The fifteen psalms 120-134 are traditionally called the Songs of Ascents. Ten of them are anonymous, four of them are written by David and one by Solomon. They were sung by pilgrims making their way up to Jerusalem to celebrate the three major Jewish festivals.
- READ PSALM 121
- BACKGROUND TO PSALM 121
The reason these Psalms (120-134) are called songs of ascents is because Jerusalem was situated over 800 metres above sea level, the highest point in that part of Israel. Worshippers would scale these heights to celebrate Passover in the spring, Pentecost in the summer and Tabernacles in the autumn. These psalms were not originally written as marching songs but over time were eventually drawn into a little hymnal of fifteen songs for pilgrims to sing as they journeyed as groups of families from far flung places to gather in Jerusalem for these festivals. In a sense they helped orientate the hearts of pilgrims towards God. Psalm 121 has been a much loved psalm by spiritual pilgrims for thousands of years. Our list of dangers is different from the psalmists but we can turn to the same God of Psalm 121. It is a simple psalm with four stanzas. Each stanza has two verses and has something wonderful to say about our God.
A) GOD IS MY STRENGTH! (vrs 1, 2)
First of all then in Vrs 1, 2 the psalmist declares that God is my strength. These verses are without doubt the most quoted verses in this much loved psalm. I lift up my eyes to the hills – where does my help come from? When we go to the Drakensberg and look up at towering mountain peaks it takes our breath away and we might find ourselves quoting vrs 1. That would be to misunderstand these verses. The hills for the psalmist were part of the problem, not part of the solution. Here is this pilgrim setting out from his village for Jerusalem. There was no tarred road that they could follow. The going would be tough. They would also have to contend with the blazing sun by day with the prospect of sunstroke, and at night in those regions the temperatures would drop considerably. Furthermore in those hills lurked bandits who knew that groups of pilgrims were on the way and were out in force. As this pilgrim looked to the hills they did not take his breath away in amazement but they filled him with worry and fear about the difficulties and dangers of the journey. 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. This much he knew – he could trust in God who made the heaven and earth. Surely he will help.
B) GOD IS MY SUPPORT! (vrs 3, 4)
If you take a closer look at this psalm you will see that in Vrs 1, 2 the personal pronouns are first person “I” and “my”. In Vrs 3 to the end of the psalm these personal pronouns change to the second person “you” and “your.” There are two voices in this psalm. How do we account for this? Remember these psalms were intended to be sung. Use your imagination a little. If a choir was to sing Psalm 121 we would get a boy soprano to sing Vrs 1, 2. Here is the voice of inexperience. At the beginning of Vrs 3 a tenor like Placido Domingo takes over. A more mature voice representing a person with experience who has been on pilgrimage. He has been where we are. He helps us to see that God is more than the creator of heaven and earth. He is the God who watches over His children. He sees us. He knows us. He is interested in us. The inexperienced pilgrim of Vrs 1, 2 is invited to press a little deeper into God and experience the wonder of the watch care of this great and gracious God.
C) GOD IS MY SHADE! (vrs 5, 6)
The third stanza of this wonderfully encouraging psalm in Vrs 5, 6 goes on to declare that God is our shade. Any pilgrim on his way to Jerusalem faced two perils. The sun by day and the moon by night. Under a hot baking sun our strength can be sapped, and there is also the distinct danger of sunstroke. Shade is absolutely necessary to provide us with relief and comfort. At night the extreme temperature fluctuation meant for cold and discomfort. For the Christian in our pilgrimage through this world this simply stands for the fiercest trials that we can face during the day and then the dragons that stalk us at night when we wake at 2 am in the morning and cannot get back to sleep as we toss and turn worrying about stuff. In both these situations God is the shade at our right hand. At this point some of you may object vociferously. “Hang on a second. These are all beautiful thoughts but that is not how things work out there in the real world. There we do sprain our ankles, and after a day out in the sun we look like a lobster and at night the pressures of our life make sleep hard to find. Nice poetry but not very applicable.” Not so quick! Listen to the words of Jesus Christ in Luke 21:16-19. You will be betrayed even by parents, brothers, relatives and friends, and they will put some of you to death. All men will hate you because of me. But not a hair of your head will perish. By standing firm you will gain life. Is Jesus contradicting himself by speaking of martyrs and then in the same breath saying not a head of our head will perish. No! What he means is that He will keep us from ultimate harm. The psalmist does not mean that life will be free from disappointments. What the psalmist is promising is God’s protective care not his preventive care. He does not say that God will take the sun away. We will undergo fiery trials but God will be our shade at our right hand. And we will experience those dark nights of the soul but still have God at our right hand keeping us from ultimate harm.
D) GOD IS MY SAVIOUR! (vrs 7, 8)
Lastly, we see that God is our Saviour. He watches over our life. Indeed he watches over our comings and goings both now and forevermore. God’s watch-care is not the blessing of every individual. In Vrs 4 he says he who watches over Israel. Ultimately Israel is a picture of the people of God – the elect. Not every person can claim that God is their strength, support and shade. Only believers can say this. We might be tempted to interpret this psalm purely in a temporal sense but “all evil” in vrs 7 and “forevermore” in vrs 8 look beyond this life to eternity itself. We can sing this psalm in all our comings and goings in life both now . . . and forevermore – this includes our final going from this earth to glory.