Psalm 121: God, Our Help

Psalm 121 “is a beautiful song of trust and confidence in God. It is one of the most cherished of Bible poems in the entire heritage of Hebrew poetry. . . . When David realized that his last influential earthly friend was gone, he turned to the Lord for his sole remaining help. The psalm has been a great blessing to countless thousands who at one time or another have found themselves in circumstances more or less similar to those in which the psalmist finds himself.” This short eight-verse psalm is a marvelous statement of trust in our heavenly Father.

“I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth” (Psalm 121:1, 2).

“God’s vigilance is unwearied. The Eternal is never exhausted and is always attentive to the needs of His earthly children.” “He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber. Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep” (vv. 3, 4). David was living in the desert of Paran, surrounded by raiders, when he penned these lines: “The LORD is thy keeper: the LORD is thy shade upon thy right hand. The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon at night. The LORD shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul” (vv. 5–7). These verses take on new meaning when one realizes David was comparing God to the relief of shade in a desert land. Furthermore, “the LORD shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore” (v. 8).

The Lord continually watches over His children.

The evil one cannot steal away the redeemed from the palm of His hand.

“O God, our help in ages past, / Our hope for years to come, / Our shelter from the stormy blast, / And our eternal home!”