Psalm 121

A Song of Ascents.

1 I will lift up my eyes to the hills—
From whence comes my help?

² My help comes from the Lord,
Who made heaven and earth.

³ He will not allow your foot to be moved;
He who keeps you will not slumber.

⁴ Behold, He who keeps Israel
Shall neither slumber nor sleep.

⁵ The Lord is your keeper;
The Lord is your shade at your right hand.

⁶ The sun shall not strike you by day,
Nor the moon by night.

⁷ The Lord shall preserve you from all evil;
He shall preserve your soul.

⁸ The Lord shall preserve your going out and your coming in
From this time forth, and even forevermore.

The Source of Israel’s Security (vs.1-2) — The mountains to which the psalmist here refers are the mountains surrounding Jerusalem (as in Psalm 125:2)—from the perspective of a returning exile or pilgrim to that city—and in particular Mount Moriah, the site of the Temple (cf. 2 Chronicles 3:1) and the focal point of God’s abiding and manifest presence (i.e., the cloud of glory) on earth. Hence, the psalmist directs his gaze—whether literally or internally—towards Jerusalem, though at the same time recognizing that God is not restricted to one place, for He is the maker of heaven and earth, and as such necessarily transcends it. — Wechsler, pages 292-293.

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The Duration of Israel’s Security (vs.3-4) — Just as God will not allow the foot of the individual who trusts in Him to slip, so too will He not allow Israel to ever (see v.8) slip beyond the purview of His intimately attentive and ever-vigilant solicitude. The wording of v.8 evokes the imagery of familial relationship—i.e., God, in the role of Father, standing watch over His sleeping Son Israel—which latter can slumber in peace because His Father never does. — Wechsler, page 293.

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The Extent of Israel’s Security (vs.5-8) — The extent of God’s “keeping” of Israel is two-fold. On the one hand, it is physical-material, as indicated by the poetic imagery of God being the individual Israelite’s shad on his right hand so that the sun will not smite him by day nor the moon by night—which latter statement, rather than reflecting the superstition that the moon is somehow a factor in causing illness (esp. mental illness—which superstition is evident in the English word “lunacy”), should be understood as one among a multitude of biblical examples of metonymy—in this case with “moon” substituting for “night,” and more precisely, the cold of the night. The subsequent affirmation that the LORD will protect the believer from all evil (v.7) serves as a transition from God’s material-physical “keeping” to that of a primarily spiritual nature—which latter is explicitly indicated by the statement, “He will keep your soul.” Both aspects of God’s “keeping” (i.e., overall solicitude) are summed up in the concluding verse, insofar as “going out and … coming in” is a euphemism for the living of daily life and the living of it “this time for and forever” (in God’s “keeping”) is only possible for the one whom God has spiritually redeemed and brought with Him into eternal glory. — Wechsler, pages 293-294.

William’s take:

The first two verses are spoken by the Messiah. In them He expresses His determination to look for deliverance from the trouble described in the prior Psalm, not to the mountains, but to Him Who not only created them but also created the heavens. The remaining six verses are spoken by the Holy Spirit. He addresses the Messiah, and assures Him that because He trusted for help from Jehovah, therefore would Jehovah be to Him a Keeper delivering Him from every calamity (v.7), and sheltering Him day and night (vs.6 and 8). — Williams, page 400.