Daily Manna · Day 106 · April 16
Between His Shoulders
“The beloved of the LORD shall dwell in safety by him; and the LORD shall cover him all the day long, and he shall dwell between his shoulders.”
Moses spoke this blessing over Benjamin, the smallest of the tribes of Israel.
Think of a child carried on a man's shoulders through a crowd. That is the picture the last line of the verse reaches for: "he shall dwell between his shoulders." The Hebrew can honestly be read two ways, and English translations have to choose. It may mean that the beloved is carried high on the Lord's shoulders. Or it may mean that the Lord settles in close around him, the way two hills rise on either side of a valley, because the same word is used for the slopes on each side of a ridge. Readers have taken it both ways for a long time. The picture works either way, and in neither one are you the one doing the carrying.
Keep that picture in mind as you read the rest of the verse, and you will see how each part fits. The beloved "shall dwell in safety by him," which means close beside Him, and to dwell means to settle in and stay, which is more than a visit. Then "the Lord shall cover him," the same kind of shelter Psalm 91 pictures with wings. He does it "all the day long," so there is no gap in it. That includes the hours when the one being carried is asleep and doing nothing at all. Then look at the name at the front of the sentence, because everything after it rests on that name: "The beloved of the LORD." Benjamin was not given this blessing for being capable or deserving, and he was certainly not the largest tribe. He was given it because he was loved.
Most of us check something as the last thing we do at night. It might be the lock, the bank balance, or a message we should not read again. Your body is in bed, but your watchfulness has not gone off duty.
The answer is simple, and a little humbling. A child riding on his father's shoulders through a crowd is doing nothing to stay up there. He is not gripping and he is not steering, and most of the time he is not even facing forward. The father underneath him has never once needed his help. So you can put the checking down tonight. The Lord who carries you "all the day long" is still carrying you when you close your eyes.
Daily Manna runs on a two-year cycle. The year two reading for day 106 is An Ambition to Be Quiet (1 Thessalonians 4:11).