Keeping Watch

Pentecost 19, October 19, 2025

Genesis 32:22-31
Psalm 121
2 Timothy 3:14-4:5
Luke 18:1-8

Our psalm today seems to be a conversation between two persons. The first verse is a question asking from where our help is to come. The rest of the psalm is an answer to that question. The superscription of this psalm claims that it is a pilgrim psalm. That is, a psalm that was recited by those who were on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. This comes from the line about lifting up your eyes to the hills. (Jerusalem is built on the top of a hill.) Although there is no internal proof for this and the editor who put the psalms together may have been the one to give the superscription. What we know is that it is a psalm the reminds us of the comfort in being known and watched-over by God. It is in the same vein as Psalm 23 and, with it, is often recited at funerals. It can also be a psalm to be read in the morning as you prepare your day. A reassurance that God will watch over you no matter what happens.

Our reading from Genesis is an example of this but with a twist. Jacob is returning to his homeland with his two wives, eleven children, and all of his possessions. But he is greatly afraid. Remember he fled from his home because, with the help of his mother, he stole his brother’s blessing from their father Isaac. He is still afraid of Esau and so he schemes to send all of his possessions and even his family before himself, hoping that, seeing all that he had, Esau would accept him. Doing this as a bribe, so to speak, to sooth Esau’s anger over what he had done. Now, all alone, Jacob wrestles all night long with another man. While we do not know for sure who this man is at the beginning of the text, we learn later that it is God whom he wrestles. The match seems to be even, this is amazing that God and Jacob are evenly matched. The other surprise here is that God seems to cheat by dislocating Jacob’s hip in order to get the upper hand. Jacob holds on until he receives a blessing before he lets God go. Here we learn that an encounter with God changes us. For Jacob, God changes his name to Israel (which means I have struggled with God) and Jacob has a limp. Now, more damaged than before, Jacob still must confront his brother. But with God’s blessing Jacob crosses the Jabbok and enters into his homeland knowing that God was keeping watch over him.

Jesus in our Gospel reading steps into the troubling world of prayer. I say troubling because we do not always get what we pray for, even if we continue to pray for it over and over. We could spend many sermons on the subject of prayer and not come to a satisfying answer. Our prayers are answered in a host of different ways. Some outright and others seemingly not answered at all. Although a prayer seemingly not answered may still have been answered. We just missed it or misunderstood it. Here, Jesus tells us to keep praying. I will remind you that prayer is not giving God a list of what you want but how we communicate to God our triumphs and failures, our joys and sadness, and our hopes and dreams. As we share our whole life with God we also learn God’s answer. But, more importantly, we learn of God’s watchful eye and care for us. So pray often, not to get your heart’s desire, but, to spend some time in conversation with God. You will find that by encountering God and even wrestling with God you will be changed.