Psalm 121

I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. He will not let your foot be moved;he who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade on your right hand. The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life. The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore.

Psalm 121 offers hope to weary travelers because God promises to help and keep us along our journey. This psalm is honest about how hard the journey is, but it provides a map in our hands and a song in our hearts by redirecting our eyes to God. (Psalm 121 is part of the larger collection of Ascent Psalms 120 – 134.)

Psalm 121:1-2

I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.

“Psalm 121 affirms that those who are in relationship with the Lord are safe in his care. Their mountains may be great, but their Maker is greater. Their problems may be overwhelming, but his protection is ever available. Their hurts are inevitable, but his help is inexhaustible. As they lift their eyes and see the challenges before them, they need to remember and to be reminded by other believers that their help comes from the Lord, whose competence and compassion combine to provide the firm foundation for their faith.” (Daniel Estes)

Psalm 121:3-8

He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade on your right hand. The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life. The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore.

“the promise of this psalm is not that we shall never stumble or stub our toes, but that no injury, no illness, no accident, no distress will have evil power over us, that is, will be able to separate us from God’s purposes in us… Christians travel the same ground that everyone else walks on, breathe the same air, drink the same water, shop in the same stores, read the same newspapers, are citizens under the same governments, pay the same prices for groceries and gasoline, fear the same dangers, are subject to the same pressures, get the same distresses, are buried in the same ground. The difference is that each step we walk, each breath we breathe, we know we are preserved by God, we know we are accompanied by God, we know we are ruled by God; and therefore no matter what doubts we endure or what accidents we experience, the Lord will preserve us from evil, he will keep our life.” (Eugene Peterson)

Application 1
When adversity leads to lifting our eyes to God, we will know him more intimately.

Application 2
You are and will be kept by God forever. (See John 10:27-29; Jude 24-25; Romans 8:28-39; Philippians 1:6.)

For this week’s application guide click this URL: https://storage2.snappages.site/QG8D8X/assets/files/Sermon-Application-Guide_Psalm-121_July–75.docx