THE EXTREMES OF LIFE (Psalm 121)

I want to praise the Lord today for being my helper, my keeper, and my preserver. If it were not for Him, I would be in a mess.

So would you.

That is the great message of Psalm 121. It is the second “song of degrees.”

Verses 1-8: “I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth. He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber. Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord is thy keeper: the Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand. The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul. The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore.”

What a beautiful psalm. Every bit of it is about how the Lord takes care of His own. I am a child of God, and I can testify with certainty, from personal experience, that God takes care of His children.

In the first two verses, the emphasis is on His help. Verses 3-5 focus on His keeping. Toward the end of the psalm, it is all about His preserving. These words are used repeatedly in the passage.

Those of us who are studying the Bible either through this book or some other way are in every imaginable geographic location and circumstance of life. Yet, there is always one constant, which is the Lord.

As I meditated on Psalm 121 most recently, even though I have taught it before, I noticed something fresh. It is the extremes, as if God said, “From one extreme to the other, I am all you need. I will be more than enough.”

From Heaven to Earth

Verse 2: “My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth.” Location-wise, it cannot be more extreme than that. All of Heaven says that He is the Lord, and all of Earth should do that as well. This verse shows that no matter where you go, whether in the valley or in the hills, He is the Lord there.

When the psalmist said in verse 1, “I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help,” he was not talking about the topography or the land itself. He was talking about the God who made those hills. Like those hills themselves, He never moves or changes. In every place I find myself, He is my helper, keeper, and preserver.

From Day to Night

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

God never sleeps. You can rest today because He does not. Rest in Him because He is at work.

Verses 5-6: “The Lord is thy keeper: the Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand. The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night.” He keeps you not only in every place but at every time.

In the heat of the day, when it seems as though the sun is beating down on you because of the burdens you bear, the Lord is with you. In the middle of the night, when no one is around, and you feel very alone, as fear creeps in or temptation comes, the Lord is there as well. He will help you, keep you, and preserve you.

From Beginning to End

The reference in verse 8 to “thy going out and thy coming in” suggests the entire time from when you leave your home until you return. That means from the start of something until its conclusion. Remember, He is “the author and finisher of our faith,” according to Hebrews 12:2.

God put all of this in motion, and He will keep you until the very end. The Apostle Paul wrote in Philippians 1:6, “Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.”

Has it ever dawned on you that God is already in your future? He is not in time; time is in Him because He is the eternal God. He is in your past, your present, and your future, all at the exact same moment. Wherever you are going and whatever you are going to face when you get there, be encouraged that God is there and already has everything you need. He has all of the details worked out so you can move forward in faith and with courage and confidence.

From Now to Eternity

Verse 8: “The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore.”

Sometimes, we think, “Well, God took care of this today, but I don’t know how He is going to take care of it tomorrow.” This verse states that He will do just that.

Your life will always be changing, but He is the constant. He is “the same yesterday, and today, and forever,” according to Hebrews 13:8. He said in Malachi 3:6, “For I am the Lord, I change not.”

As sure as the Lord is helping, keeping, and preserving today, He will help, keep, and preserve you forever more. That is to the vanishing point, beyond time and your greatest need.

I am captivated by the extremes in Psalm 121. Why all of these extremes? Because God is in every place and every circumstance. You can never get to a place where God is not there. You can never encounter a situation that took Him by surprise or for which He is not capable.

Remember, the people of God sang these songs as they went up to worship. Psalm 121 should lead us to worship Him for who He is and what He does and to thank Him for always being the same.

Pause right now and worship the Lord. Let Psalm 121 take you a little bit higher and into His presence as you give Him glory and praise. Let it be a reminder to you that all which helps, keeps and preserves you is from Him.

“Lord, thank you for this beautiful psalm and how you are using it in my life at this moment. I am thankful that my life is not in my hands or that of another man who could fail. My life is not in the hands of the devil or the people of this world. It is Your hand, and I trust You. I believe that You will help me, keep me, and preserve me at every extremity. And I pray that you will do the same for all others who have put their trust in You. In Jesus’ name, amen.”