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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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on the Whole Bible</h1>
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1710)
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+3><B>P S A L M S</B></FONT>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>PSALM CXXI.</FONT>
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<P>
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Some call this the soldier's psalm, and think it was penned in the
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camp, when David was hazarding his life in the high places of the
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field, and thus trusted God to cover his head in the day of battle.
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Others call it the traveller's psalm (for there is nothing in it of
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military dangers) and think David penned it when he was going abroad,
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and designed it <I>pro vehiculo--for the carriage,</I> for a good man's
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convoy and companion in a journey or voyage. But we need not thus
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appropriate it; wherever we are, at home or abroad, we are exposed to
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danger more than we are aware of; and this psalm directs and encourages
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us to repose ourselves and our confidence in God, and by faith to put
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ourselves under his protection and commit ourselves to his care, which
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we must do, with an entire resignation and satisfaction, in singing
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this psalm.
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I. David here assures himself of help from God,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+121:1,2">ver. 1, 2</A>.
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II. He assures others of it,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+121:3-8">ver. 3-8</A>.</P>
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<A NAME="Ps121_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps121_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps121_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps121_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps121_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps121_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps121_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps121_8"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec1"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Confidence in God.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1> <! -- Date --> </FONT></TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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<P>A song of degrees.</P>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>1 I will lift up mine eyes unto the
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hills, from whence cometh my help.
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2 My help <I>cometh</I> from the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, which made heaven and earth.
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3 He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee
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will not slumber.
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4 Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor
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sleep.
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5 The L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> <I>is</I> thy keeper: the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> <I>is</I> thy shade upon thy
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right hand.
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6 The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night.
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7 The L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve
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thy soul.
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8 The L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from
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this time forth, and even for evermore.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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This psalm teaches us,</P>
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<P>
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I. To stay ourselves upon God as a God of power and a God
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all-sufficient for us. David did so and found the benefit of it.
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1. We must not rely upon creatures, upon men and means, instruments and
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second causes, nor make flesh our arm: "<I>Shall I lift up my eyes to
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the hills?</I>"--so some read it. "Does my help come thence? Shall I
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depend upon the powers of the earth, upon the strength of the hills,
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upon princes and great men, who, like hills, fill the earth, and hold
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up their heads towards heaven? No; <I>in vain is salvation hoped for
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from hills and mountains,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+3:23">Jer. iii. 23</A>.
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I never expect help to come from them; my confidence is in God only."
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<I>We must lift up our eyes above the hills</I> (so some read it); we
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must look beyond instruments to God, who makes them that to us which
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they are.
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2. We must see all our help laid up in God, in his power and goodness,
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his providence and grace; and from him we must expect it to come:
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"<I>My help comes from the Lord;</I> the help I desire is what he
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sends, and from him I expect it in his own way and time. If he do not
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help, no creature can help; if he do, no creature can hinder, can
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hurt."
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3. We must fetch in help from God, by faith in his promises, and a due
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regard to all his institutions: "<I>I will lift up my eyes to the
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hills</I>" (probably he meant the hills on which the temple was built,
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Mount Moriah, and the holy hill of Zion, where the ark of the covenant,
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the oracle, and the altars were); "I will have an eye to the special
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presence of God in his church, and with his people (his presence by
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promise) and not only to his common presence." When he was at a
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distance he would look towards the sanctuary
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+28:2,42:6">Ps. xxviii. 2; xlii. 6</A>);
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thence <I>comes</I> our <I>help,</I> from the word and prayer, from the
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secret of his tabernacle. <I>My help cometh from the Lord</I> (so the
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word is,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+121:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>),
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<I>from before the Lord,</I> or <I>from the sight and presence of the
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Lord.</I> "This (says Dr. Hammond) may refer to Christ incarnate, with
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whose humanity the Deity being inseparably united, God is always
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present with him, and, through him, with us, for whom, sitting at God's
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right hand, he constantly maketh intercession." Christ is called the
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<I>angel of his presence,</I> that saved his people,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+63:9">Isa. lxiii. 9</A>.
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4. We must encourage our confidence in God with this that he <I>made
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heaven and earth,</I> and he who did that can do any thing. He made
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the world out of nothing, himself alone, by a word's speaking, in a
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little time, and <I>all very good,</I> very excellent and beautiful;
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and therefore, how great soever our straits and difficulties are, he
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has power sufficient for our succour and relief. He that made heaven
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and earth is sovereign Lord of all the hosts of both, and can make use
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of them as he pleases for the help of his people, and restrain them
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when he pleases from hurting his people.</P>
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<P>
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II. To comfort ourselves in God when our difficulties and dangers are
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greatest. It is here promised that if we put our trust in God, and keep
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in the way of our duty, we shall be safe under his protection, so that
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no real evil, no mere evil, shall happen to us, nor any affliction but
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what God sees good for us and will do us good by.
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1. God himself has undertaken to be our protector: <I>The Lord is thy
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keeper,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+121:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>.
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Whatever charge he gives his angels to keep his people, he has not
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thereby discharged himself, so that, whether every particular saint has
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an angel for his guardian or no, we are sure he has God himself for his
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guardian. It is infinite wisdom that contrives, and infinite power that
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works, the safety of those that have put themselves under God's
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protection. Those must needs be well kept that have <I>the Lord</I> for
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their <I>keeper.</I> If, by affliction, they be made his prisoners, yet
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still he is their keeper.
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2. The same that is the protector of the church in general is engaged
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for the preservation of every particular believer, the same wisdom, the
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same power, the same promises. <I>He that keepeth Israel</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+121:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>)
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<I>is thy keeper,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+121:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>.
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The shepherd of the flock is the shepherd of every sheep, and will take
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care that not one, even of the little ones, shall perish.
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3. He is a wakeful watchful keeper: "<I>He that keepeth Israel,</I>
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that keepeth thee, O Israelite! <I>shall neither slumber nor sleep;</I>
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he never did, nor ever will, for he is never weary; he not only does
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not sleep, but he does not so much as slumber; he has not the least
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inclination to sleep."
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4. He not only protects those whom he is the keeper of, but he
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refreshes them: He <I>is their shade.</I> The comparison has a great
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deal of gracious condescension in it; the eternal Being who is infinite
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substance is what he is in order that he may speak sensible comfort to
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his people, promises to be their <I>umbra</I>--their <I>shadow,</I> to
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keep as close to them as the shadow does to the body, and to shelter
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them from the scorching heat, as <I>the shadow of a great rock in a
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weary land,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+32:2">Isa. xxxii. 2</A>.
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Under this shadow they may sit with delight and assurance,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=So+2:3">Cant. ii. 3</A>.
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5. He is always near to his people for their protection and
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refreshment, and never at a distance; he <I>is</I> their <I>keeper</I>
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and <I>shade on their right hand;</I> so that he is never far to seek.
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The right hand is the working hand; let them but turn themselves
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dexterously to their duty, and they shall find God ready to them, to
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assist them and give them success,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+16:8">Ps. xvi. 8</A>.
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6. He is not only at their right hand, but he will also <I>keep the
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feet of his saints,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+2:9">1 Sam. ii. 9</A>.
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He will have an eye upon them in their motions: <I>He will not suffer
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thy foot to be moved.</I> God will provide that his people shall not be
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tempted above what they are able, shall not fall into sin, though they
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may be very near it
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+73:2,23">Ps. lxxiii. 2, 23</A>),
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shall not fall into trouble, though there be many endeavouring to
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undermine them by fraud or over throw them by force. He will keep them
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from being frightened, as we are when we slip or stumble and are ready
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to fall.
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7. He will protect them from all the malignant influences of the
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heavenly bodies
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+121:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>):
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<I>The sun shall not smite thee</I> with his heat <I>by day nor the
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moon</I> with her cold and moisture <I>by night.</I> The sun and moon
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are great blessings to mankind, and yet (such a sad change has sin made
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in the creation) even the sun and moon, though worshipped by a great
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part of mankind, are often instruments of hurt and distemper to human
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bodies; God by them often smites us; but his favour shall interpose so
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that they shall not damage his people. He will keep them <I>night and
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day</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+27:3">Isa. xxvii. 3</A>),
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as he kept Israel in the wilderness by <I>a pillar of cloud by day,</I>
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which screened them from the heat of the sun, <I>and of fire by
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night,</I> which probably diffused a genial warmth over the whole camp,
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that they might not be prejudiced by the cold and damp of the night,
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their father Jacob having complained
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+31:40">Gen. xxxi. 40</A>)
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that <I>by day the drought consumed him and the frost by night.</I> It
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may be understood figuratively: "Thou shalt not be hurt either by the
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open assaults of thy enemies, which are as visible as the scorching
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beams of the sun, or by their secret treacherous attempts, which are
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like the insensible insinuations of the cold by night."
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8. His protection will make them safe in every respect: "<I>The Lord
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shall preserve thee from all evil,</I> the evil of sin and the evil of
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trouble. He shall prevent the evil thou fearest, and shall sanctify,
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remove, or lighten, the evil thou feelest. He will keep thee from doing
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evil
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Co+13:7">2 Cor. xiii. 7</A>),
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and so far from suffering evil that whatever affliction happens to thee
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there shall be no evil in it. Even that which kills shall not hurt."
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9. It is the spiritual life, especially, that God will take under his
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protection: <I>He shall preserve thy soul.</I> All souls are his; and
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the soul is the man, and therefore he will with a peculiar care
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preserve them, that they be not defiled by sin and disturbed by
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affliction. He will keep them by keeping us in the possession of them;
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and he will preserve them from perishing eternally.
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10. He will keep us in all our ways: "<I>He shall preserve thy going
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out and thy coming in.</I> Thou shalt be under his protection in all
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thy journeys and voyages, outward-bound or homeward-bound, as he kept
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Israel in the wilderness, in their removes and rests. He will prosper
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thee in all thy affairs at home and abroad, in the beginning and in the
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conclusion of them. He will keep thee in life and death, thy going out
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and going on while thou livest and thy coming in when thou diest, going
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out to thy labour in the morning of thy days and coming home to thy
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rest when the evening of old age calls thee in,"
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+104:23">Ps. civ. 23</A>.
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11. He will continue his care over us <I>from this time forth and even
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for evermore.</I> It is a protection for life, never out of date. "He
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will be thy guide <I>even unto death,</I> and will then hide thee in
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the grave, hide thee in heaven. He will <I>preserve thee in his
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heavenly kingdom.</I>" God will protect his church and his saints
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always, <I>even to the end of the world.</I> The Spirit, who is their
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preserver and comforter, shall abide with them for ever.</P>
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