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He 'Neither Slumbers Nor Sleeps'

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JERUSALEM, Israel -- Friday morning, a masked terrorist opened fire with an automatic rifle at a checkpoint near Ramallah, where the Palestinian Authority has its headquarters. He shot eight times before being whisked off by an accomplice in an awaiting car.

It's clear he had murder in mind. You don't fire off eight rounds from an assault rifle unless you're hoping to kill or seriously wound someone(s).

But there were no injuries. Either the shooter needs more practice or God protected the soldiers.

We hear many reports like this. We thank God when there are no injuries and we pray when there are.

Psalm 121 says Israel's "keeper" neither slumbers nor sleeps. It says the Creator of heaven and earth will preserve our going out and our coming in "from this time forth and even forevermore."

The Hebrew word for "keeper," shomer, is also used for security guards. Here in Israel, we have security guards in a lot of places because some who would harm us sometimes walk among us.

IDF Border Police units monitor vehicles at checkpoints on the roads. Travelers at Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion Airport go through security screenings before boarding their flights. And security guards monitor people entering parking lots, malls, supermarkets and other stores.

On an almost daily basis, there is some kind of terror-related incident, like what took place this morning. More often than not, though not always, there are no injuries even when it's evident there should have been.

Some attribute those statistics to "mazel," the Hebrew word for "luck." But those who believe what the Bible says know it's not just coincidence. It's the watchful eye of Israel's Shomer, the One who neither slumbers nor sleeps.

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About The Author

Tzippe
Barrow

From her perch high atop the mountains surrounding Jerusalem, Tzippe Barrow tries to provide a bird’s eye view of events unfolding in her country. Tzippe’s parents were born to Russian Jewish immigrants, who fled the czar’s pogroms to make a new life in America. As a teenager, Tzippe wanted to spend a summer in Israel, but her parents, sensing the very real possibility that she might want to live there, sent her and her sister to Switzerland instead. Twenty years later, the Lord opened the door to visit the ancient homeland of her people.