Psalm 121

I lift up my eyes to the hills - where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.
He will not let your foot slip - He who watches over you will not slumber;
indeed, He who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.
The Lord watches over you - the Lord is your shade at your right hand;
The sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night.
The Lord will keep you from all harm - He will watch over your life;
The Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.
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What a beautiful pilgrimage Psalm. I can't imagine a better prayer over a traveler - especially one who would be camping outside and traveling over deserts and facing enemies of both the animal and human kind.

It's important to remember that these Psalms of Ascent were not "chapters" but were just a collection of songs that, among other uses, travelers would sing on the way to Jerusalem for the feasts. So as I have reflected and focused on memorizing this Psalm this week I can't help connecting it to Psalm 120 - which would be what they sang immediately prior to this one. In Psalm 120 the Psalmist honestly cries out to God about the problems of living among those who hate peace. He is among deception and violence on an ongoing basis. In that context, Psalm 121 sounds like a declaration of faith: Yes, here is what is bad - but guess what ... my help comes from God.

That is exactly what we need to hear right now. When you memorized or reflected on Psalm 120, what realities did you cry out to God? He wants us to do that - but equally He wants us to follow that cry with a declaration of faith. Our help comes from God - the creator of heaven and earth. I think that is very intentional terminology used by the Psalmist ... He links the Lord, Yahweh, to creation. The God is Israel isn't just a territorial God, He is the God who created the earth. When we need help, we need someone who can handle a big job. I would say creating from nothing is a big job!

Verses 3-8 move into the arena of protection. We often spiritualize these verses, and they have a definite spiritual application. But as I picture a traveler singing this on a pilgrimage, I can't help but think how literal these travelers would have taken these verses. If I'm on a journey, I want to know God has my back! Asking God for safe travels is Biblical - but in a context.

Remember Ezra leading the travelers back to Jerusalem? In Ezra 8:21-23 prior to leading the Israelites back to Jerusalem from captivity (another time when the Psalms of Ascent were sung), Ezra declared a fast and prayed for a safe journey. His reason is significant: "I was ashamed to ask the king for soldiers and horsemen to protect us from enemies on the road, because we had told the king, 'The gracious hand of our God is on everyone who looks to Him, but His great anger is against all who forsake Him.'"

God's glory was at stake in the protection of His people on a journey! That is pretty amazing. The reality is that Ezra's journey as well as the journey up to the feasts are God-honoring, God-glorifying journeys, kingdom-centered journeys. When we are on a kingdom-centered journey, God is with us. And when we are on that kind of journey, I think we do have permission to pray this Psalm literally as well as spiritually.

In the other window on my computer is an amazing message by Christine Caine from Hillsong Australia. She's talking about purpose, about mission - she said that we are called to take risks for God. We're not called to be tame but to make a difference. She compared our choice to animals living in their natural environment (risky) versus living in a zoo (safe). If we live life in the wild, then we need God's protection. We need His help to keep from slipping and protection from the sun and watching over our every step. She recounted 3 times when she barely missed terrorist attacks. Risky? Sure. But God was with her.

That doesn't mean we'll never have tragedies or trials. But that will happen for God's glory too. He'll still watch over us in the midst of it. However, the important thing for our part is to remain on mission with God. If we do that, we can pray that as we are about God's business taking light into the darkness instead of storing up more light for ourselves, we will find Him with us in a special way.