PSALM 121 COMME�TARY
Written and edited by Glenn Pease
PREFACE
The object of this commentary is to bring together the comments of a number of
authors in one place to make the study of this Psalm easier for the Bible student.
Sometimes I do not have the author's name, and if it is known and told to me, I will
give credit where it is due. If there is any author who does not wish his wisdom to be
included in this study, I will remove it when that author expresses his wish to have it
removed. My e-mail is [email protected]
I�TRODUCTIO�
1. Spurgeon, “This bears no other title than "A Song of degrees". It is several steps
in advance of its predecessor, for it tells of the peace of God's house, and the
guardian care of the Lord, while Psalm 120 bemoans the departure of peace from
the good man's abode, and his exposure to the venomous assaults of slanderous
tongues. In the first instance his eyes looked around with anguish, but here they
look up with hope. From the constant recurrence of the word keep, we are led to
name this song "a Psalm to the keeper of Israel". Were it not placed among the
Pilgrim Psalms we should regard it as a martial hymn, fitted for the evensong of one
who slept upon the tented field. It is a soldier's song as well as a traveler's hymn.
There is an ascent in the psalm itself which rises to the greatest elevation of restful
confidence.”
2. "A Song of Degrees." -- It has been ingeniously pointed out that these "degrees"
or "steps" consist in the reiteration of a word or thought occurring in one clause,
verse, or stanza, which in the next verse or stanza is used, as it were, as a step (or
degree) by which to ascend to another and higher truth. Thus in our psalm, the idea
of "my help", expressed in Psalms 121:1, is repeated in Psalms 121:2. This has now
become a step by which in Psalms 121:3 we reach the higher truth or explanation of
"nay help", as: "He that keepeth thee will not slumber," the same idea being with
slight modification reembodied in Psalms 121:4. Another "degree" is then reached
in Psalms 121:5, when "He who slumbers not" is designated as Jehovah, the same
idea once more enlarged upon being (the word occurring twice in Ps 121:5) in
Psalms 121:6. The last and highest degree of this song is attained in Psalms 121:7,
when the truth implied in the word Jehovah unfolds itself in its application to our
preservation, which, with further enlargement, is once more repeated in Psalms
121:8. Perhaps some internal connection might be traced between all the fifteen
Psalms of Degrees. At any rate, it will not be difficult to trace the same structure if
each of the psalms "of Degrees", making allowance for occasional devotions and
modifications. --Alfred Edersheim, in "The Golden Diary", 1877.
3. Robert J. Morgan, “Some chapters in the Bible are so special that they’ve been
given their own title. We call 1 Corinthians 13, The Love Chapter; Hebrews 11 is
The Faith Chapter; Psalm 23 is The Shepherd Psalm; and 1 Corinthians 15 is The
Resurrection Chapter of the Bible.In our study through the Psalms today we’re
coming to one of the most beautiful and beloved of all the chapters of the Bible—
Psalm 121. It has been called, “The Traveler’s Psalm.” He went on to illustrate how
people have used it for comfort and security in times of travel and facing
uncertainty. He wrote, “Haddon W. Robinson recently wrote a devotional for the
booklet, “Our Daily Bread,” in which he said that Psalm 121 was a favorite of his
father. He wrote, “When my father left the ‘old country’ as a teenager to sail alone
to the United States, he was bidden farewell with this psalm.” When he was heading
off into the World War and at various other critical points of life, the elder Mr.
Robinson leaned on this Psalm.
That’s a scene that has been repeated many times in Christian history. James
Montgomery Boice said in his commentary on the Psalms that this was a very dear
chapter to him because his mother always gathered the family together and read it
before they left on trips, or before one of the children in the family left home. The
great missionary explorer, David Livingstone, read this Psalm as he worshiped with
his father and sister before setting sail for Africa; and his mother-in-law, Mary
Moffat later wrote to him, telling him that Psalm 121 was always on her mind as she
thought and prayed for him.” “In verses 1-2, we’re told to keep our eyes on God,
and in verses 3-8, we’re told that God keeps His eyes on us.”
4. Great Texts, “The very essence of the psalm is simplicity ; here you find no high
nights of poetic imagination, no startling metaphors or fresh truth. And yet there is
a warm glow in its message, and there is a fragrance in its simple trust, which have
made it one of the best loved of all the psalms, to both Jews and Christians
throughout the world. It is the song of a man who found life transfigured by a
thought, a thought born out of his own experience that the God of the everlasting
hills was no mere spectator of human struggles, no indolent Deity calming himself to
sleep amid the perturbations of a universe and the unheeded cries of his creatures.
It is the song of a man who had seen God s rain bow on the dark background of the
day s routine, and was assured that all is well. It is the song of a man whose
ambitions were of a lowly character, and who was content to go out and in, to meet
life s appointments, if so be that the Lord Himself would be his keeper. And what a
power lies secreted in the heart of a song when a man can sing it with the emphasis
of experience !”
5. Rich Cathers sees this as a Psalm dealing with fear, and he wrote, “Sometimes
fear can paralyze us. We are afraid to even move because of all the things that
could go wrong. We make up all kinds of excuses why we can’t do anything, mostly
because of fear: What if I lose my job and we lose the house? What if the person I
love rejects me? What if you find yourself at an airport and just, for curiosity’s
sake, stick your head inside the door of the airplane and just barely get it out before
the door closes, but your tie might get caught in the door, causing you to be dragged
up into the air and halfway across the country, choking and gagging the whole way,
until the tie finally rips in half and you plunge 50,000 feet, eventually crashing
through the roof of a barn and landing softly in a pile of hay, but then the farmer
might sue you for property damages, and since you don’t have that kind of money,
you’ll have to work on his farm as an indentured servant for the next twelve years.
Well, it might happen. Some of our fears are more real than others, but the truth is
we can miss out on a lot of life simply because of fear.
6. Warren Wiersbe, “This psalm is special to my family. When our children were
young and we were all in the car ready to leave on a trip or a vacation, we often
read Psalm 121 and then prayed. The children became accustomed to hearing the
words, "I will lift up my eyes to the hills--from whence comes my help? My help
comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth" (vv. 1,2). God is our Helper.
You don't have to go on a vacation or drive on a busy highway to know that.
Where does your help come from? The psalmist lifted his eyes to the hills. The most
stable, secure thing the Jews knew were the mountains around Jerusalem. Then the
psalmist lifted his eyes higher and said, "�o, I don't get my help from the hills. I get
my help from the heavens. God is my Helper." Whatever your need or task is today,
your help will come from the Lord, the Creator of the heavens and the earth. A God
big enough to make this world and keep it going is big enough to help you with your
problems today.”
7. James Limburg gives us a picture of how this Psalm is used in the traditions of his
denomination. He writes, “There are no references or allusions to Psalm 121 in the
�ew Testament. �evertheless, it remains one of the more popular psalms in
Christian liturgy, hymnody, and piety. In the Lutheran tradition, for example, this
psalm has found a place in services at both the beginning and the end of life. In the
baptismal service of the old Evangelical Lutheran Church, as the child or adult was
brought to the font, the pastor said, “The Lord preserve thy coming in and thy
going out from this time forth and forevermore,” a paraphrase of Psalm 121:8.1
Contemporary services for comforting the bereaved and for the burial of the dead
make use of Psalm 121.2 The Psalm is suggested for use in ministering to those who
are addicted, and the last verse is part of an order for the blessing of a dwelling. In
the course of the church year, Psalm 121 is assigned as one of the readings for the
22nd Sunday after Pentecost. Hymn paraphrases include John Campbell’s, “Unto
the Hills,” Ernst W. Olson’s, “Mine eyes unto the mountains I lift,” and John
Ylvisaker’s setting of this psalm to the traditional American folk tune, “Wayfaring
stranger.” Among memorable musical settings we may mention Mendelssohn’s,
“Lift thine eyes to the mountains” and the chorus, “He, watching over Israel,” both
from the Elijah, as well as Leonard Bernstein’s use of the Psalm in “A Simple Song”
in his Mass. Finally, this psalm has always had a place in the everyday piety of the
people of God..”
8. Linburg goes on to show why he and many others see the Psalms from 120 to 134
As a complete package that was likely a separate small book added to the rest of the
Psalms. He wrote, “ In his insightful study of these psalms, Seybold points out that
they have a number of things in common in addition to their titles.14 Most
obviously, with the exception of Psalm 132, the psalms in this collection are short.
The average length of a psalm in the Psalter is 17 verses; the average of those in this
collection is under 7 verses (Psalm 132 has 18). Many of these psalms have a formal
conclusion, consisting of a blessing, a confession, or a hymnic sentence (121, 124,
125, 128, 129, 130, 131, 133 [Seybold translates, “Live well forevermore.”]). Thirdly,
there are a good number of phrases which are repeated in these psalms: “let Israel
now say” (124:1; 129:1), “O Israel, hope in the Lord” (130:7; 131:3), “who made
heaven and earth” (121:2; 124:8; 134:3), “Peace in Israel” (125:5; 128:6, identical in
Hebrew), “May the Lord bless you from Zion” (128:5; 134:3 identical in Hebrew).
Fourth, there are frequent references in these psalms to Zion (125, 126, 128, 129,
132, 133, 134) and to Israel (121, 122, 124, 125, 128, 129, 130, 131). We might add
that these psalms are permeated with addresses to Yahweh, the Lord. The name
occurs in each of the fifteen psalms, most often in the cry from the depths in 130
with six occurrences, then in 121 with five. Finally, Seybold points to linguistic
similarities among these psalms, including use of the deictic particles ken and hinne,
the enclitic relative še, and Aramaicisms. Considered together, all of these features
point to a homogeneous collection which is well suited to the situation of the people
of Israel making their way to Zion.”
8B. Linburg adds, “In a long series of lectures on these psalms given in 1532 and
1533, Luther summarized by saying that they “deal with important teaching and
almost all of the articles of our Christian faith, of preaching, forgiveness of sins, the
cross, love, marriage, authorities, so that they set forth as it were a summary of all
essential teachings.”
A song of ascents.
1.1.1.1. I lift up my eyes to the hills where does my I lift up my eyes to the hills where does my I lift up my eyes to the hills where does my I lift up my eyes to the hills where does myhelp come from? help come from? help come from? help come from?
1. There are many speculations as to the setting of this Psalm, but that is what they
are, speculations. Barnes in his commentary wrote, “�othing is known, or can be
known, of the author or of the occasion on which it was composed. DeWette and
Rosenmuller suppose that it was composed in the exile; Rosenmuller regarding it as
a psalm to be sung on the return to Palestine after the captivity - DeWette, as the
psalm of a pensive exile looking toward the hills of Palestine, his native land, as the
source from where all his help must come - and expressing confidence in God that
he would bring him out of his exile and his trouble. There is no proof, however, that
either of these suppositions is correct. The language is such, indeed, as might then
be employed, but it is also such as might be used on many other occasions. It might
be the language of the leader of an army, endangered, and looking to the “hills”
where he expected reinforcements; it might be that of a pious man encompassed
with dangers, anal using this expression as illustrative of his looking up to God; or it
might be the language of one looking directly to heaven, represented as the heights,
or the exalted place where God dwells; or it might be the language of one looking to
the hills of Jerusalem - the seat of the worship of God - the place of His abode - as
his refuge, and as the place from where only help could come. This last seems to me
to be the most probable supposition; and thus the psalm represents the confidence
and hope of a pious man (in respect to duty, danger, or trial) as derived from the
God whom he worships - and the place where God has fixed his abode - the church
where he manifests himself to people.
1B. An unknown author wrote, “The opening line, I lift my eyes to the hills, can be
interpreted in several different ways. He may be looking toward his destination,
Zion, the mountain of God, and anticipating the help that God will provide. He may
be thinking of the dangers of travel through the isolated mountain region and
reminding himself of the God who goes with him. Or he may be thinking of the
mountains and their role in the idol worship of the nations that surround Israel.
Mountaintops were often the sites of the altars of Baal. In contrast, the psalmist
looks for help to the God who created the mountains.” There is no hope in the
mountains themselves, for we read in (Jer 3:23 KJV) “Truly in vain is salvation
hoped for from the hills, and from the multitude of mountains: truly in the LORD
our God is the salvation of Israel.” The help hoped for is not in the mountains, but
in the God of the mountains.
1C. Dr. Philip W. McLarty gives us two ways to see this verse. A. It is not a question
but a statement: “I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help.”
B. It is a question: “...what the psalmist is actually saying is, “I lift up mine eyes
unto the hills … and I see all of the shrines and altars and symbols of idolatry …
and I ask myself: Whence cometh my help?” Either way, the only reliable source of
security and help is the Lord. He goes on, “Family, friends, business associates –
even your pastor – are likely to let you down when you need them most. Only God
is ultimately steadfast and dependable. We hear over and over in the scripture:
� He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be shaken.
(Psalms 62:2)
� The Lord is the strength of his people; he is the saving refuge of his anointed.
(Psalms 28:8)
� God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. (Psalms 46:1)
� Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth. (Psalms
124:8)
2. Again, the focus is upward, and not only because God dwells on high, but because
his temple in Jerusalem the highest point in Israel. As the pilgrims would be coming
back from their captivity in Babylon they would be looking to the hills where God
said he would dwell with his people, and from whence their help had always come.
The land encouraged the upward look, and because our Lord ascended to heaven,
the upward look is always appropriate for the believer who looks to the Lord for
help and guidance in life. Every time we pray we are lifting our eyes upward to the
Lord who hears our prayers and by grace comes to our aid.
3. Henry says, “..wherever we are, at home or abroad, we are exposed to danger
more than we are aware of; and this psalm directs and encourages us to repose
ourselves and our confidence in God, and by faith to put ourselves under his
protection and commit ourselves to his care, which we must do, with an entire
resignation and satisfaction, in singing this psalm.” Many see this as a travelers
Psalm, for he is heading for the temple to worship the Lord, but it can be a
dangerous trip. Robbers can come out from hiding places and take all your
possessions, including the sacrifice you are going to make in the temple. Your beast
of burden could stumble and break a leg, or you could as well, and you would be in
trouble and in hopes that a good Samaritan would pass by and give you a lift. Your
family could have sickness, and many things could go wrong, just as is the case with
travelers today. There is risk in travel, and so we turn our eyes from all this negative
potential to the positive promises of the Lord to be with us.
4. An unknown author has this excellent comment: “This is the second of the fifteen
steps or ascents to communion and fellowship with God. The theme of the first step
(Psalm 120) was crying out to the Lord for deliverance. The second step, here in
Psalm 121, is looking up. We cry out and God hears us. We look up and we see His
saving and keeping power that is able to bring us safe into His presence. It has often
been said that, if you are feeling down, look up! In the �ew Testament, the
Scriptures exhort us to look up, to lift up our heads for our redemption draws nigh.
In Psalm 120 we find the believer looking around and finding himself dwelling in
the wrong places. He saw distress on all sides; when he spoke in peace those around
him wanted war. However, in Psalm 121 he looks up. It is there, and there alone,
that he can find help. Do you have problems? Don't look around. Oh, the world may
be ready to offer advice and counseling, but your only help is going to come from
above, from the Lord. Look and live!”
5. Isaac Watts wrote,
Up to the hills I lift mine eyes,
Th' eternal hills beyond the skies;
Thence all her help my soul derives;
There my Almighty refuge lives.
He lives; the everlasting God,
That built the world, that spread the flood;
The heav'ns with all their hosts he made,
And the dark regions of the dead.
He guides our feet, he guards our way;
His morning smiles bless all the day;
He spreads the evening veil, and keeps
The silent hours while Isr'el sleeps.
Isr'el, a name divinely blest,
May rise secure, securely rest;
Thy holy Guardian's wakeful eyes
Admit no slumber nor surprise.
�o sun shall smite thy head by day,
�or the pale moon with sickly ray
Shall blast thy couch; no baleful star
Dart his malignant fire so far.
Should earth and hell with malice burn,
Still thou shalt go, and still return,
Safe in the Lord; his heav'nly care
Defends thy life from every snare.
On thee foul spirits have no power;
And in thy last departing hour,
Angels that trace the airy road
Shall bear thee homeward to thy God.
6. Watts wrote again,
To heav'n I lift my waiting eyes,
There all my hopes are laid:
The Lord that built the earth and skies
Is my perpetual aid.
Their feet shall never slide to fall
Whom he designs to keep;
His ear attends the softest call,
His eyes can never sleep.
He will sustain our weakest powers
With his almighty arm,
And watch our most unguarded hours
Against surprising harm.
Isr'el, rejoice, and rest secure,
Thy keeper is the Lord;
His wakeful eyes employ his power
For thine eternal guard.
�or scorching sun, nor sickly moon,
Shall have his leave to smite;
He shields thy head from burning noon,
From blasting damps at night.
He guards thy soul, he keeps thy breath,
Where thickest dangers come:
Go, and return, secure from death,
Till God commands thee home.
7. And still a third time Watts wrote,
Upward I lift mine eyes,
From God is all my aid;
The God that built the skies,
And earth and nature made:
God is the tower
To which I fly;
His grace is nigh
In every hour.
My feet shall never slide
And fall in fatal snares,
Since God, my guard and guide,
Defends me from my fears:
Those wakeful eyes
That never sleep
Shall Isr'el keep,
When dangers rise.
�o burning heats by day
�or blasts of ev'ning air,
Shall take my health away,
If God be with me there:
Thou art my sun,
And thou my shade,
To guard my head
By night or noon.
Hast thou not giv'n thy word
To save my soul from death?
And I can trust my Lord
To keep my mortal breath:
I'll go and come,
�or fear to die,
Till from on high
Thou call me home.
6. Spurgeon, “I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. It
is wise to look to the strong for strength. Dwellers in valleys are subject to many
disorders for which there is no cure but a sojourn in the uplands, and it is well when
they shake off their lethargy and resolve upon a climb. Down below they are the
prey of marauders, and to escape from them the surest method is to fly to the
strongholds upon the mountains. Often before the actual ascent the sick and
plundered people looked towards the hills and longed to be upon their summits. The
holy man who here sings a choice sonnet looked away from the slanderers by whom
he was tormented to the Lord who saw all from his high places, and was ready to
pour down succor for his injured servant. Help comes to saints only from above,
they look elsewhere in vain: let us lift up our eyes with hope, expectance, desire, and
confidence. Satan will endeavor to keep our eyes upon our sorrows that we may be
disquieted and discouraged; be it ours firmly to resolve that we will look out and
look up, for there is good cheer for the eyes, and they that lift up their eyes to the
eternal hills shall soon have their hearts lifted up also. The purposes of God; the
divine attributes; the immutable promises; the covenant, ordered in all things and
sure; the providence, predestination, and proved faithfulness of the Lord -- these
are the hills to which we must lift up our eyes, for from these our help must come. It
is our resolve that we will not be bandaged and blindfolded, but will lift up our eyes.
Or is the text in the interrogative? Does he ask, "Shall I lift up mine eyes to the
hills?" Does he feel that the highest places of the earth can afford him no shelter?
Or does he renounce the idea of recruits hastening to his standard from the hardy
mountaineers? and hence does he again inquire, "Whence cometh my help?" If so,
the next verse answers the question, and shows whence all help must come.”
6B. Spurgeon again wrote, “It is good to have some one to look up to. The Psalmist
looked so high that he could look no higher. �ot to the hills, but to the God of the
hills he looked. He believed in a personal God, and knew nothing of that modern
pantheism which is nothing more than atheism wearing a fig leaf. The uplifted eyes
naturally and instinctively represent the state of heart which fixes desire, hope,
confidence, and expectation upon the Lord. God is everywhere, and yet it is most
natural to think of him as being above us, in that glory land which lies beyond the
skies.
O Thou that dwells in the heavens, just sets forth ,the unsophisticated idea of a
child of God in distress: God is, God is in heaven, God resides in one place, and
God is evermore the same, therefore will I look to him. When we cannot look to
any helper on a level with us, it is greatly wise to look above us; in fact, if we have
a thousand helpers, our eyes should still be toward the Lord. The higher the Lord
is the better for our faith, since that height represents power, glory, and
excellence, and these will be all engaged on our behalf. We ought to be very
thankful for spiritual eyes; the blind men of this world, however much of human
learning they may possess, cannot behold our God, for in heavenly matters they
are devoid of sight. Yet we must use our eyes with resolution, for they will not go
upward to the Lord of themselves, but they incline to look downward, or inward,
or anywhere but to the Lord: let it be our firm resolve that the heavenward
glance shall not be lacking. If we cannot see God, at least we will look towards
him. God is in heaven as a king in his palace; he is here revealed, adored, and
glorified: thence he looks down on the world and sends succours to his saints as
their needs demand; hence we look up, even when our sorrow is so great that we
can do no more. It is a blessed condescension on God's part that he permits us to
lift up our eyes to his glorious high throne; yea, more, that he invites and even
commands us so to do. When we are looking to the Lord in hope, it is well to tell
him so in prayer: the Psalmist uses his voice as well as his eye. We need not speak
in prayer; a glance of the eye will do it all; for - -
"Prayer is the burden of a sigh,
The falling of a tear,
The upward glancing of an eye
When none but God is near."
7. I will lift up mine eyes, etc. In thy agony of a troubled conscience always look
upwards unto a gracious God to keep thy soul steady; for looking downward on
thyself thou shalt find nothing but what will increase thy fear, infinite sins, good
deeds few, and imperfect: it is not thy faith, but God's faithfulness thou must rely
upon; casting thine eyes downwards on thyself, to behold the great distance betwixt
what you deserve and what thou desirest, is enough to make thee giddy, stagger,
and reel into despair. Ever therefore lift up thine eyes unto the hills, from whence
cometh thy help, never viewing the deep dale of thy own unworthiness, but to abate
thy pride when tempted to presumption. -- Thomas Fuller (1608-1661), in "The
Cause and Cure of a Wounded Conscience”
7B. “I will - This signifies that the psalmist makes a choice of his will (a volitional
choice) to look up to God. How often when faced with a test, trial or affliction, I
choose to look down in self-pity or around at adverse circumstances, rather than
gazing upward to my Omnipotent God! This phrase I will also indicates the psalmist
recognizes that the godly man stands in continual need of and dependence upon
Jehovah's help. Keen writes that He waits — he expects — he obtains. The truest
vision is soul-vision. Looking up in solicitation, contemplation, expectation. “Up,”
from the mud and mire of earth, and the sins and sorrows of self. (Keen, J O:
Biblical Illustrator)”
8. From whence cometh my help. The natives of India used to say that when Sir
Henry Laurence looked twice to heaven and then to earth he knew what to do.
To Heaven I lift mine eye,
To Heaven, Jehovah's throne,
For there my Savior sits on high,
And thence shall strength and aid supply
To all He calls His own.
He will not faint nor fail,
�or cause thy feet to stray:
For him no weary hours assail,
�or evening darkness spreads her veil
O'er his eternal day.
Beneath that light divine
Securely shalt thou move;
The sun with milder beams shall shine,
And eve's still queen her lamp incline
Benignant from above.
For he, thy God and Friend,
Shall keep thy soul from harm,
In each sad scene of doubt attend,
And guide thy life, and bless thy end,
With his almighty arm.
--John Bowtiler, 1814.
9. Charles Wesley's spirited paraphrase says,
"To the hills I lift mine eyes,
The everlasting hills;
Streaming thence in fresh supplies,
My soul the Spirit feels.
Will he not his help afford?
Help, while yet I ask, is given:
God comes down; the God and Lord
That made both earth and heaven."
10. Maclaren sees this from the viewpoint of the exiled Jews in Babylon. “I will lift
up mine eyes unto the hills’—a resolution, and a resolution born of intense longing.
�ow the hills that the Psalmist is thinking about were visible from no part of that
long-extended plain where he dwelt; and he might have looked till he wore his eyes
out, ere he could have seen them on the horizon of sense. But although they were
unseen, they were visible to the heart that longed for them. He directs his desires
further than the vision of his eyeballs can go. Just as his possible contemporary,
Daniel, when he prayed, opened his window towards the Jerusalem that was so far
away; and just as Mohammedans still, in every part of the world, when they pray,
turn their faces to the Kaabah at Mecca, the sacred place to which their prayers are
directed; and just as many Jews still, north, east, south or west though they be, face
Jerusalem when they offer their supplications—so this psalmist in Babylon, wearied
and sick of the low levels that stretched endlessly and monotonously round about
him, says, ‘I will look at the things that I cannot see, and lift up my eyes above these
lownesses about me, to the loftinesses that sense cannot behold, but which I know to
be lying serene and solid beyond the narrowing horizon before me.
‘From whence cometh my help?’ The loftier our ideal, the more painful ought to be
our conviction of incapacity to reach it. The Christian man’s one security is in
feeling his peril, and the condition of his strength is his acknowledgment and vivid
consciousness always of his weakness. The exile in Babylon had a dreary desert,
peopled by wild Arab tribes hostile to him, stretching between his present home and
that where he desired to be, and it would be difficult for him to get away from the
dominion that held him captive, unless by consent of the power of whom he was the
vassal. So the more the thought of the mountains of Israel drew the Psalmist, the
more there came into his mind the thought, ‘How am I to be made able to reach that
blessed soil?’ And surely, if we saw, with anything like a worthy apprehension and
vision, the greatness of that blessedness that lies yonder for Christian souls, we
should feel far more deeply than we do the impossibility, as far as we are concerned,
of our ever reaching it. The sense of our own weakness and the consciousness of the
perils upon the path ought ever to be present with us all.”
10B. Hamilton Smith also has the perspective of Babylon. “The godly assured of the
presence and support of the Lord, in view of their journey from the land of captivity
to the house of the Lord. (vv. 1-2) The godly man would fain escape from the land of
his captivity; but mountains block his way. Looking at the difficulties, the cry is
forced from him, “Whence shall my help come?” (J�D). Immediately his faith
replies, “My help cometh from the Lord, who made the heavens and the earth.” The
Maker of the mountains can lead him across the mountains.”
10C. Ben edgington starts off his sermon on this text with this: “I hope there are
some fans of Winnie the Pooh here. If so, perhaps you remember the episode of the
very windy day. Winnie-the-Pooh and Piglet were walking in the Hundred Acre
Wood. Piglet's ears streamed behind him like banners as he fought his way along.
Being a rather small and anxious sort of animal, Piglet turned to Pooh and asked
nervously, "Supposing a tree fell down, Pooh, when we were underneath it?" After
careful thought, Pooh, being somewhat wiser and less anxious, replied "Supposing it
didn't" . This is the kind of conversation my wife and I sometimes have: like Piglet,
she worries about all sorts of things that might happen; like Pooh, I'm a bit more
laid-back. It seems to me that our Psalmist, the writer of Psalm 121, also has
something in common with Piglet as he begins. In his case it is the hills rather than
the trees he lifts his eyes to, but the effect is the same: they worry him. He is fearful
of what lies ahead. Perhaps the hills remind him of the goal of his journey—
Jerusalem sits in the Hill country of Judea— but they certainly also remind him of
the dangers of his journey: the dangers of the climb; the danger of bandits; the
danger of heatstroke and exhaustion in the fierce summer heat; the danger of wild
animals at night. All this prompts his question Where does my help come from?”
11. The Poet Laureate of Tennessee, a man named Pek Gunn, was fretting one day
about his future as he was aging. He began to look at the surrounding mountains
and wrote this poem:
As I stared at dem big mountains, trees and flowers everywhere
From my heart there welled up praises, 'cause my Lord had put ‘em there.
1ow I’se ain’t frettin’ any longer for there’s one thing dat I see,
If my good Lord made dem mountains, He can shore take care of me.
12. Great Texts, “ Ruskin, in his Modern Painters, has called attention to a
suggestive fact. It is that the greatest painters of the Holy Family have always a hint
of the mountains in the distance. You might have looked for cornfield or for
vineyard, or for some fine pleasant garden sleeping in the sunshine; but in the
greatest painters that you never find ; it is " I to the hills will lift mine eyes." What
they felt was, with one of these intuitions which are the birthright and the seal of
genius what they felt was that for a secular subject vineyard and meadow might be a
fitting background ; but for the Holy Family, and for the Child of God, and for the
love of heaven incarnate in humanity, you want the mystery, the height, the depth,
which call to the human spirit from the hills. It is not to man as a being with an
intellect that the hills have spoken their unvarying message. It is to man as a being
with a soul, with a cry in his heart for things that are above him. That is why Zeus
in the old Pagan days came down to speak to men upon Mount Ida. That is why
Genius painting Jesus Christ throws in its faint suggestion of the peaks.”
13. Great Texts, “From Venice, Ruskin travelled by Milan and Turin to Susa, and
over the Pass of Mont Cenis. Among the mountains he recovered at once health and
spirits. His first morning among the hills after the long months in Italy, he
accounted a turning-point in his life : " I woke from a sound tired sleep in a little
one- windowed room at Lans-le-bourg, at six of the summer morning, June 2nd,
1841 ; the red aiguilles on the north relieved against pure blue the great pyramid of
snow down the valley in one sheet of eastern light. I dressed in three minutes, ran
down the village street, across the stream, and climbed the grassy slope on the south
side of the valley, up to the first pines. I had found my life again ; all the best of it.
What good of religion, love, admiration or hope, had ever been taught me, or felt by
my best nature, rekindled at once ; and my line of work, both by my own will and
the aid granted to it by fate in the future, determined for me. I went down
thankfully to my father and mother, and told them I was sure I should get well."
Ruskin might have said very literally with the Psalmist : " I will lift up mine eyes
unto the hills, whence cometh my help." Many are the healing stories that come
from the awesome power of the mountains. They are part of the vast medicine
cabinet that God gave man in nature that can revive him in times of exhaustion.
God hath His uplands, bleak and bare,
Where He doth bid us rest awhile
Crags where we breathe the purer air,
Lone peaks that catch the day s first smile.
Lift me, Lord, above the level plain,
Beyond the cities where life throbs and thrills,
And in the cool airs let my spirit gain
The stable strength and courage of Thy hills.
They are Thy secret dwelling places, Lord.
Like Thy majestic prophets, old and hoar,
They stand assembled in divine accord,
Thy sign of stablished power for evermore.
Load me yet farther, Lord, to peaks more clear,
Until the clouds like shining meadows lie,
Where through the deeps of silence I may hear
The thunder of Thy legions marching by. Unknown author
14. There are numerous contemporary songs written based on this Psalm, and one
of them that I think really conveys the message of this Psalm is that by Bebo
�orman.
God, my God, I cry out
Your beloved needs You now
God, be near, calm my fear
And take my doubt
Your kindness is what pulls me up
Your love is all that draws me in
I will lift my eyes to the Maker
Of the mountains I can't climb
I will lift my eyes to the Calmer
Of the oceans raging wild
I will lift my eyes to the Healer
Of the hurt I hold inside
I will lift my eyes, lift my eyes to You
God, my God, let Mercy sing
Her melody over me
God, right here all I bring
Is all of me
Cause You are and You were and You will be forever
The Lover I need to save me
Cause You fashioned the earth and You hold it together, God
So hold me now
15. Another poem of beauty is not as close to this Psalm in meaning, but goes in
another wonderful direction.
Lift my eyes unto the hills
The Light it fills my eyes
Majestic shine now coming forth
My heart makes peaceful sigh
I see His Glory in the sky
His Majesty My King
Glowing from the heavens
Each ray of Light will bring
Heart so filled with rapture
At this wondrous sight I see
God the Father and the Son
His Spirit now with me
Feel His softness from on high
His Beauty from above
Fill my world with peacefulness
His never ending Love
Oh what joy within my soul
His Smile is always there
Omnipresent beauty of
Magnificence He shares
Feel the rapture of His Glory
While on my knees I pray
Oh My Father up above
You've touched my soul today. ~Francine Pucillo~
2. My help comes from the LORD,
the Maker of heaven and earth.
1. Certainly he who made all the mountains can safely lead me up the mountain of
Zion to worship him. He who made it all, can protect me from all, and lead me up
past all obstacles to Himself. Samuel Cox describes the risks involved in that day in
traveling up to Jerusalem: “In the East, travel dangers were always far more
perilous than in the West. And, from two to three thousand years ago, the journey
from Galilee to Jerusalem was so beset with perils of storms and perils of wild
beasts, perils of robbers and perils of war, perils from aliens and perils from fellow-
countrymen, that the Jews who undertook it were compelled to travel in armed
caravans for mutual support and defense. During the later centuries in which these
annual pilgrimages were made from the time of �ehemiah, through that of the
Maccabees, down to that of the Romans — the whole country was disturbed by
foreign invaders, by Hebrew factions, by bands of patriots driven to the hills for
political crimes, as well as by the village brigands who made a trade of robbery and
bloodshed.” Who would not be praying for God's help in those situations?
1B. Ben Edgington, “The Psalmist is convinced that God can help him because he is
the Maker of heaven and earth. The pilgrim lifted his eyes to the hills, and what he
saw made him anxious. But now he lifts his eyes higher and looks beyond to the very
one who made those hills: the one who made heaven and earth. With the Maker
himself on your side there is no need to fear anything that has been made. �othing is
beyond God's reach and control.”
2. Gill wrote, “Who helps his people out of the hands of all their enemies, and out of
all their troubles and afflictions; he helps them in the performance of duty, in the
exercise of grace, in bearing the cross, in fighting the Lord's battles, and on in their
journey; he helps them to all blessings, temporal and spiritual; to all needful
supplies of grace here, and glory hereafter; and this help he gives is quick and
present, suitable and seasonable, is sufficient, and sometimes with, and sometimes
without means; and they have great encouragement to expect it from him, since he
is able to give it, being the Maker of heaven and earth; for what is it that he cannot
do, who has made both them? And besides, he has promised to help them, and he is
faithful that has promised; he has laid help on Christ for them, and set up a throne
of grace, where they may hope to find grace and mercy, to help them in time of
need; and they have had past experiences of his help and salvation.”
3. Henry comments, ““This (says Dr. Hammond) may refer to Christ incarnate,
with whose humanity the Deity being inseparably united, God is always present with
him, and, through him, with us, for whom, sitting at God's right hand, he constantly
maketh intercession.” Christ is called the angel of his presence, that saved his
people, Isa_63:9. 4. We must encourage our confidence in God with this that he
made heaven and earth, and he who did that can do any thing. He made the world
out of nothing, himself alone, by a word's speaking, in a little time, and all very
good, very excellent and beautiful; and therefore, how great soever our straits and
difficulties are, he has power sufficient for our succor and relief. He that made
heaven and earth is sovereign Lord of all the hosts of both, and can make use of
them as he pleases for the help of his people, and restrain them when he pleases
from hurting his people.”
4. Spurgeon, “What we need is help, -- help powerful, efficient, constant: we need a
very present help in trouble. What a mercy that we have it in our God. Our hope is
in Jehovah, for our help comes from him. Help is on the road, and will not fail to
reach us in due time, for he who sends it to us was never known to be too late.
Jehovah who created all things is equal to every emergency; heaven and earth are at
the disposal of him who made them, therefore let us be very joyful in our infinite
helper. He will sooner destroy heaven and earth than permit his people to be
destroyed, and the perpetual hills themselves shall bow rather than he shall fail
whose ways are everlasting. We are bound to look beyond heaven and earth to him
who made them both: it is vain to trust the creatures: it is wise to trust the Creator.”
5. To look only to human help is to put your trust in a broken crutch, for men fail to
come to our aid, or they come too late to save us. (Ps 146:3-4) Do not put your trust
in princes, in mortal men, who cannot save. (4) When their spirit departs, they
return to the ground; on that very day their plans come to nothing.”
6. “Our help comes from the LORD. It is He Who helps us on our life's journey. He
is He Who gives us the strength and the courage to keep on going. It is He Who
allows us to face death and trouble and hardship with confidence and joy. Our help
comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth. Imagine the might and the
power to make everything in heaven and earth; imagine the might and the power to
make you and me. The LORD, He is Almighty. All things are in His hands. �othing
and no one is stronger than Him. To such a God – a mighty God – we can look for
help. We know He is more than able to do anything at anytime and anywhere.”
Adrian Dielman
7. “THE LORD, THE MAKER OF HEAVE� A�D EARTH: "Except the Lord
keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain" (Psa 127:1). "The Lord is on my
side; I will not fear: what can man do unto me?" (Psa 118:6; Heb 13:6). Man builds
"hills" and towers and mighty cathedrals; he carves images of wood and stone; but
the Lord made heaven and earth, a vastly superior work. "The Most High dwelleth
not in temples made with hands... Heaven is my throne, and earth my footstool:
what house will ye build me? saith the Lord. Hath not my hand made all these
things?" (Act 7:48-50).”
8. Someone compiled this list of Scriptures where God is the source of help, and
after reading this list you will be convinced that God is indeed our Helper.
(Genesis 49:25 �KJV) By the God of your father who will help you, And by the
Almighty who will bless you With blessings of heaven above, Blessings of the deep
that lies beneath, Blessings of the breasts and of the womb.
(2 Chronicles 14:11-12 �KJV) And Asa cried out to the LORD his God, and said,
"LORD, it is nothing for You to help, whether with many or with those who have no
power; help us, O LORD our God, for we rest on You, and in Your name we go
against this multitude. O LORD, You are our God; do not let man prevail against
You!" {12} So the LORD struck the Ethiopians before Asa and Judah, and the
Ethiopians fled.
(2 Chronicles 18:31-32 �KJV) So it was, when the captains of the chariots saw
Jehoshaphat, that they said, "It is the king of Israel!" Therefore they surrounded
him to attack; but Jehoshaphat cried out, and the LORD helped him, and God
diverted them from him. {32} For so it was, when the captains of the chariots saw
that it was not the king of Israel, that they turned back from pursuing him.
(2 Chronicles 32:7-8 �KJV) "Be strong and courageous; do not be afraid nor
dismayed before the king of Assyria, nor before all the multitude that is with him;
for there are more with us than with him. {8} "With him is an arm of flesh; but with
us is the LORD our God, to help us and to fight our battles." And the people were
strengthened by the words of Hezekiah king of Judah.
(Psalms 27:8-10 �KJV) When You said, "Seek My face," My heart said to You,
"Your face, LORD, I will seek." {9} Do not hide Your face from me; Do not turn
Your servant away in anger; You have been my help; Do not leave me nor forsake
me, O God of my salvation. {10} When my father and my mother forsake me, Then
the LORD will take care of me.
(Psalms 28:7 �KJV) The LORD is my strength and my shield; My heart trusted in
Him, and I am helped; Therefore my heart greatly rejoices, And with my song I will
praise Him.
(Psalms 30:10-11 �KJV) Hear, O LORD, and have mercy on me; LORD, be my
helper!" {11} You have turned for me my mourning into dancing; You have put off
my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness,
(Psalms 37:39-40 �KJV) But the salvation of the righteous is from the LORD; He is
their strength in the time of trouble. {40} And the LORD shall help them and
deliver them; He shall deliver them from the wicked, And save them, Because they
trust in Him.
(Psalms 40:16-17 �KJV) Let all those who seek You rejoice and be glad in You; Let
such as love Your salvation say continually, "The LORD be magnified!" {17} But I
am poor and needy; Yet the LORD thinks upon me. You are my help and my
deliverer; Do not delay, O my God.
(Psalms 42:5 �KJV) Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you
disquieted within me? Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him For the help of His
countenance.
(Psalms 46:1 �KJV) God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble.
(Psalms 54:4 �KJV) Behold, God is my helper; The Lord is with those who uphold
my life.
(Psalms 60:11 �KJV) Give us help from trouble, For the help of man is useless.
(Psalms 63:6-7 �KJV) When I remember You on my bed, I meditate on You in the
night watches. {7} Because You have been my help, Therefore in the shadow of
Your wings I will rejoice.
(Psalms 70:4-5 �KJV) Let all those who seek You rejoice and be glad in You; And
let those who love Your salvation say continually, "Let God be magnified!" {5} But I
am poor and needy; Make haste to me, O God! You are my help and my deliverer;
O LORD, do not delay.
(Psalms 79:9 �KJV) Help us, O God of our salvation, For the glory of Your name;
And deliver us, and provide atonement for our sins, For Your name's sake!
(Psalms 94:17-18 �KJV) Unless the LORD had been my help, My soul would soon
have settled in silence. {18} If I say, "My foot slips," Your mercy, O LORD, will
hold me up.
(Psalms 109:26-27 �KJV) Help me, O LORD my God! Oh, save me according to
Your mercy, {27} That they may know that this is Your hand; That You, LORD,
have done it!
(Psalms 121:1-2 �KJV) I will lift up my eyes to the hills; From whence comes my
help? {2} My help comes from the LORD, Who made heaven and earth.
(Psalms 146:5-6 �KJV) Happy is he who has the God of Jacob for his help, Whose
hope is in the LORD his God, {6} Who made heaven and earth, The sea, and all that
is in them; Who keeps truth forever,
(Isaiah 41:10 �KJV) Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your
God. I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous
right hand.'
(Isaiah 41:13 �KJV) For I, the LORD your God, will hold your right hand, Saying
to you, 'Fear not, I will help you.'
(Isaiah 50:7-9 �KJV) "For the Lord GOD will help Me; Therefore I will not be
disgraced; Therefore I have set My face like a flint, And I know that I will not be
ashamed. {8} He is near who justifies Me; Who will contend with Me? Let us stand
together. Who is My adversary? Let him come near Me. {9} Surely the Lord GOD
will help Me; Who is he who will condemn Me? Indeed they will all grow old like a
garment; The moth will eat them up.
(Romans 8:25-29 �KJV) But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for
it with perseverance. {26} Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we
do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes
intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. {27} �ow He who
searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes
intercession for the saints according to the will of God. {28} And we know that all
things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called
according to His purpose. {29} For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be
conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many
brethren.
(Hebrews 4:14-16 �KJV) Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has
passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.
{15} For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses,
but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. {16} Let us therefore come
boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in
time of need.
(Hebrews 13:5-6 �KJV) Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with
such things as you have. For He Himself has said, "I will never leave you nor
forsake you." {6} So we may boldly say: "The LORD is my helper; I will not fear.
What can man do to me?"
9. Abide with Me
Abide with me; fast falls the eventide;
The darkness deepens; Lord with me abide.
When other helpers fail and comforts flee,
Help of the helpless, O abide with me.
“This beloved hymn of comfort and trust was written in 1847 by Henry F. Lyte a
man of delicate health most of his life who served tirelessly as a pastor in a seashore
church in Devonshire, England where he ministered to the rough sailors and
uncultured villagers who loved him. Health finally forced Lyte to retreat to the
milder climate of sunny southern France, and he prepared to sail. On his last
Sunday after 24 years of faithful service, despite being too weak to stand and
preach, somehow he was able feebly stand and preach his parting message to his
weeping flock. That evening, as he walked down to the ocean and watched the sun
setting, he took out a piece of paper and penned the poem that was later put to
music in this beautiful hymn. The next day he left for France. Reaching �ice, he had
a seizure and passed away with the words, “Joy! Peace!” on his lips. In his going out
and coming in, Lyte experienced help for the helpless from Jehovah, the Helper of
all our souls.” author unknown
15. The Psalmist asks a question, and then gives the answer to his own question.
Where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord. He asks, and he
receives. �ot all are so fortunate in looking for help. Someone wrote this poem that
is humorous, but it is not so funny at the time you are looking for help that you
need.
In supermarkets it requires
A super man or woman,
A person with the sharpest eyes,
Persistence, and acumen.
You see, it takes a special knack,
Sometimes, to find an item.
Signs are a help, but not enough,
And sometimes you can't sight 'em.
Yes, searching out just what is where
Is really quite a task,
And it is almost harder, friends,
To find someone to ask.
There are so many situations in life where we need help, and it is made so
complicated that we are often in despair. God is our helper in all the areas of life
where we need his providential guidance and protection, and he is ever ready to
provide that help when we call upon him. The primary role that prayer plays in our
lives is in the realm of seeking his help in the many areas where we have no power to
achieve the goals on our own.
3 He will not let your foot slip, he who watches
over you will not slumber;
1. There were points along this climb where the footing could be slippery, and one
could fall or twist an ankle and become hurt enough to hinder them from getting to
the temple. This would be a sad event, and doubtless it happened a good many
times, but here is one with the assurance that it will not happen to them, for he
trusts that God will be wide awake when he climbs the hills, and he will protect him
from such accidents. The pilgrims are singing this as they climb, and it is an exercise
in positive thinking whereby they are assuring each other that all will be well. We
are going to make it safe and sound, for the Lord hears our prayers for protection.
We do not have to worry if it is getting late in our journey, for we do not serve a
God who has to get to bed early, for he never sleeps, but is ever wakeful toward his
people and their need for protection. Ruth Bell Graham wrote, “If you’re going to
stay up all night worrying, do something useful and pray. Talk to the “�ight
Watchman” on duty. That’s what Jesus did.”
2. “He will not suffer thy foot to be moved - He will enable you to stand firm. You
are safe in his protection. Compare the notes at Psa_38:16. This, with the remainder
of the psalm, seems to be of the nature of an answer to the anxious question in
Psa_121:1 - an answer which the author of the psalm, in danger and trouble, makes
to his own soul, imparting confidence to himself. He that keepeth thee will not
slumber - He will be ever watchful and wakeful. Compare Isa_27:3. All creatures, as
far as we know, sleep; God never sleeps. Compare Psa_139:11-12. His eyes are upon
us by day, and in the darkness of the night - the night literally; and also the night of
calamity, woe, and sorrow.” author unknown
3. Spurgeon, “He will not suffer thy foot to be moved. Though the paths of life are
dangerous and difficult, yet we shall stand fast, for Jehovah will not permit our feet
to slide; and if he will not suffer it we shall not suffer it. If our foot will be thus kept
we may be sure that our head and heart will be preserved also. In the original the
words express a wish or prayer, - - "May he not suffer thy foot to be moved."
Promised preservation should be the subject of perpetual prayer; and we may pray
believing; for those who have God for their keeper shall be safe from all the perils of
the way. Among the hills and ravines of Palestine the literal keeping of tim feet is a
great mercy; but in the slippery ways of a tried and afflicted life, the boon of
upholding is of priceless value, for a single false step might cause us a fall fraught
with awful danger. To stand erect and pursue the even tenor of our way is a blessing
which only God can give, which is worthy of the divine hand, and worthy also of
perennial gratitude. Our feet shall move in progress, but they shall not be moved to
their overthrow.
He that keepeth thee will not slumber, -- or "thy keeper shall not slumber". We
should not stand a moment if our keeper were to sleep; we need him by day and by
night; not a single step can be safely taken except under his guardian eye. This is a
choice stanza in a pilgrim song. God is the convoy and body guard of his saints.
When dangers are awake around us we are safe, for our Preserver is awake also,
and will not permit us to be taken unawares. �o fatigue or exhaustion can cast our
God into sleep; his watchful eyes are never closed.”
3B. Spurgeon adds, “"Disasters and reverses may lay him low; he may, like Job, be
stripped of everything; like Joseph, be put in prison; like Jonah, be cast into the
deep. He shall not be utterly cast down. He will be brought on his knees, but not on
his face; or, if laid prone for a moment he shall be up again ere long. �o saint will
fall finally or fatally. Sorrow may bring us to the earth, and death may bring us to
the grave, but lower we cannot sink, and out of the lowest of all we shall arise to the
highest of all. For the Lord upholdeth him with his hand. He does not leave his
saints to mere delegated agency; He affords personal assistance. Where grace does
not keep us from going down, it will save from keeping down. Job had double
wealth at last, Joseph reigned over Egypt, Jonah was safely landed. It is not that the
saints are strong, or wise, or meritorious, that therefore they rise after every fall,
but because God is their Helper and therefore none can prevail against them."
(Spurgeon, C. H: The Treasury of David)
Amidst a thousand snares I stand
Upheld and guarded by thy hand;
That hand unseen shall hold me still,
And lead me to thy holy hill.
4. He will not suffer thy foot to be moved. The sliding of the foot is a frequent
description of misfortune, for example, Psalms 38:16, Psalms 66:9, and a very
natural one in mountainous Canaan. Where a single slip of the foot was often
attended with great danger. The language here naturally refers to complete, lasting
misfortune. --E.W. Hengstenberg.
5. There is something very striking in the assurance that the Lord will not suffer the
foot even of the most faint and wearied one to be moved. The everlasting mountains
stand fast, and we feel as if, like Mount Zion, they could not be removed for ever;
but the step of man -- how feeble in itself, how liable to stumble or trip even against
a pebble in the way! Yet that foot is as firm and immoveable in God's protection as
the hills themselves. It is one of his own sweet promises, that he will give his angels
charge over every child Of his, that lie come to no harm by the way. But, oh, how
immeasurably beyond even the untiring wings of angels is the love promised here!
that love which engages to protect from every danger, as a hen gathereth her
chickens under her wings. In the hours of occupation and hurry, in the conflicts and
perils of the day, in the helplessness of sleep, in the glare and heat of the noonday,
amid the damps and dews of night, that wakeful eye is still over every child for his
good. Man, indeed, goeth forth to his work and to his labor till the evening; but alike
as he goes forth in the morning, and as he returns in the evening, the Lord still holds
him up in all his goings forth and his comings in; no manner of evil shall befall him.
And oh! what a sweet addition is it to the promise, "He shall preserve thy soul". It is
the very argument of the apostle, and the very inference he draws, "The eyes of the
Lord are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry", -- "He neither
slumbereth nor sleepeth", -- and then he asks, "Who is he that will harm you, if ye
be followers of that which is good?" From the very dawn of life to its latest close,
even for evermore, "He will preserve thee from all evil; he will preserve thy soul."
--Barton Bouchier.
6. Samuel Cox, “The recurring and characteristic word of the Psalm is " keep : it is
repeated and thought of no less than six times in the last six verses. The Creator of
the universe is the Keeper of Israel. The Keeper of the whole nation is the Keeper of
the individual man. The Keeper of the man and the nation does not fall into slumber
from weariness; nor is his life, through mortal weakness, an alternate waking and
sleeping : He guards them from the perils of the night as well as from the perils of
the day. He keeps those who trust in Him from evil in every form. He keeps
their very soul, their most inward and secret life. He keeps them in all the changes
and inter courses of their outward life, their goings out and their comings in. He
keeps them through all —hidden lapse of time, now and for evermore. It is
unfortunate that our Authorized Version, by substituting the verb "preserve for
the verb "keep'' in the closing verses of the Psalm, hides from the English reader the
iteration of one and the same word in the Original. For it is by the iteration of one
word, by the varied repetition of one thought, by the tenacious insistence on one
point, that the Poet assures himself of the unceasing and watchful care of God,
persuades himself to trust in it, banishes every shade of doubt from his heart, and
loses all fear lest he should be overlooked and forgotten by the God who has all men
and all worlds on his hands.”
7. Robert J. Morgan makes it easier to see what Cox is writing about by giving us
this: “...in the original Hebrew, the word “shamar” occurs six times in these six
verses. Let’s read it like that:
He will not allow your foot to be moved; He who shamar(s) you will not slumber.
Behold, He who shamar(s) Israel
Shall neither slumber nor sleep.
The LORD is your shamar(-er);
The LORD is your shade at your right hand.
The sun shall not strike you by day,
�or the moon by night.
The LORD shall shamar you from all evil;
He shall shamar your soul.
The LORD shall shamar your going out and your coming in
From this time forth, and even forevermore.
7B. Great Texts, “Have you heard of the man who, when he was dying, asked that
they should inscribe upon his tombstone just one word, and that one word was not
his name, his good deeds, or anything about him ; but over the anonymous corpse
that lay beneath was to be the word " Kept." It was a stroke of genius. " Kept."
That will do. If I live until I am ninety, and do well all that time, when I come to die,
put me down in my grave, and only put that over the top of me, and I will be full
content " Kept."
8. �otice that this psalm can be "subdivided" in to
(1) The Anticipation of Divine Help (Psalm 121:1-2) in which the psalmist
speaks in the first person ("I," "my," Psalm 121:1-2) and
(2) The Assurance of Divine Help (Psalm 121:3-8), which is written in the
second person singular ("you," "your"), which might have been to allow this
segment to be sung antiphonally.
Looking at this psalm another way, the second six verses explain the Divine help
mentioned in the first two verses. The explanation in the second could represent a
dialogue between two parties (some commentaries suggest the psalmist and a priest).
Alternatively the psalmist could be "preaching" or dialoguing with himself
(between the godly man and his inner self) as we see in Psalms 42 and 43. where
David is also seeking "help" author unknown
9. Wayne Shih, “The key word in these verses is the word “watch” or “keep.” It occurs
six times in six verses. The basic idea of the word is “to exercise great care over.” These
verses tell us that God exercises great care over us. He guards our life, he tends to our
needs, he protects our ways. �ow, before we look at what God’s care is like, I want you
to note the change in speaker between verse 2 and 3. There is a shift from the first
person in the opening verses to the third person starting in verse 3. What does this shift
mean? There are a couple of possibilities. Perhaps the person is now talking to himself.
Or perhaps someone else is now talking to him. Either way, we need both of these kinds
of “voices” in our life. First, we need to talk to ourselves. Some of you are thinking, “I
already do that, and people think I’m crazy.” Just remember, you’re not crazy until
you start answering yourself. Seriously, we need to speak the truth to ourselves. We
need to tell ourselves what God’s word says. Most of us have been listening to lies for
years. They play in our heads like taped messages. “God doesn’t care about you.”
“You’ve sinned too much for God to accept you.” “You have to be perfect to be loved.”
“You can indulge one little sin in your life.” “You have the right to hold a grudge.” And
on it goes. Last week, we saw in Psalm 120 how the psalmist was bothered by the lies
spoken against him. But just as dangerous are the lies within us. To counter those lies,
we need to speak the truth to ourselves.
Martyn Lloyd-Jones wrote, “....instead of allowing this self to talk to you, you have
to start talking to yourself: The main art in the matter of spiritual living is to know
how to handle yourself. You have to take yourself in hand, you have to address
yourself, preach to yourself, question yourself…. You must turn on yourself,
upbraid yourself, condemn yourself, exhort yourself, and say to yourself: ‘Hope
thou in God’ - instead of muttering in this depressed, unhappy way. And then you
must go on to remind yourself of God, Who God is, and what God is and what God
has done, and what God has pledged Himself to do (Spiritual Depression, 20-21).”
My comment is this: “In other words, face the reality of who, what and where you
are, and then have faith in the reality of who God is, and what he has promised.”
10. Judy Gresham
And when I lift my eyes I’ll see your powerful sufficiency,
God who watches over me won’t slumber.
And You will be my shade by day,
you’ll keep the fears of night at bay,
steadied by your hand , my feet won’t stumble
4 indeed, he who watches over Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.
1. “A great practical difficulty is to find a keeper who will remain awake during the
whole night. The weariness of those who keep a faithful watch, and their longing for
day during the tedious lonely hours of darkness, is alluded to in a graphic and
beautiful figure of the Psalmist --
"My soul waiteth for the Lord
More than keepers for the morning,
More than keepers for the morning."
The usual method adopted to secure due vigilance is to require the man to call out
loudly, or to blow a whistle, every quarter of an hour... Yet, notwithstanding all
precautions, as soon as sleep falls on the tired camp, it is too often the case that the
hireling keeper lies down on the ground, wraps around him his thick "abaiyeh", or
cloak, and, careless of his charge, or overcome with weariness yields himself up to
his drowsy propensities.
Viewed in the light of these facts, how full of condescension and cheer is the
assurance of God's never ceasing care --
"He who keepeth thee will not slumber.
Behold, he who keepeth Israel
Doth not slumber or sleep.
Jehovah is thy keeper."
While the services of the keeper constitute at all times a marked feature of life in
Palestine, they are perhaps more needed when traveling through the country than at
any other time. Then, when the moving camp is nightly pitched in strange fields, it
becomes absolutely necessary to apply to the nearest authorities for a nocturnal
guardian, before one can safely lie down to rest. �ow this Psalm 121 being one of
"the Songs of Degrees," was probably composed to be sung on the way to
Jerusalem, as a pilgrim hymn, when the Israelites were coming up annually to keep
the three great feasts. As a journeying psalm, it would therefore have peculiar
significance in its allusion to the keeper by night. -- James �eil, in "Palestine
Explored", 1882.
1B. We may go to sleep on God, but he will not go to sleep on us. We can be so tired
that our evening prayers are never finished because we fall asleep before we get
done. We go to sleep at the wheel of life and are so drowsy that we forget that we
just had a great opportunity to witness for Christ. We think of it too late and miss
the chance. We are often sleepy saints that miss opportunities that God gives us to
do his will. Thank heavens that God does not sleep and forget to protect and guide
us, for we might not survive another day if he took a nap and left us on our own.
How many times have I just missed being killed in a car, and where I have been
spared by seconds from being hit. I have thanked God many times for his
providential care that has kept me alive. I am so grateful that he never sleeps, and
never takes a vacation. I need a 24/7 God to keep me surviving.
2. When one asked Alexander how he could sleep so soundly and securely in the midst
of danger, he told him that Parmenlo watched, Oh, how securely may they sleep
over whom he watcheth that never slumbers nor sleeps! --From "The Dictionary of
Illustrations", 1873.
3. Barnes, “ The Keeper - the Guardian - of his people. The psalmist here passes
from his own particular case to a general truth - a truth to him full of consolation. It
is, that the people of God must always be safe; that their great Guardian never
slumbers; and that he, as one of his people, might, therefore, confidently look for his
protecting care. Shall neither slumber nor sleep - �ever slumbers, never ceases to be
watchful. Man sleeps; a sentinel may slumber on his post, by inattention, by long-
continued wakefulness, or by weariness; a pilot may slumber at the helm; even a
mother may fall asleep by the side of the sick child; but God is never exhausted, is
never weary, is never inattentive. He never closes his eyes on the condition of his
people, on the needs of the world.”
4. Clarke, “The Divine Being represents himself as a watchman, who takes care of
the city and its inhabitants during the night-watches; and who is never overtaken
with slumbering or sleepiness. There is a thought in the Antigone of Sophocles, that
seems the counterpart of this of the psalmist,
Shall men below control great Jove above,
Whose eyes by all-subduing sleep
Are never closed, as feeble mortals’ are;
But still their watchful vigil keep
Through the long circle of th’ eternal year?
Franklin.
5. Gill, “He that kept Israel or Jacob, when asleep, and appeared to him in a dream,
and promised to keep him in all places, and did; who found his posterity in the
wilderness, and kept them as the apple of his eye: he keeps his spiritual Israel,
whom he has chosen, redeemed, and calls; and he that is in general their keeper, is
the keeper of every particular believer, who may promise themselves the utmost
safety under his care; since, though he may sometimes seem to sleep, when he
withdraws his gracious presence, defers help, and does not arise so soon to the
assistance of his people as they wish for and expect; yet does not in reality sleep, nor
is any ways negligent of them; no, not so much as slumber, nor is in the least
indifferent about them, and careless of them; see Gen_28:15. So Homer represents
Jupiter as not held by sleep, while other gods and men slept all night; and hence
Milton has the phrase of "the unsleeping eyes of God": but the Phrygians had a
notion that their god slept in winter, and was awake in summer.”
6. Spurgeon, “Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. The
consoling truth must be repeated: it is too rich to be dismissed in a single line. It
were well if we always imitated the sweet singer, and would dwell a little upon a
choice doctrine, sucking the honey from it. What a glorious title is in the Hebrew --
"The keeper of Israel," and how delightful to think that no form of unconsciousness
ever steals over him, neither the deep slumber nor the lighter sleep. He will never
suffer the house to be broken up by the silent thief; he is ever on the watch, and
speedily perceives every intruder. This is a subject of wonder, a theme for attentive
consideration, therefore the word "Behold" is set up as a waymark. Israel fell
asleep, but his God was awake. Jacob had neither walls, nor curtains, nor body
guard around him; but the Lord was in that place though Jacob knew it not, and
therefore the defenseless man was safe as in a castle. In after days he mentioned God
under this enchanting name -- "The God that led me all my life long": perhaps
David alludes to that passage in this expression. The word "keepeth" is also full of
meaning: he keeps us as a rich man keeps his treasures, as a captain keeps a city
with a garrison, as a royal guard keeps his monarch's head. If the former verse is in
strict accuracy a prayer, this is the answer to it; it affirms the matter thus, "Lo, he
shall not slumber nor sleep -- the Keeper of Israel". It may also be worthy of
mention that in verse three the Lord is spoken of as the personal keeper of one
individual, and here of all those who are in his chosen nation, described as Israel:
mercy to one saint is the pledge of blessing to them all. Happy are the pilgrims to
whom this psalm is a safe conduct; they may journey all the way to the celestial city
without fear.” Spurgeon quotes an unknown poet:
There is an eye that never sleeps
Beneath the wing of night;
There is an ear that never shuts
When sink the beams of light.
There is an arm that never tires
When human strength gives way;
There is a love that never fails
When earthly loves decay.
That eye is fixed on seraph throngs;
That arm upholds the sky;
That ear is filled with angel songs;
That love is throned on high.
But there’s a power which man can wield
When mortal aid is vain,
That eye, that arm, that love to reach,
That listening ear to gain.
That power is prayer, which soars on high,
Through Jesus, to the throne,
And moves the hand which moves the world,
To bring salvation down.
7. A number of years ago Captain D. commanded a vessel sailing from Liverpool to
�ew York, and on one voyage he had all his family with him on board the ship.
One night, when all were quietly asleep, there arose a sudden squall of wind, which
came sweeping over the waters until it struck the vessel, and instantly threw her on
her side, tumbling and crashing everything that was moveable, and awakening the
passengers to a consciousness that they were in imminent peril.
Everyone on board was alarmed and uneasy, and some sprang from their berths
and began to dress, that they might be ready for the worst.
Captain D. had a little girl on board, just eight years old, who, of course, awoke with
the rest.
"What's the matter?" said the frightened child.
They told her a squall had struck the ship.
"Is father on deck?" said she.
"Yes; father's on deck."
The little thing dropped herself on her pillow again without a fear, and in a few
moments was sleeping sweetly in spite of winds or waves.
Fear not the windy tempests wild,
Thy bark they shall not wreck;
Lie down and sleep, O helpless child!.
Thy Father's on the deck. --"The Biblical Treasury", 1873.
8. “Luther called this a “psalm of comfort” (Trostpsalm), summarizing its message
by saying that it teaches “that we should remain steadfast in faith and await God’s
help and protection. Because even though it appears that God is sleeping or
snoring...this is certainly not so, despite the way we feel and think. He is surely
awake and watching over us....Eventually we’ll learn that, if we can only hold fast.”
5. The LORD watches over you—
the LORD is your shade at your right hand;
1. Barnes, “Perhaps the particular allusion to the right hand here may be that that
was the place of a protector. He would thus be at hand, or would be ready to
interpose in defense of him whom he was to guard. It is possible, however, that the
idea here may be derived from the fact that in Scripture the geographer is
represented as looking to the east, and not toward the north, as with us. Hence, the
south is always spoken of as the right, or at the right hand (compare the notes at
Psa_89:12); and as the intense rays of the sun are from the south, the idea may be,
that God would be as a shade in the direction from which those burning rays came.”
2. Gill, “This explains more fully who it is that keeps Israel and particular believers,
and confirms the same; not a creature, but the Lord; the Word of the Lord, as the
Targum, in Psa_121:7, Christ, the Word and Wisdom of God; who is the keeper of
his people by the designation of his Father, who has put them into his hands to be
kept by him; and by their full will and consent, who commit the keeping of their
souls to him; for which he is abundantly qualified, being able as the mighty God;
faithful to him that has appointed him; tender and compassionate to those under his
care, whom he keeps as the apple of his eye; and diligent and constant, for he keeps
them night and day, lest any hurt them: he keeps them as they are his flock, made
his care and charge; as they are the vineyard of the Lord of hosts; as they are a city,
which, unless the Lord keeps, the watchmen watch in vain; as they are his body and
members of it, and as they are his jewels and peculiar treasure: these he keeps in the
love of God; in his own hands; in the covenant of grace; in an estate of grace; and in
his own ways, safe to his kingdom and glory;
the Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand; he is at the right hand of his people, to
hold their right hand; to teach them to go, lead them into communion with himself,
and hold them up safe; and to strengthen their right hand, assist them in working,
without whom they can do nothing; and to counsel and direct them, and to protect
and defend them against all their enemies. So a shadow signifies defence; see
�um_14:9, Ecc_7:12; and such great personages are to others; in which sense Virgil
(n) uses the word "shadow"; and much more true is this of God himself. And he is
like the shadow of a great rock in a weary land; or of a spreading tree, which is a
protection from heat, and very reviving and refreshing; see Isa_32:2. The allusion
may be to the pillar of cloud by day, which guided and guarded the Israelites in the
wilderness, and was a shadow from the heat, Isa_4:5; as Christ is from the heat of a
fiery law, the flaming sword of justice, the wrath of God, and the fiery darts of
Satan.”
2B. Preceptaustin, “Isaiah records a similar great truth about God...
For You have been a defense for the helpless,
A defense for the needy in his distress,
A refuge from the storm, a shade from the heat;
For the breath of the ruthless Is like a rain storm against a wall. (Isaiah 25:4)
Spurgeon comments that on the figurative description, noting that
A shade gives protection from burning heat and glaring light. We cannot bear too
much blessing; even divine goodness, which is a right hand dispensation, must be
toned down and shaded to suit our infirmity, and this the Lord will do for us. He
will bear a shield before us, and guard the right arm with which we fight the foe.
That member which has the most of labour shall have the most of protection. When
a blazing sun pours down its burning beams upon our heads the Lord Jehovah
Himself will interpose to shade us, and that in the most honorable manner, acting as
our right hand Attendant, and placing us in comfort and safety. "The Lord at thy
right hand shall smite through kings". How different this from the portion of the
ungodly ones who have Satan standing at their right hand, and of those of whom
Moses said, "their defence has departed from them". God is as near us as our
shadow, and we are as safe as angels. (Treasury of David Psalm 121:5)”
3. Keil, “....protecting him and keeping him fresh and cool, covers him from the
sun's burning heat, as in Psa_109:6; Psa_110:5, with the idea of an overshadowing
that screens and spreads itself out over anything (cf. �um_14:9). To the figure of the
shadow is appended the consolation in Psa_121:6. of the sun signifies to smite
injuriously (Isa_49:10), plants, so that they wither (Psa_102:5), and the head
(Jon_4:8), so that symptoms of sun-stroke (2Ki_4:19,) appears. The transferring of
the word of the moon is not zeugmatic. Even the moon's rays may become
insupportable, may affect the eyes injuriously, and (more particularly in the
equatorial regions) produce fatal inflammation of the brain. From the hurtful
influences of nature that are round about him the promise extends in Psa_121:7-8 in
every direction. Jahve, says the poet to himself, will keep (guard) thee against all
evil, of whatever kind it may be and whencesoever it may threaten; He will keep thy
soul, and therefore thy life both inwardly and outwardly...”
4. Henry, “Being who is infinite substance is what he is in order that he may speak
sensible comfort to his people, promises to be their umbra - their shadow, to keep as
close to them as the shadow does to the body, and to shelter them from the scorching
heat, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land, Isa_32:2. Under this shadow they
may sit with delight and assurance, Son_2:3. 5. He is always near to his people for
their protection and refreshment, and never at a distance; he is their keeper and
shade on their right hand; so that he is never far to seek. The right hand is the
working hand; let them but turn themselves dexterously to their duty, and they shall
find God ready to them, to assist them and give them success, Psa_16:8. 6. He is not
only at their right hand, but he will also keep the feet of his saints, 1Sa_2:9. He will
have an eye upon them in their motions: He will not suffer thy foot to be moved. God
will provide that his people shall not be tempted above what they are able, shall not
fall into sin, though they may be very near it (Psa_73:2, Psa_73:23), shall not fall
into trouble, though there be many endeavouring to undermine them by fraud or
over throw them by force. He will keep them from being frightened, as we are when
we slip or stumble and are ready to fall.”
5. Spurgeon, “The Lord is thy keeper. Here the preserving One, who had been
spoken of by pronouns in the two previous verses, is distinctly named -- Jehovah is
thy keeper. What a mint of meaning lies here: the sentence is a mass of bullion, and
when coined and stamped with the king's name it will bear all our expenses between
our birthplace on earth and our rest in heaven. Here is a glorious person -- Jehovah,
assuming a gracious office and fulfilling it in person, -- Jehovah is thy keeper, in
behalf of a favored individual -- thy, and a firm assurance of revelation that it is
even so at this hour -- Jehovah is thy keeper. Can we appropriate the divine
declaration? If so, we may journey onward to Jerusalem and know no fear; yea, we
may journey through the valley of the shadow of death and fear no evil.
The Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand. A shade gives protection from burning
heat and glaring light. We cannot bear too much blessing; even divine goodness,
which is a right hand dispensation, must be toned down and shaded to suit our
infirmity, and this the Lord will do for us. He will bear a shield before us, and guard
the right arm with which we fight the foe. That member which has the most of
labour shall have the most of protection. When a blazing sun pours down its
burning beams upon our heads the Lord Jehovah himself will interpose to shade us,
and that in the most honourable manner, acting as our right hand attendant, and
placing us in comfort and safety. "The Lord at thy right hand shall smite through
kings". How different this from the portion of the ungodly ones who have Satan
standing at their right hand, and of those of whom Moses said, "their defense has
departed from them". God is as near us as our shadow, and we are as safe as
angels.”
6. How large a writ or patent of protection is granted here! 1o time shall be hurtful,
neither "day nor night," which includes all times. �othing shall hurt, neither sun
nor moon, nor heat nor cold. These should include all annoyances. �othing shall be
hurt. "Thy soul shall be preserved, thy outgoings and thy comings in shall be
preserved." These include the whole person of man, and him in all his just affairs
and actions. �othing of man is safe without a guard, and nothing of man can be
unsafe which is thus guarded. They should be kept who can say, "The Lord is our
keeper"; and they cannot be kept, no, not by legions of angels, who have not the
Lord for their keeper. �one can keep us but he, and he hath promised to keep us
"for evermore". --Joseph Caryl.
7. “Someone has said that the three keys to real peace are: fret not, faint not, fear
not.
1. Fret not--because God loves you (1Jn 4:16).
2. Faint not--because God holds you (Psalm 139:10-Spurgeon's note).
3. Fear not--because God keeps you (Psalm 121:5).
When the way is dim, and I cannot see
Through the mist of His wise design,
How my glad heart yearns and my faith returns
By the touch of His hand on mine. --Pounds
© 1913 Hope Publishing Company” author unknown
6. the sun will not harm you by day,
nor the moon by night.
1. Barnes, “The Septuagint renders this, “shall not burn thee” So the Latin Vulgate.
The Hebrew word means to smite, to strike, as with a rod or staff, or with the plague
or pestilence; and then, to kill, to slay. The allusion here is to what is now called a
“sun-stroke” - the effect of the burning sun on the brain. Such effects of the sun are
often fatal now, as doubtless they were in the time of the psalmist.
�or the moon by night - The psalmist here refers to some prevalent opinion about
the influence of the moon, as endangering life or health. Some have supposed that he
refers to the sudden cold which follows the intense heat of the day in Oriental
countries, and which, because the moon rules the night, as the sun does the day, is
either poetically or literally attributed to the moon. Lackmann and Michaelis
suppose that there is some allusion to the influence of the moon in producing
various kinds of disease, and especially lunacy - an idea which gave origin to that
name. Compare the notes at Mat_4:24. See Mat_17:15; Mar_9:17; Luk_9:39.
Knapp supposes the idea is, that from the moon’s not giving a clear and full light
like the sun, travelers trusting to its guidance may be led into rivers or quagmires.
Macrobius refers to a custom among the Orientals of covering the faces of children
when asleep, from some imagined effect of the moon on the health of the child.
Andersen (Orient. Reise-Beschreib. i. 8) refers to an effect, which he says is
common, and which he had often seen, of sleeping in the moon-beams, of making the
neck stiff, so that it could not be turned from side to side as before. See
Rosenmuller, Morgenland, in loc. Others have supposed that the allusion is to the
effect of the moon, and of sleeping under the open air, in producing ophthalmia - a
disease very common in the East - an effect guarded against by covering the face.
The influence of the moon, in producing madness or disease - the general influence
of it on health - is often referred to. Thus Shakespeare says:
“The moon, the governess of floods,
Pale in her anger, washes all the air,
That rheumatic diseases do abound.”
Midsummer 1ight’s Dream, ii. 2.
“It is the very error of the moon;
She comes more near the earth than she was wont,
And makes men mad.”
Othello, v. 2.
Some of these things are evidently purely imaginary. The true idea seems to be that
there were effects to be dreaded from the sudden changes from the heat of day to
the cold of night, and that these effects were attributed to the moon. See Gen_31:40.
The meaning is, that God would be a Protector alike in the dangers of the day and
of the night.”
1B. Preceptaustin, “David Barker has an interesting comment on the psalmist's
reference to the "moon" writing that While the Hebrew pilgrim may well have
known from his understanding of God and the world that such a danger does not
actually exist (Ed note: that the moon could really cause mental illness), it is easy to
understand how popular lore and superstition would invade and dominate in spite
of theological understandings to the contrary. The psalm realistically addresses the
mind-set of the pilgrim in his perceptions of dangers and fears." Barker goes on to
add that "there seems to be more here in reference to the superstitions and popular
fears of the people of the day. One wonders how many of God’s people today still
pause to pick up a four-leaf clover or feel a twinge of anxiety when a black cat
crosses the road ahead of them." (David Barker: "THE LORD WATCHES OVER
YOU": A PILGRIMAGE READI�G OF PSALM 121: Bibliotheca Sacra: Volume
152, issue 606, page 163)
1C. Preceptaustin, “DIVI�E SU�SCREE� - Some people are harmed by the sun's
powerful rays. They may be allergic to the sun, or they may have a disease, like
vitiligo (lack of protective pigment and propensity to severe burns) lupus
erythematosis. If these people are exposed to direct sunlight for an extended period
of time, they have a visible and painful reaction. To protect themselves, they wear
large-brimmed hats and clothing to cover their arms, legs, and necks. They use the
strongest sunscreen possible to protect exposed skin areas. And they spend the
midday hours in the shade.
In a similar way, Christians need spiritual protection from the "harmful rays" of
evil world system. Its ruler Satan bombards us continuously with potentially
harmful temptations and pressures that will weaken our testimony and turn us
away from the Lord if we yield to them. God Himself provides us with all the
protection we need. He stands between us and the enemy even as His cloud of glory
separated Israel from Pharaoh's pursuing army. Jehovah is our Shield and our
Fortress (Ps 144:1- note , Ps 144:2 -note). But we must apply this protection through
prayer, reading and meditating on the Bible, faith and obedience, right thinking,
fellowship and accountability with other Christians, and continual dependence on
the power of the Holy Spirit and the transforming power of the grace He supplies.
These spiritual disciplines will keep the world from getting through to us. God truly
is our Shade, our Shadow and our Keeper.”
The hosts of God encamp around
The dwellings of the just;
Protection He affords to all
Who make His name their trust.
- Tate and Brady
1D. James Limburg, “�ow the image is of the Lord providing a barrier between
some danger and the individual, thus the translation “Protector.” The first of these
dangers to be mentioned is the sun. Sunstroke was a serious problem for those in
biblical lands. Elisha the prophet once treated a young man who had been
struck down by the sun (II Kings 4:18-37). Judith’s husband died of sunstroke
(Judith 8:2-3; cf. also Jonah 4:8 and Isa 49:2, 10). Belief in the harmful effects of the
moon’s rays persists into �ew Testament times as is indicated by the word
seleniasomai, “moonstruck,” in Matthew 4:24, translated by the �ew American
Bible as “lunatics,” from the Latin for moon, “luna.” The sense of these two verses is
to assure the traveller of the Lord’s protection in the daytime as well as through the
night.”
2. Clarke, “Thus expressed by the Chaldee: “The morning spectres shall not smite
thee by day, during the government of the sun; nor the nocturnal spectres by night,
during the government of the moon.” I believe the psalmist simply means, they shall
not be injured by heat nor cold; by a sun-stroke by day, nor a frost-bite by night.”
3. Gill, “...these clauses are not to be understood literally; for good men may be
smitten and hurt by the heat of the one and the cold of the other, as Jacob and
Jonah, Gen_31:40; but mystically, of persecuting antichristian tyrants, which are
sometimes signified by the sun and moon, as both in Rome Pagan and Papal,
Rev_6:12; and of persecution and tribulation itself, Mat_13:6; and is sometimes
applied to the perfect state of the saints, either in the �ew Jerusalem, or ultimate
glory, when there will be nothing more of this kind, Rev_7:15. And there are some
periods in the present state, when those entirely cease; nor are the saints ever really
hurt by them, they being always for their good; or, however, not so as to affect their
eternal happiness. The Targum is, "in the day, when the sun rules, the morning
spirits shall not smite thee; nor the nocturnal ones in the night, when the moon
rules.''
4. Henry, “He will protect them from all the malignant influences of the heavenly
bodies (Psa_121:6): The sun shall not smite thee with his heat by day nor the moon
with her cold and moisture by night. The sun and moon are great blessings to
mankind, and yet (such a sad change has sin made in the creation) even the sun and
moon, though worshiped by a great part of mankind, are often instruments of hurt
and distemper to human bodies; God by them often smites us; but his favor shall
interpose so that they shall not damage his people. He will keep them night and day
(Isa_27:3), as he kept Israel in the wilderness by a pillar of cloud by day, which
screened them from the heat of the sun, and of fire by night, which probably diffused
a genial warmth over the whole camp, that they might not be prejudiced by the cold
and damp of the night, their father Jacob having complained (Gen_31:40) that by
day the drought consumed him and the frost by night. It may be understood
figuratively: “Thou shalt not be hurt either by the open assaults of thy enemies,
which are as visible as the scorching beams of the sun, or by their secret treacherous
attempts, which are like the insensible insinuations of the cold by night.”
5. Spurgeon, “The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night. �one but
the Lord could shelter us from these tremendous forces. These two great lights rule
the day and the night, and under the lordship of both we shall labor or rest in equal
safety. Doubtless there are dangers of the light and of the dark, but in both and
from both we shall be preserved -- literally from excessive heat and from baneful
chills; mystically from any injurious effects which might follow from doctrine bright
or dim; spiritually from the evils of prosperity and adversity; eternally from the
strain of overpowering glory and from the pressure of terrible events, such as
judgment and the burning of the world. Day and night make up all time: thus the
ever present protection never ceases. All evil may be ranked as under the sun or the
moon, and if neither of these can smite us we are indeed secure. God has not made a
new sun or a fresh moon for his chosen, they exist under the same outward
circumstances as others, but the power to smite is in their case removed from
temporal agencies; saints are enriched, and not injured, by the powers which govern
the earth's condition; to them has the Lord given "the precious things brought forth
by the sun, and the precious things put forth by the moon," while at the same
moment he has removed from them all glare and curse of heat or damp, of glare or
chill.”
6. Calvin, “By these forms of expression the Psalmist magnifies the advantages
which result to us from our having God present with us; and, by the figure
synecdoche, under one particular, he declares in general that the faithful shall be
safe from all adversities, defended as they are by Divine power. The language is
metaphorical, the cold of night and the heat of day denoting all kind of
inconveniences. The sense then is, that although God's people may be subject in
common with others to the miseries of human life, yet his shadow is always at their
side to shield them from thereby receiving any harm. The Prophet does not,
however, promise the faithful a condition of such felicity and comfort as implies an
exemption from all trouble; he only, for the purpose of assuaging their sorrows, sets
before them this consolation -- that being interested in the Divine layout, they shall
be secure from all deadly harm; a point which he unfolds more distinctly in the
following verses, where he tells us that God will so keep his own people from all
evils, as to maintain their life in safety. The statement in the text before us is indeed
general, but he afterward specifies the chief parts of human life.”
7. The LORD will keep you from all harm—
he will watch over your life;
1. It is not easy to have this kind of faith when we are headed out on a long journey
with all kinds of potential dangers. It has always been so, and it is so today with all
of the car crashes, train crashes, and plane crashes that take many lives of travelers.
It is hard not to worry, but sometime we overdo it and have fears that are
unrealistic. Rich Cathers makes a joke out of such worriers, for they are never
assured of safety, and so he gives them even more to worry about by writing, “What
if you find yourself at an airport and just, for curiosity’s sake, stick your head inside
the door of the airplane and just barely get it out before the door closes, but your tie
might get caught in the door, causing you to be dragged up into the air and halfway
across the country, choking and gagging the whole way, until the tie finally rips in
half and you plunge 50,000 feet, eventually crashing through the roof of a barn and
landing softly in a pile of hay, but then the farmer might sue you for property
damages, and since you don’t have that kind of money, you’ll have to work on his
farm as an indentured servant for the next twelve years.” Life is scary and
uncertain, but there are a good many things we can stop worrying about, and just
put our trust in the Lord. If he chooses not to rescue us from danger, then he has
another plan for us, and if it be going home to be with him, we are winner still.
2. An unknown author with a keen eye wrote, “The remaining verses of the psalm
give the answer of the Spirit of God to the faith of a godly man who looks to the
Lord alone for his help. The one ever recurring thought is the care of the Lord. The
word “keep” is the characteristic word of the psalm. Bearing in mind that the word
“preserve,” in verses 7 and 8, should be translated “keep,” it will be noticed that this
encouraging word occurs six times in the last six verses.
(vv. 3-4) First, the godly man who looks to the Lord for his help is assured that
the Lord will not suffer his foot to be moved: he will be kept from all dangers.
Second, he is assured that the care of the Lord is unceasing, “He that keepeth
thee will not slumber.” He keeps each individual believer, and He is the Keeper of
Israel as a whole.
(v. 5) Third, the Lord is not only our Keeper, but He is a present Keeper, One
who is always at our right hand, ever available for faith, whatever the difficulties
may be (Ps. 16: 8).
(v. 6) Fourth, the Lord is our Keeper at all seasons, “by day,” and “by night.”
(v. 7) Fifth, the Lord is a Keeper from “all evil.” We see but a few of the evils
that beset our path. The Lord sees and keeps us “from all evil.”
Sixth, not only does the Lord keep the body, but He keeps the soul. He holds
our souls in the positive good of life.
(v. 8) Seventh, the Lord keeps us in all circumstances of life, in our “going out”
and “coming in.”
Finally, the Lord will keep through all time, for evermore. Thus the soul is assured
that the Lord is our Keeper from all danger (v. 3); He is unceasing in His care (v. 4);
He is ever available (v. 5); He keeps us at all seasons (v. 6); He keeps from all evil;
He keeps the soul as well as the body (v. 7); He keeps us in all circumstances, and
for all time (v. 8).”
3. Henry, “His protection will make them safe in every respect: “The Lord shall
preserve thee from all evil, the evil of sin and the evil of trouble. He shall prevent the
evil thou fearest, and shall sanctify, remove, or lighten, the evil thou feelest. He will
keep thee from doing evil (2Co_13:7), and so far from suffering evil that whatever
affliction happens to thee there shall be no evil in it. Even that which kills shall not
hurt.” 9. It is the spiritual life, especially, that God will take under his protection:
He shall preserve thy soul. All souls are his; and the soul is the man, and therefore he
will with a peculiar care preserve them, that they be not defiled by sin and disturbed
by affliction. He will keep them by keeping us in the possession of them; and he will
preserve them from perishing eternally.”
4. Spurgeon, “The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil, or keep thee from all evil.
It is a great pity that our admirable translation did not keep to the word keep all
through the psalm, for all along it is one. God not only keeps his own in all evil times
but from all evil influences and operations, yea, from evils themselves. This is a far
reaching word of covering: it includes everything and excludes nothing: the wings of
Jehovah amply guard Iris own from evils great and small, temporary and eternal.
There is a most delightful double personality in tiffs verse: Jehovah keeps the
believer, not by agents, but by himself; and the person protected is definitely
pointed out by the word thee, -- it is not our estate or name which is shielded, but
the proper personal man. To make this even more intensely real and personal
another sentence is added, "The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil:" he shall
preserve thy soul, -- or Jehovah will keep thy soul. Soul keeping is the soul of
keeping. If the soul be kept all is kept. The preservation of the greater includes that
of the less so far as it is essential to the main design: the kernel shall be preserved,
and in order thereto the shell shall be preserved also. God is the sole keeper of the
soul. Our soul is kept from the dominion of sin, the infection of error, the crush of
despondency, the puffing up of pride; kept from the world, the flesh, and the devil;
kept for holier and greater things; kept in the love of God; kept unto the eternal
kingdom and glory. What can harm a soul that is kept of the Lord?”
4B. Spurgeon, “The psalmist... assures people who dwell in God that they will be
secure. Though faith claims no merit of its own, yet the Lord rewards it wherever he
sees it. He who makes God his refuge will find him a refuge; he who dwells in God
will find his dwelling protected. We must make the Lord our habitation by choosing
him for our trust and rest, and then we shall receive immunity from harm.”
(Treasury of David Psalm 121:7)
5. The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil. Lawyers, when they are drawing up
important documents, frequently conclude with some general terms to meet any
emergency which may possibly occur. They do this on the principle, that what is not
in may be supposed to be intentionally left out. In order to guard against this
inference, they are not content with inserting a number of particular cases; they
conclude with a general statement, which includes everything, whether expressed or
not. A similar formula is inserted here. It is of great Importance, that the feet of
travelers be kept from sliding, as they pursue their journey. It is of great
importance, that they be preserved from heat by day, and from cold by night. But
other dangers await them, from which they require protection; and lest the
suspicion be entertained, that no provision is made for these being surmounted, they
are all introduced in the saving and comprehensive clause. �o matter what may be
their character, no matter from what quarter they may appear, no matter when
they may nome, and no matter how long they may continue, the declaration covers
them all. Divine grace changes the nature of everything it handles, and transforms
everything it touches into gold. Afflictions are overruled for good; and the virtues of
the Christian life are developed with unusual luster. "The Lord shall preserve thee
from all evil." --�. McMichael.
6. It is of importance to mark the reason why the prophet repeats so often what he had
so briefly and in one word expressed with sufficient plainness. Such repetition seems
at first sight superfluous: but when we consider how difficult it is to correct our
distrust, it will be easily perceived that he does not improperly dwell upon the
commendation of the divine providence. How few are to be found who yield to God
the honor of being a "keeper", in order to their being thence assured of their safety,
and led to call upon him in the midst of their perils! On the contrary, even when we
seem to have largely experienced what this protection of God implies, we yet
instantly tremble at tile noise of a leaf falling from a tree, as if God had quite
forgotten us. Being then entangled in so many unholy misgivings, and so much
inclined to distrust, we are taught from the passage that if a sentence couched in a
few words does not suffice us, we should gather together whatever may be found
throughout the whole Scriptures concerning the providence of God, until this
doctrine -- "That God always keeps watch for us" -- is deeply rooted in our hearts;
so that, depending upon his guardianship alone, we may bid adieu to all the vain
confidences of the world. --John Calvin.
7. Gill, “The Word of the Lord, as the Targum. �ot from the evil of affliction,
though from that as a penal evil; or as a real one, it being made to work for good:
but from the evil of sin; not from the being or commission of it; but from its
dominion and damning power, or from a final and total falling away by it: and from
the evil of the world; not from tribulation in it, nor from the reproach or
persecution of it; but from the wickedness and lusts that are in it, and from the
wicked men of it, their power, rage, and fury: and from the evil one, Satan; not
from his temptations, but from sinking under them, and perishing by them; see
Joh_17:12; he shall preserve thy soul: he preserves the bodies of his people,
oftentimes from diseases and disasters, and from death, till the appointed time
comes; and then he preserves their dust in the grave, and raises it up at the last day;
but more especially their souls, the redemption and salvation of which he
undertook, and has effected; and which are preserved by him safe to his coming,
kingdom, and glory.”
8. Preceptaustin, “In summary, Jehovah your Helper is your personal Protector.
Jesus' encouragement to His twelve disciples before sending them out was do not
fear those who kill the body, but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him
Who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. (Mt 10:28.) You may lose all your
earthly possessions like Job but you will never lose your soul for Jehovah is the
Keeper of your soul. When Jesus promised His disciples that "not a hair of your
head will perish" (Lk 21:18) He was not promising the preservation of their physical
lives (In Lk 21:16 He had just clearly stated that "they will put some of you to
death"), but was promising that they would suffer no eternal loss because God
Himself keeps the soul of all those who belong to Him. Paul affirms the psalmist's
thoughts, writing that "I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor
principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor
depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God,
which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Ro 8:38, 39)
8. the LORD will watch over your coming and
going both now and forevermore.
1. Barnes, “Preserve thee in going out and coming in; in going from thy dwelling,
and returning to it; in going from home and coming back; that is, everywhere, and
at all times. Compare Deu_28:6.“From this time forth, and even forevermore.”
Through this life and for ever. This is the gracious assurance which is made to all
who put their trust in God. At home and abroad; in the house, in the field, and by
the way; on the land and on the ocean; in their native country and in climes remote;
on earth, in the grave, and in the eternal world, they are always safe. �o evil that
will endanger their salvation can befall them; nothing can happen to them here but
what God shall see to be conducive to their ultimate good; and in the heavenly world
they shall be safe forever from every kind of evil, for in that world there will be no
sin, and consequently no need of discipline to prepare them for the future.
“In foreign realms, and lands remote,
Supported by thy care,
Through burning climes they pass unhurt,
And breathe in tainted air.
When by the dreadful tempest borne,
High on the broken wave,
They know thou art not slow to hear,
�or impotent to save.
The storm is laid - the winds retire,
Obedient to thy will;
The sea that roars at thy command,
At thy command is still.
In midst of dangers, fears, and death,
Thy goodness we’ll adore;
We’ll praise thee for thy mercies past,
And humbly hope for more.
Our life, while thou preserv’st that life,
Thy sacrifice shall be;
And death, when death shall be our lot,
Shall join our souls to thee.”
Addison’s Spec.
2. Gill, “In transacting all the business of life, in going in and out about it; in all
ways, works, and conversation; in journeying and traveling; in all affairs, civil and
religious; and not only preserve, but prosper in all, Psa_1:3; the Lord blessing him,
coming in and going out, Deu_28:6; and such, with the poet, are said to go with a
good or prosperous foot. And such persons, in the Punic language, are called
�amphanians, as Austin observes; who says the word signifies a man of a good foot:
and the word seems to be the contraction of נעם פעמו, which signifies "his good" or
"pleasant foot"; and so one that, wherever he comes and goes, things prosper with
him, and with those that are in connection with him: such an one was Jacob in the
house of Laban, whom the Lord blessed, as he says, "since my coming", or at "my
foot"; and such a foot Joseph had wherever he went, Gen_39:5. Arama interprets it
of a man's going out into the air of this world, and of his entrance into the world to
come. The Targum is, "the Lord will keep thy going out to business, and thy coming
in to study in the law.''
from this time forth, and even for evermore; for the Lord not only preserves his
people in life and at death, but in heaven, to all eternity; in the utmost safety and
peace from all molestations by men or devils, and from their wrath and malice: not
only his purpose and decree, but his power and providence, are the vast gulf
between the one and the other; by means of which the wicked cease from troubling,
and the weary are at rest, Luk_16:26.”
3. Henry, “He will keep us in all our ways: “He shall preserve thy going out and thy
coming in. Thou shalt be under his protection in all thy journeys and voyages,
outward-bound or homeward-bound, as he kept Israel in the wilderness, in their
removes and rests. He will prosper thee in all thy affairs at home and abroad, in the
beginning and in the conclusion of them. He will keep thee in life and death, thy
going out and going on while thou livest and thy coming in when thou diest, going
out to thy labor in the morning of thy days and coming home to thy rest when the
evening of old age calls thee in,” Psa_104:23. 11. He will continue his care over us
from this time forth and even for evermore. It is a protection for life, never out of
date. “He will be thy guide even unto death, and will then hide thee in the grave, hide
thee in heaven. He will preserve thee in his heavenly kingdom.” God will protect his
church and his saints always, even to the end of the world. The Spirit, who is their
preserver and comforter, shall abide with them for ever.”
4. Spurgeon, “The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this
time forth, and even for evermore. When we go out in the morning to labor, and
come home at eventide to rest, Jehovah shall keep us. When we go out in youth to
begin life, and come in at the end to die, we shall experience the same keeping. Our
exits and our entrances are under one protection. Three times have we the phrase,
"Jehovah shall keep", as if the sacred Trinity thus sealed the word to make it sure:
ought not all our fears to be slain by such a threefold flight of arrows? What anxiety
can survive this triple promise? This keeping is eternal; continuing from this time
forth, even for evermore. The whole church is thus assured of everlasting security:
the final perseverance of the saints is thus ensured, and the glorious immortality of
believers is guaranteed. Under the aegis of such a promise we may go on pilgrimage
without trembling, and venture into battle without dread. �one are so safe as those
whom God keeps; none so much in danger as the self secure. To goings out and
comings in belong peculiar dangers since every change of position turns a fresh
quarter to the foe, and it is for these weak points that an especial security is
provided: Jehovah will keep the door when it opens and closes, and this he will
perseveringly continue to do so long as there is left a single man that trusteth in him,
as long as a danger survives, and, in fact, as long as time endures. Glory be unto the
Keeper of Israel, who is endeared to us under that title, since our growing sense of
weakness makes us feel more deeply than ever our need of being kept. Over the
reader we would breathe a benediction, couched in the verse of Keble.
"God keep thee safe from harm and sin,
Thy Spirit keep; the Lord watch o'er
Thy going out, thy coming in,
From this time, evermore."
5. The Message says it all: “I look up to the mountains; does my strength come from
mountains? 2 �o, my strength comes from God, who made heaven, and earth, and
mountains. 3 He won't let you stumble, your Guardian God won't fall asleep. 4 �ot
on your life! Israel's Guardian will never doze or sleep. 5 God's your Guardian,
right at your side to protect you - 6 Shielding you from sunstroke, sheltering you
from moonstroke. 7 God guards you from every evil, he guards your very life. 8 He
guards you when you leave and when you return, he guards you now, he guards you
always.”
5B. Hamilton Smith, “Thus the soul is assured that the Lord is our Keeper from all
danger (v. 3); He is unceasing in His care (v. 4); He is ever available (v. 5); He keeps
us at all seasons (v. 6); He keeps from all evil; He keeps the soul as well as the body
(v. 7); He keeps us in all circumstances, and for all time (v. 8).”
6. I to the hills will lift my eyes;
O whence shall come my aid?
My help is from the Lord alone,
Who heav’n and earth has made.
He will not let thy foot be moved,
Thy Guardian never sleeps;
With watchful and un-slumbering care,
His own He safely keeps.
Thy faithful Keeper is the Lord,
Thy Shelter and thy Shade;
’�eath sun or moon, by day or night,
Thou shalt not be afraid.
From evil He will keep thee safe,
For thee He will provide;
Thy going out, thy coming in,
Forever He will guide.
(Scottish Psalter, 1912)
7. Charles Wesley
1 TO the hills I lift mine eyes,
The everlasting hills;
Streaming thence in fresh supplies,
My soul the Spirit feels.
Will he not his help afford?
Help, while yet I ask, is given:
God comes down; the God and Lord
That made both earth and heaven.
2 Faithful soul, pray always; pray,
And still in God confide;
He thy feeble steps shall stay,
�or suffer thee to slide:
Lean on thy Redeemer's breast;
He thy quiet spirit keeps;
Rest in him, securely rest;
Thy watchman never sleeps.
3 �either sin, nor earth, nor hell
Thy Keeper can surprise;
Careless slumbers cannot steal
On his all-seeing eyes;
He is Israel's sure defence;
Israel all his care shall prove,
Kept by watchful providence,
And ever-waking love.
4 See the Lord, thy Keeper, stand
Omnipotently near!
Lo! he holds thee by thy hand,
And banishes thy fear;
Shadows with his wings thy head;
Guards from all impending harms:
Round thee and beneath are spread
The everlasting arms.
5 Christ shall bless thy going out,
Shall bless thy coming in;
Kindly compass thee about,
Till thou art saved from sin;
Like thy spotless Master, thou,
Filled with wisdom, love, and power,
Holy, pure, and perfect, now,
Henceforth, and evermore.
8. Let me wrap this study up with the interesting insights we get from James
Limburg as he writes, “Many scholars interpret Psalm 121 as a blessing for a
pilgrimage. The psalm can be divided into two parts: 1) a dialogue between the
leader and the lay person (121:1-4) and 2) the blessing for the journey. In the
dialogue, the lay person initiated the conversation with a formal question about the
source of help (121:1); the leader responded with an answer of YHWH’s assistance
(121:2). �otice the description of the divine as the dialogue continued. The lay
person affirmed the Lord’s power as the One who guards the journey day and night
(will not let the foot of the traveler be moved during the day nor slumber at night
while the traveler rested; 121:3). The response of the leader reaffirmed God as ever-
vigilant, the night watchman who always stands guard at the gate (121:4). The
psalmist equated the all-powerful attribute to a God who never slept.
With this description clear, the leader could now bless the traveler. The name
YHWH was invoked four times in the psalm: twice in 121:5 and twice in 121:7-8;
these invocations demarcated the blessing. YHWH would be the night keeper and
intimate day shade (121:5); YHWH would keep the traveler from evil and guide the
travel itself. The bridge between the two invocations (121:6) connected the cycle of
day-night with evil. In desert travel, evil was manifest in heat stroke, so divine
protection meant shading from the intense sun (121:6a). At night, camp was
established to protect travelers during slumber. In a desert environment, however,
night was the time for nocturne predators and poisonous animals to appear; night
also gave bandits cover to mount attacks against travelers. The night presented
danger even to the largest of caravans; many ancient travelers believed moon rays
themselves had an evil influence (121:6b). To echo 121:5, God would save by
standing guard at night over the traveler and accompanying the traveler during the
day as a best friend (at your right hand) and as a shield from the sun. YHWH
helped the pilgrim day and night.
Do we ask God to be with us when we travel? Do we ask him to guide our ways and
keep us safe in strange environments? Or do we just assume our safety without a
thought? While travel is safer than at any time in human history, it has it’s
challenges and short-comings. We should use travel as an opportunity for prayer.
We should pray for guidance, not only in a spiritual sense, but in a geographic
sense, as well.”