Are you in a scary time of life today? Do you feel you need someone to protect you? Some of the people who first sang this Song of Ascents would certainly have understood. As they traveled through mountain passes on their way to Jerusalem, many of them looked up in fear that bandits were waiting to pounce on them. Perhaps they also wondered if help would come to them in time.
But it’s also possible that verse 1 is a statement, a statement that summarizes much of the rest of the psalm. For at the top of Mount Zion lay the Temple of God, The One Who is the only sufficient source of help for everyone.
Yes, this Psalm insists that God will protect His people in whatever condition we find ourselves, whether we are going out or coming in (v. 8), whether in the daytime or at night (v. 6). Even while we are asleep, God is wide awake, always watching over us (v. 4).
God will even protect us in battle, keeping our feet from slipping (v. 3). And in the days when a soldier held his shield in his left hand, it was a comfort to know that God was guarding his more vulnerable right side (v. 5). Indeed, if the God Who made the heavens and the earth was on their side (v. 2), what room could God’s Old Testament people have for fear? It’s no wonder that they went up Mount Zion to worship at the Temple with such confidence.
Well, what about us New Testament Christians? We know just as much about God’s power as the psalmist did, but we know a lot more about God’s love for us. For we know that the Father spared no expense to save us, sending His only Son to die so that sinners like us could be delivered from our worst enemies: from sin and death. Moreover, the resurrection of Christ proves that God will keep us safe, not only in this life, but forever in the life to come (v. 8). So, how much more should we lay aside our fears, confident that God will see us through whatever challenges this day might bring?
Psalm 121 (NASB)
A Song of Ascents.
I Will lift up my eyes to the mountains; From whence shall my help come?
2 My help comes from the LORD, Who made heaven and earth.
3 He will not allow your foot to slip; He who keeps you will not slumber.
4 Behold, He who keeps Israel Will neither slumber nor sleep.
5 The LORD is your keeper; The LORD is your shade on your right hand.
6 The sun will not smite you by day, Nor the moon by night.
7 The LORD will protect you from all evil; He will keep your soul.
8 The LORD will guard your going out and your coming in From this time forth and forever.
