“The Lord is Your keeper. The Lord is your shade at your right hand. The sun shall not smite you by day, nor the moon by night.” Psalm 121
Psalm 121 is a discovery of the symbiotic relationship between Father and child. God’s principal means for drawing his little child to his side is human need. What needs are expressing in this divine poem? The need for help (vs. 1-2), the need for protection, (vs. 3-6), the need for guidance, (vs. 3 and 8) and the need for shielding from nature’s fury and Satan’s schemes (vs. 5-7) are all met by the protective parent. The newborn is in the place of life-dependence. God is seen by the spiritual baby as Creator, Protector, Helper, and Guardian. A baby is also completely self-centered. Notice the focus of this psalm is on what God will do for the believer, it is not conscious of the believer’s interaction or response to God.
Some suggest Hezekiah is the also the author of this psalm. Upon his healing, Hezekiah prayed a similar prayer of thanksgiving for his deliverance. A baby learns how to get attention from Mom and Dad. If he is hungry, he screams. If he is lonely, he screams. If he is wet, he screams. It does not matter if it is midday or midnight. When the baby screams, Mommy comes. The baby Christian learns early that when he prays, Daddy comes. Hebrews 4:16 promises “Let us come boldly to the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” Every healthy child knows how to reach out for help. Spiritual children know who their Daddy is. They know that their sins are forgiven, and they are safe from death and hell. God listens and he is helped and comforted.
Neurologists have discovered that newborns enter the world with brains that will continue to develop from infancy into early adulthood. One such discovery startled the unsuspecting parents of a newborn. An infant contracted an eye infection in the first week of life. The pediatrician bandaged the baby’s eyes during weeks two and three to heal the infection. To the shock and surprise of his parents, the child was completely blind, though his eyes were functioning perfectly.
Physicians were dismayed to discover that the part of the occipital lobe of the brain that processes information was developed during the first month of life. The eyes could see but they could not process what they had seen, so the baby was completely blind.
The analogy is clear for this Psalm. As the spiritual child lifts his gaze up to His Maker, he can see that God is his helper only by the revelation of the Holy Spirit. In fact, all throughout the life of the Christian, it is God who reveals Himself and the Holy Spirit who interprets those revelations to the mind and human spirit.
At the moment of salvation, there is a joy and simple trust that is remarkable. This “honeymoon” period of infancy where there is such wonder, tremendous learning and enthusiasm is often mistaken for spiritual maturity. But the faith has not been tried. The believer is aware of God’s presence and protection in a remarkable way. Verses 1-2 describe the beginning prayer life of a baby Christian. When he senses a need, he is learning to bring it to God in prayer. He learns God is Creator of both the physical and spiritual world and interacts with every part of life. He discovers the hand of God in creation. He discovers God as creator of heaven…that there is a whole world in another dimension-a spiritual world that he cannot see, but must appropriate by faith. Spiritual children learn that they need protection in their spiritual walk: “He will not let your foot slip,” Ps.121:3. The keeping power of the Heavenly Father also has historical significance. When the traveling Israelites trekked to Jerusalem three times a year, they faced many perils along the way. Robbers, wild animals, and brutal heat were three of their enemies. Perhaps they sang this comforting psalm around their evening campfires.
The vocabulary of this poem also implies that the pilgrim must climb (ascend) toward his Heavenly Father. From every other part of Israel, the Jews said they must travel or “go up” to the Holy City. “Moving feet,” “lifting eyes,” “going out,” “coming in” all imply movement toward a goal. The love of God draws His child to His heart. Nevertheless there is a godless yet seductive gravitational force relentlessly pulling him downward. The world system is
always a hurdle the traveler must overcome. The Christian must not look back. On his old life, or he will experience the paralysis that Lot’s wife did when she vacillated and was transformed into a pillar of salt in Genesis. The spiritual child must run to the loving, sheltering arms of his Daddy. God promises this as our guide and protector:
“To Him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you without blemish before the presence of His glory with rejoicing, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ, our Lord, be the glory.” Jude 24