Psalm 121
A song of ascents.
1 I lift up my eyes to the mountains—
where does my help come from?
2 My help comes from the Lord,
the Maker of heaven and earth.
3 He will not let your foot slip—
he who watches over you will not slumber;
4 indeed, he who watches over Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.
5 The Lord watches over you—
the Lord is your shade at your right hand;
6 the sun will not harm you by day,
nor the moon by night.
7 The Lord will keep you from all harm—
he will watch over your life;
8 the Lord will watch over your coming and going
both now and forevermore.New International Version (NIV)
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
You can listen to today’s passage here: Psalm 121 Audio
Problems sometimes feel like mountains, don’t they? Looming over us, looking down on us, judging us, mocking our inability to cope, to offer a defence. We’re unable to think about doing anything about them because they overtake us. We’re powerless. Powerlessness leads, in my experience, to fear, anger, resentment and to turning in on myself, turning against myself. By the time I do this, I’ve long since given up raging against how unfair the world is. To be perfectly honest, I’ve probably given up doing what I should know by now is the great and right instinctive response when faced with crisis too: look to God for help.
As I read the passage today, it struck me how ironic it is that these mountains that loom over us, so powerful, so insurmountable, are exactly where our help comes from. Where does help come from? It comes from the Lord, the maker of Heaven and Earth, the one who made the mountains and put them in their place. I use that turn of phrase deliberately. If we look to the Lord for help, He will put our troubles in their place which is, I believe, under His authority. All of us have problems, trouble, pain, suffering that we’ve faced in the past, are facing now and will face in the future. There’s no doubt about that. When we do, it takes faith and trust to hold on to the beautiful promise of this Psalm that the Lord will watch over us, He will watch over our going out and our coming in. Whatever happens, God doesn’t sleep. He has His eye on us. His love is for us every step of the way. It might be scary to think that God has His eye on you all the time. I truly believe that when He looks at you He does so with love. He loves you. It’s an old-fashioned phrase ‘He will keep your soul’ but that is the phrase that gives me the most comfort from this reading today. It is God who cares for me the most. Imagine the most cared-for you’ve ever felt in your whole life: that’s just a small picture of the care and the love and the passion that God has for you.
Something To Do
Think deliberately about trying to be as caring as you can towards those around you and yourself today. It might sound silly but I bet it helps.
Something To Pray
Father, thank you for caring for me, for keeping your eye on me. Help me to trust you and help me to know your love for me. Amen
