Introduction
“A Song of Ascents”
Psalm 121 is the second song of “15 songs of ascents.”
These 15 songs are sung by the pilgrims or the worshippers when they were ascending the road to Jerusalem.
The Jews must go to Jerusalem to attend the Jewish festivals for three times every year. The festival are Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacle.
Jerusalem is located at an altitude of 800m above sea level. However, Jericho was at an altitude of 250m below sea level.
Therefore, when the pilgrims travel from Jericho to Jerusalem, they say “ascent”. On the other hand, they say “descent” when they travel to Jericho.
Answer Song
In verses 1~2 of psalm 121, the 1st person pronoun “my” is used.
In verses 3~8, the pronoun is changed from the 1st person to the 2nd person, “thy” or “your".
This means that this song is the answer song which was sung responsively by two groups of people.
The two groups are the pilgrims, and the other group is the priests and Levites at the temple of Jerusalem.
What kind of help
In the verses 1~2, the palmist uses the word, עֵזֶר (ezer), which means ‘help.
In the verses 3~8, שָׁמַר(shamar) is used for 6 times. It has the meaning, of ‘keep’, ‘preserve’, or ‘protect’.
God helps us. psalm 121 is about divine help and protection.
From psalm 121, we will learn three lessons.
He helps us (1~2, 4)
He protects us (3, 5~7)
He always keeps us (8)
Therefore, my message is entitled.
The Lord is my keeper.
Firstly, He helps us (1~2, 4).
Who is God?
1. Creator who made heaven and earth, “Elohim.”
which made heaven and earth. (2b)
In the Genesis chapter 1 and verse 1, this name “Elohim” appears.
Genesis chapter 1 teaches that God created heavens and earth with His infinite power and wisdom.
Our God who helps us is the creator who is all powerful and wise.
If our God wants to help us, nobody can stop Him from helping us.
God of the psalmist is the Creator who made heaven and earth. This truth gives the psalmist great confidence in God.
The psalmist trusted his God who is true and living God.
2. Covenantal Name “The Lord”, or “Yahweh”
My help cometh from the LORD(2a)
The word “LORD” is capitalized. It is to emphasize God’s covenant with His people.
In the psalm, the word “LORD” is used for 4 times (2,5,7,8)
This is to emphasize that we are His covenant people.
Exodus 3:6
Moreover he said, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look upon God.
The Lord who made covenant with His people is sovereign in the history of mankind.
The salvation of the Lord is extending to all from generation to generation.
He is the covenant people.
So, he is convinced that the Lord will surely protect him.
Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.(4)
The Lord made covenant with Israel.
The Lord will surely keep His people, Israel.
The Lord who preserves His people, will neither be slumber nor sleep.
Secondly, he protects us (3,5~7).
1. From misfortune
He will not suffer thy foot to be moved (3a)
The pilgrim had to ascend to the steep mountain road.
The Lord will not allow His people’s foot to be moved.
This verse teaches us the doctrine of divine providence.
God has the total sovereignty over His creation.
There is nothing happen by chance because God is in control of all things.
During the ascending misfortune may happen upon the pilgrim.
The pilgrim may encounter life threatening robbers. It is just like the parable of a good Samaritan.
Getting sick or injury may happen also during the ascending to Jerusalem.
Matthew 10:29
Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father.
God even takes care of sparrows. They will not fall on the ground without God’s permission. He will surely take care of us who are more precious than the sparrow.
2. From distress
The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night. (6)
The meaning of the Hebrew word for “smite” is to kill, to destroy, or to defeat.
The strong sunlight in a day can kill a person.
The low temperature at night may discourage them psychologically.
The pilgrim has to overcome various distress physically and psychologically during the journey to Jerusalem.
Our God will keep them from these distresses.
Sometimes, the pilgrim will experience emotion such as, fear, frustration, and discouragement.
Mental and physical pain can make us feel depressed and sad.
But our Lord will keep us.
The LORD is thy keeper: the LORD is thy shade upon thy right hand. (5b)
Our Lord will shade us.
The word “shade” is translated as “defense” in Ecclesiastes 7:12.
“Shade” is basically a shelter. (Genesis 19:8)
We can be protected under God’s shade.
We can trust in our God.
We can cry out to Him for help in the difficult situation.
3. From spiritual evilness
The LORD shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul. (7)
The Lord will keep or preserve us from all evil.
The clause “preserve thee from all evils” includes spiritual protection.
There are evils which will destroy God’s people.
These evils are from the devil and the people who are under its influence.
1 Peter 5:8
Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:
The devil is seeking whom He may devour.
We cannot stand against him without being sober and vigilant by constantly putting our trust in God and living a life that is holy.
The devil will always tempt and entice us to sin.
The Lord will keep us from this spiritual evilness.
Lastly, He Always Keep Us (8).
The LORD shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore. (8)
Hebrew 13:8
Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.
Our Lord will keep us forever.
Application & Conclusion
Emphasis of grammar used in the song.
1. Singularity of pronoun and verb
All pronouns and verbs in psalm 121 are in singular form.
This teaches that we ought to have personal relationship with God.
2. Imperfect tense
The tenses of all verses are imperfect, which means that this song or psalm is still applicable today.
3. We also are pilgrims.
The bible says Christians are strangers and pilgrims.
1Peter 2:11
Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul;
Hebrews 11:13
These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.
Therefore, we also need the divine’s help.
During our journey on earth, we also need protection from the LORD.
We are His covenant people so we can boldly ask for divine help, that is the Lord’s protection.
Our Lord will keep us from misfortune.
Our Lord will keep us from distress.
Our Lord will keep us from spiritual evilness.
He will always keep us wherever we go.