By I participate in a bible study through High Tech Ministries every Thursday morning. The meetings are a great way to start your morning (virtually). I’ve volunteered a few times to lead the group. I’ll post about the sessions I’ve led, if that’s okay with you.
Today I facilitated a discussion on Psalm 121. Part of the fun of leading a session is the research I get to do beforehand. I did a little googling and then asked ChatGPT for some help. The AI technology is fascinating. When I was growing up, it was all about reading/researching either via encyclopedias or going to the library for several hours. Now all this knowledge sits at our fingertips! My prompt was ‘I need to build a power point presentation for 30 minute time slot on Psalm 121’ and voila! A slide deck was built. I wonder how much we retain/how much knowledge we gain when we don’t have to do much, if any, of the heavy lifting. I’ll save that discussion for another post. Today I am focused on Psalm 121. Below is the New International Version of the Psalm.
1 I lift up my eyes to the mountains—
where does my help come from?
2 My help comes from the Lord,
the Maker of heaven and earth.3 He will not let your foot slip—
he who watches over you will not slumber;
4 indeed, he who watches over Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.5 The Lord watches over you—
the Lord is your shade at your right hand;
6 the sun will not harm you by day,
nor the moon by night.7 The Lord will keep you from all harm—
he will watch over your life;
8 the Lord will watch over your coming and going
both now and forevermore.
This psalm is one of 15 psalms grouped together as ‘The Psalms of Ascent’. Jews on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem would sing these songs – the words are comforting on dangerous/difficult journeys. This Psalm in particular is often referred to as the Traveler’s or Soldier’s Psalm. Before we read the scripture, I posed this question to the group:
For me, I use so many of the top bullets to comfort me when overwhelmed with life. Praying and the bible are not typically my first choices when I’m feeling overwhelmed. And they should be.
It is a short psalm (only 8 verses), but packs a lot of punch in its brevity. The tough questions I ask myself are ‘Do I trust God? Do I trust His consistency in my life?’ When I am climbing one of life’s many hills, I look up and am overwhelmed by how far I have to go. I look over the edge and see the scary drop off, should I slip and lose my footing and fall. This psalm reminds me that God is with me. Always. Even as I slumber, He does not.
One of my favorite pieces to sing is ‘He, watching over Israel’ from Mendelssohn’s Elijah, which is based on this scripture. The words are simple, with each part layering on top of each other until they come together in one voice. The music brings peace and serenity to me. Here is a recording of Robert Shaw directing the Cleveland Orchestra.
He, watching over Israel, slumbers not, nor sleeps.
Shouldst thou, walking in grief, languish, He will quicken thee
“He will quicken thee” means God will bring you to life, revive, or restore you spiritually.
Here’s a picture from my Eastern European trip of a rocky hillside fortress in Bulgaria that I climbed.
May you trust in God as you journey up your life’s hills!
