I will lift up my eyes unto the hills !

Ps.121:1, ‘I will lift up my eyes to the hills—From whence comes my help?’

We all might have grown much in the Lord with time and various experiences of life. Yet this one question has not left our ways yet….’from where comes my help?’ It’s true that nothing happens in our lives without His knowledge. Still, at times, when our ways seems to face the ‘dead end’ board, our faith seems to get wrecked and shattered. The psalmist here begins the psalm with a decision….’I will lift up eyes to the hills.’  The phrase ‘I will’ refers to a strong determination. We might have looked up at many sources of possible help but have been in vain. We might have heard doubtful and helpless words from lives around us. When we see the shutters of all possible help sources being pulled down one after the other, the question as to  ‘ From whence comes my help ?’ keeps echoing within our restless heart. Our hearts keeps seeking comfort, strength and refuge till we again realize that indeed there is only our Lord someone who will never send us back empty handed. Let’s remember that the Lord strips away all the worldly sources of comfort and help so that we realize again that there is actually none else than our Lord Himself who knows us well and yet He loves and accepts us as we are. He is the only one who can be our refuge at all points of our lives.

V2 says ‘My help comes from the Lord, Who made heaven and earth.’ This is a declaration of faith. Even though the psalmist did not get any help from anyone around, he approached the throne of grace with great assurance. It is impossible to please God without faith (Hebr.11:6). It’s this faith that assures our heart. It’s this faith that moves mountains and cancels all the feeble sounds of doubt, fear and helplessness. Let’s look into our hearts. How deep is our faith today as we face giant issues of life?

V 3 & 4, ‘He will not allow your foot to ^[a]be moved; He who keeps you will not slumber. ⁴ Behold, He who keeps Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.’ It’s worth to be noted here that the psalmist mentions twice about the fact that our Lord will not slumber. Its true that the Word of God discerns and exposes our thoughts and intents of our heart. The question which arose from the mouth of the psalmist and us was ‘from where comes my help’? But behind this question, another unexpressed question was hidden deep inside our hearts i.e is our Lord sleeping? Why are our prayers unanswered? Is our Lord really sleeping and not caring for us? Dear friends, let’s realize that these are questions that can easily arise in each of our hearts, no matter how much we might seem to be spiritual in our own eyes.

Lk.8:22-25 speaks about the fear that gripped the hearts of disciples when they saw the winds and the waves of the sea lashing against the boat. Jesus was with them and was sleeping.  V 24, ‘And they came to Him and awoke Him, saying, “Master, Master, we are perishing!”  We too think the same at times. The Word says that the One who keeps Israel neither sleeps nor slumbers. This rips off the veil of unbelief from our hearts and fills it with great assurance. The assurance is of God’s presence in all our situations. It’s that of His great control over all our circumstances. Our prayer requests may or might not be answered. But more than that, His great presence which pushes away all the fear and doubts lingering in our hearts fills us with His great peace that passes every understanding.

How easily the disciples who had witnessed a great miracle little before fell in faith! How much more easily can we all fall in faith! But all thanks to our Lord who knows that we are mere dust. He rose up and rebuked the winds and waves. ‘ The roaring sea was calmed and the disciples marveled at Him, saying evens the winds and waves obey Him! Ps.121:6, ‘The sun shall not strike you by day, Nor the moon by night.’ Even the most unpredicted natural calamities cannot touch a child of God without His permission. Thus He protected the faith of His disciples from being shattered. So does He do in each of our lives. Ps.121:7, ‘The Lord shall ^[c]preserve you from all evil; He shall preserve your soul.’ Preserving one’s soul is preserving one’s faith. Only faith filled lives can reach the promised shore of eternity. The boat with the disciples crossed the rest of the voyage across the calm sea and reached the other shore. Their faith was preserved by the Lord.

But He said to them, “Where is your faith?”’ This was the Lord’s concern about His disciples. The disciples were concerned about their own lives, but the Lord was concerned about their faith. Let’s ask ourselves this question. Where is my faith? Are we focusing the winds and the waves or the Lord who is able to rebuke them and make them calm? 1 Cor.10:12, ^‘Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.’ If we feel that we are strong in faith, let’s take every care that our faith is rooted in His Word and not in circumstances. Our faith should not stand strong only in smooth circumstances, but also in the midst of rough seas with roaring waves all around. Our faith is not just that He hears and answers our prayers. Our faith is that even if He does not answer our prayers, He is our Lord, our King, our God, our refuge, our strength and salvation. As apostle Paul wrote, may nothing separate us from the love of Christ. Let’s be determined to lift up our eyes to hills and seek the answers from the one who made the heaven and the earth. Let’s be strong and courageous in Christ Jesus, our master. May our souls be preserved till we meet our Lord on the other shore.

God bless us all (http://thebrokenbread.wordpress.com/)