| Sunday, February 26 |
Read Psalm 121 |
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I lift up my eyes to the hills - from where will my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. (vv 1-2) GOD HELPS As is the case with many of the psalms, we are left in the dark as to what prompted Psalm 121. But we do know that it is one of the 15 Psalms of Ascent. These were the God-centered meditations of those who were going to Jerusalem to offer sacrifice. And we also are fairly certain that it was written long after the time of King David, that it was one of the psalms written after the return of the Jews from their Babylonian captivity. This is an important detail. It was not penned by David during Israel's first flush of national establishment and glory, but after a staggering series of defeats and the lingering humiliation of deportation of God's people. This song was sung, probably, beginning in Ezra's time, with the memory fresh of being strangers in a strange land. It is with backward-looking, heart-pained nostalgia that they looked to Jerusalem's familiar hills. But, more importantly, it is with eyes of faith that they looked forward to the temple of those hills, and to the God of the temple. But how does this relate to us today? Christians, as sons of Abraham, look with the same eyes of faith - not to geographical hills or to a historical temple long-since turned to rubble, but to the same God that they did. Whenever we are in need of help, we can turn to God, who helps the helpless. Tom Riggle |
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