Psalm 121 "I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where will my help come?"

1I lift up my eyes to the hills—
   from where will my help come?
2My help comes from the Lord,
   who made heaven and earth.
3He will not let your foot be moved;
   he who keeps you will not slumber.
4He who keeps Israel
   will neither slumber nor sleep.
5The Lord is your keeper;
   the Lord is your shade at your right hand.
6The sun shall not strike you by day,
   nor the moon by night.
7The Lord will keep you from all evil;
   he will keep your life.
8The Lord will keep
   your going out and your coming in
   from this time on and for evermore.

Comment:

Psalm 121 is one of a group (120-34) described as “Songs of Ascent.” They were apparently written to accompany a pilgrimage to the holy city of Jerusalem. That makes them especially lovely and powerful passages to accompany our own personal pilgrimages through the challenges of life to our spiritual goal.

Psalm 121 begins with a simple question, which is then answered (3-8) by a second voice. “From where will my help come?” It will come from the Lord—the Christ, the indwelling Presence of God that is our true identity. The imagery evokes the story of the Exodus out of Egypt, and the promise is that our own paths are as protected as the Hebrews’ journey in the wilderness was guarded. The Lord is never absent, never asleep. The Lord is our Source for both practical assistance—shade from the heat of the sun, for instance—and spiritual guidance. “The Lord will keep you from all evil.” In this faith-filled awareness that we are always under divine protection, the challenges of the journey are never an impediment to the spiritual purpose that calls us forward.

Blessings!

Rev. Ed