> [[psalm-120|← Previous]] | [[psalm-00|TOC]] | [[psalm-122|Next →]] --- # Psalm 121 ## The Lord My Guardian 1 A song of ascents. I raise my eyes toward the mountains. From whence shall come my help? 2 My help comes from the LORD, the maker of heaven and earth. 3 He will not allow your foot to slip; or your guardian to sleep. 4 Behold, the guardian of Israel never slumbers nor sleeps. 5 The LORD is your guardian; the LORD is your shade at your right hand. 6 By day the sun will not strike you, nor the moon by night. 7 The LORD will guard you from all evil; he will guard your soul. 8 The LORD will guard your coming and going both now and forever. \* (Psalm 121) A blessing given to someone embarking on a dangerous journey whether a soldier going on a campaign or a pilgrim returning home from the Temple. People look anxiously at the wooded hills. Will God protect them on their journey ([Ps 121:1])? The speaker declares that God is not confined to a place or a time ([Ps 121:2]), that every step is guarded ([Ps 121:3] – [4]); night and day ([Ps 121:5] – [6]) God watches over their every movement ([Ps 121:7] – [8]). \* (121:1) The mountains: possibly Mount Zion, the site of the Temple and hence of safety, but more probably mountains as a place of dangers, causing anxiety to the psalmist. \* (121:5] – [6) The image of shade, a symbol of protection, is apt: God as shade protects from the harmful effects that ancients believed were caused by the sun and moon. a. (121:1) [Jer 3:23]. b. (121:2) [Ps 124:8]; [146:6]. c. (121:3) [Ps 66:9]; [91:12]; [1 Sm 2:9]; [Prv 3:23]. d. (121:5) ([[psalm-16|Ps 16]]:8]; [73:23]. e. (121:6) [Wis 18:3]; [Is 25:4]; [49:10]. f. (121:7) [Ps 97:10]. g. (121:8) [Dt 28:6]. --- _New American Bible, revised edition_ (2010, 1991, 1986, 1970) Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Washington, D.C. > [[psalm-120|← Previous]] | [[psalm-00|TOC]] | [[psalm-122|Next →]]