Psalms 121:1 - Meaning and Application

This psalm teaches us to trust in God as one who has power and is fully enough for us. David did this, and he found the blessing of it. We must not lean on created things, on people, on tools, or on secondary causes, and we must not make mere human strength our support. As Jeremiah says, it is useless to hope for salvation from hills and mountains (Jeremiah 3:23).

Some read the line as a question: "Shall I lift up my eyes to the hills?" That is, should I look to the powers of earth, to rulers and great men, who seem strong like hills? No, my help does not come from them. Others read it as an answer: "I will lift up my eyes above the hills." That means we look past every instrument to God, who gives them all their value and use.

We should see all our help stored in God, in his power and goodness, his care and grace. From him we should expect it to come. "My help comes from the Lord" means, the help I want is what he gives, and I wait for it in his own way and time. If he does not help, no creature can help. If he does help, no creature can block it or harm us.

We must also seek help from God by faith in his promises and by respecting his appointed means of grace. David likely meant the hills where the temple stood, Mount Moriah and Zion, the holy hill where the ark, the oracle, and the altars were kept. In that case, he says, "I will keep my eyes on God's special presence in his church and among his people, not only on his general presence everywhere." When he was far away, he would look toward the sanctuary (Psalm 28:2; Psalm 42:6). From there comes help, through the word and prayer, and through the place where God meets his people.

"My help comes from the Lord" can also mean, "My help comes from before the Lord," or from the Lord's own presence. Dr. Hammond says this may point to Christ becoming human. Since God's nature is united with Christ's humanity, God is always present with him, and through him with us, while Christ sits at God's right hand and keeps praying for us. Christ is called the angel of God's presence, the one who saved his people (Isaiah 63:9).

We should also strengthen our confidence in God by remembering that he made heaven and earth. The one who did that can do anything. He made the world out of nothing, by himself, with a word, in a short time, and he made it all very good and beautiful. So no matter how great our trouble is, he has more than enough power to help and rescue us. He who made heaven and earth is Lord over all the powers in both, and he can use them as he wishes for his people's good, or hold them back from harming them.

This psalm also comforts us in God when our dangers and troubles are greatest. It promises that if we trust in God and keep walking in our duty, we will be safe under his care. No true evil, no merely harmful thing, will happen to us, and no suffering will come except what God sees fit to use for our good.

God himself has taken charge of guarding us: "The Lord is your keeper" (Psalm 121:5). Even if he gives angels the work of guarding his people, he has not given up that care himself. Whether each believer has a guardian angel or not, we can be sure that God himself is our guardian. It is infinite wisdom that plans our safety, and infinite power that carries it out, for those who place themselves under God's protection. Those whom the Lord keeps must be well kept. Even if affliction makes them his prisoners, he is still their keeper.

The same God who protects the church as a whole also promises to preserve each believer. It is the same wisdom, the same power, and the same promise. "He who keeps Israel" (Psalm 121:4) is "your keeper" (Psalm 121:5). The shepherd of the whole flock is also the shepherd of every sheep, and he will make sure not one of the little ones is lost.

He is also a watchful keeper who never sleeps. "He who keeps Israel, he who keeps you, O Israelite, will neither slumber nor sleep." He never has, and he never will, because he is never tired. He does not even drift into sleep for a moment, and he never has the slightest urge to sleep.

He does more than guard his people, he also refreshes them. "He is your shade." This is a humble and comforting picture. The eternal God, who is beyond all material things, speaks to us in a way we can feel and understand, and promises to be like a shadow to his people. He stays close to them, just as a shadow stays close to the body, and he shelters them from the hot sun, like the shadow of a great rock in a dry land (Isaiah 32:2). Under this shadow they can sit with joy and safety (Song of Solomon 2:3).

He is always near his people for their protection and comfort, never far away. He is their keeper and their shade on their right hand, so he is never hard to find. The right hand is the working hand, and if we turn to our duty with care and skill, we will find God ready to help and give success (Psalm 16:8).

He is not only at their right hand, but he will also keep the feet of his saints (1 Samuel 2:9). He watches their steps. He will not let their foot slip. God will see to it that his people are not tested beyond what they can bear. He will not let them fall into sin, even if they come very close (Psalm 73:2, Psalm 73:23). He will not let them fall into trouble, even if many try to trick them or bring them down by force. He will keep them from the fear that comes when we slip, stumble, and think we are about to fall.

He will also protect them from every harmful influence in the heavens: "The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night" (Psalm 121:6). The sun and moon are blessings to people, yet sin has so changed the world that even these gifts are sometimes used to harm the human body. God often strikes through them, but his favor will stand between his people and such harm. He will keep them day and night (Isaiah 27:3), as he kept Israel in the wilderness by a pillar of cloud by day, which protected them from the sun, and by fire at night, which likely gave the camp a gentle warmth so they would not suffer from the cold and damp. Jacob once complained that by day the heat wore him down and by night the frost did the same (Genesis 31:40).

This can also be understood in a figurative way. "You will not be hurt either by open attacks from your enemies, which are like the strong beams of the sun, or by secret, crafty attacks, which are like the quiet seep of cold at night." His protection will keep them safe in every way. "The Lord will preserve you from all evil," from the evil of sin and the evil of trouble.

He will prevent the evil you fear, and he will sanctify, remove, or lessen the evil you feel. He will keep you from doing evil (2 Corinthians 13:7), and he will also keep suffering from becoming true harm. Whatever trouble comes to you will have no lasting evil in it. Even what kills will not finally hurt you.

It is especially the spiritual life that God will guard. He will preserve your soul. All souls belong to him, and the soul is the true self. So he watches over it with special care, keeping it from sin and from being worn down by trouble. He keeps it in his possession, and he keeps it from dying forever.

He will keep you in all your ways. He will preserve your going out and your coming in. You will be under his protection in every journey and voyage, whether you are setting out or returning. He guarded Israel in the wilderness, both when they moved and when they rested. He will also bless all your work at home and abroad, at the start and at the finish. He will keep you in life and in death, in your going out while you live, and in your coming in when you die, as you leave for your work in the morning of life and come home to rest when old age calls you in (Psalm 104:23).

His care for you will continue from this time on and forever. This protection never expires. He will guide you even to death, and then hide you in the grave and in heaven. He will keep you in his heavenly kingdom. God will protect his church and his people always, even until the end of the world. The Spirit, who keeps them and comforts them, will stay with them forever.