This exquisite Psalm, inspired by perfect trust in Jehovah’s guardianship of His people, was probably composed to be sung by pilgrims going up to the Feasts at Jerusalem, possibly at the point where they first caught sight of the goal of their journey (Psalm 121:1). We seem to hear in it the voices of the pilgrims encouraging one another with words of faith and hope, as they journeyed to Jerusalem, once more in the centre of national life and worship to realise the relation of Jehovah to Israel and to each individual Israelite as their guardian in all the vicissitudes of life. Though we cannot determine the precise manner in which it was sung, it is specially adapted for antiphonal singing, and gains in point and vividness if it is divided between different voices. It consists of four pairs of verses. In the first pair of verses, we may conjecture, one of the pilgrims (or a group of pilgrims) expressed his calm trust in Jehovah’s help. In the next pair of verses another singer or group of singers responded with words of prayer and assurance; and Psalm 121:5-8 may have been sung antiphonally, verse by verse, or in pairs of verses.

1. I will lift up mine eyes unto the mountains:

From whence shall my help come? (R.V.)

The mountains are not the “mountains of Israel” (Ezekiel 6:2 and often), to which the exile turns his longing eyes, but the mountains upon which Zion is built (Psalm 87:1; Psalm 125:1-2; Psalm 133:3), the seat of Jehovah’s throne (Psalm 78:68), from which He sends help to His people (Psalm 3:4; Psalm 20:2; Psalm 134:3). The question of the second line (which cannot be taken as a relative clause) is not one of doubt or despondency, but is simply asked to introduce the answer which follows in Psalm 121:2. That answer gives a deeper turn to the thought of the question. It is not from the mountains of Zion, but from Jehovah Who has fixed His earthly dwelling-place there that help comes.

2. Maker of heaven and earth is a frequent epithet of Jehovah in the later Psalms (Psalm 115:15; Psalm 124:8; Psalm 134:3; Psalm 146:6). It is the guarantee of His power to help. It contrasts His omnipotence with the impotence of the heathen gods “that have not made the heavens and the earth” (Jeremiah 10:11).

3. It is maintained by some grammarians that the negative particle ’al “sometimes expresses merely the subjective feeling and sympathy of the speaker with the act” (Davidson, Syntax, § 128, R. 2), and consequently the rendering of the A.V. is retained in the R.V. Psalm 121:4 will then repeat the ‘subjective feeling’ of Psalm 121:3 as a categorical assertion. But here at any rate it is preferable, with R.V. marg., to retain the usual deprecative meaning of ’al; May he not suffer thy foot to be moved; may he that keepeth thee not slumber! and in Psalm 121:4 the speaker as it were corrects himself, or possibly another speaker chimes in: ‘Nay, there is no need for such a prayer, for Israel’s keeper never sleeps.’ Israel’s watchman is not like a human sentinel, liable to be overcome by sleep upon his watch; He is not such as the heathen suppose their gods to be (1 Kings 18:27), but unceasing in His vigilance. He that keepeth Israel may be an allusion to Genesis 28:15.

3, 4. It is possible to suppose that the speaker of Psalm 121:1-2. addresses himself, but it is more natural to hear in these verses the voice of another speaker, answering the first with words of encouragement.

5. thy shade upon thy right hand] ‘Shade’ seems simply to denote ‘protection’ generally, the idea of the metaphor being lost (Psalm 91:1; Numbers 14:9); hence it can be joined with “upon thy right hand,” that being the usual position of the champion or protector (Psalm 16:8; Psalm 109:31). The phrase may however be a poetical abbreviation for Jehovah is thy shade, (he is) on thy right hand.

5–8. The comforting thought that Jehovah is the guardian of Israel is developed and appropriated to each individual Israelite. Psalm 121:5; Psalm 121:7 may have been sung by one singer or group of singers, and Psalm 121:6; Psalm 121:8 as a response by another singer or group of singers: or perhaps Psalm 121:5-6 by one, and Psalm 121:7-8 by another.

6. The metaphor is naturally suggested by ‘shade’ in Psalm 121:5. Sunstroke is of course common and dangerous in the East (2 Kings 4:19; Isaiah 49:10); and the belief in ‘moonstroke’ as and is widely spread.

7. Cp. 1 Thessalonians 5:23.

7, 8. shall preserve] Render, with R.V., shall keep, to mark the connexion with the preceding verses.

8. thy going out and thy coming in] All thy undertakings and occupations. Cp. Deuteronomy 28:6; &c. Perhaps too a special allusion to the pilgrims’ journey to Jerusalem is intended.

from this time forth, and [omit even] for evermore] Personal hopes here lose themselves in national hopes: but in the light of the Gospel the individual can appropriate these words to himself. Cp. Psalm 115:18.

Every pious Jew, as he leaves or enters the house, touches the Mezuza, i.e. the small metal cylinder affixed to the right-hand door-post, containing a piece of parchment inscribed with Deuteronomy 6:4-9; Deuteronomy 11:13-21, and recites this verse. Kitto’s Biblical Cyclopaedia, s.v. Mezuza.