God Helps Those that Seek Him (Part1)

Psalm 121:[1-8]--"I will lift up my eyes to the hills--From whence comes my help? My help comes from the LORD, Who made heaven and earth. He will not allow your foot to be moved; He who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, He who keeps Israel Shall 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 shall preserve you from all evil; He shall preserve your soul. The LORD shall preserve your going out and your coming in From this time forth, and even forevermore."

There are four things in this passage that express God's help for those that seek Him. 1. God is our Helper. 2. God is our Keeper. 3. God is our Protector. 4. God is our Preserver.

This Psalm is a song of Ascents. I believe this Psalm was sung by Jewish Pilgrims on their way to Jerusalem to worship God by participating in three yearly feasts. God commanded all males in Exodus 23:[14-17] to be present and keep three specific feasts each year. These feasts include: The feast of Unleavened Bread, The feast of Harvests, and The feast of Ingathering. I believe they sang this song in view of Jerusalem because all the males of Israel were required to travel to the temple in Jerusalem for these three feasts. In verse one, this Psalmist says,"I will lift up my eyes to the hills", I believe "the hills" are refering to the "mountains" of Israel. When these people made this pilgrimage to Jerusalem God promised them that no one would covet their land while they were traveling to worship Him. Which meant that God would protect their land and their homes from thieves. I believe these pilgrims sang this song to the Lord in light of this promise.

Exodus 23:20--"For I will cast out the nations before you and enlarge your borders; neither will any man covet your land when you go up to appear before the LORD your God three times in the year."

1. God is our Helper.

I see this in veses [1-2]--"I will lift up my eyes to the hills--From whence comes my help? My help comes from the LORD, Who made heaven and earth." When we worship God with our lives and seek to serve Him we are promised His present Help. God will not allow us to fall and stumble.

Psalm 46:1--"God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble."

In the first part of the verse it says,"I will lift up my eyes to the hills--From whence comes my help?" They lifted their eyes to the hills and saw God's glory in His creation. They worshipped God, "The Creator" and looked to Him for their help. They worshipped the Creator not the creation. I see this in the answer to the question, "From whence comes my help?" The answer--vs.2 "My help comes from the LORD, Who made heaven and earth."

In praise and worship we must lift our eyes and hearts to God and cry out for His help because only He can Help and keep us.

2. God is our Keeper.

I see this in verses [2-3]--"He will not allow your foot to be moved; He who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, He who keeps Israel Shall neither slumber nor sleep." If we strive to live righteously God promises to direct our steps. It is comforting to know that God doesn't need to rest but always upholds us with His hand.

Psalm 37:[23-24]--"The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD, And He delights in his way.Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down; For the LORD upholds him with His hand."

In this song, the pilgrims were expressing the assurance of God's help and protection. They believed that God would keep both Israel and themselves safe from harm. The Israel they were refering to here was Jacob. By singing,"Behold, He who keeps Israel Shall neither slumber nor sleep.", the pilgrims were reflecting on God's divine providence and protection. They were singing to the keeper of Jacob. When Jacob left his fathers house he slept on the ground with a rock as his pillow and the sky as his canopy. He had a dream of a ladder that reached from heaven to the earth. On this ladder he saw angels ascending and desending from heaven. This dream was a picture of God's involvement in the world and how He cares for His people. This dream served to encourage Jacob but also served to encourage these travelers as well. They drew strength from reflecting on God's promise to Jacob bcecause they were his descendants. God promised Jacob in Genesis 28:14-15, that He would keep, protect, and bless him and his descendants would be as the dust of the ground and would spread abroud to the west, east, south and north.

Genesis 28:15--"Also your descendants shall be as the dust of the earth; you shall spread abroad to the west and the east, to the north and the south; and in you and in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed. Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have spoken to you."

They relyed on God's faithfulness to sustain them. After reading these verses again it seems that they may have sung this song in the night watches. When a camp is traveling from place to place, after pitching their tents someone must be appointed to watch over the camp while everyone sleeps. Once the night watch men were in place the people within the camp could sleep knowing that they were being protected. I am sure after having stayed up all night keeping watch the watchmen would fall asleep. Even if this happened they were still confident that God was watching over them.

No matter what is going on around us, we too can sleep because God doesn't need sleep and is always watching over us and keeping us safe. Since God never sleeps we should not be afraid of anything harming us while we are sleeping. I have often stayed up all night with a sick child and out of exhuaustion I fell asleep. I thank and praise the Lord that He never gets exhausted, weary or inattentive. God never closes His eyes to our condition, needs, and or wants.

Every word in this Psalm has encouraged and strengthened my faith and hope in God. I pray that we will always seek to spend time with the Lord so that we will have a fresh glimpse of His glory.

Lord, Thank you for helping and keeping me. Help me to walk in your ways so that I can claim these promises as my own. Thank you for how you supply all my needs. Thank You for being active in my life, not passive. Help me to always cry out to you as my present help. Thank you for ordering my steps. I pray that you may be glorified through my life. Thank you for encouraging and strengthing my faith and hope in You.

Serving Our Lord Together,

Michelle Harrison