Neil Armstrong passed away from complications due to cardiac procedures yesterday. It was a blow to the nation because he was the first man to walk on the moon and as Neil DeGrasse Tyson pointed out, it was the only positive event in the last 50 years where everyone can remember where they were at that moment.

Yesterday’s devotion in Our Daily Bread was fitting:

One of the most dangerous aspects of flying is the landing. As the aircraft gets closer to land, the air traffic is more congested, the weather on the ground may be far worse than the weather at 30,000 feet, and the runways may not be clear of other planes. So pilots rely on the air-traffic controller to coordinate all the details so that every plane can arrive without incident. Without the air-traffic controller, chaos would be certain.

Imagine, then, the panic when the pilot of an airliner full of passengers radioed the tower and got no answer. It was eventually discovered that the air-traffic controller was in fact there but sound asleep, putting pilot, passengers, and plane in great jeopardy. The good news is that the plane landed safely.

Even better news is that God, the ultimate traffic controller, neither slumbers nor sleeps. From His heavenly vantage point, He knows all that is going on in and around your life. As the psalmist notes, ??My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. He will not allow your foot to be moved; He who keeps you will not slumber?? (121:2-3).

You can count on it??God knows the impending dangers and will tirelessly direct the traffic of your life for your good and His glory (Rom. 8:28).

The reading was Psalm 121 and the words of the RSV from the Book of Common Prayer are often the words in my head:

I lift up my eyes to the hills; *
from where is my help to come?
My help comes from the LORD, *
the maker of heaven and earth.
He will not let your foot be moved *
and he who watches over you will not fall asleep.
Behold, he who keeps watch over Israel *
shall neither slumber nor sleep;
The LORD himself watches over you; *
the LORD is your shade at your right hand,
So that the sun shall not strike you by day, *
nor the moon by night.
The LORD shall preserve you from all evil; *
it is he who shall keep you safe.
The LORD shall watch over your going out and your coming in, *
from this time forth for evermore.

I love the last verse in which we are reassured that “the Lord shall watch over your going out and your coming in, from this time forth for evermore.” I love that this translation renders the words as “coming in and going out” because it’s a psalm that was read/recited while traveling to the Temple in Jerusalem. The Lord protected Armstrong’s steps as he left his capsule and walked on the moon and he will protect my steps as I head to church with Daniel today (it’s 1:07 a.m.) as well as wherever my journey takes me.

Godspeed, Neil.