Psalms — Chapter 121

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1A song of ascents. I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come?

2My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth.

3He will not allow your foot to slip; your Protector will not slumber.

4Behold, the Protector of Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.

5The LORD is your keeper; the LORD is the shade on your right hand.

6The sun will not strike you by day, nor the moon by night.

7The LORD will guard you from all evil; He will preserve your soul.

8The LORD will watch over your coming and going, both now and forevermore.

1I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help.

2My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth.

3He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber.

4Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.

5The LORD is thy keeper: the LORD is thy shade upon thy right hand.

6The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night.

7The LORD shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul.

8The LORD shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore.

1I will lift up mine eyes unto the mountains: From whence shall my help come?

2My help [cometh] from Jehovah, Who made heaven and earth.

3He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: He that keepeth thee will not slumber.

4Behold, he that keepeth Israel Will neither slumber nor sleep.

5Jehovah is thy keeper: Jehovah is thy shade upon thy right hand.

6The sun shall not smite thee by day, Nor the moon by night.

7Jehovah will keep thee from all evil; He will keep thy soul.

8Jehovah will keep thy going out and thy coming in From this time forth and for evermore. Psalm 122 A Song of Ascents; of David.

1A song of ascents. I look up toward the hills. From where does my help come?

2My help comes from the Lord, the Creator of heaven and earth.

3May he not allow your foot to slip. May your Protector not sleep.

4Look! Israel’s Protector does not sleep or slumber.

5The Lord is your protector; the Lord is the shade at your right hand.

6The sun will not harm you by day, or the moon by night.

7The Lord will protect you from all harm; he will protect your life.

8The Lord will protect you in all you do, now and forevermore.

1I will lift up my eyes to the hills. Where does my help come from?

2My help comes from Yahweh, who made heaven and earth.

3He will not allow your foot to be moved. He who keeps you will not slumber.

4Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.

5Yahweh is your keeper. Yahweh is your shade on your right hand.

6The sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night.

7Yahweh will keep you from all evil. He will keep your soul.

8Yahweh will keep your going out and your coming in, from this time forward, and forever more.

Summary
Authorship & Background
Commentary
Videos
Articles
Reflection

Summary

A Song of Ascents expressing confident trust in the LORD as protector. The psalmist looks to the hills and asks where his help comes from, then affirms that his help comes from the LORD, maker of heaven and earth (vv. 1-2). He declares that the LORD who keeps Israel never slumbers or sleeps, watching over the traveler as a shade at his right hand so that neither sun nor moon can harm him (vv. 3-6). The psalm closes with assurance that the LORD will guard his life and every going out and coming in, now and forever (vv. 7-8).

Authorship & Background

Author: Multiple authors — primarily David (73 psalms attributed), plus Asaph (12), Sons of Korah (11), Solomon (2), Moses (1), Heman (1), Ethan (1), and anonymous. The Psalter was compiled over approximately 1000 years and served as Israel's hymnal and prayer book. The book is divided into five 'books' (1-41, 42-72, 73-89, 90-106, 107-150), paralleling the five books of Moses.
Classification: Song of Ascents / Psalm of Trust
Attributed Author: Anonymous (superscription: "A Song of degrees/ascents")
Key Themes: God as keeper/protector, divine watchfulness that never sleeps, help from the Creator, protection from all evil, preservation in all circumstances, total security in God
Historical Context: Psalm 121 is the second Song of Ascents and one of the most beloved psalms in all of Scripture. It was sung by pilgrims approaching Jerusalem, looking up at the hills ahead. The "hills" likely refer to the mountains surrounding Jerusalem (or possibly the hills where pagan shrines were located — in which case the answer is: help comes not from the hills/shrines but from the LORD). The psalm uses the word "keep/preserve" (Hebrew "shamar") six times in eight verses — the most concentrated expression of divine protection in the Psalter. It likely functioned as a blessing pronounced by a priest over departing pilgrims — a divine guarantee for the journey home.
I Will Lift Up Mine Eyes unto the Hills (v.1): I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. KJV reads this as one statement. The Hebrew has no punctuation and can as easily be read as a question, from whence cometh my help, answered in verse 2, which is how most modern versions take it. The difference is not small. On the first reading the hills are where help comes from; on the second they are the problem, since high places were where the shrines stood, and a traveler looking up at them is looking at the competition. Verse 2 fits the second reading better, and this page does not pretend the matter is settled.
My Help Cometh from the LORD (v.2): My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth. The answer names a person rather than a place, and the credential offered is the largest available. If the hills were the question, this is the correction: the one who made them is not one of them.
He That Keepeth Israel Shall Neither Slumber nor Sleep (vv.3-4): He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber. The psalm changes voice here and someone else speaks to the traveler, which is why it reads as a blessing pronounced over a person setting out. A moved foot is what a mountain path threatens. And the promise is stated twice, in the negative both times, behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep, which is the opposite of Baal on Carmel in 1 Kings 18:27, who Elijah suggests may be asleep.
Thy Shade upon Thy Right Hand (vv.5-6): The LORD is thy keeper: the LORD is thy shade upon thy right hand. Keeper is the word that holds this psalm together, used six times in eight verses. Shade is what a traveler in that country wants most, and it is offered at the right hand, the place where a companion walks. The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night, where the moon is included for completeness rather than because it burns.
Thy Going Out and Thy Coming In (vv.7-8): The LORD shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul. The scope widens from sunstroke to everything, and the last verse covers the whole journey in both directions, thy going out and thy coming in, and then the whole of time, from this time forth, and even for evermore. The psalm makes no promise that nothing will happen; what it promises is a keeper who is awake.

Commentary

  • Enduring Word (David Guzik): enduringword.com Verse-by-verse commentary on this chapter, written for the everyday reader and freely available online.
  • Jamieson-Fausset-Brown (1871): blueletterbible.org A critical and explanatory commentary on the whole Bible, more concise than Matthew Henry and closer to the Hebrew and Greek, with attention to historical and geographical detail. Public domain.
  • Matthew Henry's Exposition (1710): blueletterbible.org A devotional verse-by-verse commentary in the Puritan tradition, still among the most widely read three centuries on. Public domain.

Videos

Psalms 120-124 | The Journey Out of Exile | Bible Study
Spoken Gospel

Psalm 121 - The God Who Keeps and Helps
David Guzik

Articles

  • GotQuestions.org: gotquestions.org On the whole book: an overview of Psalms -- who wrote it, when, why, and how it fits the rest of Scripture.

Links open on the publisher's own site. Nothing here is reproduced on this page.

Reflection

  • Asking the Right Question (v.1) — The psalmist looks toward the hills and asks where his help will come from, refusing to assume the answer. When you're overwhelmed, do you instinctively look to the right source for help, or does anxiety answer first?
  • Help From the Creator (v.2) — His help comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth — no problem outsizes the One who spoke the universe into being. Do you actually believe your help is that big, or does the problem still feel bigger than God?
  • A Keeper Who Never Sleeps (vv.3-4) — God's watchfulness over His people never lapses into slumber, not even for a moment. What worry keeps you up at night that you could hand to a God who never needs the rest you do?
  • Shade in Every Season (vv.5-6) — The Lord shields His people from harm whether it comes by the heat of day or the dangers of night. Where do you need to trust His covering right now — in daylight troubles or nighttime fears?
  • Kept Coming and Going, Now and Forever (vv.7-8) — God's preservation covers every departure and every return, from this moment into eternity. What ordinary "coming and going" in your life have you never stopped to entrust to His care?