"My help cometh from Jehovah,Who made heaven and earth."In these first two verses, the poet looks to the mountains of his native land; and, when he longingly asks, `Whence will my help come'? His longing desire itself returns the answer, that his help comes from no other quarter than from Jahve, the Maker of heaven and earth, and whose power reaches the remotest ends of His creation.[6] read more
Psalms 121:0. The great safety of the godly, who put their trust in God's protection. A Song of Degrees. Title. המעלות שׁיו Shiir hammangaloth.] This psalm is thought by some to have been written by David, while he was in the field with his army during Absalom's rebellion; but if the psalms of ascent were sung by those who went up to the temple, it is most probable that it begins as with a person just come to Jerusalem, and looking round him in great anxiety towards the mountains about it for... read more
Psalms 121:2. My help cometh from the Lord— My help is from the house of the Lord. מעם Meim, is not from the Lord, but from with the Lord; from where he resides. read more
1. I will lift up mine eyes—expresses desire (compare :-), mingled with expectation. The last clause, read as a question, is answered, read more
2. by avowing God to be the helper, of whose ability His creative power is a pledge ( :-), to which, read more
1. The source of help 121:1-2The psalmist lifted up his eyes to the hills around Mt. Zion as he traveled to a feast there, evidently from some lower part of Canaan. As he did so, he reflected on the source of his help. He also reminded himself that his help was the God who had made those hills, along with the whole heaven and earth (cf. Psalms 124:8). This was the God he was traveling to worship at the temple on Mt. Zion. read more
Psalms 121This psalm directed the thoughts of the pilgrim to God as his source of help. It gives assurance that Israel’s Keeper will maintain vigilant oversight and protect His people. read more
The song of the traveller, whose guide is Jehovah.1. Hills] RV ’mountains.’ The mountains suggest strength, and the Psalmist asks a question, ’Whence shall my help come?’ The answer is given in Psalms 121:2: ’from Him who made the mountains and all else.’ If this Ps. were sung going up to Jerusalem then the ’mountains’ may be the hills around Jerusalem, or those on which that city is built.5. Shade] i.e. shelter for defence.6. A belief in the injurious influence of the moon is an almost... read more
(1) Whence.—Our version is certainly incorrect in following the LXX. and Vulg. in making whence a relative. The Hebrew word is always interrogative; even in Joshua 2:4 it is indirectly interrogative. But the margin is hardly right in making the whole verse interrogative. Render, I will lift up mine eyes to the hills. Whence comes my help? The hills are those on which Jerusalem is built, the plural being understood, as in Psalms 87:1. (See Note.) This gaze of hope does not absolutely decide the... read more
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Coffman Commentaries on the Bible - Psalms 121:1
PSALM 121PRAISE GOD; THE KEEPER OF HIS PEOPLE;THE SONG OF A TRAVELER WHOSE GUIDE IS JEHOVAH[1]Practically all of the psalms in this group are brief, but they are "exquisitely beautiful," as Dummelow phrased it. Spurgeon remarked that, "It is a soldier's song, as well as a traveler's hymn."[2]Psalms 121:1"I will lift up mine eyes unto the mountains;From whence shall my help come?""Unto the mountains" is here a reference to Jerusalem. In Ezekiel, we became familiar with this designation of the... read more