Psalm 121

Sara Ruscher - Administrator
Sarah's blog - sararuscher.wordpress.com
Sarah grew up in Minneapolis, Minnesota where she attended college before moving to IHOP in May of 2008.  Her desire is to seek the Lord in the secret place, praying that as she grows in communion with Him and speak forth what He says that healing, freedom, and salvation would be released to the broken-hearted and orphaned. 


The Book of Psalms is filled with many different glimpses and facets of the Lord’s nature and heart.  They prophesy of Jesus, they bring comfort and peace for a multitude of circumstances.  As we read, we see Yahweh in His grandeur – His greatness, His victory, His power, His love.  Often, who He is speaks loudly through David and company.  One of the reasons that I love Psalm 121; however, is that it reminds me more of that still small voice that Elijah encountered.  In verse one, the author says, “I lift my eyes up to the hills, where does my help come from?”  The response follows after in verse two: “my help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.”  That’s a big statement: the Creator of the universe is my help.  It’s comforting in way, but also a little overwhelming.  If He’s taking care of everything, does He really see me?  My mind assents to the truth that He is actually present in my time of need, but my heart yearns for the experiential knowledge of His nearness. This is something I wrestle with: I can see the bigger picture of who the Lord is and what He’s doing on the earth, but how He’s moving in my heart and circumstances seems elusive.  If I’m honest with myself, and the Lord, what I want is a billboard that tells me what’s going on, a voice booming from the heavens telling me I’m loved and seen, and a big arrow on the path in front of me.  Maybe I’m the only one that ever feels that way.

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.

Verses three through six help absolve those questions about the Lord.  They’re not anything that I wanted, but just what I need.  The still small voice of the Lord is evident to me not in what is seen and described in these verses, but in what is unseen and implied.  As a writer, I appreciate the imagery of this psalm immensely, my poetry professor used to harp on me about the “show, don’t tell” principle.  It’s the concept that you communicate an idea in your writing by showing it, not flat out explaining it.  The author of Psalm 121 shows the nearness of the Lord, His tenderness and care, in just that manner.  In verse 3 he writes, “He will not allow your foot to be moved, He who keeps you will not slumber.”  He isGod, yet He is right next to me.   He is the Lord, but is close enough to me to be guarding over my body (1 Sam. 2:9).  My Lord watches over me without resting day or night (Isa.27:3).  I am continually with Him (Ps. 73:23).  He maintains my lot (Ps.16:5).  Although He has charge over the destiny of the nations (Ps. 2:9), specifically His own Bride, Israel, He draws near to keep me in His perfect peace if I stay my mind on Him (Isa. 26:3).  I think verse five is eloquently expounded by Psalm 16:8, “I have set the Lord always before me; because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved.”  He is my Shepherd, the one in whom I can trust.

The last two verses of Psalm 121 promise our preservation.  “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 forevermore.”  There are many synonyms to “preservation” that give understanding: guard, keep, protect, sustain, defend, safeguard, shield, secure, uphold.  He does all of these things, in ways I cannot even imagine.

In mountains high and valleys low, through the trials that surely are coming, I am being upheld by the Word of His power (Heb. 1:3).  This psalm is a constant reminder that He is near-at-hand.  He is not distant, though at times He thunders loudly in my life; more often His quiet nature, moving all around me, is what preserves me through everything.  I’m beginning to see more clearly how He shows me His love and leadership plainly by the butterflies on my afternoon walk, an unexpected gift, extra grace on a tired day, and illumination of the Word when my heart isn’t in it. 

I’m grateful for these whispers, they make me hunger to listen more closely, to pay better heed to how He is speaking to me without uttering a word.

© 2010 Sara Ruscher