Psalm 121

Introduction

Psalm 121 is the second of the fifteen psalms of ascents which were written perhaps for God’s people who were returning from exile, but it’s more likely that they were written for God’s people who were making their way up to Jerusalem for one of the annual festivals. And as they made their way up to Jerusalem, they may have sung or said these psalms on the way.

In Psalm 120, which we studied last week, the psalmist called on God for help because of the people with lying lips and deceitful tongues who were surrounding him. Whereas the psalmist was a man of peace, these people with lying lips and deceitful tongues hated peace and were for war. And so, the psalmist called on the Lord for help. And in today’s psalm, the psalmist is once again looking to the Lord for help. He wants the Lord to watch over him and to keep him from danger. Perhaps he wants the Lord to protect him once again from people with lying lips and deceitful tongues. Or perhaps he wants the Lord to protect him from other people or other dangers. You see, he’s on his way to Jerusalem and there are many dangers on the way. And so, he’s trusting the Lord to help him.

Many people regard this as one of their favourite psalms and I often read it when visiting people who are unwell or who are bereaved or who are anxious about something. And it always brings comfort to those who are suffering to know that the Lord their God is watching over them to help them.

Verses 1 and 2

The psalm begins with the psalmist looking up to the hills. He’s on his way to Jerusalem and he’s looking up on the hills which he needs to climb in order to reach his destination. But there are many dangers on the way. As I’ve already said, perhaps he’s thinking of the peace-haters of Psalm 120 with their lying lips and deceitful hearts. Or the Lord’s parable of the Good Samaritan tells us that thieves and robbers might be lurking around the corner to attack travellers. Or he might fall and break his ankle if he’s not careful. Anything can happen when we’re travelling a long and difficult road.

So, he looks up at the hills and thinks about his long and difficult journey. And he wonders to himself who will help him. And then he remembers that he can count on the Lord to help him. And he can count on the Lord, because the Lord is the covenant God, who has bound himself to his people with a promise to be our God and to take care of us always. And the Lord his God is also the maker of heaven and earth. And since he made heaven and earth, then he controls heaven and earth. He controls what happens there, because he made it.

And so, the psalmist looks up at the hills and thinks about the difficulties of the journey and the dangers on the way. But he’s not afraid, because he knows he can rely on the Lord his God, the maker of heaven and earth, to help him.

Verses 3 and 4

It’s possible that the psalm is a kind of dialogue between two people. And so, one person speaks in verses 1 and 2. And he refers to himself as ‘I’ and he wonders where does ‘my’ help come from. And then, in verses 3 to 8, another person speaks and this second person addresses the first speaker as ‘you’ and he’s telling the first speaker what ‘he’ — the Lord — will do for ‘you’. So, one person says, ‘I lift my eyes to the hills’ and ‘My help comes from the Lord’. And another person says, ‘He — the Lord — will not let your foot slip’.

And so, the second person tells the first person that the Lord — who has bound himself to his people with a promise; and who made the heaven and earth — will not let your foot slip. And he will not let your foot slip, because he’s always watching over you. He’s watching over you to prevent your foot from slipping and to keep you from danger.

And he’s always watching over you, because he does not slumber and he does not sleep. And perhaps we can imagine these two travellers, unpacking their tents and bedding down for the night. And it’s dark. And there are lots of strange sounds. And they’re afraid. But as they get ready to sleep, they remind one another that their God does not need to slumber nor sleep. He’s awake throughout the night to watch over them and to keep them from danger.

And he’s not only watching over them, but he’s watching over the whole of Israel. He’s watching over all of his people all of the time. So, he’s a great God, because who else is able to watch over a whole nation of people all at once? And he’s kind, because he’s watching over his people all of the time to take care of them. He’s never inattentive. He’s never distracted. He never needs to take a break. He watches over his people all of the time to keep us from harm.

The NIV refers to God ‘watching over’ the psalmist and ‘watching over’ Israel. More literally it says God will keep them or God will guard them and it recalls the Aaronic Blessing from Numbers 6:

The Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord makes his face shine upon you and be gracious to you;
the Lord turn his face towards you and give you peace.

And so, in this psalm, the second speaker is reminding the first speaker of what he already knows: that the Lord their God will bless and keep his people and will give them peace. And they can think back to times in the Bible when God kept his people from harm: he kept Abraham and Sarah safe when they were in Egypt; he kept Lot safe by rescuing him from Sodom and Gomorrah; he kept Joseph safe when he was sold into slavery; and he kept Joseph’s father and brothers safe when he rescued them from the famine in the land; and he kept his people safe when they fled from Egypt in the days of Moses; and he kept them in the wilderness and brought them into the Promised Land. And in the Promised Land, he continued to keep them and to help them by giving them judges and kings to rescue them from their enemies. Even when he sent them into exile, he kept them safe and enabled them to return to the Promised Land. The whole of the Old Testament is a testament to how the Lord keeps his people.

And even when bad things happened to them, God was able to use it for their good. And so, while we may slip and break our ankle (as happened to me recently), it’s not because God is not paying attention. Slipping and breaking our ankle is all part of his good plan for us.

Verses 5 and 6

In verse 5 the second speaker repeats that the Lord will watch over you. That is, he will keep you. He will guard you. He says the Lord is your shade. Just as a shade protects us from the heat of the sun, so the Lord will protect his people. And by referring to ‘your right hand’, he means that God will protect you in all that you do. So, in all that you do with your right hand, or indeed with your left hand if you’re like me, God is watching over you to protect you.

In verse 6 he refers to the sun and the moon. And once again he’s saying that God will keep us safe always: throughout the day when the sun is shining; and throughout the night when the moon comes out. Day and night we’re under God’s protection so that no harm will befall us, unless it’s according to his will and for our own good.

Verses 7 and 8

And this second speaker sums up in verses 7 and 8 everything he has been saying: the Lord our covenant God will keep you from all harm. That is, he will keep you from all evil. And he will keep your life, because he watches over your comings and goings. He’s watching over his pilgrim people as the set out to go to Jerusalem; and he will watch over them as they make their way home again. And he watches over us today from the time we leave our house in the morning to the time we come home again in the evening. And he’s watching over us in the time in between as well. All day long he’s watching over us to keep us. In fact he watches over us both now and for evermore. Now and always. Now and for ever.

Conclusion

The psalmist knows he can count on the Lord, because the Lord is the covenant God, who has bound himself to his people with a promise to be our God and to care for us always.

And as our covenant God, he sent his Only Begotten Son into the world to be the mediator between us and to make peace for us with God by his self-sacrifice on the cross by which he paid for our sins with his life and cleansed us of all our guilt. And through faith in him we now have peace with God. And so, we can look to him for help instead of hiding from him in shame as Adam and Eve did in the garden after disobeying him. Instead of hiding from him, we can look to him and call out to him and we can trust him to watch over us for our good and to keep us and to guard us both now and for evermore.

In this life, we’re making our way up to the new Jerusalem in the new heavens and earth where we will worship God for ever. But there are dangers on the way. There are all the normal troubles and trials of life which everyone has to suffer. And there are the dangers we face as believers from God’s enemies here on earth. And there are temptations to sin which we must resist. And there is the continual fight against our own sinful desires. And so, there are dangers on the way and there are troubles and trials to face and there are battles to fight.

But there is no need to be afraid, and there are many reasons to rejoice, because we are not on our own. The Lord our God does not slumber nor sleep. He does not go on holiday or take a break. All through the day and all through the night, day by day and year by year, he will keep us and guard us so that our troubles and adversities will not crush us and they will not crush our faith. He will bring us through our troubles and he will strengthen our faith. And he will bring us at last into his presence where there is fullness of joy and pleasures for evermore as we gaze on the glory of our God in the face of Christ our Saviour.

There is no need for us to be afraid and there are many reasons for us to rejoice, because the Lord our God is with us and we can always count on his help so that we will continue along that narrow way that leads eventually to everlasting life in his presence.