Blogging the Psalms

Blogging the Psalms -- Psalm 121

Psalm 121

I remember my Methodist minister grandfather teaching my sister and me this psalm at bedtime. This is one of the first three psalms I learned from him and it definitely blows the mind of little kids to meditate on a God who doesn't sleep or nod off.

Depending on the translation, the second part of the first line is either a statement or a question. "Where my help comes from." Or "Where does my help come from?" Whatever the punctuation, the answer is: "My help comes from God who made heaven and earth."

That is a wonderful place for one's help to come from. When we consider the definition of a god who made the universe, we realize this is a god who knows geography, physics, biology, nutrition, mathematical laws, spiritual laws, physical laws. He knows where everyone is, knows who is sleeping, knows who is eating, knows what everyone is thinking.

He is aware of the evils approaching toward our lives and the evils that are already afflicting us.

I can attest that God does protect His people.

When I was a baby, I had to get some vaccinations. My mother and her friend kept making appointments at the clinic but something would always stop my mother from attending. At last my mother's friend said something like, "Irie, I'm not waiting around for you. The government says the baby needs to get injections and you keep missing the schedules." (Irie, is a Jamaican term which means something like "sympatico friend.") So my mother's friend went without my mother to get her baby vaccinated at the clinic. Her baby died, along with several other babies who had been vaccinated at that clinic. Turns out something was wrong with that batch of vaccine; they were badly maintained or something.)

Another story of survival: When I was around thirteen my family traveled to Bear Mountain State Park. Bear Mountain State Park was the place where folks in Brooklyn often went for a day in the country. After we had eaten, my sister and I were running around like kids often do, chasing each other. One of us would dash in one direction and the other would chase after her. Then the other would dash off in another direction and be chased. We kept doing this and then while I was being chased, I suddenly stopped. For no reason. I can't describe how that happened. I just suddenly stopped in mid-run as if someone had put an invisible wall in front of me. Feeling strange that I had suddenly stopped in my tracks for no reason, I slowly walked ahead a little further. As I continued, I saw that I was on top of a cliff and if I had continued running, I would've dropped over the hill and hit the road below.

It is declared boldly here that "The Lord is my keeper." Cain's retort to God's question about the whereabouts of Abel was "Am I my brother's keeper?" It was a snarky comment, a pun on the fact that Abel was a keeper of animals. It is also the very typical human response to God's command that we care for each other. But here, the psalmist proudly proclaims that God is his keeper. The Creator God who made the heaven and the earth is the one who guards, protects, feeds, and takes care of him. God is the keeper who always has a sleepless eye on me.

1I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help.

2My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth.

3He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber.

4Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.

5The LORD is thy keeper: the LORD is thy shade upon thy right hand.

6The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night.

7The LORD shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul.

8The LORD shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore.