Help on a Perilous Journey
‘The LORD is your keeper; the LORD is your shade on your right hand. The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night.’ (Psalm 121:4-5)
Life can indeed be a perilous journey. John Newton’s famous hymn, “Amazing Grace”, speaks of "dangers, toils and snares" that he experienced firsthand. On one occasion, he was thrown from a horse, narrowly missing impalement on a row of sharp stakes. Another time, he arrived too late to board a tender that was carrying his companions to tour a warship; as he watched from the shore, the vessel overturned, drowning all its passengers. As we journey through life, we can face many fearful and anxious situations. In such times, how can we endure? Where can we find help? Psalm 121 provides the answer.
Psalm 121 is about the pilgrimage up to Jerusalem for the annual festivals at the temple. Travelling on rough roads through mountainous territory was a challenging thing. Bandits could hide in the hills and threaten the pilgrims on routes that were unpatrolled. On this journey, the psalmist asks himself, “from where does my help come?” (v. 1). This question is relevant to all Christians in their earthly pilgrimage to heaven above. The Psalmist answers, ‘My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth.’ (v. 2) How glorious that his help comes from the Creator Himself who is highly exalted—higher than the hills themselves. When we are in situations of urgent need, it is vital that we receive help from someone with actual power to intervene. If we face a terrible injustice, we don’t just need a friend to hear our case – we need an officer of the law. In the most serious of crises, we can call upon the all-powerful, all-knowing maker of heaven and earth.
God is constantly watching over our pilgrimage to our final destination in His presence. As verses 3-4 state, ‘He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.’ With God as our helper, we can walk forward confidently knowing that we are held tightly in His loving grip. Indeed, the eternal God will ‘keep you from all evil; he will keep your life. The LORD will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore.’ (vv. 7-8) But what exactly does it mean that the Lord will keep us from evil – and will keep our very life? The life of Jesus provides clarity. Jesus faced dangers and trials along the lonely path that He trod. He walked the path of obedience through a very barren landscape – keeping his eyes fixed on the Jerusalem above. As Jesus journeyed, His Father cared for Him, though not in such a way that He escaped mockery, abuse, and even death. The Father’s good plans for the Son were in no way undermined by the forces of evil or the schemes of man. Jesus’ life was not destroyed by the grave. The Father accomplished His will and kept His Son’s life safe even as He went down into death and rose again.
Psalm 121 is not a promise to escape suffering and death, but it is a promise that God the Father will carry us through those things in such a way that we will be fundamentally unharmed and His plans and purposes for us will not be undone. May your heart be encouraged today by the fact that, in Christ, you are kept secure by God the Father. You will arrive safely at your eternal destination in God’s courts above. In the words of John Newton: “’Tis grace hath brought me safe thus far, and grace will lead me home!”