Mondays with the New Psalms: Psalm 121 (120)

Psalm 121

1 A song of ascents.
I raise my eyes toward the mountains.
From whence shall come my help?
2 My help comes from the LORD,
the maker of heaven and earth.

3 He will not allow your foot to slip;
or your guardian to sleep.
4 Behold, the guardian of Israel
never slumbers nor sleeps.

5 The LORD is your guardian;
the LORD is your shade
at your right hand.
6 By day the sun will not strike you,
nor the moon by night.

7 The LORD will guard you from all evil;
he will guard your soul.
8 The LORD will guard your coming and going
both now and forever.
--NABRE


1 A song of Ascents.
I lift up my eyes to the mountains;
from where shall come my help?
2 My help shall come from the LORD,
who made heaven and earth.

3 He will keep your foot from stumbling.
Your guard will never slumber.
4 No, he sleeps not nor slumbers,
Israel’s guard.

5 The LORD your guard, the LORD your shade
at your right hand.
6 By day the sun shall not smite you,
nor the moon in the night.

7 The LORD will guard you from evil;
he will guard your soul.
8 The LORD will guard your going and coming,
both now and forever.
--Revised Grail Psalms

NABRE Notes:
[Psalm 121] A blessing given to someone embarking on a dangerous journey whether a soldier going on a campaign or a pilgrim returning home from the Temple. People look anxiously at the wooded hills. Will God protect them on their journey (Ps 121:1)? The speaker declares that God is not confined to a place or a time (Ps 121:2), that every step is guarded (Ps 121:3–4); night and day (Ps 121:5–6) God watches over their every movement (Ps 121:7–8).

[121:1] The mountains: possibly Mount Zion, the site of the Temple and hence of safety, but more probably mountains as a place of dangers, causing anxiety to the psalmist.

[121:5–6] The image of shade, a symbol of protection, is apt: God as shade protects from the harmful effects that ancients believed were caused by the sun and moon.