Hands clasped together with the words, “When everything already feels unsteady.”

Scripture Reflection: Psalms 121

For most of the 27 years of marriage, we have been in various situations where we are working with trauma. That may be as my husband pastored in a “typical” church as people share difficult personal situations. It was definitely in our early twenties when we lived in the inner-city as youth pastors and helped start a non-profit and a ministry for teens there. Kids would show up on our doorstep with feet bleeding from stepping on mom’s crack pipe the night before. It was in our home as we had biological children with terminal and rare medical diagnosis. And for almost fifteen years of foster care, trauma showed up in the sweet faces and personal stories of the children who would come in and out of our doors.

There is an essential concept called “felt safety” that is required to help individuals overcome trauma. Grounded in Polyvagal Theory (Porges), felt safety is the internal experience of being safe—not just knowing it logically, but actually feeling it in your body. For individuals with trauma, the brain can stay on high alert even when there’s no real danger. Creating felt safety means offering consistent, calm environments and trustworthy relationships so the nervous system can relax. It’s built through connection—through tone, presence, and repeated experiences of safety over time. It is built through relationship. It is built through trust.

Hands clasped together with the words, “Psalm 121 has been answering that for thousands of years.”

So much time has been given in my life over the years to create that “felt safety” with others, and watching them slowly begin to believe they are safe. There is such an ache to watch others struggle and just want them to know they are safe. To let children relax, to rest, to lay heavy things down, and let them finally trust a safe adult.

I was recently reading Psalm 121 and realized that I must have a Heavenly Father who is aching for me also to have that felt safety with Him. To learn to trust Him. To relax. To let things go. To rest. To just trust Him. I realized that I was asking the question, “But who do I trust?” Who is this God of the universe that I am to trust in and is He trustworthy?

Psalm 121 helps answer that so I can walk in an understanding that creates that felt safety of trust deep in my soul.

Psalms 121 “I looked up to the mountains - does my help come from there? My help comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth! He will not let you stumble; the one who watches over you will not slumber. Indeed, he who watches over Israel never slumbers or sleeps. The Lord himself watches over you! The Lord stands beside you as your protective shade. The sun will not harm you by day nor the moon at night. The Lord keeps you from all harm and watches over your life. The Lord keeps watch over you as you come and go, both now and forever.”

The truth about where my help comes from:

Psalm 121:1-2. My help comes from the Lord of the universe. He is the maker of the mountains, heaven, earth, time and space. That is the the Lord that I am trusting in. The Creator of all things. It is not that my help is coming from far way, but from the One who has power over all things.

The truth about who my help comes from:

Psalm 121:3-4. My help comes from the Lord who looks over His plan for nations, and history, and eternity. He is the Lord who watches over Israel. He is the Lord who watches over each individual person. But He is also the Lord who watches over me - just me as my own person that is His treasured creation. And read verse 5 to let that sink in! “The Lord himself watches over you.” He did not delegate watching over me. He is watching over me.

The truth about when my help comes:

Psalm 121:5-7. The Lord is beside me both day and nate. He is always there as the protective shade. There is no circumstance outside of His protective covering. There is no element that is unnoticed, or unintended. There is no time of day or night that will be outside of His protection and watch. The Lord is always present, in control of all things, and near.

The truth about the duration of help:

Hands clasped together with the words, “You spend so much of yourself helping others feel safe. You have a safe place too.”

Psalm 121:7-8. The Lord “watches over your life.” He watches over my life. The Lord is not just watching when there is something hard happening. He does not pay attention when there is something that strikes His interest for awhile. He does not wait until I beg, plead, cry to keep from all harm to come and pay attention. No - it is for my life. “The Lord keeps watch as you come and go both now and forever.” It is now. Today. In the details, the weeds, the to do lists, the mundane and the catastrophic, the big, the overwhelming, the long haul. And it is forever. It is for now and eternity if I let Him.

He is there as a Father for me to trust. When I sit and rest in the knowing of who I am trusting in, I can have the peace of felt safety in my soul.

Find encouragement for your foster care journey

Fostering can bring questions that feel too heavy to carry alone. If you are learning to trust God in the middle of uncertainty, we would be honored to pray with you.

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For practical support and encouragement, explore our foster care guides and resources, see upcoming Joy Meadows events, or contact our team to learn more about support for your family.