Sing A Song To The Lord

Psalm 121, A Song of Ascents 

“I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade on your right hand. The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life. The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore.”(ESV)

• “A song of ascents”.  The title of this Psalm stood out for me today. I don’t always pay much attention to the “titles”, but couldn’t help but wonder what that meant. So I did a little research, and found that Psalms 120-134, are all called by the same name! I thought that was interesting:) Apparently, these Psalms were songs the Hebrews would have sung on their pilgrimage to Jerusalem or possibly to climb Mount Zion or even in climbing the steps of the temple. 
• The question raised in this Psalm, “From where does my help come from”?, makes me think, who or what do I look to when challenges arise? Who do I turn to first? When difficulties come, do I think to ask the Lord first or do I turn to someone else for guidance or find myself searching Google? 
• The Psalmist answer is, “My help comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth”. Can I or we say the same? Is the Lord truly our helper? Are we relying on Him to be our strength; our anchor in the storm?
• Now, when we make the Lord our help there is a promise. He promises that “He will not let our foot be moved”. What does that mean? 2 Thessalonians 3:3 says, “But the Lord is faithful. He will establish you and guard you against the evil one.” What traps set for me have I escaped because God was on my side? We know God allows certain things in our lives to help us grow in our relationship with Him, but what things has He protected us from that we haven’t experienced because of His grace and mercy?  Psalm 37:24, says, “though he may stumble, he will not fall, for the Lord upholds him with his hand.” With thanksgiving we can pray Psalm 56:13, “For you have delivered me from death and my feet from stumbling, that I may walk before God in the light of life.”
• If we will open ourselves to the lessons He may be teaching. If we will draw near to Him in the midst of whatever storm we may be facing. If we will trust Him through the pain, I believe, as Charles Stanley reminds us, that adversity can definitely be a bridge to a closer relationship with God. (Charles Stanley Life Principle #26) 
• 2 Corinthians 4:17 says, “For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.”‬‬
• “Our light and momentary troubles”. The troubles or difficulties we face are preparing or achieving something for us far greater than we might know. I may not always understand why things happen the way they do, I may not always understand the lesson I’m supposed to learn. But trusting in the Lord’s plan and ways, I know this isn't all there is, there is something so much greater waiting for me, for us, on the other side. If we just learn to persevere, keep things in perspective and know this too shall pass!
• The Psalmist also speaks of God, not only as our helper, but as our keeper. One definition of keeper is, one who “guards or watches; protects”. But unlike human “keepers”, our God never slumbers or sleeps. He is our shade. As Psalm 91:1 says, “He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.” He promises to keep us from all evil; to keep our life. And as Psalm 139:7-11 reminds us, there is nowhere we can go to escape His presence! He is always with us! That’s the kind of keeper our God is!
• So keep trusting, remembering that God is in control. Keep doing the next best thing. Remembering, as Paul said, "We look not to things that are seen but to things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient,  but the things that are unseen are eternal"(2 Corinthians 4:18). And, maybe create a little tune for yourself from a favorite Psalm, and sing along the way:)