You will notice from its inscription that this is one of the “Songs of Degrees.” There are fifteen of these in our Bibles – one tenth of all the Psalms. But I wonder how many Christians know what makes them special?
The truth is: there is some disagreement among the experts. The Bible encyclopedia which I use, the one with the acronym “ISBE,” gives four possible explanations. Perhaps they all blend together or overlap. Some think these Psalms were penned, or used, by the Jews returning from their Babylonian captivity, under Ezra. Other people say they are titled “degrees” because each of them rise one step in devotion and worship. I am not sure that I see that, but maybe I’m not as spiritual as I ought to be. Then there are Jews who say there were 15 steps between the court of the women and the temple proper. And on special occasions the priests would sing each of these Psalms on their appropriate step. The most common explanation, and the one I prefer, is that these songs were sung by the Jewish pilgrims as they ascended into the hills from Jericho for their required attendance at the feasts of the Lord.
One of our men the other day reminded me of the topography of Israel. It is really quite interesting. For example, Jericho, near the Jordan River as it flows from Galilee to the Dead Sea, is 900 feet below sea level. The city of Jerusalem with its temple, to which the pilgrims were headed, is 2,575 feet above sea level. In 55 miles those people walked – climbed – about 3,500 feet.
To put that into perspective, Ellensburg, Washington, is at the eastern edge of the Cascade Mountains. When we drive to Seattle, we generally pass through Ellensburg then up and over Snoqualmie Pass. Ellensburg is at an elevation of 1,500 feet, and Snoqualmie is 3,000 – 1,500 feet above that. And the distance between those two is about the same as from Jericho to Jerusalem. Imagine walking from Ellensburg to Snoqualmie. Hiking might be a better word. Now factor something else: the rise in elevation up to Snoqualme Pass is only half of the rise from Jericho up to Jerusalem. Because of their hatred of the Samaritans, the Jews created a really extreme hike in order to get to the temple.
If you were going to make that walk, wouldn’t you stop for snacks in Ellensburg, before your climb into the hills? But there were no Starbucks, or McDonalds in Jericho. Those pilgrims were not being pushed or fueled on their journey by whips, bribes or liquid adrenalin. They were being drawn by their desire to worship the Lord. They were being fueled, not by the smell of fresh coffee, but by their thoughts of God. Whereas today, you might stop in Ellensburg for a “cup of joe” to take you the rest of your way. Those people, as they passed through Jericho, they went through a spiritual drive in and picked up a little “Jehovah to go.” These “Songs of Degrees” encouraged their resolve to come to the Lord and His throne.
Why are we looking at Psalm 121 this evening? First, because the Lord put it on my heart. Second, because soon we are going to be going to prayer, and our hearts and thoughts need to be lifted from the below-sea-level depths of the world, into the holy temple of God. And third, there several clear parallels between this Old Testament Psalm and some of the instruction given to us in the New Testament.
The God, whom those pilgrims picked up in Jericho, was the SOURCE of their HELP.
“I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help.” I can see a 70-year-old man, coming out of Jericho, looking west toward the daunting climb to Jerusalem. He has made this trip more than a hundred times, but he isn’t 30 any more, and his knees, and his energy, are not what they used to be. To encourage himself, he sings the first verse of this Psalm or perhaps the first of Psalm 123 – “Unto thee LIFT I up mine eyes, O thou that dwellest in the heavens.” I don’t know that he did, but I wonder if Paul ever looked at that forbidding climb, saying to himself, “set your affection on things above, not on the road before you. Since ye be risen with Christ, seek those thing which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God?”
We need the Lord in our spiritual ascent each day, far more than we need that first cup of morning coffee. We need His help in our worship, but perhaps even more, we need Him in our climb into His arms. We need Him in order to walk the walk of the child of God. This look toward the hills, is not just with awe and joy, it is with pleading eyes. “How on earth can I do this?” If you are trusting the things of earth to help you on to God, then you will never make it. Rather, “Look unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.”
And remember, we are looking toward the God “which made heaven and earth” – verse 2. Are you facing another round of chemo in your fight against cancer? I hope you can say, “My help cometh from the Lord.” Are you wondering with what you are going to feed your family from that empty cupboard and refrigerator? The God who created all things, before there were any raw elements, can certainly meet your needs. Jehovah is the God of all help.
And He is the SOURCE of our STABILITY.
“He will not suffer thy foot to be moved.” If you want to picture a warrior standing before an overwhelming opponent, I won’t discourage you. “He will not suffer thy foot to be moved.” But I’d rather picture the physically weary old man trudging up a mountain road, where at times there are rocks and ruts, and where feeble ankle bones could easily be twisted or broken. As Paul said in Philippians 4:13 – It doesn’t look like it, but “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” “God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may bound to every good work.” – II Corinthians 9:8.
“He that keepeth thee will not slumber. Behold, He that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.” In the way that God helps His people as the Creator of all things, He also stabilizes His people as the God who is always there when we need someone on Whom to lean. Jehovah is the God over creation, and He is the God over time. While still living in these weak and corrupt bodies, we need to rest – to slumber and sleep. But the living Spirit of God never needs to sleep. He is always “on duty,” even if that is a somewhat blasphemous thing to say. He not only never sleeps, but He doesn’t even get sleepy or inattentive. He is the perfect source of protection and stability.
Jehovah is also the SOURCE of our COMFORT.
“The Lord is thy keeper; the Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand.” Remember, this is one of fifteen of these particular psalms; so there are many other images. But in this particular song, the weary pilgrims are climbing up from the depths of the Jordan valley into the highlands of central Israel, often during the heat of the day. It might surprise you to learn that the average temperature in that part of the world is not as hot as you might think. That was not desert country as we ordinarily think of it. Google it, if you’d like to verify. Their daily temperatures are not much different from what we experience here in the great Northwest. So yes, there must have been occasions, when the weary travelers yearned for some shady protection from the sun and its heat.
“The Lord is thy keeper… the Lord is thy shade.” The word “keeper” is very common in the Bible, and at its root it speaks of someone who guards. In some scriptures our “keeper” protects us from human or spiritual enemies. In some places the Lord might guard us from ourselves. But here in this verse God guards us from common, everyday, natural problems – like the heat of the sun.
I don’t mind when some of you come to the church service, refusing to shake hands, because you have some sort of “bug.” I am happy to have you here, but I’m also glad that you warned me. Neither of us are fools. We both will do those simple things which might give us a bit of protection. But, while I will refrain from hugging you or shaking your hand, I will trust the Lord to keep me from the germs you are carrying. I will do what I should to protect myself, but ultimately, my protection is in the Lord. “The Lord is my keeper, the Lord is my shade.”
“The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night.” This is just a bit confusing. I can understand the first part of that statement. The sun can certainly hurt us. But how is it that the moon might smite us? I don’t know exactly what the Psalmist meant, but I think it is safe to make this application: In the Lord we have protection from the obvious – like the UV rays of the sun. But in Him, we also have protection from the things we can’t see, like the smiting of the moon. I think we could also say, once again, the Lord is there to protect us by day – and by night when the moon is the brightest thing in the neighborhood.
What comfort there is in the realization of our Saviour’s ever-present, loving care. “What shall we say? (In regard to the problems of life?) If God be for us who can be against us? He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?” – Romans 8. “Behold the fowls of the air; for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns… Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin…: Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow…” – Matthew 6.
The Lord, of course, is the SOURCE of our ETERNAL SAFETY.
“The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil; he shall preserve thy soul.” The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore.” What is this “going out” and “coming in?” Don’t these terms basically round out the image of the Lord’s protection? We have the Lord watching over us whether we are going up hill or down. He is there during the day and during the night. And, here He is preserving us whether we are at home or abroad – ““coming in” or “going out.”
He shall “preserve thee from ALL evil.” Let your imagination loose; let it run free. Are you concerned about Goliath? North Korea? Chinese Corona viruses? The Corona beer industry? Does that strange spot on your arm have you worried, or it is your upcoming surgery? The Lord “shall preserve the from ALL evil.” No matter how you might define “evil,” the Lord is there to preserve thee in it or even from it.
But even more important than that: “he shall preserve thy SOUL.” No matter what might happen to your body, your health, your temporal life, the Lord has got your eternal soul. “We know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Conclusion:
As I said earlier, these “Psalms of Degrees” were sung by God’s people as they climbed the hills toward Zion. They were meant to comfort and strengthen people who were already trying to worship and serve the Lord. And aren’t we among those people? Don’t we love our Saviour, longing to see Him glorified in our lives? As such, these Psalms are as appropriate to us as they are to those ancient Jews.