A SOJOURNER’S LOOK TO THE HILLS: PSALM 121
Take a mental journey backwards 3,000 years. You are in ancient Israel. The nerve center of the entire nation lies in the city of Jerusalem a city a mere fifteen miles east of the Northwest Corner of the Dead Sea, one of the harshest environs on the face of the planet. To the west the landscape descends slowly toward the Great Sea, the Mediterranean. Jerusalem sits comfortably in the central mountains, not high by worldly standards but highly conspicuous because of the geography around her. As one travels to this iconic city from any direction the mountains can be easily spotted in the distance. For most nations this geographical phenomenon would retain a mere passing interest. To the Jew, however, Jerusalem was much, much more than a city. It was the place God dwelled. Each year thousands upon thousands of devout Jews would make the long trek to Jerusalem on beast or foot to visit God, literally. The Bible tells us that for males the trek to Jerusalem was mandatory three times pert year. As you can well imagine, the journey was fraught with danger. There were bandits, wild animals, dangerous ravines and worst of all, the relentless sun. Any one of these was capable of turning a heavenly trip into a hellish tragedy. One way to alleviate the fear and stress of such a journey was to sing as you walked. Singing always cheers the heart as most of us know. So as the caravan moved toward the city the pilgrims would certainly sing spiritual songs that would focus on their God, Yahweh. Over time the Jews assembled 15 of these sacred songs and gave them the title of ‘Songs of Ascent.’ They are found in our Bible as Psalms 120-134. Perhaps the most famous in this group is Psalm 121. What makes this song so special to the Jews then and to the church today is that it highlights the Lord’s keeping power over His people. No better song could be found to chase away the fears as one headed to Jerusalem. So place yourself in one of those ancient caravans and look at this psalm from the perspective of an ancient Israelite who is walking the dusty, dangerous foot paths on his way to Jerusalem. Reading it from that perspective makes Psalm 121 come alive.
The song begins with a question; “I lift up mine eyes to the hills. from where does my help come?” Many have taken this verse as an ode to nature. Anytime we look at the stately mountains we draw comfort to know that the One who created them can truly protect ‘little ol’ me.’ And while this is a truism it is not exactly what the author means. He has a specific range of hills in mind, a group of mountains that surrounded God’s home city. The author is saying that the Jews looked to the hills surrounding Jerusalem and when they spotted those hills they were filled with hope and joy. In verse two we find the reason that this God could be trusted: His creative power. He ‘made heaven and earth.’ If He created all things with a word, than He surely could protect those who were coming to worship Him.
Beginning in verse 3 to the end of the psalm, the writer will employ vivid imagery related to travel that spells out the ways God protects His people. The key word in the song is ‘keep’ or ‘Keeper’. It is used six times. This gives us a clue that this is the attribute of God that is most on the mind of the sojourners as they head for the Temple City. Above all things, God is the KEEPER of His people.
So how does He keep? Verse 3 notes that He doesn’t allow one’s foot to slip. This is the same imagery used in Psalm 73 verses 2 & 3 where the pious Jew is beginning to lose His trust in God as he sees the prosperity of the wicked. “My feet almost slipped,” he says, “for I was envious as I saw the prosperity of the wicked.” To a traveler in Palestine, slipping and falling off one of those many jagged cliffs area presented a perilous danger (see Job 12;5). One wrong step could spell the end. But the song is not speaking of mere physical danger. As with the rest of the psalm, the writer uses tangible imagery to describe deeper spiritual issues. In this case, the long and often tedious pathway of life can cause one to lose sight of God and excuse himself from the journey. One must keep His eyes on the hills that remind one of God’s presence in order to maintain a spiritual equilibrium.
Verses 3b and 4 present another imagery well known to the traveler, that of the sentry stationed on the wall of a city. While human sentries can often forsake their post, the God who is watching out for His people never slumbers or sleeps. Nothing is more important for the safety of a people than a vigilant sentry. History tells us of a private in the Union Army, William Scott, who fell asleep at his post guarding Washington D.C. So serious was this offense that a military tribunal found him guilty of abandoning his post and sentenced him to be hanged. Were it not for the compassion of Abe Lincoln, the man would have died in shame. The point here is that God never falls asleep. He never grows weary. He always is watching out for his children. He sees ahead to the future and prevents them from meeting undo harm. He blocks the onslaughts of the wicked one; He is never taken by surprise by unforeseen circumstances. He is the perfect Guardian of the believer’s life. He continually watches over him as an all-powerful, all-knowing sentry. He never slumbers nor sleeps. What idea could bring greater comfort to the harassed saint?
Verses 5 & 6 highlight yet another danger that could prevent the traveler from reaching his destination. The sun in this part of the world is brutal and unforgiving. If wild beasts take their thousands, the sun takes its ten thousands. This is why the psalmist speaks of God in terms of being the saint’s shade. He then elaborates on this motif in verse 6. God’s travelers cannot be waylaid by the sun during the day or the moon during the night. What does he mean by this sun/moon, day/night contrast? Here we have a figure of speech where two opposites are used to connote the entire spectrum of truth; just as we say, for example, ‘for better or for worse.’ In other words the idea here is that in every circumstance, in any time of the day, God is the great Protector/Keeper of His people. But what does he mean by the ‘moon striking by night?’ The sun can dehydrate and kill, but what can the moon do? If we go to other portions of scripture we find that the nighttime, represented here by the moon (a figure of speech called metonymy), is a time fraught with great danger. When are crimes most often committed? Is not the night a time of illegal dealings and questionable trysts? In Psalm 91:5 the author says this, “You shall not be afraid of the terror by night, Nor of the arrow that flies by day.” Nights are times of great fear and terror, especially for those traveling who must sleep unprotected under the stars. Also at night, in desert regions like Palestine, temperatures can plummet and cause frostbite. The point of verse 6 is that God protects His own in all situations of life. He is always our keeper who keeps us from falling, day or night, and who never sleeps on the job.
The psalm closes with two more important thoughts in verses 7 & 8. First we find that God protects His children falling into the big ditches like apostasy. He keeps the saint from evil and maintains life in the believer’s soul. But this protection from God is not that which is found in an overbearing, doting mother. God never says He will protect His child from affliction, depression, despair, persecution, and sorrow. In fact in Psalm 107 we learned that God often ordains those things in the lives of believers to sanctify them (he stirs up the waves around a sinking ship). What God does protect us from is an ultimate falling away. He will not allow evil to permanently draw us away from God. He will maintain in His child the pulse of life. As Jesus said in John 10, the believer can ‘never perish.’
He closes in verse 8 by saying that God’s ‘keeping’ covers every period of life and every calling in life. This thought is represented by the phrase ‘going out and coming in.’ This certainly could have reference to leaving a city in the morning and coming back again in the evening. In Deuteronomy 28:6, the same phrase is used to describe the blessings conferred on those who obey God. Such people shall be blessed in all circumstances of life. “Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out.” That is the point of the entire psalm. The one who trusts in Yahweh, who goes on an earthly pilgrimage to Jerusalem to find Him, will find himself under the full protection of God in every aspect of living. How heartily would the Jewish sojourners sing this song to chase every fear away as they made that long and dangerous trek to Jerusalem! And what joy they would have the moment they spotted those hills in the distance!
We as New Covenant believers are also sojourners. We too are also on a trek to a city, only it is not the earthly Jerusalem but the heavenly one. We too have hills to look to that remind us that we are always protected by God. Yes, as with the Jews, dangers threaten the Christian on every hand . So what do we do? We lift up our eyes to the One who is our Mountain of strength, our Redeemer, our High Priest, our King; our Lord Jesus Christ. As the Book of Hebrews reminds us, we are to constantly be ‘looking unto Jesus’ in order to stay on track in this life of faith. And so this ancient song, sung by an ancient people, walking on ancient pathways, is applicable to us. We are the people of God. Life is difficult and dangerous. So as we walk, know that we must ever keep our focus upward to our Savior. He is the hill from whence comes our help. And when we keep our focus on Him and His protective care, we can be sure we shall not endure any fatal slipping, or burning, or eternal dying. He who created all things will keep His children all the days of their lives. Jesus and Jesus alone is the great ‘Keeper’ of Israel. Trust Him, dear reader, and He will be your Keeper forever. Amen.