Psalms 121 - Hymns / Psalm 121
Amen. If you have your Bibles, and I hope you do, please turn to Psalm 121. If you are new with us, we are continuing in our series called He Is With Me. The focal point of this series is to work through various types of Psalms. There are 150 Psalms in the Bible, so we are picking sort of a “greatest hits” as we work through them, seeking to bring out the characteristics of God.
If I asked you, “Who is God?” we could have all kinds of conversations about it. But as you read through various Psalms, each one brings up a different nuance, aspect, facet, and dynamic to who God is. By turning the diamond and looking at it from different angles, we get a fuller, more complete picture of the One who is indeed with us.
We have provided those handouts—the little cards—not just to doodle on (though you can certainly get your doodle on if you want to), but so you can chronicle this journey. What did I learn about God today? What did this text show me about who He is and how He is with me? At the end of the series, you will have a whole collection of insights that God revealed to you from His Word. The Word of God is living and active, and every time we open it, it has something for you. It will speak to you, affirm something in you, and challenge something in you. We are praying for much of the same today in Psalm 121.
Songs for the Journey: The Psalms of Ascent
The Book of Psalms is a fascinating collection of songs written over a thousand-year period, gathered into what was essentially the Jewish hymnal. Many of these Psalms were songs rich with raw emotion. If you were with us last week, we covered a psalm of lament where David thanked God for the ability to complain to Him. I don’t know what your prayer life looks like, but reading the Psalms might change its dynamic from a polite, “God is great, God is good, let us thank Him for our food,” to a heartfelt, “God, I’m really struggling right now, and I’m a little frustrated.” God already knows your thoughts, so you may as well be honest with Him. When you pray with that kind of honesty, you will find that God shows up in powerful ways. These songs express joy, despair, longing, and deep trust.
You might notice a small superscript above Psalm 121 in your Bible: A Song of Ascents. There are fifteen Psalms of Ascent, starting in Psalm 120 and running through Psalm 134. Think of them like traveling songs or Christmas carols sung while making a pilgrimage from wherever you lived up to Jerusalem to worship.
The Midrash, an ancient compilation of Jewish oral tradition, suggests there were fifteen Psalms of Ascent because there were fifteen steps leading up to the Temple Mount. According to this tradition, pilgrims would stand on the first step and sing Psalm 120, take the next step and sing Psalm 121, continuing all the way until they reached the top at Psalm 134 and entered the temple. While Scripture does not confirm that specific reason, the phrase makes perfect sense geographically. Jerusalem is situated in the Judean Mountains. Whether you came from the coastal plains or the Judean wilderness, whenever you went to the house of the Lord, you went up. These songs were sung during that long, arduous journey up the mountain.
Psalms are written in Hebrew poetry, which can sometimes be challenging for us because it is filled with imagery and metaphor, whereas we tend to think more linearly. We often prefer describing God with systematic theological terms: omnipresent, omniscient, sovereign, almighty. But the Hebrew mind describes God through vivid pictures: He is my shelter, my shield, my fortress, my rock, my shade, my living water.
Let’s read this beautiful psalm together.
Psalms 121:1-8 (NASB)
A Song of Ascents. I will lift up my eyes to the mountains; From where shall my help come? My help [comes] from the LORD, Who made heaven and earth. He will not allow your foot to slip; 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 will not smite you by day, Nor the moon by night. The LORD will protect you from all evil; He will keep your soul. The LORD will guard your going out and your coming in From this time forth and forever.
The True Source of Our Help
The psalm opens in verses 1 and 2 with a quick question and answer. The psalmist lifts his eyes to the mountains. This carries a potential double meaning. If you lived in the valleys, the mountains were the fortified high places where you ran when an enemy attacked; safety was found in the hills. At the same time, the Lord’s house was located in the mountains, and pilgrims sang this while climbing toward Jerusalem. Looking at the mountains, the psalmist asks, “From whence shall my help come?”
He immediately answers his own question in verse 2: “My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.”
Psalms 121:1-2 (NASB)
A Song of Ascents. I will lift up my eyes to the mountains; From where shall my help come? My help [comes] from the LORD, Who made heaven and earth.
The psalmist makes a profound statement right at the beginning: help is not ultimately found in the mountains, nor in the things of this earth, nor even in the stone buildings of the temple. Help is found in the One who created the mountains, the Sovereign King of the universe, the almighty Creator.
Who is this Lord? The title used here is Yahweh, the sacred covenant name revealed to Moses at the burning bush in Exodus 3. When Moses asked God, “Whom shall I say sent me?” God replied, “I AM WHO I AM. Tell them Yahweh has sent you.”
Exodus 3:14 (NASB)
God said to Moses, ‘I AM WHO I AM’; and He said, ’Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’’
When you are God, how else do you describe yourself? You simply are. Yahweh is the self-existent God who is everything His people need. That divine name is used five times in this short eight-verse psalm. He is the Lord, and therefore He is enough.
The Keeper Who Never Sleeps
So who is He for us today? Look at verses 3 and 4. The psalmist writes, “He will not allow your foot to slip; He who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, He who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.”
Have you ever been in a situation where you felt your foot begin to slip, and you wondered, Where is God? When tragedy strikes or life unravels, have you ever looked around and thought, Are You aware of what is happening right now?
To the ancient pilgrims traveling across treacherous terrain in the dark, this was a promise of physical protection. But theologically, it means something even more profound for us: God is omnipresent and tirelessly watchful. The Lord never slumbers. He never needs a break, never takes a day off, and is never caught unaware by the circumstances of your life. He is near, He is involved, and He is intimately with you.
Notice that in verses 3 through 8, the pronouns shift to the singular “you.” This psalm was meant to be sung corporately, meaning the community sang these truths over one another. Together, they affirmed: “The Lord is your keeper. He will not let your foot slip. The Lord is your shade.”
Notice the repetition of the word keeper. In Hebrew, a keeper is one who watches over, stands guard, and protects with diligent care. God does not merely watch from a distance; He actively guards your life.
Psalms 121:3-6 (NASB)
He will not allow your foot to slip; 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 will not smite you by day, Nor the moon by night.
In verse 5, the psalmist uses a military metaphor: “The Lord is your shade on your right hand.” In ancient warfare, a soldier typically carried a shield in his left hand and a sword in his right, leaving his right side exposed and vulnerable. Ancient city gates were even designed to force approaching armies to expose their right side to the archers on the wall. Here, Scripture tells us that God Himself stands at your right hand to cover your blind spot and defend your vulnerability.
Verse 6 adds that His protection is like shade during the scorching heat of the day and shelter during the cold, dangerous night. He is your complete refuge and refreshment.
Guarded for All Eternity
Who will He be for you tomorrow? Look at verses 7 and 8:
“The Lord will protect you from all evil; He will keep your soul. The Lord will guard your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore.”
Psalms 121:7-8 (NASB)
The LORD will protect you from all evil; He will keep your soul. The LORD will guard your going out and your coming in From this time forth and forever.
Does this mean that if you trust God, you will never experience hardship or pain? Anyone who has walked with God through deep suffering knows that is not what this means. It does not promise a life insulated from trouble, but it promises that when trouble comes, you will never face it alone or unarmed. God preserves your soul.
This is not a temporary assignment where God guards you for a few years and then grows tired. He will guard your going out and your coming in from this day forward and forever. Why? Because He is the Lord, and He is with you.
When difficulties arise, we often allow distance to grow between us and God. Instead of drawing near, we pull back. But Psalm 121 reminds us that the Lord is our strength and our shelter. For us today, we do not simply look toward the hills of Jerusalem; we look to the cross of Jesus Christ. At the cross, God provided ultimate shelter, forgiveness, grace, and the enduring promise of His presence—not just with us, but living in us through the Holy Spirit.
Where Are We Pointing Others for Help?
As we consider how to apply this psalm, two convicting questions come to mind.
While on vacation recently, my wife and I visited Texas and spent time with our dear friends Brent and Lori Lamb. Many of you remember Brent; he led worship here for years. He used to be the lead singer for the country band Shenandoah, and he is as country as the day is long, always full of great stories. While we were talking, he shared something about stepping into the role of a grandparent. He said, “My job has shifted. It is not my job to teach my kids or my grandkids to trust me; it is my job to teach them to trust God.”
You might hear that and think, Well, of course. But for me, that stung a little. If I am honest, I want to be the dad my kids rely on and the husband my wife can count on. That is not inherently bad, but on my worst days, I turn a good desire into an ultimate desire. I want to put on the superhero cape, sweep in, fix the problem, and hear, “We love you, Daddy! You saved the day!”
In doing that, I realize I can easily spend all my energy trying to get my family to trust me rather than teaching them to trust God. What a conviction. Our help does not come from our own strength; our help comes from the Lord.
That leads to the first question: When people come to you, where are you pointing them for help?
You might think nobody comes to you, but they do—coworkers venting about workplace stress, kids dealing with issues at school, friends facing relational drama. When people come to us, it is easy to dispense our own practical advice and opinions. While giving advice is not bad, it is a lesser thing compared to pointing someone to the living God.
Are we raising their sights to the Lord? Do we ask, “Have you prayed about this? What does God’s Word say? How does Jesus speak into this situation?” Or are we just handing out pop-psychology advice so people think well of us? As parents, grandparents, friends, and colleagues, let us point people to the Sovereign Creator rather than the lesser things of this world.
Where Do We Turn When Life Happens?
The second question is even more personal: When life happens to you, where do you turn?
They say that when you hit your thumb with a hammer, whatever comes out of your mouth is what was already inside your heart. When you are stressed, overwhelmed, and struggling, what is your default refuge? Is it the Sovereign God who supplies everything you need for life and godliness, or do you turn to lesser things?
We live in a culture that loves to medicate, entertain, isolate, numb, and distract. When work is overwhelming, do you turn to a pint of ice cream, another glass of wine, hours of binge-watching shows, or retreating into video games and hobbies? None of those things are necessarily sinful in moderation, but when we train our hearts to run to lesser things instead of the ultimate Source, those things will never satisfy the ache we are trying to soothe. We will always end up needing more because the world’s comforts are never enough.
Psalm 121 calls us back to what is true: “Lift up your eyes to the mountains. Where does your help come from? Your help comes from the Lord.”
If your marriage is struggling, go to the Lord. If your finances or business are in trouble, go to the Lord. If you are anxious about medical tests and awaiting results, go to the Lord. If you are overwhelmed with stress, go to the Lord. Do not numb yourself with lesser things. Turn to the Sovereign God who made heaven and earth, who watches over you, who guards your soul, and who never sleeps.
He is your keeper. He is your shade. He is with you today, tomorrow, and forevermore.
Let’s pray.
Father, thank You for these eight powerful verses that lift our eyes to see You in a fresh way. Forgive us for the times we look to lesser things for comfort and rescue. When difficulties come, help us to turn immediately to You, the Maker of heaven and earth. Fill us with Your peace, hope, and joy as we rest under the shadow of Your wings. Teach us to trust You with all our hearts and to point those around us to the true Source of life. We pray all this in Jesus’ name. Amen.