KNOWING GOD – THE PROTECTOR
Lesson One
Text: Psalm 121 – [The CEV gives the psalm the heading, “The LORD Will Protect His People.”]
Title: A song of ascents. KJV – A song of degrees. CEV – (A song for worship.) NLT – A song for pilgrims ascending to Jerusalem. TPT – A song of the stairway.
It is believed that Psalm 120 to 134 were sung by pilgrims at different stages on their way to Jerusalem for the annual feasts or on the fifteen steps to the men’s court.
V.1, I lift up my eyes to the hills—where does my help come from?
(AMP) I will lift up my eyes to the hills [of Jerusalem]—From where shall my help come?
I will lift up my eyes to the hills [of Jerusalem] – The psalmist was “lifting his eyes to the hills” not as an idolator but as “a believer in the LORD.” Contrast Jeremiah 3:23-24, Surely the idolatrous commotion on the hills and mountains is a deception; surely in the LORD our God is the salvation of Israel. 24From our youth shameful gods have consumed the fruits of our fathers’ labor—their flocks and herds, their sons and daughters.
(GNT) 23We were not helped at all by our pagan worship on the hilltops. Help for Israel comes only from the LORD our God. 24But the worship of Baal, the god of shame, has made us lose flocks and herds, sons and daughters—everything that our ancestors have worked for since ancient times.
(CEV) 23On hilltops, we worshiped idols and loud noises, but it was all for nothing—only you can save us. 24Since the days of our ancestors when our nation was young, that shameful god Baal has taken our crops and livestock, our sons and daughters.
Other examples of believers: Jeremiah 16:19-21 – (The GNT gives this passage the heading, “Jeremiah’s Prayer of Confidence in the Lord.”) 19LORD, my strength and my fortress, my refuge in time of distress, to you the nations will come from the ends of the earth and say, “Our ancestors possessed nothing but false gods, worthless idols that did them no good. 20Do people make their own gods? Yes, but they are not gods!”
21“Therefore I will teach them—this time I will teach them my power and might. Then they will know that my name is the LORD.
Psalm 16:4, The sorrows of those will increase who run after other gods. I will not pour out their libations of blood or take up their names on my lips.
(AMP) The sorrows [pain and suffering] of those who have chosen another god will be multiplied [because of their idolatry]; I will not pour out their drink offerings of blood, Nor will I take their names upon my lips.
(TPT) 1 Keep me safe, O mighty God, I run to you, my safe place. 2I said to YAHWEH, “You are my Maker and my Master. Any good thing you find in me has come from you.” 3And he said to me “My holy lovers in the land are my glorious ones, who fulfill all my desires.” 4Yet there are those who yield to their weakness, and they will have troubles unending. I never gather with such ones, nor give them honor in any way.
I never gather with such ones, nor give them honor in any way – Note Psalm 15:1, 4, LORD, who may dwell in your sanctuary? Who may live on your holy hill?
4who despises a vile man but honors those who fear the LORD, . . .
Psalm 48:1, Great is the LORD, and most worthy of praise, in the city of our God, his holy mountain. Note the title: A song. A psalm of the Sons of Korah. See Numbers 26:9-11 and Numbers 16.
Psalm 87:1, He has set his foundation on the holy mountain;
Application: As we journey to the “Heavenly Jerusalem,” let us thank the Great Protector and ask Him to help us to heed the following: Psalm 123:1, I lift up my eyes to you, to you whose throne is in heaven.
Psalm 61:4, I long to dwell in your tent forever and take refuge in the shelter of your wings. Selah. This is a desire for His “intimate presence.”
Psalm 43:3, Send forth your light and your truth, let them guide me; let them bring me to your holy mountain, to the place where you dwell.
To the place where you dwell – Note Ephesians 2:6, And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus,
Thus, Philippians 3:20-21, But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.