Psalm 121
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Psalm 121:1-2:
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. |
We must avoid mistakes frequently made by poets who have sought to personify nature and find it in a reponse to the varying moods of life, and by theologians who have found it an analogy of the ways of God. Nature is not like God. Her laws disclose no moral standards. When these are introduced she appears full not only of contradictions but of cruelties.
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In verse 1, the psalmist looks to the hills. Looking to the hills can have negative or positive connotations depending on the translation. Negative in the anticipation of an ambush while traveling. Robbers and thieves can use the rocks and crevices in the hills, plus the tactical advantage of the high ground, against the sojourner. This is still true in many areas of the world.
The connotation can be positive if the hills are at Jerusalem, seeing one’s goal. What a joy to have one’s destination finally in sight!
Or perhaps, as the hills point to the heavens and Yahweh, our covenant-keeping God. Either way, the real emphasis of verse 1 is the question at the end: From where does my help come? Is that not our question today in our fallen world?
The psalmist immediately answers this critical question in verse 2. The eternal God who created the heavens and the earth and everything in them is our help. Who can stay his hand? Isaiah 43:1-13 which Bart read earlier addressed that very well. Who can oppose him? Who can thwart his purposes? If our covenant-keeping God is for us, who can possibly succeed against us? Romans 8:31-35 gives the answer – nothing or no one in the universe can separate God’s elect from Christ’s love.
--Reformed Musings
The connotation can be positive if the hills are at Jerusalem, seeing one’s goal. What a joy to have one’s destination finally in sight!
Or perhaps, as the hills point to the heavens and Yahweh, our covenant-keeping God. Either way, the real emphasis of verse 1 is the question at the end: From where does my help come? Is that not our question today in our fallen world?
The psalmist immediately answers this critical question in verse 2. The eternal God who created the heavens and the earth and everything in them is our help. Who can stay his hand? Isaiah 43:1-13 which Bart read earlier addressed that very well. Who can oppose him? Who can thwart his purposes? If our covenant-keeping God is for us, who can possibly succeed against us? Romans 8:31-35 gives the answer – nothing or no one in the universe can separate God’s elect from Christ’s love.
--Reformed Musings
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Psalm 121:7-8:
The Lord will keep you from all harm–he will watch over your life. The LORD shall preserve your going out and your coming in from this time forth, and even for ever more. |
“The Lord will keep you from ALL harm,” it says. But then you look at someone like Job, or people who go through hard times. It’s kind of hard to practically apply it to everyday life here on planet earth. So, I would have to suspect the verse is direct application to our soul and eternity. Things may get pretty rough, but hang on, because then there is “forevermore.”
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