Psalm One Hundred Twenty-One – March 3, 2025
A song of ascents.
I lift up my eyes to the mountains – where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.
He will not let your foot slip – he who watches over you will not slumber;
Indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.
The Lord watches over you – the Lord is your shade at your right hand;
The sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night.
The Lord will keep you from all harm – he will watch over your life;
The Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.
As you read through the Psalms, you come to a group of 15 ‘songs of ascent’ from 120 to 134. These are also called the ‘pilgrim’ songs because these were by the Hebrews as they made their way from wherever they lived to the Temple in Jerusalem on foot. They didn’t carry hymnals with them, so obviously they all had memorized them! As psalms go, they are all pretty short except for 132 – I can see them rolling their eyes when the leader would announce this song, like singing all 24 verses to O for a Thousand Tongues to Sing!
This particular psalm is a memorable one whose verses have been turned into hymns and choir anthems many times… because they are meaningful and have instant impact in our daily lives. I heard it again last Sunday used as a beautiful scene of God’s love, but I think it’s more about being in danger than admiring beauty. In our current world situation which is quickly becoming more volatile, the psalm speaks to us even more. Where do we turn when everywhere around us we see danger, unrest and uncertainty?
As the people would walk their way to Jerusalem, there were places along the way that were dangerous, robbers and thieves would hide out especially up in the hills around the road to Jerusalem. And historically, the old pagan worship sites were located up in the highest parts of the hills so to the Hebrew pilgrims, the ‘hills’ weren’t necessarily the beautiful and safe highlight of the trip… not like driving through the Grand Tetons! So, these often sung words “I lift my eyes to the hills, where does my help come from?” has a more definite meaning… like where do we turn when our world seems dangerous?
There was a hill that the people loved to see, the Temple in Jerusalem that gleamed white in the sunlight and could be seen from many miles away. From being in the treacherous hills to seeing the gleaming Temple – the song recounts to the travelers – the hill of God where the Temple stands, THAT is where our help comes from.
Then the narration changes from first to third person, from telling about something to encouraging the writer’s soul. He uses 6 variations of the word ‘keep’ and is the reason some use the subtitle “The God Who Keeps Us”… He keeps our feet planted so we are not moved, he keeps us as we sleep, he keeps us like the shade at our right hand, he protects us from evil, he preserves our lives, and he watches over our going out and coming in now and forever.
We are reminded about the tree firmly planted by a stream (the last sermon series) that can’t be moved by storms, floods or wind because the roots are secure and hold the tree solid. It’s the same language used here as he keeps our feet planted and we can’t be moved. He keeps us constantly because we need to be kept! He doesn’t ever for a moment take his eyes off of us because he knows we would fall away… he doesn’t sleep, ever. Not only that, but he gives us comfort like the shade in a blazing summertime – Texans know about that for sure. Even the cows know to find shade and I’ve seen a whole herd crowd under a tree to evade the sun’s heat! The ‘right hand’ usually refers to God’s power and authority, but in this case it is the writer’s right hand which means God protects OUR power and authority even in intense conditions.
He protects us from evil? The NIV says he will keep us from all harm. Does he keep us from all harm? Obviously harm does come to us occasionally so what kind of harm is he talking about? True harm is the kind that lasts for eternity… the kind that separates us from God, which is sin. How far would God actually go to keep us from the sin that would cast us into hell forever? You know how far he would go, he did it on Calvary for us. There’s a song called “He Will Hold Me Fast” – in all the turmoil in the world around us, God will hold us close to him as we move forward in confidence on our path through life.
His commandments are for our good and to have a life that has purpose, real life and joy. His statutes are our heritage forever, they are the joy of our lives and we set our path to obeying his decrees to the very end!