Psalms 121:1

PSALM 121

PRAISE 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 holy city. This designation of Palestine developed from the contrast, "Between the Mesopotamian plain and `the mountains of Israel.'"[3] "Thus, the `hills' (or mountains) became synonymous for the holy city."[4]

The pilgrim singing this song was not thinking of getting "help" from those mountains, but of getting "help" on his journey to them.

Martin Luther translated the second clause, "From whence cometh my help," a translation which Delitzsch rejected in favor of the rendition here.[5]