There are moments when we simply need to look up.
Psalm 121 begins with a question: “I will lift up my eyes to the hills. Where does my help come from?” It is a question that feels remarkably familiar. When the road ahead is uncertain, when circumstances seem larger than our ability to manage them, or when we find ourselves surrounded by dangers we cannot see, where do we look for help?
Matthew Henry considered Psalm 121 a song of confidence in God’s protection. Some have called it the soldier’s psalm; others, the traveler’s psalm. But Henry wisely cautions against limiting it to either. We don’t have to be on a battlefield or traveling a distant road to need God’s protection. Wherever we are, we are dependent upon Him.
The psalm redirects our eyes. The hills may be impressive. The people and resources around us may be helpful. But our ultimate help does not come from them. “My help comes from Yahweh, who made heaven and earth.” The One who made the hills is greater than anything we might encounter upon them.
And then the psalm repeats a beautiful assurance: God keeps us.
He does not slumber. He does not sleep. He is never distracted, never weary, and never absent. He keeps our feet from being moved. He is our shade when the journey is difficult. He watches over us by day and by night. He keeps our going out and our coming in.
That doesn’t mean God’s people will never experience hardship. Rather, it reminds us that hardship never places us outside His care. Even when we cannot see what lies ahead, He sees it. Even when we feel vulnerable, He remains our keeper.
Psalm 121 is one of the Songs of Ascent, and perhaps that is fitting. The psalm itself seems to move upward – from the hills, to the Maker of heaven and earth, and finally to the assurance that His watchful care extends from this moment “forever more.”
This video simply lets the words of the psalm speak, accompanied by music and the beauty of God’s creation.
As you watch, perhaps take a moment to lift your eyes – and remember where your help comes from.
Psalm 121 answers with quiet confidence: “My help comes from Yahweh, who made heaven and earth.”
He does not slumber. He does not sleep. He watches over us by day and by night, in our going out and our coming in.
Whatever road you are walking today, you are not walking it alone.
Psalm 121 — A Song of Ascent
Steven Stoops -- TUCOR Five One Seven Productions 
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