15 Oct Psalm 121: A Song of Ascents

¹ I lift up my eyes to the hills.

    From where does my help come?

² My help comes from the Lord,

    who made heaven and earth.

³ He will not let your foot be moved;

    he who keeps you will not slumber.

⁴ Behold, he who keeps Israel

     will neither slumber nor sleep.

⁵ The Lord is your keeper;

    the Lord is your shade on your right hand.

⁶ The sun shall not strike you by day,

    nor the moon by night.

⁷ The Lord will keep you from all evil;

    he will keep your life.

⁸ The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in

    from this time forth and forevermore.

Dr. Martin Luther on Psalm 121

The 121^st psalm is a psalm of comfort in which the psalmist comforts us by his example, so that we may remain strong in faith and wait for God’s help and protection. Although it appears as though He sleeps or slumbers so that we are struck down by the sun by day and the moon at night, yet it is not so, though we may think and feel it. For God watches and keeps us secure and does not let the sun strike us dead. This we will come to know for certain at last, though we can now only look forward to it. 

Luther’s invitation to pray in response:

To You, O God, who has been our Father and our Guardian, we lift up our eyes, knowing that from You alone can come our help and our salvation. Grant us a living trust in Your mercy and truth so that our hearts do not fear when we must pass through the fire of trials or must wade through the waters of afflictions, but always maintain a cheerful trust in Your help, through Jesus Christ, Amen.  

-Pastor Darrin Sheek