Psalms 120—121
The Psalms of Ascents were sung by the Israelites on their annual pilgrimages to Jerusalem for feasts and festivals. Jerusalem was the highest city in the region, so no matter where you were coming from, travelers were always “ascending” on their journey.
The same is true in our walk with Christ today; the road of discipleship with Jesus often feels ‘uphill,’ as we sojourn toward our true home, but it is on this road that we see & celebrate the faithfulness of God toward his people.
Main Idea: In the midst of our distress, we are invited to call out in faith to God who helps us.
I. Where Is Our Home? (120:1-7)
Psalm 120 is not a glamorous beginning to a journey, but it is a realistic and necessary starting point. The road of discipleship begins by crying out to God in distress, dissatisfied with the way things are in our lives & in the world.
“A person has to be thoroughly disgusted with the way things are to find the motivation to set out on the Christian way. As long as we think the next election might eliminate crime and establish justice or another scientific breakthrough might save the environment or another pay raise might push us over the edge of anxiety into a life of tranquility, we are not likely to risk the arduous uncertainties of a life of faith. A person has to get fed up with the ways of the world before he or she acquires an appetite for the world of grace.” ~ Eugene Peterson
The specifics of the distress are common to our human experience:
1. Dishonesty & Deceit (120:2-4)
The world we live in is full of “lies” ever since the Garden of Eden. We are prone to exaggeration & half-truths, with the world always over-promising & under-delivering. We feel this individually when we are lied to (or about), slandered, or misrepresented.
The Psalmist asks the Lord to bring about his judgment (120:3-4) rather than pursuing vengeance himself. We must remember that Jesus has walked this path before us, entrusting himself to his heavenly Father in the face of false witness & slander. “Silence to man and prayer to God are the best cures for the evil of slander.” ~ Charles Spurgeon
2. Homesickness & Hostility (120:5-7)
The Psalmist laments that he is (metaphorically) in ‘Meshech’ & ‘Kedar,’ known enemies of Israel. He has a keen sense that he is not at home, but is a sojourner (cf. 1 Pet. 2:11-12).
He is not only a stranger who is far from home, but he finds himself in hostile territory. Though he wants peace, he finds himself dwelling in the midst of the enemy who desires war. The history of humanity is one that is full of hostility and warfare.
James 4:1–4: What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
As the Psalmist surveys his situation, it finally hits him that he has been here “too long” (120:6). This ‘holy discontentment’ with the status quo of this world is the beginning of the road of discipleship. We cry out ‘too long’ when we get to the end of ourselves & the end of what this world offers. This ought to create a yearning and longing for our true home (cf. Heb. 11:10)
Have we had this experience of ‘too long?’ Or have we mistakenly made our home and our ultimate comfort here on earth?
“If you read history you will find that the Christians who did most for the present world were precisely those who thought most of the next. It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this.” ~ C.S. Lewis:
II. Where Is Our Help? (121:1-8)
As the Israelites would make their pilgrimage & ascent to Jerusalem, they would be looking at the hills & the mountains before them. The mountains were not the source of help, however; instead, the hills were the location of pagan worship temples/altars, and they represented the danger of this kind of journey.
The Psalmist lifts his eyes from the mountains even higher to the source of his true help: the Lord himself! As he does this, he draws our attention to 3 aspects of God’s character & nature that help us on our road:
1. God is the Creator (121:2)
Help comes from the Creator, not the creation. If God has created everything in heaven and earth, then he can control them all, which means we do not need to fear.
The Psalmist invokes the covenantal name of God (‘Yahweh’ - the LORD), which means he is personable & accessible to his people despite his transcendence.
2. God is Our Protector (121:3-6)
The Psalmist draws attention to the possible harms that await travelers on their way:
They could stumble & fall, resulting in an injury (121:3)
The sun could ‘strike you by day,’ resulting in physical exhaustion or sunstroke (121:5)
The moon at night was thought to produce emotional illness (‘lunacy’) (121:6)
In all of these dangers, the Psalmist is confident that the Lord will not let their foot be moved and that he will be their shade against these risks. He is the God who never slumbers or sleeps (121:3-4), so that we can sleep without fear.
“The promise of the Psalm is not that we shall never stub our toes but that no injury, no illness, no accident, no distress will ever have evil power over us, that is, nothing will be able to separate us from God’s purposes in us…. None of the things that happen to you, none of the trouble you encounter, have any power to get between you and God, dilute His grace in you, divert his will from you.” ~ Eugene Peterson
3. God is our Preserver (121:7-8)
The Psalmist reminds us that the Lord will ‘keep you from all evil’ and ‘keep your life’ (lit. ‘soul’ or ‘being’). This doesn’t mean that we will be kept from encountering evil in general, but instead a promise that God will not let the evil overtake you or get into you. Even on the day when we ‘go out’ for the last time, God will preserve our souls and bring us into the glory of heaven.
The road of discipleship is ultimately a road of faith. But the only way we can have assurance that these things will be ultimately true of our life is because Jesus got the inversion of these promises.
“Jesus, the ultimate Pilgrim, had his feet kept by the Father. God kept his feet in the wilderness, when they walked the shores of the Sea of Galilee, when they climbed the Mount of Transfiguration, when Mary bathed them with her tears, and when they were nailed to the cross. God kept his feet in the paths of righteousness so that when he went to the cross, those pierced feet crushed the devil’s head (Gen. 3:15). Because the Lord kept the feet of Jesus, you and I can be saved through his death. One day, those feet will step again on this earth and the last pilgrim will be home.” ~ Rhett Dodson
God our Father is beckoning us home, while Jesus our brother walks the path before us & beside us, while the Spirit our helper has been sent into our hearts, stamping & sealing our passports for the new heavens & the new earth. This is where our help comes from.
