Lord’s Day, Vol. 8 No. 17

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Whence Cometh Your Help

1 A Song of degrees. I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. 2 My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth. 3 He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber. 4 Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. 5 The LORD is thy keeper: the LORD is thy shade upon thy right hand. 6 The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night. 7 The LORD shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul. 8 The LORD shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore. Psalm 121:1-8 (KJV)

What do you do when you are in trouble? Whence cometh your help? Let us meditate on this theme that for Christians, our help comes from the LORD. Some trust in chariots and some in horses but we trust in the name of the LORD.

The psalms were written out of life’s struggles and therefore they speak well to the heart of God’s people who struggle today. Dear friends, are you struggling in life? Do you often come to your wit’s end and do not know what to do anymore? 

The psalmist affirms with his heart and confesses with his mouth by penning this psalm that his help comes from his LORD. He tells us how his LORD is a reliable helper by reminding us of our LORD credentials.

The Christian’s Help is from the LORD (v1-2a) 

  • He is our Maker (v2b) 
  • He is our Faithful Protector (v3-6) 
  • He is our Saviour (v7-8)

The Christian’s help is from the LORD (v1-2a) 

1A Song of degrees. I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help.

This is his announcement in verse 1 which is also the theme of the psalm – the source of the psalmist’s help. When he is distressed and troubled, he will pray and look to God. He would lift up his eyes heavenward.

The petitioner lifts up his eyes to the hills, looking beyond the hills, to His LORD, enthroned in heaven, protecting His people. The mountain and hill are the symbols of stability, security and safety, a refuge, a stronghold, and a fortress. The imagery for a kingdom where our LORD enthroned is King. This imagery provides the picture that God is the most reliable helper so that we may like the psalmist affirmed our faith in Him. 

The lifting of the eyes is a gesture of worship as the pilgrims approach to God. It is an act of acknowledging God, a most wonderful prayer posture of a trusting heart without hassle. The lifting up of the eyes is a renewal of trust in God and in Him alone. The traveler begins by lifting his eyes to the hills. In the back of his mind he contemplates the dangers of the journey of life that lie before him. The struggles in his life still weigh in his heart whenever he contemplates and thinks about his problems. Do you have some burden in your heart? Like the psalmist, we may be led to ask, “Where will my help come from?” His reply is “My help will come from my LORD”. Is this your heart’s conviction? 

The lifting up of the eyes is the praying posture of the saint. Is this your habit? While the outlook may be gleam and bleak, there is always hope in the up-look! This word “to lift” is the same word “to carry”. To give your troubles to the LORD for He will help you carry them. Our Lord Jesus says, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28) The lifting up of the eyes is the light yoke of the Christian. Every trouble that we have, we can bring to our LORD. “I am poor and needy: make haste unto me, O God: thou art my help and my deliverer; O LORD, make no tarrying” (Psalm 70:5).

Notice the word “LORD” or capital “LORD” speaks of a personal relationship the psalmist has with his God, it is the covenant name of the God of Israel. How is your relationship with your heavenly Father? Do you call upon Him and speak to Him often, or is He only an SOS helpline? Do you take time to cultivate that relationship by the careful study of God’s Word or is it merely a courtesy call each time when we are really in trouble.

Safety and confidence come from the living yet invisible God is the message of the psalmist. 

2My help cometh from the LORD… 

The LORD indeed is our help. When we evaluate, as Christians, how we face trial and testing, invariably we find ourselves looking for help everywhere other than God. Why is that so? So often we let our problems overwhelm our heart and we begin to doubt God’s ability to help us. Here the psalmist in verse 2 is affirming that the origin and authorship (BDB) of his help is from the invisible unseen God. This is seen by the phrase “cometh from”. It is from two prepositions “from and “with” or beside”. The word “cometh” is placed there by the King James translator to supply the source of our help. His help comes from His LORD who is with or beside him. You do not have to look very far. Our Lord is with us is the important thought that psalmist is conveying.

  • He Is Our Maker (v2b)

The Christian life is filled with temptations and trials. Every temptation seeks to seduce us to satisfy the flesh, embrace the world and every trial gives us hardship which we have to endure. This is the Christian’s fiery furnace of purification.

Who is the author and source of your help? When we come to worship every Lord’s Day, we are in the cooperative will of God, where we determine in our hearts as the psalmist, that our help is from the LORD, where we are able to receive God’s direction and guidance through His word and in prayer. Therefore, in the face of uncertainty and crossroads in life, the psalmist here affirms his faith in the LORD, His God, here is emphasized the covenantal relationship. 

Have you broken a piece of glass? It may be impossible to put back those pieces of broken glass, shattered into small pieces, humanly speaking. But not with God, no matter how far we have departed from God, how much we have broken the heart of God, how wracked and broken our life may be, there is a way back with God. He is able to help us when we come to Him. If we will only come with a brokenness of heart, He will accept us! He is a God of the impossible. Able to mend any relationship that we may think is impossible to mend. Able to fix any problem that we may think is impossible to fix. Therefore, the psalmist said because He is my Maker, therefore, I am confident He is able to help me, to restore my broken life again.

(b) He is Faithful Protector (v3-6)

3 He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber. 4 ‘Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.

Verses 3-4 conveys the same thought – God’s ability to keep His people. He is our faithful protector, ever watching out for our well-being. Verse 3 begins with the negative particle “not” in the original as the first word, to give to us the emphasis.“No way will he allow your foot to be made unstable.”This word “not” expresses strong emotions of the psalmist when he affirms that his God will not give him over to the whims and fancies of the enemy. It conveys a sense of deep conviction that something cannot and will not happen. This is a statement of determined faith. He will not suffer or permit, yield, tolerate, set, put me to be shaking and tottering. Be unstable. To give way, to give up! But He will cause me to take good steps of safety. Verse 3 tells us the LORD is our able protector. This verse is written with an urgency that conveys the great conviction of heart. God will not allow Himself to slumber so that He is unable to keep us. He will not allow us to slip.

In verse 4, the psalmist is saying, look, I want you to know for a fact that He that keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. In verse 4, the negative particle “not” is a different word “lo”. It refers to objective denial of a fact, a ‘legislative’ word. The subject which is God is prohibited from doing the action or being in the state described by the verb, that is, “to be drowsy, to slumber to sleep”. It is the strongest way to convey the impossibility of such an event. He that keeps Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. Dear friends, there are times when we are sleepy and tired and worn out from the many cares of life, we cannot care anymore, we are exhausted. God is unlike us. His steadfastness in caring for us does not suffer lapses. This is such a wonderful promise from Scripture, isn’t it? Verse 4 tells us He is our consistent and constant Protector who is always there for us.

5The LORD is thy keeper: the LORD is thy shade upon thy right hand. 6 The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night.

God is our ever-present protection. “By faith, we put ourselves under His protection and commit ourselves under His care.” (Matthew Henry) What a comforting thought this truth gives us. God Himself has undertaken to be our Protector. (Matthew Henry) Verses 5-6 describes the activities of life, whether in the day or in the night, things can happen to us, but the overarching thought is God’s protective care over His people round the clock.

(c) He is Saviour (verse 7-8)

7 The LORD shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul. 8 The LORD shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore.

God’s protection is complete and all the way. Notice, the LORD preserves us from “all” evil. The word “all” is all-encompassing and thorough. He shall preserve thy soul – for how long? Forevermore! Here is a picture of the character of God’s salvation. It speaks of the permanence of it. When Jesus purchased our redemption on the cross, it is a permanent redemption, reconciling us to God. The broken relationship due to sin has been mended permanently. 

What should our response be? It must be of praise and worship and the resolve to follow our LORD. Amen.

Yours lovingly,

Pastor Lek Aik Wee