I lift up my eyes to the hills.
From whence 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 smite 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
When I was young, I attended a small Lutheran church in the small Ohio village of New Rochester. We were required to attend confirmation class (we called it catechism class) for three years, and the class met every Saturday morning during the school year for three hours. Most of us didn’t mind the class so much—we didn’t have all the sports and other Saturday activities that kids do today, so it was a way to see our friends for a few hours. And since this was a rural church, attending catechism class was one way to be relieved of doing farm work for a morning. But we hatedthe homework. We had to memorize the portions of Martin Luther’s small catechism that explain the meaning of the Ten Commandments, the Lord’s Prayer and the Apostles’ Creed, and also had to memorize ten Psalms. And what was even worse, at the end of the three years we had to endure a public examination in front of the entire congregation during which we were called upon to recite whatever Psalm or portion of the catechism that the inquisitor asked of us—it was pure torture.
I admit that it took years for me to realize what a blessing that class was because I learned ten of the most beautiful and inspiring passages in the bible, and I have turned to them often in my life to provide guidance and comfort. It was difficult to choose just one to write about, but Psalm 121 (copied here from the RSV bible I used for that catechism class) reminds me that God is my helper, keeper, guardian and preserver. It inspires me to lift my eyes to see God, to look forward in the certain hope and expectation of God’s constant and unfailing help and guidance, and encourages me not to be doubtful or to focus on my sorrows. But it also helps me to understand that God does not keep me from pain and suffering, which will surely come. God’s protection is from the power of sin and adversity, and from the power of pain and fear. He preserves not my life, my health, my worldly goods, but my soul. If my soul is kept in the love of God, no harm can come to it. And God will keep it safe so long as time endures, and bring me to life everlasting.
Kathy Faulk