Psalm 121: Where My Help Comes From

Maybe today looks too big for you. It was all there before you even opened your eyes, and you're wondering where your help will come from. Psalm one twenty-one asks that same question, and then it answers. Let's bring this to God together.

In Psalm one twenty-one, verses one and two, the psalmist says this.

I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.

Psalm 121:1-2

This psalm is one of the songs of ascents. God's people most likely sang them on the way up to Jerusalem for the feasts.

So picture someone on that road, looking at the hills ahead. Those hills might have meant a hard climb. Or they might have meant danger, somewhere trouble could be waiting. The psalmist asks the honest question first, and then looks past the hills to the One who made them.

Maybe your day looks like those hills. For many of us, the climb starts early. There's a ten-hour shift ahead, and your back's sore before you've clocked in. Some of us are looking after someone who can't be left alone today. Or there's an exam, or your first day back at work since the funeral.

The next two verses are for mornings like that.

He will not allow your foot to slip; your Protector will not slumber. Behold, the Protector of Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.

Psalm 121:3-4

On a long road, someone had to keep watch at night. Even a good watchman gets tired and nods off. God doesn't. He was watching while you slept last night. If you were lying awake at three in the morning, He was awake too, and He was still keeping you.

A few songs later, in Psalm one twenty-four, God's people sing the same answer together.

Our help is in the name of the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.

Psalm 124:8

The people who first sang it knew hard days. Their song remembers being attacked, and nearly being swept away. So Psalm one twenty-one doesn't promise a day without pain. It promises that the Lord will keep you and preserve your soul, whatever comes.

How do we come to Him this morning, with everything we're carrying? The letter to the Hebrews points us to Jesus.

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who was tempted in every way that we are, yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

Hebrews 4:15-16

Jesus knows weakness from the inside. He was hungry and tired. In the garden, on the night He was betrayed, He was deeply troubled, and He prayed. Then He died on the cross for our sins, and He rose again. Because of Him, you can come to the Father with confidence. Your welcome doesn't depend on how well you pray, or on how today goes. Near the end of that passage, you heard the word help. It's what the pilgrim was asking for. The Maker of heaven and earth is the Father Jesus brings us to. And His Spirit helps us pray, even when the words won't come.

Let's pray. You can pray these words with me, out loud or in your heart.

Father, it's morning, and I'm coming to You first.

You're the Maker of heaven and earth. You made those hills, and You made this morning too. Everything I'll face today is smaller than You. You kept Your people on that road to Jerusalem, and You've kept them ever since. While I slept, You were watching over me. And You're here now. Before I ask You for anything, I praise You.

Today looks too big for me. You already know what's waiting. There's the work I don't feel ready for, and the thing I'm afraid of, and I feel small next to both of them. I've been looking at the hills more than at You. I lean on my own planning, as if I could hold the whole day together by thinking hard enough. Forgive me.

Thank You that I don't have to pray well to be welcome here. Jesus is my great High Priest. He knows my weakness, and He was tempted like me without ever sinning. So I come the way Your Word invites me to.

Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

Hebrews 4:16

This is my time of need, Father, so I'm asking for help. Give me clear thinking for the work I have to do, and patience with the people I'll be around. When I don't know what to say, give me the right words, or the good sense to say nothing. If there's something I've been avoiding, help me face it today. Keep my feet steady on the hard parts of this day. And by Your Spirit, remind me all day that You're near.

Father, I'm trusting You with what I can't carry. Your Word says that “the Protector of Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.” So I don't have to stay awake over everything. Worrying won't keep the people I love safe. I can't make a conversation go the way I want, or decide what news I'll get today. I'm putting those things in Your hands, where they already were. I'll probably pick some of it back up before lunch. When I do, help me hand it back to You. You've promised to preserve my soul. And if today turns out hard, I'll still be Yours at the end of it, and You'll still be holding me.

I want to pray for others, too. For anyone coming off a night shift as the rest of us wake up. For those far from home this morning, and anyone looking for work. And for those closest to me. You know their names and what they're facing. Be their help, Father, as You've been ours.

Our help is in the name of the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.

Psalm 124:8

Now go with me into this day. When I walk into the part I've been dreading, lift my eyes. When it's the middle of the afternoon and I've forgotten every word of this prayer, You won't have forgotten me. Help me do the next thing and leave the rest with You. Let me be kind to whoever I meet, even when I'm tired. And tonight, show me where You helped me, so I can thank You.

In Jesus' name, amen.

Take a moment of quiet now, and bring Him whatever's in front of you today.

Hear this blessing from Psalm one twenty-one, over you, today and every day.

The Lord will guard you from all evil; He will preserve your soul. The Lord will watch over your coming and going, both now and forevermore.

Psalm 121:7-8