I Will Lift Up My Eyes To The Hills
Adult study
Turning Griping Into Gratitude
A Study In The Psalms
Object:
I lift up my eyes to the hills -- where does my help come from? My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth. He will not let your foot slip -- he who watches over you will not slumber; indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The LORD watches over you -- the LORD is your shade at your right hand; the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night. The LORD will keep you from all harm -- he will watch over your life; the LORD will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.
-- Psalm 121:1-8
* * *
We focus here on help: Psalm 121:1-2 says: "I will lift my eyes to the hills -- where does my help come from? My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth."
Many of us love hills and mountains. Many vacation spots include hills and mountains which remind us of God, just as the psalmist was reminded of the Creator when he looked unto the hills.
This is a psalm for travelers, not just travelers on vacation, but travelers through life. Psalm 121:1-8 is a reminder that God is our Creator and our Watchman throughout the journey called life.
God Is Our Creator
The Psalmist says, "I lift my eyes to the hills -- where does my help come from? My help comes from the LORD, Maker of heaven and earth" (Psalm 12:1-2).
The psalmist looks to the mountains and remembers his Maker. In this journey through life, many things change, but there is one thing that is stable like a mountain, God, our Creator.
Where should I look for help in my need? The Brandt paraphrase is a helpful reminder of our Maker:
The answer to my problems and the fulfillment of my needs must come from God Himself, from Him who created skies and mountains and man to dwell in their midst. He is a great God who knows our every desire whose watchful eye is upon us night and day. We can make no move without His knowledge. His concern for His children is constant; His love for them is eternal.27
Think back on your life and remember that God has been there to help you. It is good to remember our Creator in the midst of all the changes we experience in life. A friend recently gave me an analysis of the last sixty years, which gives some perspective on the importance of having a relationship with our Creator who gives us stability in the midst of change.
Nostalgia
If you are near sixty, you have been witness to more changes -- good and bad -- than any other generation from Adam and Eve on. Wow! What a time you have lived. Consider the following:
Consider the changes! We were born before television, before penicillin, before polio shots, frozen foods, Xerox, plastics, contact lenses, Frisbees and the Pill.
We were before radar, credit cards, split atoms, laser beams, and ball point pens, before pantyhose, dishwashers, clothes dryers, electric blankets, air conditioners, drip-dry clothes ... and before man walked on the moon.
We got married first and then lived together. How quaint can you be?
In our time, closets were for clothes, not for "coming out of."
We thought fast food was what you ate during Lent, and Outer Space was the back of the Strand Theater.
We were before house-husbands, gay rights, computer dating, dual-careers, and commuter marriages. We were before day-care centers, group therapy and nursing homes. We never heard of FM radio, tape decks, electric typewriters, artificial hearts, word processors, yogurt, and guys wearing earrings. For us, time-sharing meant togetherness ... not computers or condominiums; a "chip" meant a piece of wood; hardware meant hardware and software wasn't even a word.
In 1940, "Made in Japan" meant junk and the term "making out" referred to how you did on your exams. Pizzas, "McDonalds" and instant coffee were unheard of.
We hit the scene when there were 5 and 10 cent stores, where you bought things for five and ten cents. Sanders or Williams sold ice cream cones for a nickel or a dime. For one nickel you could ride a street car, make a phone call, buy a Pepsi or enough stamps to mail one letter and two postcards. You could buy a new Chevy coupe for 600 dollars, but who could afford one -- a pity too, because gas was eleven cents a gallon.
In our day, cigarette smoking was fashionable, grass was mowed, coke was a cold drink, and pot was something you cooked in. Rock music was Grandma in a rocking chair humming a lullaby, aids were helpers in the Principal's office and mother was one word ... not two!
We were certainly not before the difference between the sexes were discovered, but we were surely before the sex change -- we made do with what we had. And we were the last generation that was so dumb as to think you needed a husband to have a baby!
No wonder we were so confused and there is such a generation gap today! But we survived. What better reason to celebrate!
-- Anonymous
As we think back on the past and the changes which have occurred, it is good to look at the mountains and remember that God, our Creator is strong and stable. He has been our steady, strong and stabilizing LORD in the past. As we look forward to the future, the mountains remind us of God, the watchman, guardian and guide.
We survived the ordeals of the past because our strong God has been present. He has been there through all the changes of our lives. He has been there for more than the last sixty years. He has been there from the beginning of time. God is our Creator, the Maker of heaven and earth. A glimpse of the hills tells me so!
God Is Our Watchman, Guardian, And Guide
God is our watchman. Verses 3 and 4 put it this way: "He will not let your foot slip -- he who watches over you will not slumber; indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep." It is not enough that we believe that God has been with us in the past. We want to know if he will be there in the future. "Yes," says the psalmist, "you can count on him as a watchman who never slumbers."
Even while we sleep, God will watch for our enemies. In the dark desert from which this psalm comes, God stays alert to all our enemies. Jesus said, "I am the door of the sheep." That means, as our shepherd at night, he literally lays his body down as the door of the sheep-fold, keeping us from foolishly going astray and keeping the beasts of the desert from getting in. What a watchman!
God is also our guardian. He literally fights for us, day and night. Verses 5 and 6 put it this way: "The LORD watches over you -- the LORD is your shade at your right hand; the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon at night."
The Brandt paraphrase or verses 5 and 6 puts it this way: "He does care for you, and he will fight with you against the enemies of your soul."28
Psalm 23 puts it this way, "Your rod and your staff, they protect me." The rod of the shepherd is a baseball bat-like club used by which the shepherd to beat off the enemies of his sheep. Day and night the rod is used to club the beasts which would devour us. The staff is used day and night to keep the sheep together as a flock and to rescue the lost sheep.
Can the scorching sun give us sunstroke? No, the LORD provides shade. Can the dangers of the dark capture us? No, the LORD overcomes them. He fights for us as a guardian.
The LORD is not only our watchman and guardian. He is also our guide: "The LORD will keep you from all harm -- he will watch over your life; the LORD will watch over your coming and going both now and forever" (Psalm 121:7-8).
The Brandt paraphrase puts it this way: "Whether you be coming or going, he knows the course you take, and he will go before you."29
The LORD, our guide, knows the wilderness. He knows where he is going. He doesn't just go along, he leads the way. The rich imagery of both the Old Testament and the New Testament helps us in this respect.
In the Old Testament, God is pictured as the guide for the journey from Egypt to the Promised Land. This guide goes before his people as a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. God is not just with us in the wilderness of life. He is out in front, the avant guard and guide who leads the way.
In the New Testament, Jesus is pictured as the good shepherd. A good shepherd leads his flock. Without him the sheep get lost and die, but if they follow his lead, the shepherd will get them to the Land called Promise.
In the New Testament, Jesus is also pictured as the Suffering Servant. That means that he takes our suffering upon himself. It passes through him before it reaches us. Jesus' death on the cross means that my coming into any situation or going out of any situation is intimately known to him. I am never alone with my suffering. "I will not leave you bereft," Jesus said. There are resources in him to deal with all enemies, even death itself. There is nothing in life or death which I need go through alone. Jesus is my strong guide through life and death.
God our Creator, has been with me in the past. Jesus is with me in the present and the future as watchman, guardian and guide. Jesus, the Suffering Servant, died on the cross on a hill outside Jerusalem called Calvary.
Look at the hill called Calvary and say: "I lift my eyes to the hills -- where does my help come from? My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth."
Questions For Meditation
Or Group Discussion
1. Do you remember anything about hills and mountains from your childhood?
2. Do you love hills and mountains? Why or why not?
3. What do the following words mean to you?
1) Watchman
2) Guardian
3) Guide
__________
27. Leslie Brandt, Psalms Now (St. Louis: Concordia, 1973), p. 19.
28. Ibid.
29. Ibid.
-- Psalm 121:1-8
* * *
We focus here on help: Psalm 121:1-2 says: "I will lift my eyes to the hills -- where does my help come from? My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth."
Many of us love hills and mountains. Many vacation spots include hills and mountains which remind us of God, just as the psalmist was reminded of the Creator when he looked unto the hills.
This is a psalm for travelers, not just travelers on vacation, but travelers through life. Psalm 121:1-8 is a reminder that God is our Creator and our Watchman throughout the journey called life.
God Is Our Creator
The Psalmist says, "I lift my eyes to the hills -- where does my help come from? My help comes from the LORD, Maker of heaven and earth" (Psalm 12:1-2).
The psalmist looks to the mountains and remembers his Maker. In this journey through life, many things change, but there is one thing that is stable like a mountain, God, our Creator.
Where should I look for help in my need? The Brandt paraphrase is a helpful reminder of our Maker:
The answer to my problems and the fulfillment of my needs must come from God Himself, from Him who created skies and mountains and man to dwell in their midst. He is a great God who knows our every desire whose watchful eye is upon us night and day. We can make no move without His knowledge. His concern for His children is constant; His love for them is eternal.27
Think back on your life and remember that God has been there to help you. It is good to remember our Creator in the midst of all the changes we experience in life. A friend recently gave me an analysis of the last sixty years, which gives some perspective on the importance of having a relationship with our Creator who gives us stability in the midst of change.
Nostalgia
If you are near sixty, you have been witness to more changes -- good and bad -- than any other generation from Adam and Eve on. Wow! What a time you have lived. Consider the following:
Consider the changes! We were born before television, before penicillin, before polio shots, frozen foods, Xerox, plastics, contact lenses, Frisbees and the Pill.
We were before radar, credit cards, split atoms, laser beams, and ball point pens, before pantyhose, dishwashers, clothes dryers, electric blankets, air conditioners, drip-dry clothes ... and before man walked on the moon.
We got married first and then lived together. How quaint can you be?
In our time, closets were for clothes, not for "coming out of."
We thought fast food was what you ate during Lent, and Outer Space was the back of the Strand Theater.
We were before house-husbands, gay rights, computer dating, dual-careers, and commuter marriages. We were before day-care centers, group therapy and nursing homes. We never heard of FM radio, tape decks, electric typewriters, artificial hearts, word processors, yogurt, and guys wearing earrings. For us, time-sharing meant togetherness ... not computers or condominiums; a "chip" meant a piece of wood; hardware meant hardware and software wasn't even a word.
In 1940, "Made in Japan" meant junk and the term "making out" referred to how you did on your exams. Pizzas, "McDonalds" and instant coffee were unheard of.
We hit the scene when there were 5 and 10 cent stores, where you bought things for five and ten cents. Sanders or Williams sold ice cream cones for a nickel or a dime. For one nickel you could ride a street car, make a phone call, buy a Pepsi or enough stamps to mail one letter and two postcards. You could buy a new Chevy coupe for 600 dollars, but who could afford one -- a pity too, because gas was eleven cents a gallon.
In our day, cigarette smoking was fashionable, grass was mowed, coke was a cold drink, and pot was something you cooked in. Rock music was Grandma in a rocking chair humming a lullaby, aids were helpers in the Principal's office and mother was one word ... not two!
We were certainly not before the difference between the sexes were discovered, but we were surely before the sex change -- we made do with what we had. And we were the last generation that was so dumb as to think you needed a husband to have a baby!
No wonder we were so confused and there is such a generation gap today! But we survived. What better reason to celebrate!
-- Anonymous
As we think back on the past and the changes which have occurred, it is good to look at the mountains and remember that God, our Creator is strong and stable. He has been our steady, strong and stabilizing LORD in the past. As we look forward to the future, the mountains remind us of God, the watchman, guardian and guide.
We survived the ordeals of the past because our strong God has been present. He has been there through all the changes of our lives. He has been there for more than the last sixty years. He has been there from the beginning of time. God is our Creator, the Maker of heaven and earth. A glimpse of the hills tells me so!
God Is Our Watchman, Guardian, And Guide
God is our watchman. Verses 3 and 4 put it this way: "He will not let your foot slip -- he who watches over you will not slumber; indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep." It is not enough that we believe that God has been with us in the past. We want to know if he will be there in the future. "Yes," says the psalmist, "you can count on him as a watchman who never slumbers."
Even while we sleep, God will watch for our enemies. In the dark desert from which this psalm comes, God stays alert to all our enemies. Jesus said, "I am the door of the sheep." That means, as our shepherd at night, he literally lays his body down as the door of the sheep-fold, keeping us from foolishly going astray and keeping the beasts of the desert from getting in. What a watchman!
God is also our guardian. He literally fights for us, day and night. Verses 5 and 6 put it this way: "The LORD watches over you -- the LORD is your shade at your right hand; the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon at night."
The Brandt paraphrase or verses 5 and 6 puts it this way: "He does care for you, and he will fight with you against the enemies of your soul."28
Psalm 23 puts it this way, "Your rod and your staff, they protect me." The rod of the shepherd is a baseball bat-like club used by which the shepherd to beat off the enemies of his sheep. Day and night the rod is used to club the beasts which would devour us. The staff is used day and night to keep the sheep together as a flock and to rescue the lost sheep.
Can the scorching sun give us sunstroke? No, the LORD provides shade. Can the dangers of the dark capture us? No, the LORD overcomes them. He fights for us as a guardian.
The LORD is not only our watchman and guardian. He is also our guide: "The LORD will keep you from all harm -- he will watch over your life; the LORD will watch over your coming and going both now and forever" (Psalm 121:7-8).
The Brandt paraphrase puts it this way: "Whether you be coming or going, he knows the course you take, and he will go before you."29
The LORD, our guide, knows the wilderness. He knows where he is going. He doesn't just go along, he leads the way. The rich imagery of both the Old Testament and the New Testament helps us in this respect.
In the Old Testament, God is pictured as the guide for the journey from Egypt to the Promised Land. This guide goes before his people as a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. God is not just with us in the wilderness of life. He is out in front, the avant guard and guide who leads the way.
In the New Testament, Jesus is pictured as the good shepherd. A good shepherd leads his flock. Without him the sheep get lost and die, but if they follow his lead, the shepherd will get them to the Land called Promise.
In the New Testament, Jesus is also pictured as the Suffering Servant. That means that he takes our suffering upon himself. It passes through him before it reaches us. Jesus' death on the cross means that my coming into any situation or going out of any situation is intimately known to him. I am never alone with my suffering. "I will not leave you bereft," Jesus said. There are resources in him to deal with all enemies, even death itself. There is nothing in life or death which I need go through alone. Jesus is my strong guide through life and death.
God our Creator, has been with me in the past. Jesus is with me in the present and the future as watchman, guardian and guide. Jesus, the Suffering Servant, died on the cross on a hill outside Jerusalem called Calvary.
Look at the hill called Calvary and say: "I lift my eyes to the hills -- where does my help come from? My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth."
Questions For Meditation
Or Group Discussion
1. Do you remember anything about hills and mountains from your childhood?
2. Do you love hills and mountains? Why or why not?
3. What do the following words mean to you?
1) Watchman
2) Guardian
3) Guide
__________
27. Leslie Brandt, Psalms Now (St. Louis: Concordia, 1973), p. 19.
28. Ibid.
29. Ibid.
