This psalm is entitled simply, “A Song of Degrees.” See the notes on the title to Psalms 120:1. Nothing is known, or can be known, of the author or of the occasion on which it was composed. DeWette and Rosenmuller suppose that it was composed in the exile; Rosenmuller regarding it as a psalm to be s... [ Continue Reading ]
I WILL LIFT UP MINE EYES - Margin, “Shall I lift up mine eyes to the hills? Whence should my help come?” The expression would properly denote a condition where there was danger; when no help or aid was visible; and when the eyes were turned to the quarter from which help might be expected to come. W... [ Continue Reading ]
MY HELP COMETH FROM THE LORD - From Yahweh. This is the answer to the anxious inquiry in Psalms 121:1. It indicates (a) a consciousness that help could come only from God; (b) a belief that it would come from him; and a confident yet humble reliance on him. WHICH MADE HEAVEN AND EARTH - The great... [ Continue Reading ]
HE WILL NOT SUFFER THY FOOT TO BE MOVED - He will enable you to stand firm. You are safe in his protection. Compare the notes at Psalms 38:16. This, with the remainder of the psalm, seems to be of the nature of an answer to the anxious question in Psalms 121:1 - an answer which the author of the psa... [ Continue Reading ]
BEHOLD, HE THAT KEEPETH ISRAEL - The Keeper - the Guardian - of his people. The psalmist here passes from his own particular case to a general truth - a truth to him full of consolation. It is, that the people of God must always be safe; that their great Guardian never slumbers; and that he, as one... [ Continue Reading ]
THE LORD IS THY KEEPER - Thy Preserver; thy Defender. He will keep time from danger; he will keep thee from sin; he will keep thee unto salvation. THE LORD IS THY SHADE - The Lord is as a shadow: as the shadow of a rock, a house, or a tree, in the intense rays of the burning sun. See the notes at I... [ Continue Reading ]
THE SUN SHALL NOT SMITE THEE BY DAY - The Septuagint renders this, “shall not burn thee” - συγκαύσει _sungkausei_. So the Latin Vulgate. The Hebrew word means to smite, to strike, as with a rod or staff, or with the plague or pestilence; and then, to kill, to slay. The allusion here is to what is n... [ Continue Reading ]
THE LORD SHALL PRESERVE THEE FROM ALL EVIL - This is an advance of the thought. The psalmist had in the previous verses specified some particular evils from which he says God would keep those who put their trust in him. He now makes the remark general, and says that God would not only preserve from... [ Continue Reading ]
THE LORD SHALL PRESERVE THOU GOING OUT AND THY COMING IN - Preserve thee in going out and coming in; in going from thy dwelling, and returning to it; in going from home and coming back; that is, everywhere, and at all times. Compare Deuteronomy 28:6. See the notes also at Job 5:24. “From this time f... [ Continue Reading ]