Psalm 121

A Song of Ascents

I lift up my eyes to the hills—
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 forever more.

Psalm 121 is a Song of Ascents, and as such it was a psalm, which was intended for use by pilgrims as they journeyed to Jerusalem. This particular psalm was most often sung or chanted as the pilgrims set out from Jericho. As they lifted up their eyes, the sharply rising hill country of Judah stretched off into the distance. Hill after hill rose up before them.

This final portion of the pilgrimage was truly an ascent. From the Dead Sea plain the road to Jerusalem climbs nearly five thousand feet. This is truly an ascent—an ascent from the Dead Sea, the lowest point on earth’s surface, to the heights of Mount Zion.

For the bone-weary pilgrims, who had already walked more than one hundred kilometres (60 miles) from Galilee, the sight of those distant hills must have brought a measure of aching discouragement. Here was a looming challenge. Could they make this final ascent? The opening question of this psalm was not a matter of poetic whimsy. It was spoken in earnest.

“I lift up my eyes to the hills—where does my help come from?”

The weary pilgrim may well be asking, “Having come this far, can I complete this journey? Do I have enough energy—enough stamina to climb those hills? Will I be able to reach Zion? I am exhausted now—before I even start the ascent. I can’t do this on my own.”

“Where does my help come from?”

The psalmist’s answer resounds off those ancient hills. Even today, it echoes down through the ages and reverberates through the chambers of the heart. 

“My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth.”

I cannot make it on my own. Realistically, I am incapable of this final climb. Zion is unreachable in my own strength. But all things are possible with God. He is the Maker of heaven and earth. Surely the Maker of the earth can help me move across this tiny portion of the planet that He has formed. He is my help. My help comes from the LORD!

This bold profession from the psalmist reflects reality for all who have answered our Saviour’s call to walk in faith. We start from the lowest point. Jesus does not call us from the heights. He calls us from the Dead Sea—a place of both physical and spiritual death. Paul, the apostle, makes this perfectly clear.

As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit that is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts (Ephesians 2:1-2).   

It is from this low point that we lift up our eyes. If we look at ourselves—at our sin steeped past—there is no hope. It is just as St. Paul says, we are dead in our transgressions and sins. If we lift up our eyes to the road ahead—to the upward-sloping road of righteousness—we will become discouraged. All we see are hills—obstacles as far as the eye can see. Holiness is not an innate human response. The way is hard; the climb is steep, even impossible. There is no hope there. No, we must lift our eyes higher yet. We must look past the hills, and to the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth. 

“Where does my help come from? My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth.”

How high are you lifting your eyes? If we look to the LORD, there is hope. Through Him, the way becomes possible. In Him there is grace for the journey. Through his love and mercy, we are no longer spiritually dead. We have a new life—a new life in Christ. The road ahead has in fact been prepared for us. It is as Paul asserts, “But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved” (Ephesians 2:4-5).

Having been born again through faith, it is Christ who now walks with us on this earthly pilgrimage. We can leave behind the Dead Sea region with all its life draining futility. We can leave behind the fetid sea of sin. But we are not travelling alone now. Our forerunner, our brother, the King, is walking with us.

He is walking beside me. When I lift up my eyes, He comes into view.

As I walk on, His words are my constant comfort and encouragement. Jesus speaks to the pilgrim, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8:12).

Here in this psalm, we have our LORD’s sure promise.

“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.”

For the weary Jewish pilgrim, a foot slip was no small mishap. If a foot slipped and an ankle twisted, the journey was over. There was no point in proceeding. Why add more agonizing miles to the journey? Why inconvenience others with your injury? The pilgrim would find a safe place to rest and recover, perhaps at an inn, while the others in his party would proceed to Zion.

The Christian pilgrim’s constant prayer should be, “Do not let my foot slip. Let my step be firm; let my path be straight.”

This is why our Lord taught us to pray, “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one” (Matthew 6:13).

The LORD is always alert to that prayer. It’s His prayer and it’s His desire to answer it. We can rest assured that He will watch over us. We can rest—yes—truly rest. We can put our minds at ease, because He will not. He will not rest. He will not slumber or sleep. Like a mother keeps vigil over a desperately sick child, so the LORD will watch over every move we make—every time we stir—so constant is His care.

Those, who are saved by grace, can find rest in His grace. He will not let your foot slip. His goal is your goal. He longs to welcome you to Zion, to the House of God, to your eternal home.

So it then follows that “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.”

Interestingly, Jesus told one of his best-known parables about this particular journey—the journey from Jerusalem down to Jericho. In truth, it’s the pilgrim’s journey of Psalm 121 done in reverse. We know it as the parable of the Good Samaritan. From this parable we discover that the descent from Jerusalem to Jericho was not only steep and treacherous. It was also fraught with danger. The steep hills, rills and canyons were ideal hideouts for highway robbers. They could pounce on the unsuspecting traveller from behind any one of ten thousand rocks. One never knew what danger might lurk around the next sharp curve in the road. Ambushes on this route were common. It was wise to travel in a group. The lone traveller was an easy target for marauding thieves.

When we decide to follow Christ, we instantly become a target for Satan’s attack. He and his demonic minions lie in wait for the unsuspecting faith pilgrim. The lone-believer can quickly become the wounded-and-dying-believer. The struggling-believer may soon become the fallen-believer—fallen and half dead.

We are our brother’s keeper. There is safety in numbers. We are to journey together. So with this in mind,

Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another and all the more as you see the Day approaching (Hebrews 10:23-25).

In addition, we need the LORD’s protective shield round about us. We need His promise. “The LORD is your shade at your right hand; the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night.”

Pray for the LORD’s round the clock protection. Put on the full armor of God. The LORD’s pilgrim is also the LORD’s warrior against spiritual forces of darkness. The apostle Paul reminds us,

Take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows   of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With all this in mind, be alert and always keep praying for all the saints (Ephesians 6:16-18). 

As you do all these things on your upward journey “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 forever more.”

It’s amazing how much distance you can cover on foot, when your pace is steady, and when you make a straight path, or a direct line to your objective. I was reminded of this truth just this afternoon. Once again, I am back in Chicago for some drama events. Once again, I went for a walk along scenic Lincoln Park on the shore of Lake Michigan. But unlike my leisurely stroll of last summer, today from the outset, I set a pace—a brisk pace—and I had an objective in mind.

My objective was a lighthouse at the end of a concrete peer that juts out into the aquamarine waters of the lake. Having set my sights on this lighthouse, I made a beeline for it. For me, taking the most direct route, sometimes meant stepping off the well-worn path and heading off across country.  

Following Christ is like that. If we have him in our sights, the well-worn path that others follow may not be for us. Those other paths bring us to other destinations. They may even bring us close to the Lighthouse, but not to the Lighthouse.

When you lift up your eyes, lift them to the one you are following. Lift them to Jesus. Then let your feet follow the most direct path to him, regardless of how others are walking. If your pace is steady and unwavering, and if your course is straight, the miles will fly by.

The distance flew by for me. I reached my objective, the lighthouse, so quickly that I set another objective. This was another lighthouse still farther up the shore. I maintained my pace and again I took the most direct route. Again, I was surprised by the speed at which I covered the distance. When I reached this second objective, a whole new vista opened up. New opportunities presented themselves.

If you fix your eyes on Christ, he will bring you to the summit of the next hill. A new adventure—a new vista awaits.

When I look back over the years of my faith pilgrimage, I can see that my progress has not always been steady or direct. There have been distractions. My pace has been erratic. Other paths—well-worn paths—have intersected with the direct path to Christ. At times I have drifted down those intersecting paths.

But then, I lift up my eyes. I lift my eyes to the hill—the hill of my salvation. There is a cross on that hill. Though Jesus’ hands are pinned, he beckons me closer. I fix my eyes on him. He draws me up—up the round stone hill of Calvary.

Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God (Hebrews 12:1-2).

“Jesus, draw me to the summit. I fix my eyes on you.”

A new vista awaits.

Bringing Life to the Psalms

1. In our urban environment, we live in an artificial world—a world planned for the automobile. It seems many of us have forgotten why the LORD gave us legs, yet we talk about our walk of faith. This week plan a walk. Be sure to take Jesus with you. Ask him to speak to you on the way. Remember the resurrected Christ joined his disciples as they walked to Emmaus.
2. Have you ever been distracted from the path? Was it immediately obvious that you had left the path God had called you to walk? What brought you back? Did a particular event trigger your return?
3. In a world of flashing distractions, how do we keep our eyes fixed on Jesus? In your walk of faith, when your pace is steady and progress is readily apparent, what sort of things are you doing?
4. Are you your brother’s or sister’s keeper? Have you helped someone recently in their faith walk? Have you needed help? Open, honest communication is essential. Satan attacks and silences believers, but our Father invites us to speak to Him and to each other.
5. Reread Psalm 121. What is God saying to you by His Spirit?

Today’s post is Chapter 24 from the book Psalms Alive! Connecting Heaven & Earth by David Kitz. To find out more or purchase click here.