1. "Has watched over you" is lit., "knows." Jesus makes this character of God one of the most obvious of his teachings about the life of faith: "Consider how the lilies grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you, . . . And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it. For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows that you need them" (Lk 12:27-30).
2. NIV, regretably, omits the causal preposition ki, "because," that opens v7. NRS interprets this preposition as emphatic rather than causal, rendering it "surely." At least it recognizes that something important is in place here.