Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
Psalms 121:3

Clarke's Commentary

Verse Psalms 121:3. He will not suffer thy foot to be moved — The foundation, God's infinite power and goodness, on which thou standest, cannot be moved; and whilst thou standest on this basis, thy foot cannot be moved.

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

Psalms 120-124 To Jerusalem for worship

Each of the fifteen Psalms 120:0 to 134 is entitled ‘A Song of Ascents’ (RSV; NIV). These psalms were apparently sung by worshippers from the country areas as they made the journey up to Jerusalem for the various annual festivals.

Whether or not the psalms were written for this purpose, they have been arranged in a sequence that reflects the feelings of the travellers. They provide expressions of worship for the travellers as they set out from distant regions, travel through the country, come to Jerusalem, and finally join in the temple ceremonies.
The collection opens with a cry from one who lives in a distant region and is bitterly persecuted by his neighbours (120:1-2). Their insults pierce him like sharp arrows and burn him like red-hot coals. He prays that God’s punishment of them will be just as painful (3-4). He is tired of being victimized. He feels as if he lives in a far-off land where he is surrounded by attackers from hostile tribes. He will set out for Jerusalem and seek some peace and refreshment of spirit in God’s house (5-7).
As he journeys through the hill country, the man knows that God who made the hills cares for him (121:1-2). Even when he sleeps by the roadside at night, God, who never sleeps, watches over him (3-4). God protects him from dangers by day and by night (5-6). Surely, God will take him to Jerusalem and bring him safely home again (7-8).
In the excitement of anticipation, the traveller pictures his dream as fulfilled. He recalls a psalm of David and pictures himself at last standing in Jerusalem as David once did (122:1-2). He sees it as a beautiful, well-built city, where the tribes of Israel are united in their worship of God, and where God rules his people through the throne of David (3-5). He prays that God will always preserve the city and prosper its people (6-8). He himself will do all he can for the city’s good (9).
Ungodly people mock the poor traveller, and others who have now joined him, for putting up with such hardships just to attend a religious festival in Jerusalem. The worshippers ask God to give them some relief by silencing those who mock them (123:1-4).
The persecuted travellers once more recall the experience of David and sing one of his psalms that reflects their own experience. As David was persecuted, so are they. Only through God’s grace and power have they been kept from much worse treatment (124:1-3). Their enemies are as violent and destructive as a raging flood (4-5), as cruel as wild animals (6) and as cunning as bird-trappers (7), but the travellers have the great Creator on their side (8).

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

"He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: He that keepeth thee will not slumber."

"He that keepeth thee." The words "keep," "keeper" and "keepeth" appear six times in these eight verses; and this is the reason for our selection of the first title of the psalm.

Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible

He will not suffer thy foot to be moved - He will enable you to stand firm. You are safe in his protection. Compare the notes at Psalms 38:16. This, with the remainder of the psalm, seems to be of the nature of an answer to the anxious question in Psalms 121:1 - an answer which the author of the psalm, in danger and trouble, makes to his own soul, imparting confidence to himself.

He that keepeth thee will not slumber - He will be ever watchful and wakeful. Compare Isaiah 27:3. All creatures, as far as we know, sleep; God never sleeps. Compare Psalms 139:11-12. His eyes are upon us by day, and in the darkness of the night - the night literally; and also the night of calamity, woe, and sorrow.

Calvin's Commentary on the Bible

3He will not suffer thy foot to stumble. Here the Prophet, in order to recall the faithful to the right path, and to defeat the influence of all the allurements which are wont to distract their minds, affirms that whatever advantages worldly men are accustomed to desire or hope for from the world, true believers will find abundantly and at hand in God alone. He not only attributes power to God, but also teaches that He is so affectioned towards us, that he will preserve us in all respects in perfect safety. As often as the power of God is extolled, there are many who immediately reply, It is very true that he can do such and such things if he is so inclined, but we do not certainly know what is his intention. In this passage, therefore, God is exhibited to the faithful as their guardian, that they may rest with assured confidence on his providence. As the Epicureans, in imagining that God has no care whatever about the ‘world, extinguish all piety, so those who think that the world is governed by God only in a general and confused manner, and believe not that he cherishes with special care each of his believing people, leave men’s minds in suspense, and are themselves kept in a state of constant fluctuation and anxiety. In short, never will the hearts of men be led in good earnest to call upon God, until a persuasion of the truth of this guardianship is deeply fixed in their minds. The Psalmist declares that the purpose for which God is our keeper, is, that he may hold us up. The Hebrew word, מוט, mot, which is here used, signifies both a sliding or falling, and a trembling or staggering. Now, although it often happens that the faithful stagger, yea, are even ready to fall altogether, yet as God sustains them by his power, they are said to stand upright. And as amidst the many dangers which every moment threaten us, it is difficult for us to get rid of all anxiety and fear, the Prophet at the same time testifies, that God keeps watch unceasingly over our safety.

Smith's Bible Commentary

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.

"

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

Psalms 121

This psalm directed the thoughts of the pilgrim to God as his source of help. It gives assurance that Israel’s Keeper will maintain vigilant oversight and protect His people.

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

"Allowing the foot to slip" was an appropriate imagery depicting a pilgrim who walked toward the temple over sometimes treacherous terrain. The imagery means God would keep His people stable and upright in their manner of life. Even though travelers sometimes journeyed after dark, God would never stop watching out for his worshippers.

“Unless the psalmist addresses an observer (note the second person singular forms in Psalms 121:3-8), it appears there are two or three speakers represented in the psalm, depending on how one takes Psalms 121:3. The translation [in the NET Bible] assumes that speaker one talks in Psalms 121:1-2, that speaker two responds to him with a prayer in Psalms 121:3 (this assumes the verbs are true jussives of prayer), and that speaker three responds with words of assurance in Psalms 121:4-8. If the verbs in Psalms 121:3 are taken as a rhetorical use of the jussive, then there are two speakers. Psalms 121:3-8 are speaker two’s response to the words of speaker one." [Note: The NET Bible note on Psalms 121.]

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

2. The assurance of help 121:3-8

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

He wilt not suffer thy foot to be moved,.... This is either an address of the psalmist to his own soul; or to any other good man, his friend and acquaintance, assuring of stability, and of final perseverance in grace to glory. The Lord keeps the feet of his saints from falling: he will not suffer them to be moved out of the spiritual estate in which they stand; nor off of the Foundation and Rock of ages, on which their feet are set, and their goings established; nor out of the house of God, where they are as pillars; nor out of his ways, where he upholds their goings; moved in some sense they may be, yet not "greatly moved"; their feet may be "almost" gone, and their steps "well nigh" slipped, and yet shall not fall finally and totally, or so as to perish; see Psalms 62:2;

he that keepeth thee will not slumber; neither angels nor men are the keepers of the saints, but the Lord himself; he is the keeper of every individual saint, of every regenerate person, of everyone of his sheep, of every member of his church; he keeps them by his power, he preserves them by his grace, he holds them with his right hand; guides them by his counsel, keeps their feet from falling, and brings them safe to glory: and a watchful keeper he is, he does not so much as slumber; he keeps them night and day, lest any harm them, Isaiah 27:3. Gussetius reads the whole as a prayer, "let him not suffer [thy foot]", c. "let not thy keeper slumber" i to which the answer follows.

i אל יתן-אל ינום "ne permittat--ne dormitet", Junius Tremellius, Piscator so Ainsworth.

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

A song of degrees.

      1 I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help.   2 My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth.   3 He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber.   4 Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.   5 The LORD is thy keeper: the LORD is thy shade upon thy right hand.   6 The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night.   7 The LORD shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul.   8 The LORD shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore.

      This psalm teaches us,

      I. To stay ourselves upon God as a God of power and a God all-sufficient for us. David did so and found the benefit of it. 1. We must not rely upon creatures, upon men and means, instruments and second causes, nor make flesh our arm: "Shall I lift up my eyes to the hills?"--so some read it. "Does my help come thence? Shall I depend upon the powers of the earth, upon the strength of the hills, upon princes and great men, who, like hills, fill the earth, and hold up their heads towards heaven? No; in vain is salvation hoped for from hills and mountains,Jeremiah 3:23. I never expect help to come from them; my confidence is in God only." We must lift up our eyes above the hills (so some read it); we must look beyond instruments to God, who makes them that to us which they are. 2. We must see all our help laid up in God, in his power and goodness, his providence and grace; and from him we must expect it to come: "My help comes from the Lord; the help I desire is what he sends, and from him I expect it in his own way and time. If he do not help, no creature can help; if he do, no creature can hinder, can hurt." 3. We must fetch in help from God, by faith in his promises, and a due regard to all his institutions: "I will lift up my eyes to the hills" (probably he meant the hills on which the temple was built, Mount Moriah, and the holy hill of Zion, where the ark of the covenant, the oracle, and the altars were); "I will have an eye to the special presence of God in his church, and with his people (his presence by promise) and not only to his common presence." When he was at a distance he would look towards the sanctuary (Psalms 28:2; Psalms 42:6); thence comes our help, from the word and prayer, from the secret of his tabernacle. My help cometh from the Lord (so the word is, Psalms 121:2; Psalms 121:2), from before the Lord, or from the sight and presence of the Lord. "This (says Dr. Hammond) may refer to Christ incarnate, with whose humanity the Deity being inseparably united, God is always present with him, and, through him, with us, for whom, sitting at God's right hand, he constantly maketh intercession." Christ is called the angel of his presence, that saved his people, Isaiah 63:9. 4. We must encourage our confidence in God with this that he made heaven and earth, and he who did that can do any thing. He made the world out of nothing, himself alone, by a word's speaking, in a little time, and all very good, very excellent and beautiful; and therefore, how great soever our straits and difficulties are, he has power sufficient for our succour and relief. He that made heaven and earth is sovereign Lord of all the hosts of both, and can make use of them as he pleases for the help of his people, and restrain them when he pleases from hurting his people.

      II. To comfort ourselves in God when our difficulties and dangers are greatest. It is here promised that if we put our trust in God, and keep in the way of our duty, we shall be safe under his protection, so that no real evil, no mere evil, shall happen to us, nor any affliction but what God sees good for us and will do us good by. 1. God himself has undertaken to be our protector: The Lord is thy keeper,Psalms 121:5; Psalms 121:5. Whatever charge he gives his angels to keep his people, he has not thereby discharged himself, so that, whether every particular saint has an angel for his guardian or no, we are sure he has God himself for his guardian. It is infinite wisdom that contrives, and infinite power that works, the safety of those that have put themselves under God's protection. Those must needs be well kept that have the Lord for their keeper. If, by affliction, they be made his prisoners, yet still he is their keeper. 2. The same that is the protector of the church in general is engaged for the preservation of every particular believer, the same wisdom, the same power, the same promises. He that keepeth Israel (Psalms 121:4; Psalms 121:4) is thy keeper,Psalms 121:5; Psalms 121:5. The shepherd of the flock is the shepherd of every sheep, and will take care that not one, even of the little ones, shall perish. 3. He is a wakeful watchful keeper: "He that keepeth Israel, that keepeth thee, O Israelite! shall neither slumber nor sleep; he never did, nor ever will, for he is never weary; he not only does not sleep, but he does not so much as slumber; he has not the least inclination to sleep." 4. He not only protects those whom he is the keeper of, but he refreshes them: He is their shade. The comparison has a great deal of gracious condescension in it; the eternal Being who is infinite substance is what he is in order that he may speak sensible comfort to his people, promises to be their umbra--their shadow, to keep as close to them as the shadow does to the body, and to shelter them from the scorching heat, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land,Isaiah 32:2. Under this shadow they may sit with delight and assurance, Song of Solomon 2:3. 5. He is always near to his people for their protection and refreshment, and never at a distance; he is their keeper and shade on their right hand; so that he is never far to seek. The right hand is the working hand; let them but turn themselves dexterously to their duty, and they shall find God ready to them, to assist them and give them success, Psalms 16:8. 6. He is not only at their right hand, but he will also keep the feet of his saints,1 Samuel 2:9. He will have an eye upon them in their motions: He will not suffer thy foot to be moved. God will provide that his people shall not be tempted above what they are able, shall not fall into sin, though they may be very near it (Psalms 73:2; Psalms 73:23), shall not fall into trouble, though there be many endeavouring to undermine them by fraud or over throw them by force. He will keep them from being frightened, as we are when we slip or stumble and are ready to fall. 7. He will protect them from all the malignant influences of the heavenly bodies (Psalms 121:6; Psalms 121:6): The sun shall not smite thee with his heat by day nor the moon with her cold and moisture by night. The sun and moon are great blessings to mankind, and yet (such a sad change has sin made in the creation) even the sun and moon, though worshipped by a great part of mankind, are often instruments of hurt and distemper to human bodies; God by them often smites us; but his favour shall interpose so that they shall not damage his people. He will keep them night and day (Isaiah 27:3), as he kept Israel in the wilderness by a pillar of cloud by day, which screened them from the heat of the sun, and of fire by night, which probably diffused a genial warmth over the whole camp, that they might not be prejudiced by the cold and damp of the night, their father Jacob having complained (Genesis 31:40) that by day the drought consumed him and the frost by night. It may be understood figuratively: "Thou shalt not be hurt either by the open assaults of thy enemies, which are as visible as the scorching beams of the sun, or by their secret treacherous attempts, which are like the insensible insinuations of the cold by night." 8. His protection will make them safe in every respect: "The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil, the evil of sin and the evil of trouble. He shall prevent the evil thou fearest, and shall sanctify, remove, or lighten, the evil thou feelest. He will keep thee from doing evil (2 Corinthians 13:7), and so far from suffering evil that whatever affliction happens to thee there shall be no evil in it. Even that which kills shall not hurt." 9. It is the spiritual life, especially, that God will take under his protection: He shall preserve thy soul. All souls are his; and the soul is the man, and therefore he will with a peculiar care preserve them, that they be not defiled by sin and disturbed by affliction. He will keep them by keeping us in the possession of them; and he will preserve them from perishing eternally. 10. He will keep us in all our ways: "He shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in. Thou shalt be under his protection in all thy journeys and voyages, outward-bound or homeward-bound, as he kept Israel in the wilderness, in their removes and rests. He will prosper thee in all thy affairs at home and abroad, in the beginning and in the conclusion of them. He will keep thee in life and death, thy going out and going on while thou livest and thy coming in when thou diest, going out to thy labour in the morning of thy days and coming home to thy rest when the evening of old age calls thee in," Psalms 104:23. 11. He will continue his care over us from this time forth and even for evermore. It is a protection for life, never out of date. "He will be thy guide even unto death, and will then hide thee in the grave, hide thee in heaven. He will preserve thee in his heavenly kingdom." God will protect his church and his saints always, even to the end of the world. The Spirit, who is their preserver and comforter, shall abide with them for ever.