Psalms 121

General context

The speaker says he will lift his eyes to the hills, from where his help comes, and answers that his help comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth. The psalm then speaks to a second person: the Lord will not let the foot be moved, and the one who keeps that person will not slumber. The one who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord is called the keeper and the shade upon the right hand. The sun will not smite by day nor the moon by night. The Lord will preserve from all evil and preserve the soul, and will preserve going out and coming in from this time forth and for evermore.

Cited passages: Psalms 121:1, Psalms 121:2, Psalms 121:3, Psalms 121:4, Psalms 121:5, Psalms 121:6, Psalms 121:7, Psalms 121:8

Psalms 121 (KJV)

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Historical context

The source prints no heading for this psalm; verse 1 begins with "I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills", so no title or author is given and none is asserted. Verses 1-2 are in the first person, "mine eyes", "my help"; from verse 3 the psalm addresses "thee" and "thy foot", and the text does not say who the second speaker is or whether one voice answers another. The hills are not named. Israel is named once as the one kept. The Lord is identified by the phrase "which made heaven and earth", nearly the same words that close Psalm 124 in this collection, which has "who made" for "which made". The psalm states no occasion, no journey and no enemy; the dangers it names are a moved foot, sun by day and moon by night, and "all evil" without further definition. No Selah occurs.

Cited passages: Psalms 121:1, Psalms 121:3, Psalms 121:4, Psalms 121:2, Psalms 124:8, Psalms 121:6, Psalms 121:7

Literary context

The poem opens with a question and its answer: eyes to the hills, help from the maker of heaven and earth. Then the pronouns change from "my" to "thy", and the rest of the psalm is assurance addressed to another. The verb "keep" carries verses 3-5, "he that keepeth thee", "he that keepeth Israel", "thy keeper", and the verb "preserve" carries verses 7-8 three times. The denial of sleep is built in steps, "will not slumber" and then "neither slumber nor sleep". The pairs widen the scope: day and night, sun and moon, going out and coming in, now and for evermore. The pictures are few: hills, shade upon the right hand, sun and moon that do not smite. Nothing in the psalm narrates an event; it is a sequence of promises that grow from the foot to the whole life.

Cited passages: Psalms 121:1, Psalms 121:2, Psalms 121:3, Psalms 121:4, Psalms 121:5, Psalms 121:7, Psalms 121:8, Psalms 121:6

Key moments

1. Eyes lifted to the hills (Psalms 121:1). The speaker lifts his eyes to the hills and asks where his help comes from.
2. Help from the maker (Psalms 121:2). The speaker answers that his help comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth.
3. The keeper who does not sleep (Psalms 121:4). The one who keeps Israel is said neither to slumber nor sleep.
4. Shade at the right hand (Psalms 121:5). The Lord is named the keeper and the shade upon the right hand.
5. Going out and coming in (Psalms 121:8). The Lord is said to preserve going out and coming in for evermore.

For reflection

The psalm shifts from the speaker's own "my help" to promises spoken to "thee" about a keeper who never sleeps. What changes when the assurance is heard as something said to a person rather than something a person says about himself?

People in this chapter

• Jacob