The second psalm in the songs of ascent (Pss 120-134) is a really enjoyable and comforting psalm. It describes a problem: not knowing from whence my help will come, and quickly answers that problem: it comes from Yhwh. The rest of the psalm then describes just what it means to have Yhwh as your helper, and does so with the psalm's keyword: שׁמר (guardian (noun), to guard (verb)).
The psalm divides into two uneven sections, with 1-2 giving the summary, with 3-8 filling in the detail. This is also seen through the uneven repetition of vocabulary: עזר (helper) occurs only in v1 and 2, while שׁמר (guardian/to guard) occurs six times in the remaining six verses (although not in v6, and 2x in v7).
However, Erich Zenger has a visually very nice structure with more detail which makes a lot of sense too (Zenger, Hermeneia 2011, p321):
I. Help from YHWH
1 Yearning look toward the mountains
2 YHWH as creator of heaven and earth
II. YHWH’s Constantly Watchful Care
3 Preservation from stumbling
4 The always-wakeful creator God
III. YHWH as Provider of Shade
5 The protective umbrella
6 Protection from sun and moon
IV. YHWH as Protector for All Life’s Ways
7 Support for life
8 Accompaniment on all one’s ways.
My only issue with this is it divides what has been joined as v4c is connected to v5a, but that needn't mean it should be rejected.
Yhwh my Guardian is my guardian who guards
The flexibility of the keyword שׁמר (guardian (noun), to guard (verb)) is one of the most aesthetically pleasing aspects of the psalm. In v3,4 it is used appositionally in the place of, for instance, "Yhwh" or "the mighty one of Jacob":
v3b He does not slumber - your Guardian.
v4b And he does not sleep - your Guardian.
This contrasts with v5 where שׁמר is again found as a noun to describe Yhwh:
v5a Yhwh [is] your guardian.
And then in the last two verses שׁמר is used as a verb:
v7a Yhwh will guard you from all wickedness
v7b Yhwh will guard your soul
v8a Yhwh will guard your coming and your going
On a side note, I like the translation of שׁמר as guardian/to guard instead of mixing unrelated English words to refer to the noun and verb (NIV has "he who watches" and "will keep" which is pretty clunky), although watcher/to watch or keeper/to keep (ESV) or protector/to protect (CSB) get the point across also. Enabling the reader to have some insight into the underlying Hebrew is a nice mercy that we should try to keep where it doesn't mean mangling the English.
Help!
The psalm opens with an action (lifting my eyes to the hills) and a question:
"whence cometh my help?" (in the Hebrew order) or "where does my help come from?" (as we would say today). The answer to this question is not too long in coming. The very next word after "my help?" is again "my help", and it comes from Yhwh.
As with Psalm 124:8, so too here in 121:2: the Yhwh who is "my help" is the maker of heavens and earth. Something interesting is happening here in the Hebrew, such that it doesn't just say "from Yhwh", but as with Ps 130:4,8, where forgiveness and redemption are described as "with Yhwh", here in 121:2, "my help" is described as "from-with" (מעם) Yhwh. Help is thus not just something that Yhwh gives, or has, but is intrinsic to his identity. As creator, he is also help to his creation, and he gives this help freely to his creatures. In particular, he gives his help from himself to those who lift their eyes to his hills and call to him as their helper.
One other thing to mention here is that the verb בוא (to come) is there twice in the psalm. First in the question: where does my help come from? And secondly in the final verse in the declaration: Yhwh guards your going and your coming (ובואך). This might also explain the reverse logical order, where they are not "coming and going" but rather "going and coming." One might expect them to say "my coming and my going" (cf Jer 37:4), but here it is "my going and my coming" (although cf Isa 37:28). In this way, the verb forms something of a bookend to the psalm, with the question of the source of my help being answered by Yhwh who guards my going and coming.
That being said, "go and come" could be taken in a military sense, for instance in Josh 14:11; 1 Sam 18:13,16; 29:6 etc, the phrase, in that order, is a synonym for warring or serving in war, where warriors go out (from their homes to fight) and come (back after the battle has been fought). In this way, depending on the context this psalm is read in, it could be describing Yhwh's guarding of his people in, among other activities, times of war.
Don't fall!
121:3a the NIV translates "He will not let your foot slip"; an awkward translation would be "He does not give your foot to totter." If we were to think of God appointing our steps, this perhaps describes Yhwh placing your feet in firm, certain places, where it will not stumble or fall. It could also be talking about safety and security, if the shaking aspect of the verb is taken into account: he will not set your paths where you would be anxious. This would also link in to my comments about about 8a, if this were a song for going in to battle.
But the verb מוט (to totter, not to be confused with מות, to die) is one we should be familiar with. It's in 22 other psalms, most famously Ps 46 with its "Dam Busters" song. Quoting from the song, in the first verse we sing
Though mountains shake and tremble (מוט), though the earth should change!
And then the second verse says:
God is in the midst of her--she shall not be moved (מוט)!
The verb מוט is also in Ps 125:1,
Whoever trusts in Yhwh is like Mount Zion
they cannot be shaken (מוט) but dwell forever.
This describes people as who trust in Yhwh as as stable as a mountain, the same mountain towards which the pilgrims lift their eyes in our psalm.
This non-slumbering, non-sleeping guardian, will ensure that his people are stable and need have no fear, for he guards where their feet will tread.
Sun and Moon
Perhaps the trickiest riddle to untie in this psalm is 5b-6b,
Yhwh overshadows your right hand.
By day the sun will not smite you,
nor the moon by night.
Is this talking about sunburn? But that would imply there is such a thing as moonburn, which is pretty weird. So reading it literally is a little difficult.
The next option is to ask whether this is a religious thing? Comparative religionists will see the words שׁמשׁ (sun) and ירח (moon) and immediately think of gods with those names or their equivalents. Furthermore, Zenger reminds us that gods and kings are often described (or describe themselves) as shade to their people, so that shade is a synonym for protector. The parable in Judges 9 is just one of several biblical uses of this motif.
Zenger explains:
YHWH is the royal protective umbrella that shades during the day from the annoying and even life-threatening heat of the sun and at night from the mysterious and dangerous powers of the moon. (Erich Zenger, Hermeneia, 2011, p329)
Yhwh, the shade by our side, will protect us from physical and metaphysical harm, indeed, as v7 extrapolates, "Yhwh will guard you from all evil/he will guard your soul."
[EDIT: I was just reading through Revelation and there's a fascinating moment in ch.16 where the angels are pouring out their bowls of wrath, and one of them pours their on the sun, giving it super burnie powers:
[EDIT: I was just reading through Revelation and there's a fascinating moment in ch.16 where the angels are pouring out their bowls of wrath, and one of them pours their on the sun, giving it super burnie powers:
8 The fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and the sun was allowed to scorch people with fire. 9 They were seared by the intense heat and they cursed the name of God, who had control over these plagues, but they refused to repent and glorify him. (NIV)Without Yhwh as shade over your right hand, there is no protection from the wrath to come. The ones copping it here are those who have "shed the blood of your people and your prophets." /EDIT]
Psalm 121 as a pilgrim song
Although we've discussed some of what this psalm might mean in war time, or in terms of fear of other gods who are not Yhwh, as a pilgrim song we read this as someone who has left the far places (120:5) and is now looking towards Zion. They want to know that they will be protected on their journey, that they will be safe from physical and spiritual attack, and the answer to their plea is swift. Their help comes from Yhwh, the creator of all, but also the sovereign of all, who is able and active to protect and provide for his creatures. We might think of the danger that comes from pulling up on the side of the road to sleep as they go on these long journeys. But especially in these most vulnerable times they are reminded that Yhwh never sleeps, and he is always working (John 5:17). Yhwh is our guardian, our protector, the one who watches and keeps his children safe.
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