(To view the video teaching on this Psalm, click here.)
Some days it feels like the world is going crazy. Should we expect anything less from a fallen world?
The lies we’re told seem to outnumber the truths these days. The things we’re sure about today become uncertainties tomorrow. The rules are changing faster than we can keep up. And from all corners of the globe there is a persistent feeling of unrest.
Where does one turn when the world is changing faster than we ever thought possible? Where do we find true security and rest for our weary souls?
We lift our eyes up to the hills knowing our help comes from the Lord, maker of heaven and earth.
Psalm 121 is not strictly a lament but is rather a Psalm of confidence. The Psalm is written in anticipation of future troubles and the author is reminding himself of where his help comes from. The Psalm ends with the confident assurance that there is not one aspect of our lives that God does not watch over. What could be more appropriate for such a time as this?
Let’s explore Psalm 121 together and proclaim with confidence that the Lord surely will keep our lives, even in confusing and uncertain days.
I Lift My Eyes Up
Psalm 121 is a “Song of Ascents”. This means that Psalm 121 was sung as God’s people made their pilgrimage to the temple in Jerusalem. The trip was long and very tiring, being made entirely on foot so God’s people would sing as they made their way to the temple. Psalm 121 is one of the songs they would sing. The Psalms starts like this:
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. (vs. 1-2)
You can almost picture the weary, worn-down travelers casting their eyes up to the hills where Jerusalem sits praying for the strength and endurance to make it to the end of their journey. To them, the temple on a hill in Jerusalem represented the presence of God. He was where his temple was. So to lift their eyes to the hills toward the temple in Jerusalem was to look toward God, from whom came their help.
The Psalms then switches from narrating in the first person to narrating in the third person. Almost as if the singer switches from speaking about himself to preaching to his soul. Preaching to your soul is a highly commendable and helpful practice. The Psalmist says to his soul:
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. (vs. 3-8)
The God Who Keeps Us
The word keep (and its variations) is used 6 times in verses 3-8. We can see from these six uses, that when God keeps us:
- he does not let our foot be moved
- he neither sleeps nor slumbers in order to keep us
- his keeping is like the shade at our right hand
- he protects us from evil
- he preserves our lives
- he watches over our going out and coming in now and forever
Let’s look at each one of these “keeping” activities in turn.
Does not let our foot be moved (vs. 3)
What does it mean that God will not let our foot be moved? Psalm 66:8-9, echoes this idea when it says:
Bless our God, O peoples;
let the sound of his praise be heard,
who has kept our soul among the living
and has not let our feet slip.
This suggests that to keep our feet from being moved is to keep our soul among the living. We are reminded of the living, thriving tree in Psalm one that is firmly planted and nourished by the streams of water. Because it is firmly planted by the nourishing streams it is kept alive and thriving and is unmoved by the storms of life. This is what it means to have an unmoved foot: to be so firmly grounded in who God is and what he says that our lives are preserved and we thrive. We are able to withstand the storms of life because our feet are firmly planted (see also the parable of the wise and foolish man Matthew 7:24-27). This keeping is not something we can accomplish by our own resolve, it is God alone who keeps our feet from being moved.
God Neither Sleeps Nor Slumbers As He Keeps Us (vs. 4)
To know that God neither sleeps nor slumbers as he keeps us is to know that God is keeping our feet from moving constantly. There is not a moment in our entire existence that God is not watching over us and keeping us firmly grounded in him. This also suggests that if God were to slumber but for a moment, we would instantly fall away. He keeps us constantly because we constantly need to be kept.
His Keeping is like Shade at our Right Hand (vs. 5)
This is one of the few images in this Psalm. God keeps us by being like the shade at our right hand. If you’re reading this during the summertime then this image is perhaps more vivid than it might be at other times. My family recently went on an early morning walk on what was going to be a pretty hot day. Even though it was fairly early in the morning we already felt the discomfort of the hot sun beating down on us. Oh, but how deliciously cool and comfortable it felt in the shade! We purposely walked on the side of the road that had the most shade because of the comfort and protection that the shade provided. Verses 5 and 6 suggest that God keeps us by providing this same kind of comfort and protection.
Protects Us From Evil and Preserves Our Lives (vs. 7)
The NIV translates this as “he will keep you from all harm” and watch over your life. But what does it mean to be kept from harm? Certainly, it does not mean that God will never let physical harm befall us. No, the Psalm was written in anticipation of trouble of this kind. What is true harm then according to the Bible? True harm, the only kind of harm that can last for all of eternity, the only kind of harm than can never produce any good, is separation from God: the kind of harm that is produced by our sin. So for God to keep up from this kind of evil and harm and preserve our lives, he must keep us from being separated from himself.
Watches Our Going Out and Our Coming In Now and Forever
When the Bible talks about “our going out and coming in” it is referring to everything, every activity, we engage in our lives. Therefore, to say that God keeps, or watches over, our going out and coming in, means that God is keeping us firmly grounded in him during all of life’s activities. So no matter where we are or what we’re doing our God is watching over us and keeping us both now and forever.
The Christ Who Keeps Us
We who live in these last days know, far better than the Psalmist did, just exactly how far God would go to keep us from being separated from Him.
He would go as far as separating himself from his only son that he might never separate from us.
We find this assurance, that God will always keep us, in Romans 8:35-39:
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written,
“For your sake we are being killed all the day long;
we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
The apostle Paul, who penned these words, is the perfect example of a person who was kept by Christ. Paul experienced all 7 of the troubles he lists in verse 35 (see 2 Corinthians 11:23-29), and yet God preserved his life by keeping him from ever being separated from himself. We learn in Romans 8:39, that it is the love of Christ that keeps us. It is that love that compelled Christ to endure the cross, scorning its shame (Hebrews 12:2) that we might never have to experience separation from God.
Psalm 121 is only possible because of the love of Christ.
Christ Keeps His Church
I was drawn to Psalm 121 because I felt its relevance during some of the things our world has been experiencing during these troubling days.
I’ve been greatly concerned about the divisions I’ve seen in the church between those who want to wear masks and those who don’t. I’ve been overwhelmed by the thought of the American Church’s complicity in racism over the centuries, and the chasm that has been created between white believers and black believers in our country.
Where do we turn when trouble seems overwhelming? How can we stand firm in the truth? Where can we find assurance that the church will prevail through these trying circumstances?
We lift our eyes to the hills, where the presence of God dwells, knowing that our help comes from him.
If we are firmly grounded in truth, the truth about what it means to love God and neighbor during a pandemic, the truth about race relations in our country and how we can move forward in reconciliation, then through the love of Christ, God will keep our feet from being moved and bridge the chasms that divide us. The Lord will keep his church. Of this, we can be assured.
Through the blood of Jesus, God keeps us and holds us fast, and we can move forward in confidence that we will never be separated from him both now and forevermore.
As an appropriate ending to this study, listen to this hymn by Keith and Kristyn Getty: He Will Hold Me Fast.