Psalms
Chapter 121
1
God Cares for His People
I lift up my eyes to the mountains— from where shall come my help?
2
My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth.
3
Will he let your foot slip, the one watching over you? Will he slumber?
4
No, the guardian of Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps.
5
The Lord is your guardian; the Lord is at your side; and you, in his shade;
6
Sunstroke will not be for you by day, nor the spell of the moon, by night.
7
The Lord guards you from every evil; he will protect your life.
8
The Lord watches over your coming and going, both now and forever.
Commentaries
121
The pilgrim lifts his face toward the Temple at Zion’s height. It is the earthly home of the one God, tireless guardian of Israel. We, too, travel to Mount Zion, the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, which the old Jerusalem of stone cannot compare to. ‘We have here no lasting city, and we are looking for the one to come’ (Heb 13:14).
God is faithful; he watches over us day and night. On the road to Emmaus, Jesus joins them, but they do not recognize him. ‘If God is with us, who could be against us?’ Pray at the start of a difficult task: a conversion, a vocation, the beginning of a family, risks taken for the good of all.