Numbers 6:24

24. Bless thee This priestly benediction touchingly individualizes the whole congregation by the use of the singular pronoun. “He calleth his own sheep by name.”

And keep thee The Targum adds, “from demons of the night, and things that cause terror, and from demons of the noon and of the morning, and from malignant spirits and phantoms.” The addition is quite human. The keeping power of God, exercised toward his children amid peril, is a source of wonderful comfort and confidence. The blended agency of God and the believer in this keeping is beautifully expressed by St. Peter “Kept by the power of God through faith” (1 Peter 1:5) while the inheritance is also “reserved” or kept “in heaven for you.” In this keeping free agency is not violated. See John 17:12, note.