Psalm 121 Journal Starter

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We hope these journal starters spark reflection on the Psalms.

If you want to, you can share some of your thoughts in the comments section below. We would love to hear how God is working in your heart.

You can listen to Psalm 121 here. You can find Psalm 121 in the New International Version here.

This psalm starts with the words, "I lift up my eyes to the mountains—/ where does my help come from?" The mountains can be both a place where people go for safety (fleeing to the mountains comes up throughout the Bible) AND can be a place where new dangers are encountered. Even the act of climbing a mountain is difficult. Whether the psalmist is thinking about the mountains as a place of safety or a place of danger, he knows the One who is his true source of help—the One who MADE the mountains! He answered his own question by writing, "My help is from the LORD,/ the Maker of heaven and earth."

The psalmist wrote:
He will not let your foot slip—
   he who watches over you will not slumber;
indeed, he who watches over Israel
    will neither slumber nor sleep.

Derek Kidner noted in the Tyndale Old Testament Commentary on Psalm 121 that the word "not" used here is used for requests (pg. 467). So, the psalmist is not saying, "You will never slip or get hurt when you're climbing a mountain." The psalmist is actually making a request of God. He is saying something more like, "Please keep me safe." The next part, however, IS a solid fact! The One who watches over the psalmist, over all of Israel, over YOU and your community, will neither slumber or sleep. The final verse of this psalm reads, "the Lord will watch over your coming and going/both now and forevermore."