March 5
Reading: 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.
Psalm 121 is the second of the Songs of Ascent. The person who had been far away in Meshech and the tents of Kedar is now on the move, up and travelling, looking to the hills in the distance. The pilgrim travelling to Jerusalem has begun his pilgrimage.
Psalm 121 is a traveler’s song. In those days travelling meant walking. The reader can tell that these words are for the person walking with his feet under the hot sun. “The hills” (vs. 1) is enigmatic. Are they a place of refuge, where we want to get to? Are they a threat, a haunt of robbers? Are the hills a place from where a helper will come? We do not know. What we do know is that, in our travels, we are going to need a helper. Our help comes from the Lord. (vs. 2)
Notice the repetition of the word “keep” or “keeper” in this little psalm. This is obviously important. It is what this psalm is teaching. The word “keep” is a shepherd’s word. It is what he does with his sheep. It means protection, provision, guidance. Our journeys have hazards; people who would hurt us, places where we can stumble, paths that go the wrong way, hunger, loneliness, scorching heat bearing down upon us, evil lurking beyond sight or in the dark.
The Lord is your keeper, your shepherd. He will fight for you. He will feed you. He will lead you all the way. (vs. 8) He watches over you through all of your life as you trust him on your way to the promised land. I think of Jude 1:24-25.
Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.