Bible Commentaries
Psalms 121

Verses 1-8

Psalms 121:1-8

I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills ( Psalms 121:1 ),

For there is Jerusalem, there in the mountains of Jerusalem, up there in the hills. There is that city. There is where I'm going to stand before God.

from whence cometh my help ( Psalms 121:1 ).

Now this psalm is often misquoted. "I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help," as though my help was coming from the hills. You know, "From whence cometh my help. I will lift up my eyes." And the idea, my help is coming from... the hills can't help you. "From whence cometh my help" is actually a question. "I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills." Towards Jerusalem, the place where I will stand before God. "From whence cometh my help?" and it is answered in the next verse.

My help cometh from Yahweh, which made the heaven and the eaRuth ( Psalms 121:2 ).

It is many times important that we classify God with this kind of a classification, first of all, so that we will identify the God that we are talking about. As Francis Schaeffer said that we should not as Christians just refer to "God" because nobody knows who you are talking about. There are so many gods that people worship and serve. So we need to define when we say, "God," we need to say, "The only true and the living God, the Creator of the heaven and the earth." Now you're defining Him. That's the God that we worship.

There are many who worship the god of pleasure, the god of power, the god of different things. The intellect. But the God that we worship is the only true, eternal God who has created the heaven and the earth, the living God. So, "From whence cometh my help? My help comes from Yahweh which made the heaven and the earth."

Now in the declaring of God as the creator of the heaven and the earth, it's not only valuable to identify when we're talking with people, but it's valuable for us to remember the power of the God that we serve. There are so many times that we become so overpowered by our problems that we neglect to realize the great power of God. I'm so overwhelmed. This problem is so big. What am I going to do? And I just get overwhelmed by my difficulties. Until I realize the greatness of the power of the God I serve.

In the New Testament when the disciples had been beaten and told not to witness anymore in the name of Jesus, it said, "They came to their own company and they told them all of the things that happened when they were standing before the council." How they were beaten and warned not to preach or teach anymore in the name of Jesus. And so they prayed and they said, "O Lord, Thou art God. Thou hast created the heavens and the earth and everything that is in them" ( Acts 4:23-24 ). Now it's good to start your prayer that way because many times if you'll just start your prayer that way and really think of what you're praying, all of a sudden your problem comes into the true perspective. I am seeing now my difficulty in the light of God's greatness and my difficulty suddenly isn't so difficult. I'm seeing it no longer in my own strength, in my own ability. I'm calling upon the One who has created the heaven and the earth and everything that is in them. God said to Jeremiah, "Behold, I am God. Is there anything too hard for Me?" ( Jeremiah 32:27 ) In his next prayer, Jeremiah picked that up and he said, "O Lord, You're God. There's nothing too hard for You." The Lord who made the heaven and the earth. That's where my help comes from. And if God be for me, who can be against me?

He will not allow your foot to be moved ( Psalms 121:3 ):

Now you're walking up a rocky, slippery path. The rockiest place in the world, I think, is Israel. And rocks and gravel on the path can be very slippery. But, "He will not allow your foot to be moved."

he that keeps you will not slumber. Behold, he that keeps Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep ( Psalms 121:3-4 ).

God is my help. My help comes from the Lord, who made the heaven and the earth. And He's always on duty. He'll never slumber; He'll never sleep.

The LORD is thy keeper: the LORD is thy shade upon thy right hand ( Psalms 121:5 ).

Of course, coming from the Jordan Valley, extremely hot in that burning sun. The Lord becomes the shade.

The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night. The LORD shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul ( Psalms 121:6-7 ).

What a glorious promise. If you are looking to the Lord for your help, He will preserve you from all evil. The Lord will preserve your soul.

The LORD shall preserve thy going out, thy coming in from this time forth, even for evermore ( Psalms 121:8 ).

Isn't that a glorious promise to us? God will not allow my foot to be moved. He's watching over me night and day. He will preserve me.

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