Happy Trails: Journey Through the Psalms of AscentSample

The hills during the journey to Jerusalem held many diversions and perversions for the unsuspecting traveler at the time these words were penned. A myriad of shrines for idol worship crept into the craggy landscape over the years, luring both the old and the young into both sexual and spiritual corruption.

In the same way that we in Christ are journeying to our true home, Heaven, we are also endlessly assailed at each step of the pilgrimage by invitations to worship the false gods of our age: wealth, physical beauty, power, education, popularity, success in our careers, and even our own best attempts to be “good people” all contend to sit on the throne of our hearts.

We must raise our eyes above these hills holding false promises and fix them on the God who created them, the only one who made the heavens and the earth. He must be our choice of help and worship above all others. When the world offers us its own tempting solutions to the rigors of the monotonous daily climb, we are called to trust that He alone will give the joy and protection for the journey that we need at any hour, given by the hand of a God who never sleeps. His promise to sustain us can give us the boldness to keep moving forward step by step.

The psalmist of this chapter declares that God is both his helper (Verses 1-2), keeper (Verses 3-4), protector (Verses 5-6) and guard (Verses 7-8) and we too can declare these truths at every step of the journey.

The Lord is my helper, he is my keeper, he is my protector, and he is my guard.

1. What false god are you most tempted to worship on your journey to heaven?
2. Which of the four promises in Psalm 121 encourages you the most? Write it out and place it somewhere you will see each day this week.