I lift up my eyes to the hills — where does my help come from?
The traveler's psalm — a reminder that your help is not in the scenery.
The episode in a glance.
- 01'Lift up my eyes to the hills' — the hills were where danger lurked.
- 02'My help comes from the Lord' — not from the hills, not from the view.
- 03'Who made heaven and earth' — the Creator is your helper.
- 04This is a psalm for people on a journey.
Read along.
Psalm 121:1-2 — 'I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.' This is the psalm Jewish travelers sang on their way to Jerusalem.
'I lift up my eyes to the hills.' In that landscape, hills were where bandits hid. Lifting your eyes to the hills wasn't poetic appreciation. It was looking at potential danger. Where does my help come from? Not from there.
'My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.' The one who made everything is the one who helps you. That's a shift in scale. Your problem is big. Your help is bigger.
And the rest of the psalm promises he won't let your foot slip, he won't slumber, he will keep you. This is for people on the move. People who don't know exactly what's ahead. People who need a keeper.
If you're traveling through uncertainty today, this psalm is yours. Your help isn't in the scenery. It's in the Creator of the scenery. And he's not going to sleep on the job.