Psalms 121

Psalms LOOKING TO THE HILLSPsalm 121:1 - Psalm 121:2 . The so-called ‘Songs of Degrees,’ of which this psalm is one, are usually, and with great probability, attributed to the times of the Exile. If that be so, we get an appropriate background and setting for the expressions and emotions of this psalm. We see the exile, wearied with the monotony of the long-stretching, flat plains of Babylonia, summoning up before his mind the distant hills where his home was. We see him wondering how he will be able ever to reach that place where his desires are set; and we see him settling down, in hopeful assurance that his effort is not in vain, since his help comes from the Lord. ‘I will lift up my eyes unto the hills’; away out yonder westwards, across the sands, lie the lofty summits of my fatherland that draws me to itself. Then comes a turn of thought, most natural to a mind passionately yearning after a great hope, the very greatness of which makes it hard to keep constant. For the second clause of my text cannot possibly be, as it is translated in our Authorised Version, an affirmation, but must be taken as the Revised Version correctly gives it, a question: ‘I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills. From whence cometh my help?’ How am I to get there? And then comes the final turn of thought: ‘My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth.’ So then, there are three things here-the look of longing, the question of weakness, the assurance of faith. I.

The look of longing. ‘I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills’-a resolution, and a resolution born of intense longing. Now 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.

Psalm 121:1-2 . I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills — To Zion and Moriah, called the holy mountains, Psalm 87:1 , the hills on which the tabernacle or temple stood, where were the ark of the covenant, the oracle, and the altars. I will have an eye to the special presence of God in his church, and with his people, and from thence I will expect help. My help cometh from the Lord — From God alone, and therefore to him alone will I turn mine eyes; which made heaven and earth — And therefore how great soever my straits and difficulties may be, he has power sufficient for my succour and relief.

Psalm 121:3-8 . He will not suffer thy foot to be moved — To wit, so as to fall into mischief. He speaks, as it were, from God to himself, but, withal, to the encouragement of all good men. He that keepeth thee will not slumber — Will not overlook nor neglect any thing which is necessary for thy preservation. The Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand — Both to refresh thee, and keep thee from the burning heat of the sun. In those countries where the heat of the sun was intolerable, shady places were esteemed not only very refreshing, but likewise salutary, and necessary to the preservation of health and life. When, therefore, the psalmist styles God his shade, he means that he protected him from danger, and refreshed him with comforts. The sun shall not smite thee by day — With excessive heat; nor the moon by night — With that cold and damp which come into the air by it. Intemperate heats and colds are the springs of many diseases. And, “as the heat of the sun by day, so the copious dews, which fall most abundantly in the moonshine, were very pernicious in those countries.” The sense is, He shall protect thee from all evils, both day and night. The Lord shall preserve thy going out and coming in — Shall guard and assist thee in all thy expeditions, journeys, and affairs, both at home and abroad; from this time forth, and even for evermore — He will be thy guide even unto death, and then bring thee to his heavenly kingdom.