I Lift Up My Eyes

I Lift Up My Eyes.  As we age it is funny, or perhaps absurd, how we have two tracks for memories. We can remember most lyrics from many songs of our adolescence but not why we walked into the kitchen. A mental block applies to the kings of ancient Israel and Judah, for instance, but not to the character list in Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings trilogy. Even the proper spelling of certain common words evades our immediate recall, such as the word trilogy.

Maybe that is why wordsmiths, such as J. R. R. Tolkien, frequently coined new words, because they couldn’t quite remember the conventional word to finish a sentence. Without researching it, I’m fairly confident that unlooked-for was not an entry in the dictionary when Tolkien needed a word meaning: a surprising arrival of assistance when hope was flagging and help was doubtful. But since Tolkien wrote his masterpiece, his often-repeated word unlooked-for has entered the portal of proper English. “Twice blessed is help unlooked-for.”

But the psalmist speaks of divine help that is definitely blessed because it is deliberately looked-for! “I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth” (Psa. 121:1-2). The strident determination to set a faithful gaze “to the hills” marks the pilgrim. Yet it is not precisely the hills themselves that provide the necessary help, though that was a contemporary belief in ancient Israel. It is the Lord who often arrives via the mountain to help his people. Such is the stare into redemptive history that forms a present relief and a future hope. The Lord has been faithful to help, so he is faithful still, although his path leaves no artefact or footprint. The Lord’s help is sought after.

The Lord’s help is also reasonable, consistent to his character. The faithful have every indication that personalized help is on the way. “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” (Psa. 121:3-4). The hearts of men may fail, but the Lord is fully attentive of the unsteady pathway that we must walk through the mountains. He is fully able to save, day or night.

Finally, the Lord’s help is effective, willing, and eternal. “The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade on your right hand. The sun shall not strike 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” (Psa. 121:5-8). God’s help is looked-for, sought after, and trusted. Every time we find his help reinforces our confidence in his help.