The same analogy also aptly describes our life in Christ. A new birth is our beginning point, and we journey along as pilgrim-disciples on the way of faith to the end. The Pilgrim s Progress, in which he told the faith story of a character named Christian who was traveling from the metaphorical City of Destruction to the Celestial City. The risks were there, known and unknown, but so was God protecting, watching, preserving, all the way to the destination. God s tirelessly attentive care was the psalmist s assurance.
Harm is literally evil.
Though the presence of evil in our world is a reality none of us can escape, God s tireless attentiveness to us preserves us ultimately from its harmful effects. God s providential care guarantees that our destination is ulti-mately never in doubt. In spite of the things that can hurt, stress, or delay us, our destination is sure and therefore the way is safe. In the world you will have trouble. His words bear continual repeating, for they remind us of an eternal certainty in the midst of temporal uncertainty.