Psalm 121
by Michael Olson
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The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade at your right hand.
The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night.
Psalm 121:5-6
Jesus prayed, "I am not asking you to take them out of the world,
but I ask you to protect them from the evil one.
John 17:15
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Growing up in my home congregation of Lutheran Church of the Master in Omaha, I don't remember ever using the Psalms in worship. There were certainly choral anthems based on Psalms, but I don't remember ever reciting Psalms during worship services.
Along came the Lutheran Book of Worship during my senior year of college at Concordia. I remember the day when the hymnal and liturgy book arrived in the campus mail, and I spent much of that particular evening going through the hymnal—to see what hymns "made the cut" from the former red Service Book and Hymnal, and which hymns were new to the LBW. And then I found a section entitled Psalms, in which the congregations were encouraged to use the Psalms as part of corporate worship. Over the 40+ years since that hymnal came out—and, subsequently, With One Voice and the Evangelical Lutheran Worship book—the Psalms are used in a variety of ways in worship. The Psalms ARE meant to be sung, after all.
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This all leads to Psalm 121, the basis of today's first Daily Text. I remember the very first Wednesday rehearsal of the Cathedral Choir "way back" in 1985—and the choir was working on an arrangement of Psalm 121 entitled "I Will Lift Up Mine Eyes" by Leo Sowerby. I had heard of Leo Sowerby before as a great composer, but I was not familiar with this particular anthem. I can tell you that I grew to know and to LOVE this anthem over the past 36 years because it "tells the story" of Psalm 121.
Allow me to share the text of the anthem here which is, of course, a paraphrase of Psalm 121:
I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help.
My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth.
He will not suffer thy foot to be moved:
He that keepeth Thee will not slumber.
Behold, He that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.
The Lord is thy keeper; thy shade upon thy right hand.
The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night.
The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil, He shall preserve thy soul.
The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even forevermore.
Amen.
Many, many Psalms have been set to music over the years—and I'm sure that some have really stuck with you forever.
Thank the Lord for the Psalms and the many blessings contained therein!
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