The LORD is your keeper; the LORD is your shade on your right hand.
The Psalmist opens as though an unbeliever, casting his eyes about in confusion, here and there, as if faith had not yet fixed him on God. But this unsettled looking teaches us something: true believers must learn to turn from all such wandering and direct their eyes alone to the Lord who made heaven and earth, where all help resides.
AI summary
Commenting on Psalm 121:1-8
The Lord is thy keeper. Here the preserving One, who had been spoken of by pronouns in the two previous verses, is distinctly named—Jehovah is thy keeper. What a mint of meaning lies here: the sentence is a mass of bullion, and when coined and stamped with the king's name it will bear all our expenses between our birthplace on earth and our rest in heaven.
Do not rely on creatures, on princes and great men like hills that fill the earth. In vain is salvation hoped for from them. Lift your eyes above the hills themselves; look beyond instruments to God, who makes them what they are to us. My help comes from the Lord alone, fetched in by faith in His promises and due regard to His institutions.
AI summary
Commenting on Psalm 121:1-8