Psalm 121

Psalm 121 belongs to Book V of the Psalms (Psalms 107–150). Fifteen psalms, Psalms 120 through 134, are grouped together as the "Songs of Ascents," and this psalm is the second of them. The preceding Psalm 120 laments the distress of living amid falsehood and strife. Psalm 121 follows by asking where help comes from and confessing that the LORD keeps his people.

Structure

• Verses 1–2: The psalmist lifts his eyes to the hills, asks where his help comes from, and answers that it comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth.
• Verses 3–4: The speaker changes and addresses "you." The one who keeps Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps.
• Verses 5–6: Because the LORD is a shade at one's right hand, neither the sun by day nor the moon by night will cause harm.
• Verses 7–8: The LORD preserves from all evil and keeps the soul, and one's going out and coming in, from this time forth and forevermore.

Key Verses

• Psalm 121:2: "My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth." This verse answers the question that runs through the whole psalm. The same confession appears in Psalm 124:8.
• Psalm 121:4: "Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep." The verse portrays a God who keeps watch without rest.
• Psalm 121:8: "The LORD shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore." It is widely used as a blessing that encompasses the whole of life.

People and Places

• The LORD (Yahweh): The maker of heaven and earth, called the one who "keeps."
• Israel: The people whom the LORD keeps (verse 4).
• The hills: The text does not specify which hills are meant in verse 1.

Points for Reflection

• Interpretations of the hills in verse 1 differ. Some take them to represent the dangers of the pilgrim road or the idols of the high places; others understand them as the hills on which Jerusalem stands.
• From verse 3 onward, "I" shifts to "you." Some view this as an exchange between a pilgrim and a companion, while others see it as a priestly blessing.
• The verb "keep" (Hebrew shamar) occurs six times in verses 3–8 and serves as the psalm's unifying theme.
• A widely held view is that the "Songs of Ascents" (KJV: "A Song of degrees") were sung by pilgrims going up to Jerusalem for festivals such as the Feast of Tabernacles. Jewish tradition also preserves an explanation linking them to the fifteen steps of the temple. The text itself, however, does not state when or how they were sung.
• Verse 4 is sometimes read in contrast to 1 Kings 18, where Elijah mocks Baal, saying that "peradventure he sleepeth, and must be awaked."
• The "going out and coming in" of verse 8 resembles Deuteronomy 28:6: "Blessed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and blessed shalt thou be when thou goest out."
• In the New Testament, the psalm is read alongside John 17, where Jesus prays that his disciples be kept, and John 10:27–29, which declares that no one can snatch the sheep away.

In the Korean Church

The psalm is frequently read at the first worship service of the new year, at the New Year's Eve watch-night service, and during pastoral visits before a move, the opening of a business, or enlistment in the military. Verse 8 in particular is often quoted as a blessing. Several gospel songs set to the words of this psalm are also widely sung.