O.

Psalm 121: Yahweh Is My Guardian

OVERVIEW
Psalm 121 is one of the fifteen Songs of Ascents (120-134; for a description,
see Overview, Ps 120). The psalmist develops an argument that begins with God
the Creator (vv.1-2) and Israel’s confession of Yahweh (vv.3-4) and ends with a
declaration of personal trust in his protection. The movement of the psalm leads
to an encouragement of the reader. The literary features are inclusio (“come,”
“coming,” vv.1, 8) and extensive repetitions (“help,” vv.1-2), “watches” (vv.3-4),
and “will keep” = “will watch” (vv.7-8).
From the interchange of the first (“I/my,” v.1) and the second person singular
(“you/your,” vv.3-8), it would seem that the psalmist uses some form of dialogue,
but it is unclear whether the dialogue is between two parties or between the godly
man and his inner self, as in Psalms 42 and 43. Because of the lack of decisive
criteria and because of the ambiguity of the life situation, I will treat the psalm as
a monologue. The structure reflects a stairlike parallelism divided into four
strophes:
A Yahweh Is the Creator (vv.1-2)
B Yahweh Is the Guardian of Israel (vv.3-4)
C Yahweh Is “Your” Guardian (vv.5-6)
D Blessing (vv.7-8)

1. Yahweh Is the Creator (121:1-2)

A song of ascents.
1Ilift up my eyes to the hills—
where does my help come from?
2My help comes from the LORD,

the Maker of heaven and earth.

COMMENTARY
1-2 The psalmist, in a situation known only to him, is looking with great anxiety
or longing (cf. 123:1) to the hills. He may have looked with anxiety if he expected
robbers to be hiding in the hills. The hills provided cover for mobs and vagabonds
who caused great harm to travelers. He may also have looked with great
anticipation to the hills if he were on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Hidden among
the hills was the holy city, Jerusalem (125:2). Both thoughts may well have
occupied the ancient traveler—anxiety and anticipation.
A question enters the psalmist’s mind: “Where does my help come from?” (v.1).
The “help” (ʿēzer, GK 6469) with which he is concerned pertains to protection,
guidance, and blessing (vv.3-8). He desires to prosper in his pilgrimage, as well
as in life, so that he may enjoy a sense of harmony in all of his endeavors.
As soon as the question floods his soul, the psalmist comforts himself with the
thought that Yahweh, the covenantal God, has committed himself to provide
“help” to his own (v.2). In addition Yahweh is “the Maker of heaven and earth.”
This confession goes beyond the modern controversy of evolution and
 creationism. The creedal statement, also taken up in the Apostles’ Creed,
originally signified an apologetic statement on Yahweh’s sovereignty over all
realms, heavenly and earthly, thereby excluding all claims attributed to pagan
deities. Yahweh alone is God (cf. 115:4-7; 124:8; 134:3; 146:6; Jer 10:11)! The
sole source of “help” comes from Yahweh, who as Creator has unlimited power.

NOTES
For a discussion of the technical words and phrases in the superscription,
see Introduction, pp. 62-67.

1 The translation of (mē ʾayin, “from where?” “where from?”) is the crux
of the interpretation of v.1. If it is read as a direct question, it may suggest a
negative emotion (anxiety; so NIV). If it is read as a relative pronoun (“from
where”), it has a positive emotional connotation (so KJV). Allen, 150-51, posits a
third alternative: an indirect question—“to see where my help is to come from.”

2. Yahweh, the Guardian of Israel, Is “Your” Guardian (121:3-6)

3He will not let your foot slip—
he who watches over you will not slumber;
4indeed, he who watches over Israel

will neither slumber nor sleep.

5The LORD watches over you—
the LORD is your shade at your right hand;
6the sun will not harm you by day,

nor the moon by night.

COMMENTARY
3-6 The psalmist further develops the contents of the “help” of the Lord in an
alternation of negative (twiceʾal, “not,” v.3; twice lō ʾ, “not”; NIV, “neither . . . nor,”
v.4; lō ʾ, v.6, with ellipsis) and positive descriptions (vv.5, 7-8).
The psalmist reflects on the promises of God as he speaks to his own soul in
the second person (“you/your”). His ground for confidence lies in the further
development of the doctrine of God: the guardian (šômēr, GK 9068; NIV, “he who
watches”) of Israel is the guardian (šōmrekā, i.e., “your guardian”; NIV, “he who
watches over you”) of every believer (vv.3-5). The repetition of “our guardian” is
symmetric and stairlike as it develops from the particular to the general and
returns to the particular:
A “he who watches over you” (v.3)
B “he who watches over Israel” (v.4)
A´ “the LORD watches over you” (v.5)

These phrases have in common the participle šômēr (“guardian,” “watch”).

What does the doctrine of Yahweh’s guardianship mean? He protects, guides,
and blesses his own. He will not permit them to totter and stumble (v.3, “slip”; cf.
55:22; 66:9). He will be the “shade” (v.5; cf. 91:1; Nu 14:9; Jer 48:45; La 4:20) of
 his own as he protects them from the dangers of the day and night, represented
here by “the sun” and “the moon” (v.6). He protects them throughout the day, as
he is at their “right hand” (cf. 16:8; 109:31). The intensity of his care is further
amplified by the emphasis on his watchfulness, as he never sleeps or slumbers
(vv.3-4). Pagans conceived of their gods as sometimes sleeping, but the God of
Israel is unlike any other god—he does not need to recreate, eat, or sleep. He is
always there to “help.” He is the “shepherd” of Israel (cf. Ps 23) who protects,
guides, and blesses his own sheep. Regardless of the vicissitudes of one’s life—
whether at work or at home, whether in sleep or when awake—the Lord is there
to help and protect. What a God!

3. Blessing (121:7-8)
7The LORD will keep you from all harm—
he will watch over your life;
8the LORD will watch over your coming and going

both now and forevermore.

COMMENTARY
7-8 The change from the participial use of “guardian” or “watch” (šômēr) to the
imperfect (yišmōr [three times], vv.7-8) marks the new emphasis from the present
to the future. This is the proper conclusion of the stairlike parallelism, in which the
psalmist has built up the conviction that the Lord is present to deliver now and
forevermore. This conclusion is such a comfort to believers that they cannot but
be assured of the Lord’s beneficent care.
The Lord’s care extends to all adversities, as he is sovereign over all the affairs
of life, especially the “life” (nepeš, lit., “soul”) of his own child (cf. 1Th 5:23).
Whatever the psalmist does—whether he arrives at Jerusalem, goes on a far
journey, or returns home—the Lord will “watch” over his affairs (cf. Dt 28:6; Jos
14:11; 1Ki 3:7; Ps 139:2-3). The extent of God’s care is both “now and
forevermore” (v.8; cf. 113:2; 115:18).