Psalm 121 (NRSV)

1 I lift up my eyes to the hills–from where will my help come? 2 My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. 3 He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber. 4 He who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. 5 The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade at your right hand. 6 The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. 7 The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life. 8 The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time on and forevermore.

This is definitely one of my favorite Psalms. I’m not sure if it’s because of its use in Shepherd of the Hills or because it is conveniently placed above the observation window in the church at Silver Dollar City, but this Psalm always feels like home to me. And what a Psalm of comfort! My help comes from the Lord, and not just any Lord, but the very one that made the heavens and the earth.

I’m not really sure what to say about this Psalm. All I feel like I can really do is repeat lines over and over…The Lord is your keeper, the Lord will keep your life, the Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time on…that’s what I call security. Maybe one important thing to note is the main action in the Psalm: the Psalmist lifting up his or her eyes. That’s not generally my first response when facing trouble. Rather than looking up, I generally look to myself or to those around me, but don’t look up nearly often enough. Perhaps that’s the key.