This is the second Psalm in the series “A Song of Ascents.” Its main message is that we can trust God. People in those days may have sung it while travelling, when robbers and other dangers threatened them on the road. Remember Ezra, when he was returning from Babylon. He was ashamed to ask the king for soldiers to guard him and the valuable gifts he carried, because he had often told the king that God protects everyone who seeks Him (Ezra 8:22).
Ezra did not change what he believed when danger came. He stayed firm and showed that the LORD is trustworthy in every situation. We should now ask ourselves whether we really live by the message of this Psalm, or if we only recite it as a prayer for ourselves and our children, especially when we travel.
Where Does My Help Comes From?
I lift up my eyes to the mountains— where does my help come from?
My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth. Psalm 121:1-2 (NIV)
It is common for everyone to seek God when they are hard pressed on every side, because we realise that only He can help us. Yet once we have received His help, we share the credit of our recovery with other people and circumstances. When Jesus spoke of the mustard seed in Matthew 17:20, He was answering His disciples, who had failed to drive a demon out of a boy saying they had little faith. It would help explain how disciples could stay close to their Master and admire His miracles, yet still fail to notice and receive what He offered.
Jesus said that faith as small as a mustard seed can move a mountain. This means our faith does not have to be big, but it must be centered on Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. In Matthew 13:31–32, the mustard seed is also shown growing into a large plant, which teaches that faith is not only about how we trust God when a great problem stands in our way like a mountain, but also about how our faith ends. We give our faith a good finish when we give God full credit for what He has done in us. Just as we ask God for help because only He can truly help us, we should also thank Him when He answers us. When we do not thank God after we succeed, we quietly give the credit to other people or things, and our faith in God stays incomplete. Then it becomes harder for us to trust Him fully in the future.
God Will Not Let Your Foot Slip
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. Psalm 121:3-6 (NIV)
When the Psalmist declares from his own experience that God will not let our foot slip, an intriguing question arises: Why do accidents happen, some of them even fatal? In this fallen world there are many challenges, but God has given us free will to deal with them. We can face them with God, or we can face the evil with the devil. Jesus made it plain that whenever we exercise our free will, we choose to stand either with Him or with the devil. Yet many believers mistakenly think they can stand with neither, relying on themselves and coming to God only in old age. The words of Jesus shed light on this ignorance:
“Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters”
Luke 11:23 (NIV)
We should therefore understand that, although God is watchful and fully aware of every fall or accident, we miss His warnings when we are with the devil, because our minds do not receive the signals He is sending. The next verse of this Psalm affirms this truth vividly: “The Lord is your shade.” We deceive ourselves by assuming that we are in His shade, for we are not constantly away from God and with the devil. Yet when we forget that God is watching over us, we become preoccupied with our own anger, frustration, revenge and lust. In doing so, we sin and drift away from God in our thoughts, if not in our deeds (Matthew 5:22, 28).
Moreover, we often imagine God as a human being. We think He may fall asleep, or that the devil has overpowered Him and that in a while He will throw the devil out. The prophets of Baal cut themselves to draw his attention, and Elijah mocked them, suggesting that Baal might be asleep. Elijah knew that his God never sleeps nor slumbers, for He is the Creator of mankind and was never made by human hands. We should be aware that God is always in full control, though we fail to admit it when we are controlled by the evil one.
The LORD Will Keep You From All Harm
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.
Psalm 121:7-8 (NIV)
God never promised us a trouble-free life. Rather, He says that there will be trouble, but that He will teach us to overcome it, as He Himself did (John 16:33). Yet we often take Jesus’ words to mean that our life will be full of trouble and that we must simply accept this, ignoring the other part of the same verse, which offers an everlasting solution to our trivial and fleeting problems.
This Psalm was used as a prayer by travellers in those days, and the Psalmist sets out a timeline: “now and forevermore”. Does this mean that God begins to keep us from harm only when we set out on a journey, and that on the days when we do not travel, it no longer applies to us? The deeper meaning is that God gives us His Spirit when we begin our journey towards His Kingdom, believing in what He has done for us (Ephesians 1:13-14). The Spirit of God Himself guards our faith and the precious gift of forgiveness of our sins, so that we do not lose it at any cost. The Psalm is therefore speaking of the beginning of our spiritual journey, which has a starting point and will not end until we receive eternal life.
How can we learn to remain constantly with God by following in the footsteps of Jesus? It is only through practice that we can achieve this. A relevant illustration of practice is the use of a keyboard, whether on a computer or a mobile phone. Four decades ago, there were only typewriters, and learning to type without looking at the keys demanded considerable time and effort. Some people persevered, while others did not. Today, however, everyone is well versed in using a keyboard, whether by touch-typing with all the fingers or by using only a few. How did we learn to do this? We learnt it because we practised constantly. Since we were interested in operating digital devices, the practice never felt like a burden. Rather, it was a pleasant experience, whether we were delving into the system or communicating instantly. Likewise, if we have an interest in exploring the Word of God and His Kingdom, then one day we will be with Him constantly, and there will be no chance of being with the devil. Then we can also practice what we preach like Ezra.
Our earthly journeys end as soon as we reach our planned destination, but the destination of our spiritual journey is decided and determined by God. For this reason, the Psalm says that God will watch over us “now and forevermore”. Because we have started our spiritual journey, God has begun to keep us from all the harm that comes into our lives to distract us from the footprints of Jesus, our Way.
God, help us to attribute every blessing in our lives to You alone, for You are the sole provider. Give us hearts that thank You, so that our faith may be complete. We began our spiritual walk on the day we believed that You had forgiven all our sins. Help us to continue that walk without ever forgetting the forgiveness You have bestowed on us out of Your love and grace. Amen.
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