“I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade on your right hand. The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life. The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore.”

Psalm 121:1-8 ESV

Help! I need somebody

In July 1965 The Beatles released the song ‘Help.’

It begins like this…

Help! I need somebody
Help! Not just anybody

We all realise that we need to ask for help from time to time.

It would be an extraordinary person who thought they could get along in life with no help at all. The question is – where do we go for help?

Perhaps it’s a question on the minds of many today.

Where do we go for help in a Covid world? A world increasingly divided by identity politics, by the vaccinated and the unvaccinated. A land of confusion, to quote another musician. A world where nations continue to rise in war. A world about to suffer the social-economical effects of lockdowns and pandemics.

Is there anybody we can turn to? Is there anybody with an answer? It should be plain to see by now that politicians of every party do not have the answer we need. Even a Christmas party can bring down a Prime Minister these days! Sadly, The Beatles and many others have failed to turn to the only source of genuine help.

Help! Not just anybody

Perhaps you would be surprised to hear that an ancient book has an answer to a very contemporary problem. We need somebody, not just anybody. The Bible tells us that help will not be found by looking at this world or within but by looking away from ourselves to the God who made us.

Jewish pilgrims would sing songs of ascent as they made their way up to Jerusalem for the festivals. The hills were a place where safety wasn’t guaranteed. The terrain was rocky and slippery, and perhaps there were dangers from robbers or animals.

So where does the Psalmist seek help? The Psalmist seeks help from the Lord, who made the hills (121:1-2). It is not just anybody we are to seek help from. Only God will keep us from evil (or calamity) because He is all-powerful (121:5-8).

However, observation and experience tell us we experience evil in this life. Sickness, mental health problems, disaster, disappointment, betrayal, injustice, bereavement, murder, death, the list goes on. So, how do we understand this?

Like the Psalmist, we can look to God for help dealing with daily evil. But perhaps we are being pointed forward and reminded that if we are standing on the rock that is Christ, then our foot will never be moved despite the evils of life (121:3).

Our help comes from the Lord, who, in the person and work of Jesus Christ, came to save His people from their sins by taking upon Himself the punishment we deserve by dying on the cross.

In God’s mysterious plan and purpose, the ultimate evil brought forth the ultimate help. If we are ‘in Christ,’ no suffering can finally separate us from the love and goodness of God. Even suffering is used for our eternal good. Many of our questions will only be answered from the observation deck of eternity (see Rom 8:18-39).

We need somebody, not just anybody.

The God who keeps

“The meaning of the prophet is abundantly obvious, which is, that although all the helps of the world, even the mightiest, should offer themselves to us, yet we ought not to seek safety anywhere but in God.”

John Calvin

Perhaps you are not looking forward to this new year.

Many questions remain: lockdowns, COVID variants. What will life look like going forward? Perhaps you look at your heart and think you might not make it to heaven after all. Is it true that he who began a good work in you will complete it on the day of Jesus Christ? (see Phil 1:6).

Repetition is important in the Bible. When we see a word repeated six times in eight verses, we can be sure that God wants us to understand something about Himself. As we go into this new year, the encouragement from this Psalm is found in this one word: ‘keep.’

The preserving hand of God will keep those who are following Jesus. Jesus said,

“I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.”

How can God condemn those He has already justified? (see Rom 8:33-34).

There is no danger that we can be forgotten by God because, unlike the false gods of this world, our God is ever vigilant over His people. As our shadow never leaves us, neither does God leave us (121:4-5).

It comes naturally to us in times of trouble to look for help from those things which cannot help us. This year, will you make it your resolution to look away from yourself and look to Christ? Our faith will persevere because God perseveres with us (see Ps 94:16-18).

Psalm 121 makes it clear that in an uncertain world, the eternal salvation of the righteous is sure. Only by trusting in the God who keeps can we truly have a happy new year.

All Scripture quotations are from the ESV