TITLE, ETC. This bears no other title
than "A Song of degrees". It is several steps in
advance of its predecessor, for it tells of the peace of God's
house, and the guardian care of the Lord, while Psalm 120
bemoans the departure of peace from the good man's abode, and
his exposure to the venomous assaults of slanderous tongues. In
the first instance his eyes looked around with anguish, but here
they look up with hope. From the constant recurrence of the word
keep, we are led to name this song "a Psalm to the keeper
of Israel". Were it not placed among the Pilgrim Psalms we
should regard it as a martial hymn, fitted for the evensong of
one who slept upon the tented field. It is a soldier's song as
well as a traveller's hymn. There is an ascent in the psalm
itself which rises to the greatest elevation of restful
confidence.
EXPOSITION
Verse 1. I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills,
from whence cometh my help. It is wise to look to the strong
for strength. Dwellers in valleys are subject to many disorders
for which there is no cure but a sojourn in the uplands, and it
is well when they shake off their lethargy and resolve upon a
climb. Down below they are the prey of marauders, and to escape
from them the surest method is to fly to the strongholds upon
the mountains. Often before the actual ascent the sick and
plundered people looked towards the hills and longed to be upon
their summits. The holy man who here sings a choice sonnet
looked away from the slanderers by whom he was tormented to the
Lord who saw all from his high places, and was ready to pour
down succour for his injured servant. Help comes to saints only
from above, they look elsewhere in vain: let us lift up our eyes
with hope, expectance, desire, and confidence. Satan will
endeavour to keep our eyes upon our sorrows that we may be
disquieted and discouraged; be it ours firmly to resolve that we
will look out and look up, for there is good cheer for the eyes,
and they that lift up their eyes to the eternal hills shall soon
have their hearts lifted up also. The purposes of God; the
divine attributes; the immutable promises; the covenant, ordered
in all things and sure; the providence, predestination, and
proved faithfulness of the Lord—these are the hills to which
we must lift up our eyes, for from these our help must come. It
is our resolve that we will not be bandaged and blindfolded, but
will lift up our eyes. Or is the text in the interrogative? Does
he ask, "Shall I lift up mine eyes to the hills?" Does
he feel that the highest places of the earth can afford him no
shelter? Or does he renounce the idea of recruits hastening to
his standard from the hardy mountaineers? and hence does he
again enquire, "Whence cometh my help?" If so, the
next verse answers the question, and shows whence all help must
come.
Verse 2. My help cometh from the LORD, which made
heaven and earth. What we need is help,—help powerful,
efficient, constant: we need a very present help in trouble.
What a mercy that we have it in our God. Our hope is in Jehovah,
for our help comes from him. Help is on the road, and will not
fail to reach us in due time, for he who sends it to us was
never known to be too late. Jehovah who created all things is
equal to every emergency; heaven and earth are at the disposal
of him who made them, therefore let us be very joyful in our
infinite helper. He will sooner destroy heaven and earth than
permit his people to be destroyed, and the perpetual hills
themselves shall bow rather than he shall fail whose ways are
everlasting. We are bound to look beyond heaven and earth to him
who made them both: it is vain to trust the creatures: it is
wise to trust the Creator.
Verse 3. He will not suffer thy foot to be moved.
Though the paths of life are dangerous and difficult, yet we
shall stand fast, for Jehovah will not permit our feet to slide;
and if he will not suffer it we shall not suffer it. If our foot
will be thus kept we may be sure that our head and heart will be
preserved also. In the original the words express a wish or
prayer,—"May he not suffer thy foot to be moved."
Promised preservation should be the subject of perpetual prayer;
and we may pray believing; for those who have God for their
keeper shall be safe from all the perils of the way. Among the
hills and ravines of Palestine the literal keeping of tim feet
is a great mercy; but in the slippery ways of a tried and
afflicted life, the boon of upholding is of priceless value, for
a single false step might cause us a fall fraught with awful
danger. To stand erect and pursue the even tenor of our way is a
blessing which only God can give, which is worthy of the divine
hand, and worthy also of perennial gratitude. Our feet shall
move in progress, but they shall not be moved to their
overthrow. He that keepeth thee will not slumber,—or "thy
keeper shall not slumber". We should not stand a moment if
our keeper were to sleep; we need him by day and by night; not a
single step can be safely taken except under his guardian eye.
This is a choice stanza in a pilgrim song. God is the convoy and
body guard of his saints. When dangers are awake around us we
are safe, for our Preserver is awake also, and will not permit
us to be taken unawares. No fatigue or exhaustion can cast our
God into sleep; his watchful eyes are never closed.
Verse 4. Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall
neither slumber nor sleep. The consoling truth must be
repeated: it is too rich to be dismissed in a single line. It
were well if we always imitated the sweet singer, and would
dwell a little upon a choice doctrine, sucking the honey from
it. What a glorious title is in the Hebrew—"The keeper of
Israel, "and how delightful to think that no form of
unconsciousness ever steals over him, neither the deep slumber
nor the lighter sleep. He will never suffer the house to be
broken up by the silent thief; he is ever on the watch, and
speedily perceives every intruder. This is a subject of wonder,
a theme for attentive consideration, therefore the word
"Behold" is set up as a waymark. Israel fell asleep,
but his God was awake. Jacob had neither walls, nor curtains,
nor body guard around him; but the Lord was in that place though
Jacob knew it not, and therefore the defenceless man was safe as
in a castle. In after days he mentioned God under this
enchanting name—"The God that led me all my life
long": perhaps David alludes to that passage in this
expression. The word "keepeth" is also full of
meaning: he keeps us as a rich man keeps his treasures, as a
captain keeps a city with a garrison, as a royal guard keeps his
monarch's head. If the former verse is in strict accuracy a
prayer, this is the answer to it; it affirms the matter thus,
"Lo, he shall not slumber nor sleep—the Keeper of
Israel". It may also be worthy of mention that in verse
three the Lord is spoken of as the personal keeper of one
individual, and here of all those who are in his chosen nation,
described as Israel: mercy to one saint is the pledge of
blessing to them all. Happy are the pilgrims to whom this psalm
is a safe conduct; they may journey all the way to the celestial
city without fear.
Verse 5. The Lord is thy keeper. Here the
preserving One, who had been spoken of by pronouns in the two
previous verses, is distinctly named—Jehovah is thy keeper.
What a mint of meaning lies here: the sentence is a mass of
bullion, and when coined and stamped with the king's name it
will bear all our expenses between our birthplace on earth and
our rest in heaven. Here is a glorious person—Jehovah,
assuming a gracious office and fulfilling it in
person,—Jehovah is thy keeper, in behalf of a favoured
individual—thy, and a firm assurance of revelation that it is
even so at this hour—Jehovah is thy keeper. Can we appropriate
the divine declaration? If so, we may journey onward to
Jerusalem and know no fear; yea, we may journey through the
valley of the shadow of death and fear no evil. The Lord is thy
shade upon thy right hand. A shade gives protection from burning
heat and glaring light. We cannot bear too much blessing; even
divine goodness, which is a right hand dispensation, must be
toned down and shaded to suit our infirmity, and this the Lord
will do for us. He will bear a shield before us, and guard the
right arm with which we fight the foe. That member which has the
most of labour shall have the most of protection. When a blazing
sun pours down its burning beams upon our heads the Lord Jehovah
himself will interpose to shade us, and that in the most
honourable manner, acting as our right hand attendant, and
placing us in comfort and safety. "The Lord at thy right
hand shall smite through kings". How different this from
the portion of the ungodly ones who have Satan standing at their
right hand, and of those of whom Moses said, "their defence
has departed from them". God is as near us as our shadow,
and we are as safe as angels.
Verse 6. The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor
the moon by night. None but the Lord could shelter us from
these tremendous forces. These two great lights rule the day and
the night, and under the lordship of both we shall labour or
rest in equal safety. Doubtless there are dangers of the light
and of the dark, but in both and from both we shall be
preserved—literally from excessive heat and from baneful
chills; mystically from any injurious effects which might follow
from doctrine bright or dim; spiritually from the evils of
prosperity and adversity; eternally from the strain of
overpowering glory and from the pressure of terrible events,
such as judgment and the burning of the world. Day and night
make up all time: thus the ever present protection never ceases.
All evil may be ranked as under the sun or the moon, and if
neither of these can smite us we are indeed secure. God has not
made a new sun or a fresh moon for his chosen, they exist under
the same outward circumstances as others, but the power to smite
is in their case removed from temporal agencies; saints are
enriched, and not injured, by the powers which govern the
earth's condition; to them has the Lord given "the precious
things brought forth by the sun, and the precious things put
forth by the moon, "while at the same moment he has removed
from them all glare and curse of heat or damp, of glare or
chill.
Verse 7. The Lord shall preserve thee from all
evil, or keep thee from all evil. It is a great pity that
our admirable translation did not keep to the word keep all
through the psalm, for all along it is one. God not only keeps
his own in all evil times but from all evil influences and
operations, yea, from evils themselves. This is a far reaching
word of covering: it includes everything and excludes nothing:
the wings of Jehovah amply guard Iris own from evils great and
small, temporary and eternal. There is a most delightful double
personality in tiffs verse: Jehovah keeps the believer, not by
agents, but by himself; and the person protected is definitely
pointed out by the word thee,—it is not our estate or name
which is shielded, but the proper personal man. To make this
even more intensely real and personal another sentence is added,
"The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil:" he shall
preserve thy soul,—or Jehovah will keep thy soul. Soul keeping
is the soul of keeping. If the soul be kept all is kept. The
preservation of the greater includes that of the less so far as
it is essential to the main design: the kernel shall be
preserved, and in order thereto the shell shall be preserved
also. God is the sole keeper of the soul. Our soul is kept from
the dominion of sin, the infection of error, the crush of
despondency, the puffing up of pride; kept from the world, the
flesh, and the devil; kept for holier and greater things; kept
in the love of God; kept unto the eternal kingdom and glory.
What can harm a soul that is kept of the Lord?
Verse 8. The Lord shall preserve thy going out and
thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore.
When we go out in the morning to labour, and come home at
eventide to rest, Jehovah shall keep us. When we go out in youth
to begin life, and come in at the end to die, we shall
experience the same keeping. Our exits and our entrances are
under one protection. Three times have we the phrase,
"Jehovah shall keep", as if the sacred Trinity thus
sealed the word to make it sure: ought not all our fears to be
slain by such a threefold flight of arrows? What anxiety can
survive this triple promise? This keeping is eternal; continuing
from this time forth, even for evermore. The whole church is
thus assured of everlasting security: the final perseverance of
the saints is thus ensured, and the glorious immortality of
believers is guaranteed. Under the aegis of such a promise we
may go on pilgrimage without trembling, and venture into battle
without dread. None are so safe as those whom God keeps; none so
much in danger as the self secure. To goings out and comings in
belong peculiar dangers since every change of position turns a
fresh quarter to the foe, and it is for these weak points that
an especial security is provided: Jehovah will keep the door
when it opens and closes, and this he will perseveringly
continue to do so long as there is left a single man that
trusteth in him, as long as a danger survives, and, in fact, as
long as time endures. Glory be unto the Keeper of Israel, who is
endeared to us under that title, since our growing sense of
weakness makes us feel more deeply than ever our need of being
kept. Over the reader we would breathe a benediction, couched in
the verse of Keble.
"God keep thee safe from harm and sin,
Thy Spirit keep; the Lord watch o'er
Thy going out, thy coming in,
From this time, evermore."
EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS
TITLE. "A Song of Degrees." It has been
ingeniously pointed out that these "degrees" or
"steps" consist in the reiteration of a word or
thought occurring in one clause, verse, or stanza, which in the
next verse or stanza is used, as it were, as a step (or degree)
by which to ascend to another and higher truth. Thus in our
psalm, the idea of "my help", expressed in Ps 121:1,
is repeated in Ps 121:2. This has now become a step by which in
Ps 121:3 we reach the higher truth or explanation of "nay
help", as: "He that keepeth thee will not slumber,
"the same idea being with slight modification reembodied in
Ps 121:4. Another "degree" is then reached in Ps
121:5, when "He who slumbers not" is designated as
Jehovah, the same idea once more enlarged upon being (the word
occurring twice in Ps 121:5) in Ps 121:6. The last and highest
degree of this song is attained in Ps 121:7, when the truth
implied in the word Jehovah unfolds itself in its application to
our preservation, which, with further enlargement, is once more
repeated in Ps 121:8. Perhaps some internal connexion might be
traced between all the fifteen Psalms of Degrees. At any rate,
it will not be difficult to trace the same structure if each of
the psalms "of Degrees", making allowance for
occasional devotions and modifications.—Alfred Edersheim,
in "The Golden Diary," 1877.
Whole Psalm. According to Ps 121:1 this psalm was
designed to be sung in view of the mountains of Jerusalem, and
is manifestly an evening song for the sacred band of pilgrims,
to be sung in the last night watch, the figures of which are
also peculiarly suitable for a pilgrim song; and with Psalm 122,
which, according to the express announcement in the
introduction, was sung, when the sacred pilgrim trains had
reached the gates of Jerusalem, and halted for the purpose of
forming in order, for the solemn procession into the Sanctuary,
Ps. 134. . . . The idea is a very probable one, that the psalm
was the evening song of the sacred pilgrim band, sung on
retiring to rest upon the last evening, when the long wished for
termination of their wandering, the mountains of Jerusalem, had
come into view in the distance. In this we obtain a suitable
connection with the following psalm, which would be sung one
station further on when the pilgrims were at the gates of
Jerusalem. In this case we find an explanation of the fact, that
in the middle point of the psalm there stands the Lord as the
"keeper" of Israel, with reference to the declaration.
"I keep thee", which was addressed to the patriarch as
he slept on his pilgrimage: and in this case also "he
neither slumbereth nor sleepeth" is seen in its true
light.—E.W. Hengstenberg.
It has been said Mr. Romaine read this psalm every day; and
sure it is, that every word in it is calculated to encourage and
strengthen our faith and hope in God.—Samuel Eyles Pierce.
Verse 1. I will lift up mine eyes, etc. Since
we, being burdened with the effects of worldly pleasures, and
also with other cares and troubles, can by no means ascend to
thee that art on the top of so high a mountain, accompanied with
so many legions of angels that still attend upon thee, we have
no remedy, but with thy prophet David now to lift up the eyes of
our hearts and minds towards thee, and to cry for help to come
down from thee to us, thy poor and wretched servants.—Sir
Anthony Cope, in "Meditations on Twenty Select
Psalms," 1547.
Verse 1. I will lift up mine eyes, etc. In thy
agony of a troubled conscience always look upwards unto a
gracious God to keep thy soul steady; for looking downward on
thyself thou shalt find nothing but what will increase thy fear,
infinite sins, good deeds few, and imperfect: it is not thy
faith, but God's faithfulness thou must rely upon; casting thine
eyes downwards on thyself, to behold the great distance betwixt
what you deserve and what thou desirest, is enough to make thee
giddy, stagger, and reel into despair. Ever therefore lift up
thine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh thy help, never
viewing the deep dale of thy own unworthiness, but to abate thy
pride when tempted to presumption.—Thomas Fuller
(1608-1661), in "The Cause and Cure of a Wounded
Conscience."
Verse 1. The hills. There can be no doubt that
in Palestine we are in the "Highlands" of Asia. This
was the more remarkable in connection with the Israelites,
because they were the only civilized nation then existing in the
world, which dwelt in a mountainous country... The Hebrew people
was raised above the other ancient states, equally in its moral
and in its physical relations. From the Desert of Arabia to
Hebron is a continual ascent, and from that ascent there is no
descent of any importance, except to the pains of the Jordan,
Esdraelon, and the coast. From a mountain sanctuary, as it were,
Israel looked over the world... It was to the
"mountains" of Israel that the exile lifted up his
eyes, as the place from whence his help came.—Arthur
Penrhyn Stanley.
Verse 1. The hills, from whence cometh my help.
See no riches but in grace, no health but in piety, no beauty
but in holiness, no treasure but in heaven, no delight but in
"the things above."—Anthony Farindon.
Verse 1. From whence cometh my help. The
natives of India used to say that when Sir Henry Laurence looked
twice to heaven and then to earth he knew what to do.
To Heaven I lift mine eye,
To Heaven, Jehovah's throne,
For there my Saviour sits on high,
And thence shall strength and aid supply
To all He calls His own.
He will not faint nor fail,
Nor cause thy feet to stray:
For him no weary hours assail,
Nor evening darkness spreads her veil
O'er his eternal day.
Beneath that light divine
Securely shalt thou move;
The sun with milder beams shall shine,
And eve's still queen her lamp incline
Benignant from above.
For he, thy God and Friend,
Shall keep thy soul from harm,
In each sad scene of doubt attend,
And guide thy life, and bless thy end,
With his almighty arm.
—John Bowtiler, 1814.
Verses 1,2. Faint at the close of life's journey, a
Christian pilgrim repeated the line,—"Will he not his
help afford?" She quoted it several times, trying to recall
the song in which it occurs, and asked that the once familiar
hymn, part of the voice of which she caught, might be all
fetched home to her mind again; and she was greatly refreshed
and comforted when we read at her bedside Charles Wesley's
spirited paraphrase, beginning,—
"To the hills I lift mine eyes,
The everlasting hills;
Streaming thence in fresh supplies,
My soul the Spirit feels.
Will he not his help afford?
Help, while yet I ask, is given:
God comes down; the God and Lord
That made both earth and heaven."
—Edward Jewitt Robinson, in "The Caravan and
the Temple", 1878.
Verses 1-3.
Look away to Jesus,
Look away from all!
Then we need not stumble,
Then we shall not fall.
From each snare that lures,
Foe or phantom grim.
Safety this ensures,
Look away to him!
—Frances Ridley Havergal.
Verse 2. My help cometh from the Lord. I
requite to remember that my, help cometh from the Lord, not only
when seemingly there is no outward help from men or otherwise,
but also and especially when all seems to go well with
me,—when abundance of friends and help are at hand. For then,
surely, I am most in danger of making an arm of flesh my trust,
and thus reaping its curse; or else of saying to my soul,
"Take thine ease", and finding the destruction which
attends such folly.—Alfred Edersheim.
Verse 2. Maker of heaven and earth, and
therefore mighty to help.—James G. Murphy.
Verse 3. He will not suffer thy foot to be moved.
The sliding of the foot is a frequent description of misfortune,
for example, Ps 38:16, Ps 66:9, and a very natural one in
mountainous Canaan. Where a single slip of the foot was often
attended with great danger. The language here naturally refers
to complete, lasting misfortune.—E.W. Hengstenberg.
Verse 3. He will not suffer thy foot to be moved.
A man cannot go without moving of his feet; and a man cannot
stand whose feet are moved. The foot by a synechdoche is put for
the whole body, and the body for the whole outward estate; so
that, "He will not suffer thy foot to be moved", is,
he will not suffer thee or thine to be moved or violently cast
down. The power of thine opposers shall not prevail over thee,
for the power of God sustains thee. Many are striking at thy
heels, but they cannot strike them up while God holds thee up.
If the will of thine enemies might stand, thou shouldest quickly
fall; but God "will not suffer thy foot to be
moved".—Joseph Caryl.
Verses 3-8. There is something very striking in the
assurance that the Lord with not suffer the foot even of the
most faint and wearied one to be moved. The everlasting
mountains stand fast, and we feel as if, like Mount Zion, they
could not be removed for ever; but the step of man—how feeble
in itself, how liable to stumble or trip even against a pebble
in the way! Yet that foot is as firm and immoveable in God's
protection as the hills themselves. It is one of his own sweet
promises, that he will give his angels charge over every child
Of his, that lie come to no harm by the way. But, oh, how
immeasurably beyond even the untiring wings of angels is the
love promised here! that love which engages to protect from
every danger, as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings.
In the hours of occupation and hurry, in the conflicts and
perils of the day, in the helplessness of sleep, in the glare
and heat of the noonday, amid the damps and dews of night, that
wakeful eye is still over every child for his good. Man, indeed,
goeth forth to his work and to his labour till the evening; but
alike as he goes forth in the morning, and as he returns in the
evening, the Lord still holds him up in all his goings forth and
his comings in; no manner of evil shall befall him. And oh! what
a sweet addition is it to the promise, "He shall preserve
thy soul". It is the very argument of the apostle, and the
very inference he draws, "The eyes of the Lord are upon the
righteous, and his ears are open unto their
cry",—"He neither slumbereth nor sleepeth",—and
then he asks, "Who is he that will harm you, if ye be
followers of that which is good?" From the very dawn of
life to its latest close, even for evermore, "He will
preserve thee from all evil; he will preserve thy soul."—Barton
Bouchier.
Verses 3, 4, 5. A great practical difficulty is to
find a keeper who will remain awake during the whole night. The
weariness of those who keen a faithful watch, and their longing
for day during the tedious lonely hours of darkness, is alluded
to in a graphic and beautiful figure of the Psalmist—
"My soul waiteth for the Lord
More than keepers for the morning,
More than keepers for the morning."
The usual method adopted to secure due vigilance is to
require the man to call out loudly, or to blow a whistle, every
quarter of an hour... Yet, notwithstanding all precautions, as
soon as sleep falls on the tired camp, it is too often the case
that the hireling keeper lies down on the ground, wraps around
him his thick "abaiyeh", or cloak, and, careless of
his charge, or overcome with weariness yields himself up to his
drowsy propensities. Viewed in the light of these facts, how
full of condescension and cheer is the assurance of God's never
ceasing care—
"He who keepeth thee will not slumber.
Behold, he who keepeth Israel
Doth not slumber or sleep.
Jehovah is thy keeper."
While the services of the keeper constitute at all times a
marked feature of life in Palestine, they are perhaps more
needed when travelling through the country than at any other
time. Then, when the moving camp is nightly pitched in strange
fields, it becomes absolutely necessary to apply to the nearest
authorities for a nocturnal guardian, before one can safely lie
down to rest. Now this Psalm 121 being one of "the Songs of
Degrees, "was probably composed to be sung on the way to
Jerusalem, as a pilgrim hymn, when the Israelites were coming up
annually to keep the three great feasts. As a journeying psalm,
it would therefore have peculiar significance in its allusion to
the keeper by night.—James Neil, in "Palestine
Explored," 1882.
Verses 3, 4. When one asked Alexander how he could
sleep so soundly and securely in the midst of danger, he told
him that Parmenlo watched, Oh, how securely may they sleep over
whom he watcheth that never slumbers nor sleeps!—From
"The Dictionary of Illustrations," 1873.
Verses 3, 4. A poor woman, as the Eastern story has
it, came to the Sultan one day, and asked compensation for the
loss of some property. "How did you lose it?" said the
monarch. "I fell asleep", was the reply, "and a
robber entered my dwelling". "Why did you fall
asleep?" "I fell asleep because I believed that you
were awake". The Sultan was so much delighted with the
answer of the woman, that he ordered her loss to be made up. But
what is true, only by a legal fiction, of human governments,
that they never sleep is true in the most absolute sense with
reference to the divine government. We can sleep in safety
because our God is ever awake. We are safe because he never
slumbers. Jacob had a beautiful picture of the ceaseless care of
Divine Providence on the night when he fled from his father's
house. The lonely traveller slept on the ground, with the stones
for his pillow, and the sky for his canopy. He had a wondrous
vision of a ladder stretching from earth to heaven, and on which
angels were seen ascending and descending. And he heard Jehovah
saying to him, "Behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee
in all places whither thou goest."—N. McMichael.
Verse 4. It is necessary, observes S. Bernard, that
"he who keepeth Israel" should "neither slumber
nor sleep", for he who assails Israel neither slumbers nor
sleeps. And as the One is anxious about us, so is the other to
slay and destroy us, and his one care is that he who has once
been turned aside may never come back.—Neale and Littledale.
Verse 4. Slumber. Sleep. There is no climax in
these words, as some have supposed. Etymologically, the first is
the stronger word, and it occurs in Ps 76:5 6 of the
sleep of death. In this instance there is no real distinction
between the two. Possibly there may be an allusion to the
nightly encampment, and the sentries of the caravan.—J.J.
Stewart Perowne.
Verse 4. He... shall neither slumber nor sleep.
This form of expression, he will not slumber nor sleep, would be
improper in other languages, according to the idiom of which it
should rather be, He will not sleep, yea, he will not slumber:
but when the Hebrews invert this order, they argue from the
greater to the less. The sense then is, that as God never
slumbers even in the smallest degree, we need not be afraid of
any harm befalling us while he is asleep.—John Calvin.
Verse 4. He that keepeth Israel. With an
allusion to Jacob, who slept at Bethel, and to whom the promise
of God took this form, "And, behold, I am with thee, and
will keep thee in all places whither thou guest": Ge
28:15.—Aben Ezra, quoted by H.T. Armfield.
Verse 4. Shall neither slumber nor sleep. Man
sleeps; a sentinel may slumber on his post by inattention, by
long continued wakefulness, or by weariness; a pilot may slumber
at the helm; even a mother may fall asleep by the side of the
sick child; but God is never exhausted, is never weary, is never
inattentive. He never closes his eyes on the condition of his
people, on the wants of the world.—Albert Barnes.
Verse 4. A number of years ago Captain D. commanded a
vessel sailing from Liverpool to New York, and on one voyage he
had all his family with him on board the ship. One night, when
all were quietly asleep, there arose a sudden squall of wind,
which came sweeping over the waters until it struck the vessel,
and instantly threw her on her side, tumbling and crashing
everything that was moveable, and awakening the passengers to a
consciousness that they were in imminent peril. Everyone on
board was alarmed and uneasy, and some sprang from their berths
and began to dress, that they might be ready for the worst.
Captain D. had a little girl on board, just eight years old,
who, of course, awoke with the rest.
"What's the matter?" said the frightened child.
They told her a squall had struck the ship.
"Is father on deck?" said she.
"Yes; father's on deck."
The little thing dropped herself on her pillow again without
a fear, and in a few moments was sleeping sweetly in spite of
winds or waves.
Fear not the windy tempests wild,
Thy bark they shall not wreck;
Lie down and sleep, O helpless child!.
Thy Father's on the deck.
—"The Biblical Treasury," 1873.
Verses 4, 5. The same that is the protector of the
church in general, is engaged for the preservation of every
particular believer; the same wisdom, the same power, the same
promises. "He that keepeth Israel" (verse 4), "is
thy keeper" (verse 5). The Shepherd of the flock is the
Shepherd of every sheep, and will take care that not one, even
of the little ones, shall perish.—Matthew Henry.
Verse 5. The Lord is thy keeper. Two principal
points are asserted in these previous words.
1. Jehovah, and Jehovah alone, the omnipotent and self
existent God, is the Keeper and Preserver of his people.
2. The people of God are kept, at all times and in all
circumstances, by his mighty power unto everlasting salvation;
they are preserved even "for evermore." In the first
particular, the divinity of the great Keeper is declared; and,
in the second, the eternal security of his people through his
omnipotence and faithfulness. This was the Psalmist's gospel. He
preached it to others, and he felt it himself. He did not
speculate upon what he did not understand; but he had a clear
evidence, and a sweet perception, of these two glorious
doctrines, which he delivered to the people... This character,
under the name of Jehovah, is the character of Christ. Just such
a one is Jesus, the Shepherd of Israel. He says of himself to
the Father, "Those that thou gavest me I have kept, and
none of them is lost, but the Son of Perdition, that the
Scripture might be fulfilled." ...From what has been
premised, it seems evident, that the keeper of the faithful is
no other than Jehovah. This the Psalmist has proved. It appears
equally evident that Christ is their Keeper and Preserver. This
he hath declared himself; and his apostles have repeatedly
declared it of him. It follows, therefore, that Christ is truly
and essentially Jehovah. All the sophistry in the world cannot
elude this conclusion; nor all the heretics in the world destroy
the premises. And, if Christ be Jehovah, he is all that supreme,
eternal, omnipotent being, which Arians, Socinians, and others
deny him to be.—Ambrose Serle, in "Hora
Sotitarice," 1815.
Verse 5. Keeper. Shade. The titles of God are
virtually promises. When he is called a sun, a shield, a strong
tower, a hiding place, a portion. The titles of Christ, light of
the world, bread of life, the way, the truth, and life; the
titles of the Spirit, the Spirit of truth, of holiness, of
glory, of grace, and supplication, the sealing, witnessing
Spirit; faith may conclude as much out of these as out of
promises. Is the Lord a sun? then he will influence me, etc. Is
Christ life? then he will enliven me, etc.—David Clarkeon,
1621-1686.
Verse 5. Thy shade upon thy right hand. That
is, always present with thee; or, as the Jewish Arab renders it,
"Closer than thy shadow at, or from thy right
hand."—Thomas Benton, in "Annotations on the Book
of Job and the Psalms," 1732.
Verse 5. Thy shade. In eastern countries the
sun's burning rays are often arrows by which premature death is
inflicted; and when the Psalmist speaks of Jehovah as a shady
covert for the righteous that imagery suggests the idea of the
"coup de soleil" or sunstroke as the evil avoided.—J.F.,
in The Baptist Magazine, 1831.
Verse 5. Shade. The Hebrew word is tsel,
"a shadow, "and hence it has been supposed that the
words, "thy shadow at thy right hand, "are a
figurative expression, referring to the protection afforded by
the shade of a tree against the scorching rays of the sun, or to
the custom which prevails in tropical climates especially, of
keeping off the intense heat of the sun by a portable screen,
such as an umbrella or parasol. The word is often put for
defence in general. Compare Nu 14:9; Isa 30:2; Jer 48:45.—James
Anderson.
Verses 5-8. How large a writ or patent of protection
is granted here! No time shall be hurtful, neither "day nor
night, "which includes all times. Nothing shall hurt,
neither sun nor moon, nor heat nor cold. These should include
all annoyances. Nothing shall be hurt. "Thy soul shall be
preserved, thy outgoings and thy comings in shall be
preserved." These include the whole person of man, and him
in all his just affairs and actions. Nothing of man is safe
without a guard, and nothing of man can be unsafe which is thus
guarded. They should be kept who can say, "The Lord is our
keeper"; and they cannot be kept, no, not by legions of
angels, who have not the Lord for their keeper. None can keep us
but he, and he hath promised to keep us "for
evermore."—Joseph Caryl.
Verse 6. The sun shall not smite thee. hrh of
the sun signifies to smite injuriously (Isa 49:10), plants, so
that they wither (Ps 102:5), and the head (Joh 4:8), so that
symptoms of sunstroke (2Ki 4:19; Jud 8:2 seq.) appear. The
transferring of the word to the word is not zeugmatic. Even the
moon's rays may become insupportable, may affect the eyes
injuriously, and (more particularly in the equatorial regions)
produce fatal inflammation of the brain. From the hurtful
influences of nature that are round about him the promise
extends in verses 7,8 in every direction. Jahve, says the poet
to himself, will keep (guard) thee against all evil, of whatever
kind it may be and whencesoever it may threaten; he will keep
thy soul, and therefore thy life both inwardly and outwardly; he
will keep thy going out and coming in, i.e., all thy business
and intercourse of life... everywhere and at all times; and that
from this time forth even for ever.—Franz Delitzsch.
Verse 6. The sun shall not smite thee by day,
etc. A promise made with allusion unto, and application of that
care which God had over his people, when he brought them out of
Egypt through the wilderness, when he guarded them from the heat
of the sun by a cloud by day, and from the cold and moistness of
the night and moon by a pillar of fire by night.—David
Dickson.
Verse 6. Nor the moon by night.
The moon, the governess of floods,
Pale in her anger, washes all the air,
That rheumatic diseases do abound.
—William Shakespeare (1564-1616), in "The
Midsummer Night's Dream."
Verse 6. Joseph Hart in one of his hymns speaks of
some who "travel much by night." To such this promise
is precious.—Biblical Treasury.
Verse 6. Nor the moon by night. The effect of
the moonlight on the eyes in tiffs country is singularly
injurious... The moon here really strikes and affects the sight,
when you sleep exposed to it, much more than the sun, a fact of
which I had a very unpleasant proof one night, and took care to
guard against it afterwards; indeed, the sight of a person who
should sleep with his face exposed at night would soon be
utterly impaired or destroyed.—John Carne, in "Letters
from the East," 1826.
Verse 6. Nor the moon by night. In the
cloudless skies of the East, where the moon shines with such
exceeding clearness, its effects upon the human frame have been
found most injurious. The inhabitants of these countries are
most careful in taking precautionary measures before exposing
themselves to its influence. Sleeping much in the open air, they
are careful to cover well their heads and faces. It has been
proved beyond a doubt that the moon smites as well as the sun,
causing blindness for a time, and even distortion of the
features. Sailors are well aware of this fact; and a naval
officer relates that he has often, when Sailing between the
tropics, seen the commanders of vessels waken up young men who
have fallen asleep in the moonlight. Indeed, he witnessed more
than once the effects of a moonstroke, when the mouth was drawn
on one side and the sight injured for a time. He was of opinion
that, with long exposure, the mind might become seriously
affected. It is supposed that patients suffering under fever and
other illnesses are affected by this planet, and the natives of
India constantly affirm that they will either get better or
worse, according to her changes.—C.W., in, "The
Biblical Treasury."
Verse 7. The Lord shall preserve thee from all
evil. Lawyers, when they are drawing up important documents,
frequently conclude with some general terms to meet any
emergency which may possibly occur. They do this on the
principle, that what is not in may be supposed to be
intentionally left out. In order to guard against this
inference, they are not content with inserting a number of
particular cases; they conclude with a general statement, which
includes everything, whether expressed or not. A similar formula
is inserted here. It is of great Importance, that the feet of
travellers be kept from sliding, as they pursue their journey.
It is of great importance, that they be preserved from heat by
day, and from cold by night. But other dangers await them, from
which they require protection; and lest the suspicion be
entertained, that no provision is made for these being
surmounted, they are all introduced in the saving and
comprehensive clause. No matter what may be their character, no
matter from what quarter they may appear, no matter when they
may nome, and no matter how long they may continue, the
declaration covers them all. Divine grace changes the nature of
everything it handles, and transforms everything it touches into
gold. Afflictions are overruled for good; and the virtues of the
Christian life are developed with unusual lustre. "The Lord
shall preserve thee from all evil."—N. McMichael.
Verse 7. The Lord shall preserve thee from all
evil, etc. It is an absolute promise, there are no
conditions annexed; it honours God for us simply to believe it,
and rest on the Lord for the performance of it. As we view it,
what have we to fear? The mouth of the Lord hath spoken it, his
word is immutable. Jesus preserves body and soul, he is the
Saviour of the body as well as of the soul.—Samuel Eyles
Pierce.
Verses 7, 8. The threefold expression, "shall
keep thee...thy soul...thy going out and thy coming in,
"marks the completeness of the protection vouchsafed,
extending to all that the man is and that he does.—J.J.
Stewart Perowne.
Verses 7, 8. It is of importance to mark the reason
why the prophet repeats so often what he had so briefly and in
one word expressed with sufficient plainness. Such repetition
seems at first sight superfluous: but when we consider how
difficult it is to correct our distrust, it will be easily
perceived that he does not improperly dwell upon the
commendation of the divine providence. How few are to be found
who yield to God the honour of being a "keeper", in
order to their being thence assured of their safety, and led to
call upon him in the midst of their perils! On the contrary,
even when we seem to have largely experienced what this
protection of God implies, we yet instantly tremble at the noise
of a leaf falling from a tree, as if God had quite forgotten us.
Being then entangled in so many unholy misgivings, and so much
inclined to distrust, we are taught from the passage that if a
sentence couched in a few words does not suffice us, we should
gather together whatever may be found throughout tim whole
Scriptures concerning the providence of God, until this
doctrine—"That God always keeps watch for us"—is
deeply rooted in our hearts; so that, depending upon his
guardianship alone, we may bid adieu to all the vain confidences
of the world.—John Calvin.
Verse 8. The Lord shall preserve. The word
"shamar" imports a most tender preservation; from it
comes "shemuroth", signifying the eyelids, because
they are the keepers of the eye, as the Lord is called in the
verse preceding—shomer Ishrael, "the keeper of
Israel". If the lids of the eye open, it is to let the eye
see; if they close, it is to let it lest, at least to defend it;
all their motion is for the good of the eye. O, what a comfort
is here! The Lord calls his Church "the apple of his
eye": "he that toucheth you, touches the apple of mine
eye". The Church is the apple of God's eye, and the Lord is
the covering of it. O, how well are they kept whom "the
keeper of Israel" keepeth! The Lord was a buckler to
Abraham, none of his enemies could harm him; for his buckler
covered him thoroughly. The Lord was a hedge unto Job; Satan
himself confessed he could not get through it, howsoever many a
time he assayed it, to have done evil unto Job. . . . But seeing
this same promise of preservation was made before (for from the
third verse to the end of the Psalm, six sundry times, is the
word of keeping or preserving repeated), why is it now made over
again? Not without cause; for this doubling and redoubling
serves, first, for a remedy of our ignorance. Men, if they be in
any good estate, are ready to "sacrifice to their own net,
"or "to cause their mouth to kiss their own hand,
"as if their own hand had helped them: thus to impute their
"deliverance" to their "calf, "and therefore
often is this resounded, "The Lord, " "The
Lord." Is thy estate advanced? The Lord hath done it. Hast
thou been preserved from desperate dangers? Look up to the Lord,
thy help is from on high, and to him let the praise be returned.
Secondly, it is for a remedy of our natural diffidence: the word
of the Lord in itself is as sure when it is spoken, as when it
is sworn; as sure spoken once, as when it is oftener repeated;
yet is not the Lord content to speak only, but to swear also;
nor to speak once, but often, one and the selfsame thing. The
reason is showed us by the apostle, that hereby he may
"declare to the heirs of promise the stability of his
counsel." Heb 6:1 Ge 21:32. As Joseph spake of Pharaoh his
vision, "It was doubled, because the thing is established
by God, and God hasteth to perform it"; so is it with every
word of the Lord, when it is repeated; it is because it is
established, and God hastens to perform it.—From a Sermon by Bishop
Couper, entitled "His Majesties Coming in,"
1623.
Verse 8. The Lord shall preserve thy going out and
thy coming in. All actions being comprehended under one of
these two sorts, "going out" to more public, and
"coming in" to more private affairs; or again,
"going out" to begin, and "coming in" at the
end of the work. But by this expression may here perhaps be more
particularly signified that God would protect David, even to the
end of his days, whenever he marched out with his armies, or
brought them home.—Thomas Fenton.
Verse 8. From this time forth, and even for
evermore. He has not led me so tenderly thus far to forsake
me at the very gate of heaven.—Adoniram Judson.
HINTS TO THE VILLAGE PREACHER
Verse 1. The window opened towards Jerusalem.
1. The hills we look to.
2. The help we look for.
3. The eyes we look with.
Verse 1. Whence cometh my help? A grave
question; for,
1. I need it, greatly, in varied forms, constantly, and now.
2. In few directions can I look for it, for men are feeble,
changeable, hostile, etc.
3. I must look above. To Providence, to Grace, to my God.
Verse 2. The Creator the creature's helper.
Verse 2.
1. God is his people's "help."
2. He helps them in proportion as they feel their need of his
help.
3. His help is never ill vain. "My help cometh."
not from the earth merely, or the skies, but "from the
Lord, which made heaven and earth". Isa 40:26-31.—G.R.
Verse 3 (First clause). The preservation of saintly
character the care of the Creator.
Verse 3. Comfort for a pilgrim along the 'mauvais pas'
of life. We have a Guide omniscient, omnipotent, never
slumbering, unchanging.
Verse 3. He that keepeth thee will not slumber.
1. The Lord's care is personal in its objects. The keeper of
Israel is the keeper of the individual. God deals with us
individually.
(a) This is implied in his care of the church, which is
composed of individuals.
(b) It is involved in the nature of our religion, which is a
personal thing.
(c) It is affirmed in Scripture. Examples; promises;
experiences. "He loved me, "etc., etc.
(d) It is confirmed by experience.
2. The Lord's care is unwearied in its exercise: "Will
not slumber."
(a) He is never unacquainted with our condition.
(b) He is never indifferent to it.
(c) He is never weary of helping us. We sometimes think he
sleeps, but this is our folly.
—Frederick J. Benskin, of Reading, 1882.
Verse 4.
1. The suspicion—that God sleeps.
2. The denial.
3. The implied opposite—he is ever on the watch to bless.
Verse 4. He keepeth Israel,
1. As his chief treasure, most watchfully.
2. As his dearest spouse, most tenderly.
3. As the apple of his eye, most charily and warily.
—Daniel Featley, 1582-1645.
Verse 5. The Lord Keeper.
1. Blessings included in this title.
2. Necessities which demand it.
3. Offices which imply it,—Shepherd, King, Husband, Father,
etc.
4. Conduct suggested by it.
Verse 5 (last clause). God as near us, and as
indivisible from us as our shadow.
Verse 5. The Lord is thy keeper, not angels.
1. He is able to keep thee. He has infinite knowledge, power,
etc.
2. He has engaged to keep thee.
3. He has kept thee.
4. He will keep thee. In his love; in his covenant, etc., as
his sheep, his children, his treasures, as the apple of his eye,
etc.—F.J.B.
Verse 5. The Lord is thy keeper.
1. Wakeful: "Will not slumber."
2. Universal: "Thy going out and thy coming in:"
"From all evil."
3. Perpetual: "Day:" "night: ...evermore."
4. Special: "Thy:" "Israel."—W.J.
Verse 6. The highest powers, under God, prevented from
hurting believers, and even made to serve them.
Verse 6. Our Horoscope.
1. Superstitious fears removed.
2. Sacred assurances supplied.
Verse 7.
1. Personal agency of God in providence.
2. Personal regard of providence to the favoured individual.
3. Special care over the centre of the personality—"thy
soul."
Verse 8. Who? "The Lord." What? "Shall
preserve thee." When? "Going out and coming in from
this time forth." How long? "For evermore." What
then? "I will lift up mine eyes."
Verse 8.
1. Changing—going out and coming in.
2. Unchanging—"The Lord shall preserve," etc.
WORKS UPON THE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-FIRST PSALM
In "Letters on Spiritual Subjects . .
." by SAMUEL EYLES PIERCE... London: 1862, Vol. I., pp.
359-370, there are "Some Observations on the Hundred and
Twenty first Psalm."
In "Meditations on Twenty select
Psalms," by Sir ANTHONY COPE, Chamberlain to Queen
Katherine Parr. Reprinted from the edition of 1547; ...By
WILLIAM H. COPE, M.A. 1848, there is a Meditation on this psalm.
See also List of Works upon the Gradual
Psalms, in notes on Psalm
120.