, Glamorganshire, Wales, in 1823. Second daughter of Elijah and Deborah Waring, members of the Society of Friends (Quakers) She left the Quakers in 2840 and was baptized in the Church of England at Winchester in 1842. Never married. Sensitive and shy of fame. Lived with her three sisters. Worked with the Discharged Prisoners Aid Society. In 1850 she published a little volume “Hymns and Meditations,” which went through 16 editions. In 1858 she published Additional Hymns. Her hymns – “Father, I know that all my life” and “My heart is resting” were both favorites of Charles Spurgeon. “Wrote her heart into her hymns.” G.A. Crawford of England says that Miss Waring’s hymns are marked by great simplicity, concentration of thought and elegance of diction. They are popular, and deserve to be so.” She passed away in her 90th year.
A number of years ago Captain D. commanded a vessel sailing from Liverpool to New York, and on one voyage he had all his family with him on board the ship. One night, when all were quietly asleep, there arose a sudden squall of wind, which came sweeping over the waters until it struck the vessel, and instantly threw her on her side, tumbling and crashing everything that was moveable, and awakening the passengers to a consciousness that they were in imminent peril. Everyone on board was alarmed and uneasy, and some sprang from their berths and began to dress, that they might be ready for the worst. Captain D. had a little girl on board, just eight years old, who, of course, awoke with the rest.
“What’s the matter?” said the frightened child.
They told her a squall had struck the ship.
“Is father on deck?” said she.
“Yes; father’s on deck.”
The little thing dropped herself on her pillow again without a fear, and in a few moments was sleeping sweetly in spite of winds or waves.
Fear not the windy tempests wild,
Thy bark they shall not wreck;
Lie down and sleep, O helpless child!.
Thy Father’s on the deck.
—”The Biblical Treasury,” 1873.
Psalm 121, from The Treasurer of David by Charles Spurgeon
Exodus 20:3
Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
Lessons for Children by Anna Laetitia Barbauld
Driving Under God’s Care by Florence Roberts
Peace Amid the Storm by Florence Roberts
Science reverses the evidence of the senses in theology, on the same principle that it does in astronomy. Popular theology makes God tributary to man, coming at human call; whereas the reverse is true in Science. Men must approach God reverently, doing their own work in obedience to divine law, if they would fulfil the intended harmony of being. …
To Him there is no moral inharmony; as we shall learn, proportionately as we gain the true understanding of Deity.
from Unity of Good, by Mary Baker Eddy, page 13
Eyes. Spiritual discernment, — not material but mental. Jesus said, thinking of the outward vision, “Having eyes, see ye not?” (Mark viii. 18.)
from Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, by Mary Baker Eddy, page 586
The Lord shall prevent the evil thou fearest, and sanctify, remove, or lighten the evil thou feelest.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary on Psalm 121 : 1-8
Thy Guard by Night and Day by William P. McKenzie
Beloved children, the world has need of you, — and more as children than as men and women: it needs your innocence, unselfishness, faithful affection, uncontami- nated lives. You need also to watch, and pray that you preserve these virtues unstained, and lose them not through contact with the world. What grander ambition is there than to maintain in yourselves what Jesus loved, and to know that your example, more than words, makes morals for mankind !
from Miscellaneous Writings, by Mary Baker Eddy, page 111
This book may be distorted by shallow criticism or by careless or malicious students, and its ideas may be temporarily abused and misrepresented; but the Science and truth therein will forever remain to be discerned and demonstrated.
from Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, by Mary Baker Eddy, page 110
Keep
1. To hold; to retain in one’s power or possession; not to lose or part with; as, to keep a house or a farm; to keep any thing in the memory, mind or heart.
2. To have in custody for security or preservation.
3. To preserve; to retain.
from the 1828 Webster’s Dictionary