Psalm 121

A Song of Ascents.

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

By Kevin M. Watson, Ph.D

NOTE: This is the last week of commentary by Dr. Kevin Watson, who recently moved to Tulsa to become the Director of Academic Growth and Formation at the Tulsa Extension Site for Asbury Theological Seminary, as well as joining our staff at Asbury Church as Scholar-in-Residence.  I wrote a post announcing and explaining this move. I’m going to resume writing commentary starting with Psalm 125, this coming Saturday!

—Andrew

Some of the psalms we have read are categorized as psalm of lament because they confront God with the psalmist’s suffering and God’s silence and inaction.

In contrast, today’s psalm is a song of unwavering confidence that God is the one who helps us.

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

Depending on the details of your current circumstances, some parts of the Psalter may resonate more than others.

Part of the magnificence of the Book of Psalms is how comprehensive they are in speaking to the wide range of human experience and emotions, particularly as we journey through the life of faith.

I lift up my eyes to the hills.
     From where does my help come?
My help comes from the Lord,
     who made heaven and earth.

Amen and thanks be to God!