Ps 121

Protection

(Psalm 121)

Jason Procopio

• “Song of Ascents”

• diverse songs suited for the “ascent” to Jerusalem to worship. 

• (Some have suggested that they are meant to designate songs written for the Israelites upon their return from exile, but that doesn’t work: David is the author of Psalms 122, 124 and 131, and he died before the exile.)

1  I lift up my eyes to the hills. 

From where does my help come? 

• “The hills”

• Not really sure what this means—are the hills a place where the psalmist would normally expect protection? a place of refuge? Or are the hills a place of potential danger?

• Either way, the psalmist is driven to look beyond them—to lift up his eyes from the earthly to the heavenly, to beyond the hills, to the Maker of heaven and earth.

• And thus he begins to characterize God, in relation to his protection of his people.

Always Equipped (v. 2)

2  My help comes from the Lord, 

who made heaven and earth. 

• And it is extremely important to say it in just this way: My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.

• The Creator always has control over his creation, and unending access to his creation.

• An inventor building a machine in his garage needn’t ask permission from the machine to move one piece from here to there. 

• God’s “invention,” his creation, is essentially everything that exists. So when he protects his own, the pool of resources at his disposal, the tools he has access to in order to fulfill that task, is everything that exists.

• In other words, there is no better protection possible. God has infinite power and infinite resources at his disposal, to put to work in protecting his own.

Always Awake (v. 3-4)

• Now at this point, the psalm undergoes a slight change in perspective.

• In v. 1-2, the psalmist speaks for himself—my help comes from the Lord...

• But as of v. 3, it changes from the first person “I” to the second person “you”.

• The psalmist isn’t writing a diary here; he knows he’s writing a song that will be sung by others. 

• So in shifting the focus, he is essentially inviting the SINGER to enjoy the same assurances he himself enjoys.

• And this discourse is intensely personal: the “you” is singular, not plural. He’s not merely talking about God’s promises to the people, but God’s promises to the singer of this song—to any member of God’s covenant people who happens to be singing this particular song at this particular time.

• Upon this change in perspective, he keeps going: when God turns to protect his people, not only is God always equipped; he is always awake.

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. 

• Long drives across the U.S. when I was a child.

• (Trip from Tennessee to Oklahoma to visit grandparents: 26 hours one way)

• Until I could drive, my dad drove the whole way. (My mom would fall asleep after an hour behind the wheel, so she was no help.)

• I was always impressed by his stamina: he’d have his coffee, he’d have his sunflower seeds, and he’d have his audiobook, and he would drive straight through, stopping only for gas and meals. (It was a kind of rite of passage for me to take up these driving duties with my own family.)

• None of us had any doubt that Dad would stay awake. So what was the result? While Dad drove, we slept fitfully in the back. 

• God doesn’t need coffee. He doesn’t need sunflower seeds. He doesn’t need stimulant. 

• God never slumbers; he never sleeps.

• And his wakefulness is active. Implied in these verses is the role of a sentinel, someone who keeps watch, who spots potential dangers on the horizon and works to neutralize them. 

• What effect does the knowledge of God’s wakefulness have on us?

• There’s a song I sang to both of my kids when they were babies; I’m pretty sure it came from John Piper, but I can’t remember exactly.

• But the words went like this: Come rest your head, and nestle gently, and do not fear the dark of night. Almighty God keeps watch intently, and guards your life with all his might. Doubt not his love, nor power to keep: he never fails, nor does he sleep.

• The implied effect of God’s wakefulness is rest and confidence—we can sleep soundly, knowing God is watching over us.

• But of course we don’t spend our entire lives asleep. So while God’s wakefulness gives us confidence to sleep, it also gives us confidence when we’re awake.

• The explicit result of God’s wakefulness is that we are kept steady: v. 3: He will not let your foot be moved. 

• Because God is always awake, always watchful, he can spot obstacles coming, and guide our feet to step where they should.

Always Present (v. 5-6)

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. 

• In these verses, the sun and the moon are synonyms for danger: great dangers from above which can hurt you without even touching you.

• But we needn’t fear the sun or the moon, because God is the shade at your right hand. 

• We’re always protected, because he is always there. Standing beside us and over us, shielding us from danger.

• And this is where the psalmist reaches his conclusion—which isn’t difficult to guess: God is always protecting us.

Always Protective (v. 7-8)

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. 

• The psalmist’s summary: God’s people are always and perfectly protected.

• He will keep you from ALL EVIL (v. 7). A more sweeping statement is hard to imagine.

• He protects us from evil committed against us; and even from the evil we ourselves commit.

• Protection from the ultimate danger: God’s own wrath against our sin. (Perfect wrath, perfect protection > CHRIST.)

• He keeps our life and our ways—ourselves, and our endeavors (v. 8).

• And his protection is eternal—v. 8: from this time forth and forevermore.

A Bigger Vision

• Problem: This text is hard to believe.

• Haven’t we often felt unsteady?

• Haven’t we often felt in danger?

• Haven’t we often been harmed?

• Haven’t we often made mistakes?

• How can we believe God has kept these promises to us if, in our own experience, we have often seen the opposite?

• We often forget that God has different definitions for words than we do.

• When he talks about steadiness (v. 3), he’s not talking about the complete lack of instability; he’s talking about growth into stability. 

• When he talks about danger and safety, (v. 5-6) he’s not speaking materially. By definition, material dangers can only temporarily threaten. 

• When he looks at our mistakes, he doesn’t just see what we did; he also sees what he’s GOING TO DO with what we did. 

• In other words, God’s vision for everything is far bigger than ours. He looks beyond the material, beyond temporary; he looks at the eternal.

• And if we belong to God, nothing can come against us which God will not use for our growth, for our eternal safety, and for our joy in him.

• Nothing.

• Nothing.

• NOTHING.

Conclusion

• Now, what’s the point of knowing all this? 

• The psalmist isn’t trying to give us simple theological pointers for our intellectual stimulation.

• He’s aware of what life often feels like, and so he’s reminding us of what life is actually like.

• In his Word, God has given us so many reminders of his goodness because he knew it would so often seem like the opposite is true.

• Things will come to us that will feel threatening to the utmost. We will feel helpless, scattered, frightened. Our eyes will go looking for help. And they will almost immediately latch on to the first empty promise they see…if we haven’t trained them to look upward—beyond the hills, to where our help will truly come from.

• He wants to remind us that in God, we are really and truly and eternally safe.

• And what is the effect of knowing how safe we truly are?

• We rest.

• We can rest, because God doesn’t: He who keeps you will neither slumber nor sleep.