God tasks the watchman with some tremendous responsibilities. He has to remain alert for troubles at all hours of his watch and cannot slacken his resolve to stay attentive. Yet, we are told that if the Lord chooses not to intervene, all of the watchman’s worries and efforts are simply in vain. Interestingly, the watchman’s job is to worry! The fear of trouble keeps him up at night and causes him to rise up early in the morning to do his duty. Eventually, however, this worry produces physical ailments within the individual. With these negative outcomes, the worry and anxiety also provide no solution for the problems of this life. Worrying has deprived many good people of restfulness and sleep without offering the desperately sought after solutions. It is important to note that help has never come simply as a result of one’s worry, and no problems ever resolved themselves simply due to the magnitude of one’s worry. Bottom line: except the Lord intervenes in the problems at hand, no help will be forthcoming. Worry is vain!
At first glance, this passage appears to be less expressive than many others which cover a wider range of study. After all, a single reading of our passage proves that nakedness is the opposite of being clothed or covered. This truth is confirmed by other similar passages as well (Leviticus 18:6; Job 24:7; Isaiah 58:7). However, this subject is much more complicated than merely whether someone is covered or not. It is important to understand the full context. For example, is nakedness the failure to cover every part of the body or are there parts of the body considered secret or private (Isaiah 3:17)? Though there are certainly other secret or private parts, the Lord plainly declared that uncovering the legs and thighs was nakedness (Isaiah 47:1-3). For this reason, the priests were told to wear breeches to cover these parts under their priestly attire (Exodus 28:42).
