Wednesday, August 5, 2026
A Song of Ascents. I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth.
Historical Context
Psalm 121 is the second of the Songs of Ascents, fifteen psalms pilgrims are thought to have sung while climbing to Jerusalem for the great festivals. Their eyes were on the hills ahead, and the road ran straight through them. Scholars read those hills two different ways. Some hear a pilgrim looking toward the hills of Jerusalem itself, the destination where God’s presence dwelt. Modern study notes point the other way. The high places back then held shrines to other gods. If that reading is right, the question expects the answer no. Either way, the psalm does not stop at the skyline. Help comes from the LORD. He gets the largest title there is: maker of heaven and earth. That covers every hill in view. The rest of the psalm builds on that. It describes a keeper who never sleeps.
Reflection
Read the opening again and notice it is a question, not a claim. The psalmist looks at the hills and asks where his help will come from. He is not announcing that it comes from them. You do not have to settle what those hills meant before you pray this psalm. It works no matter what is on your horizon. Everyone’s eyes go somewhere first when trouble comes: to the bank balance, the calendar, the person who might call back, the high ground of whatever we trust. The psalm does not scold the first look. It just will not let your eyes stop there. Everything on the horizon is a made thing. Help comes from the one who made it. The second look is the prayer: past the hills, to the one who made them.