Thoughts for the Day

I lift up my eyes to the hills—
from where will my help come?
My help comes from the Lord,
who made heaven and earth.

He will not let your foot be moved;
he who keeps you will not slumber.
He who keeps Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.

The Lord is your keeper;
the Lord is your shade at your right hand.
The sun shall not strike you by day,
nor the moon by night.

The Lord will keep you from all evil;
he will keep your life.
The Lord will keep
your going out and your coming in
from this time on and for evermore.

(Lectionary, New Revised Standard Version)

Thoughts

Primitive people often worshipped gods associated with nature, or the sun, or mountains. The Egyptians worshipped the sun god Ra; when God's people moved into Canaan they encountered the goddess Asherah whose adherents worship special trees; and both Canaanite and Israelite traditions saw mountains as important - think of Moses going up the mountain to receive the ten commandments from God (Exodus 24.12-18).

Psalm 121 is one of a series of psalms called "Songs of Ascent" and would have been sung by pilgrims climbing the steep Judean hills to reach the Temple on Mount Moriah in Jerusalem. So a hint of earlier worship on high places can still be seen in this psalm if we ignore the punctuation of a hyphen and a question mark! Too many people (including myself) have sung the psalm from the Book of Common Prayer text where the punctuation is confusing. Newer translations are more accurate:

1. "I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help." (BCP)
2. "I lift up my eyes to the hills—from where will my help come?" (New RSV)

We may look to the hills for inspiration, but its all part of the medieval idea that "up" is good (ie heaven) and "down" is bad (ie hell), as reflected in words like "upbeat", and "down trodden". We do not look to the hills for help! The answer to the question as to where our help comes from is resounding: "My help comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth". He is the one who will rescue us! He is the one who is always with us.

Lord God,
our help comes only from You.
Teach us to trust in You this day
and in the future,
so that we may learn to do Your will
as your loving children,
and grow every closer to You.
Amen.