Dec 28, 2022
“I lift up my eyes to the hills -- where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth. He will not let you foot slip—he who watches over you will not slumber; indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep” (Psalm 121:1-4).
Two things should be clarified as we consider this psalm. First, via the King James Version and Maria von Trapp, an errant translation has made it into our hearts. In those, the second line reads, "from whence comes my help." On the surface this suggests that our help comes from the hills. But on a more thoughtful reading we realize that God often meets His people on mountain tops and thus we see God there and feel secure.
However, the NIV translation is more accurate. This is a travelling psalm. The Israelites are making their way towards the temple for one of the yearly festivals. They needed to journey through the mountains which were full of dangerous pathways and evil bandits.
Further, the mountains were full of shrines to false gods who offered protection. The people encouraged each other with this psalm to keep them from the temptation of these false deities. As they journeyed to and from Jerusalem for the festivals at the temple, they reminded each other that their help did not come from these deities but from God himself, the one who never slumbers nor sleeps, whose watchful care never wavers.
This context leads to the second clarification. This is a matter of culture and context more than translation. Our Christian culture is very much about 'me and Jesus'. Thus, when we read this Psalm, we read it personally. And when something bad happens, we ask “Does this psalm speak the truth?"
The Israelites did not sing this psalm as a 'me and the Most High God' testimony. They would not have understood this as an individual blessing. What I mean is that the Israelite did not believe she had a claim on God that He must keep her safe or else He has failed in being God.
The Israelites were a deeply communal people because God had formed them that way. The only claim they had on God was that He had laid claim to them. They were the sheep of His flock because He made it so. God kept intervening in their history to develop this covenant relationship with them.
His greatest intervention was in Jesus, through whom He redeems the world and established His new people, the church. He has called us to be members of his kingdom of priests and his holy nation (Exodus 19:6; 1 Peter 2:9). The Lord watches over us because He watches over His church. We may trust in Him because He has made us His children.
Jesus echoes this psalm when He says, "Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well" (Matthew 6:33). Can we trust this God? Jesus says that God has the hairs of our head numbered (Matthew 10:30). That is how much He cares for us. But this does not mean that nothing bad will ever happen to us. It means that we are never out of His care. Our only comfort is indeed that in life and in death and in body and soul we belong to our faithful Saviour Jesus Christ.
Our Psalm provides strong words of assurance to us worshippers that we fix our eyes squarely on the source of our help. The Lord, the maker of heavens and earth, who does not slumber, will “guard, keep watch over, protect” and “be a shade” to us. But it also warns us not to look to other “mountains” for help. They are no help at all.
Maybe Jesus was reflecting on this Psalm when he said, “Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?” (Matthew 6:26).