What is Psalm 121 about?
Psalm 121 is one of the "Songs of degrees," thought to have been sung by pilgrims traveling up to Jerusalem for the festivals. The traveler looks to the hills and asks where help comes from, then answers, "My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth." The rest of the psalm repeats one word, "keep" or "preserve": the LORD who keeps Israel will "neither slumber nor sleep" (verse 4). He is a shade by day and a guard by night, and will preserve "thy going out and thy coming in." Many people pray it before travel or any uncertain journey.
What does Psalm 121 mean?
Psalm 121:1
Psalm 121 is titled "A Song of degrees," one of fifteen songs that pilgrims are thought to have sung as they traveled up to Jerusalem for the festivals. On the journey, the hills could be beautiful but also dangerous, hiding robbers and wild animals, and some hilltops held shrines to false gods. So when the traveler lifts his eyes to the hills and asks, "from whence cometh my help?" it is a real question. The KJV punctuation makes it sound like a statement, but most scholars read it as a question. The answer comes in the next verse, and it is not the hills themselves.
Psalm 121:2
This verse answers the question of verse 1: "My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth." The traveler's help does not come from the hills, from the false gods worshiped on them, or from his own strength. It comes from the Creator of everything, including the hills themselves. If God made heaven and earth, then no danger is too big for him. The rest of the psalm unfolds this promise: the LORD who keeps Israel never slumbers or sleeps, and he will preserve our going out and coming in. Many people pray this verse before travel, surgery, or any uncertain journey.
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