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      <div class="chapter ch121" data-usfm="PSA.121">
         <div class="label">121</div><div class="s1"><span class="heading">Psalm 121</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="ft"><span class="heading">sn Psalm 121. The psalm affirms that the Lord protects his people Israel. Unless the psalmist addresses an observer (note the second person singular forms in vv. 3-8), it appears there are two or three speakers represented in the psalm, depending on how one takes v. 3. The translation assumes that speaker one talks in vv. 1-2, that speaker two responds to him with a prayer in v. 3 (this assumes the verbs are true jussives of prayer), and that speaker three responds with words of assurance in vv. 4-8. If the verbs in v. 3 are taken as a rhetorical use of the jussive, then there are two speakers. Verses 3-8 are speaker two&#8217;s response to the words of speaker one. See the note on the word &#8220;sleep&#8221; at the end of v. 3.</span></span></span></span></div><div class="s2"><span class="heading">A song of ascents.</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="ft"><span class="heading">sn The precise significance of this title, which appears in Pss 120-134, is unclear. Perhaps worshipers recited these psalms when they ascended the road to Jerusalem to celebrate annual religious festivals. For a discussion of their background see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 219-21.</span></span></span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="PSA.121.1"><span class="label">1</span><span class="content"> I look up</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="ft">tn Heb &#8220;I lift my eyes.&#8221;</span></span></span><span class="content"> toward the hills.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="PSA.121.1"><span class="content">From where</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="ft">tn The Hebrew term &#1502;&#1461;&#1488;&#1463;&#1497;&#1460;&#1503; (me&#8217;ayin) is interrogative, not relative, in function. Rather than directly stating that his source of help descends from the hills, the psalmist is asking, &#8220;From where does my help come?&#8221; Nevertheless, the first line does indicate that he is looking toward the hills for help, probably indicating that he is looking up toward the sky in anticipation of supernatural intervention. The psalmist assumes the dramatic role of one needing help. He answers his own question in v. 2.</span></span></span><span class="content"> does my help come?</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="PSA.121.2"><span class="label">2</span><span class="content"> My help comes from the </span><span class="sc"><span class="content">Lord</span></span><span class="content">,</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="ft">tn Heb &#8220;my help [is] from with the Lord.&#8221;</span></span></span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="PSA.121.2"><span class="content">the Creator</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="ft">tn Or &#8220;Maker.&#8221;</span></span></span><span class="content"> of heaven and earth!</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="PSA.121.3"><span class="label">3</span><span class="content"> May he not allow your foot to slip!</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="PSA.121.3"><span class="content">May your protector</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="ft">tn Heb &#8220;the one who guards you.&#8221;</span></span></span><span class="content"> not sleep!</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="ft">tn The prefixed verbal forms following the negative particle &#1488;&#1500; appear to be jussives. As noted above, if they are taken as true jussives of prayer, then the speaker in v. 3 would appear to be distinct from both the speaker in vv. 1-2 and the speaker in vv. 4-8. However, according to GKC 322 &#167;109.e), the jussives are used rhetorically here &#8220;to express the conviction that something cannot or should not happen.&#8221; In this case one should probably translate, &#8220;he will not allow your foot to slip, your protector will not sleep,&#8221; and understand just one speaker in vv. 4-8.</span></span></span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="PSA.121.4"><span class="label">4</span><span class="content"> Look! Israel&#8217;s protector</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="ft">tn Heb &#8220;the one who guards Israel.&#8221;</span></span></span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="PSA.121.4"><span class="content">does not sleep or slumber!</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="PSA.121.5"><span class="label">5</span><span class="content"> The </span><span class="sc"><span class="content">Lord</span></span><span class="content"> is your protector;</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="PSA.121.5"><span class="content">the </span><span class="sc"><span class="content">Lord</span></span><span class="content"> is the shade at your right hand.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="PSA.121.6"><span class="label">6</span><span class="content"> The sun will not harm you by day,</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="PSA.121.6"><span class="content">or the moon by night.</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="ft">sn One hardly thinks of the moon&#8217;s rays as being physically harmful, like those of the sun. The reference to the moon may simply lend poetic balance to the verse, but it is likely that the verse reflects an ancient, primitive belief that the moon could have an adverse effect on the mind (note the English expression &#8220;moonstruck,&#8221; which reflects such a belief). Another possibility is that the sun and moon stand by metonymy for harmful forces characteristic of the day and night, respectively.</span></span></span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="PSA.121.7"><span class="label">7</span><span class="content"> The </span><span class="sc"><span class="content">Lord</span></span><span class="content"> will protect you from all harm;</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="PSA.121.7"><span class="content">he will protect your life.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="PSA.121.8"><span class="label">8</span><span class="content"> The </span><span class="sc"><span class="content">Lord</span></span><span class="content"> will protect you in all you do,</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="ft">tn Heb &#8220;your going out and your coming in.&#8221;</span></span></span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="PSA.121.8"><span class="content">now and forevermore.</span></span></div>
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I look up toward the hills.
From where does my help come?
My help comes from the LORD,
the Creator of heaven and earth!
May he not allow your foot to slip!
May your protector not sleep!
Look! Israel’s protector
does not sleep or slumber!
The LORD is your protector;
the LORD is the shade at your right hand.
The sun will not harm you by day,
or the moon by night.
The LORD will protect you from all harm;
he will protect your life.
The LORD will protect you in all you do,
now and forevermore.

සවන් දෙන්න Psalms 121