He shall preserve my soul, even forevermore

A sleepy escape from evil

A few days ago, I woke up from a nightmare, like I was nudged out of slumber into wakefulness to spare me. So vivid was the dream that as I collected my thoughts about what had transpired in my subconscious, I was shedding tears, like everything in my being had come to help me manage the stress of my ordeal.

Brian in his wisdom arrested my irrationality before I did something stupid with the thoughts crowding my sense of sanity and proportion. He said, ‘Last week, you went through some challenging days causing some stress and hopefully, the brain is just filing away all that.’ There could not have been a better assessment of the situation along with the other things that bothered me.

He obviously has witnessed nights of my disturbed sleep from my talking in my sleep, to acting out and apparently kicking him in bed too. I’m mortified. Anyway, it was a lot to process and I tried to tackle it from all perspectives I could muster, as it all played out like a deliverance from adversity.

He keeps me safe

As I was writing down the parts of the dream I could remember, recurrent thought like some inspiration interrupted my flow. It was in Yoruba that I translated to English and searched for on the Internet.

It happened to be Psalm 121:4 “Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.” However, reading the whole Psalm put it into context. My help comes from the Lord in all situations and circumstances. [Bible Gateway – Psalm 121 (KJV)]

I cannot remember when last I read this Psalm if I ever had to recite over water to drink or bathe with, a well-practised ritual of my childhood by reason of the African-Initiated Christian denominations my mother has an affinity to.

He preserves my soul

For the last two nights, I had decided to sign myself off the news cycle because of the US elections, I first thought of playing back my classical music collection but ended up playing Amy Grant on Amazon Music before clicking on a playlist of gospel music.

One track was unmistakably Psalm 121, Jacquelyn Gouche-Farris had taken inspiration from the Psalm to write My Help which has been performed by many notable artistes backed by choirs. I am taking the time to learn the words of the song to hum and sing on my walks. For the times, this is one to give you a sense of peace, comfort, and assurance. [Genius Lyrics: My Help][Amazon Music: My Help]

The Psalmist says, “The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul. The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore.”

The singer gets to the point without beating about the bush, “He shall preserve thy soul, even forevermore.” Then take all the pronouns and personalise them in the first person. What better prayer is there when you can confidently say? “He shall preserve my soul, even forevermore.”

[YouTube: My Help (Better sound quality)]