Looking Unto The Hills

Looking Unto The Hills (a Psalm of David)

"I lift my eyes unto the hills. Where will my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth. He will not allow your foot to slip; your Protector will not slumber. Indeed, the Protector of Israel does not slumber or sleep. The Lord protects you; the Lord is a shelter right by your side. The sun will not strike 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 your coming and going both now and forever." Psalm 121

We ought to learn to look up. Many people dwarf their lives and hinder the best possibilities of growth in their souls by looking downward. They keep their eyes ever entangled in mere earthly sights and scenes, and miss seeing the glory of the hills that pierce the clouds, and of the heavens that bend over them. We grow in the direction in which our eyes habitually turn. We become like that toward which we look much and intently.

Yet there are those who never look upward at all. They never see anything but the things that are on the earth. They never see the stars. They never think of God. They do not pray. They have no place in their scheme of life for divine things.

This is our Father's world. He made it, he sustains it, he lives in it, all its affairs are in his hands. One of the Psalms gives us this devout thought of life: "I lift my eyes unto the hills." It was to God, that the poet looked. The hills are a symbol of God.

The writer says also, "My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth." The minuteness of the divine keeping is beautifully brought out in the Psalm. "He will not allow your foot to slip." On mountain paths a great disaster may result from the slipping of a foot. Many a life has been lost by a misstep among the crags. But God's keeping extends even to the feet of his children.

There is another assurance of exquisite beauty in the Psalm. No human love can watch over a friend unintermittingly. The most devoted mother sometimes sleeps by her suffering child. But there is an Eye that never closes that always watches.

The whole Psalm shows the safety of those who lift up their eyes unto the hills. They are kept from all evil. They are guarded when they go out and when they come in. We never can get away from the divine keeping, unless we give up God and go out into sin. The greatest mistake anyone can make is to leave God out of his life. To those who live thoughtfully, life is full of God. Even if there were no assurances in the Bible, telling us of his love, no promises of his care, common daily providence is so full of God, that a thoughtful person could not doubt his existence or his care for his children.

God is the most real Friend in all the world, though we have never seen him. We can see his footprints everywhere. We find evidences of his love, his interest, his kindness, in people's lives all about us. If one says he has never seen God, he has at least seen God's faithfulness, evidences of his love, his interest. We may not hear his answer in words when we talk to him in prayer but we see the answer in what he does to bless us.

Some time ago, two men met on a vessel crossing the Atlantic. They soon discovered that they had both been in the American Civil War, one fighting with the North, the other with the South. They discovered, too, that they had taken part, on one occasion, in the same battle. Then this incident came out, as they talked together reminiscently. One night the Northern soldier was on sentry duty on one side of a little river, and the Southern soldier was a sharpshooter just across the river, picking off soldiers on the other side at every opportunity. The sentry was singing softly, "Jesus, Lover of my Soul," as he kept his watch, and the words of the old hymn were heard in the still night over the stream. The sharpshooter was taking aim and was about to fire on the sentry. Just then he heard the words, "Cover my defenseless head, with the shadow of your wing." His rifle dropped he dare not shoot a man praying that prayer. "I could as soon have shot my own mother!" he said. Was not God in this whole incident? Was he not a reality that night? We need not ask why no one has ever seen God. Lift up your eyes unto the hills in every time of need, and God will always help.

*What Should I Know/Do?*

Every Christian should train himself, to always look up. Some people look down continually, watching for thorns and briars. They never see anything in life, but the unpleasant things. They are always looking for troubles. They find them, too, on the brightest days, in the loveliest places. They never see anything beautiful. But that is not the way to go through life. Lift up your eyes and look for roses, not for thorns.

*Lifting Prayers*

Dear Lord, I Lift my hands and voice to thank you for today's message. I am sorry for not seeing you in the scheme of my life knowing you are always there and remained ungrateful. I am dearly sorry. I threw away easily your blessings for my life by looking elsewhere, even moving away for the possibilities of something better. I left my place of help and uplifting due to temporarily difficulty blinded in quest for a better life. Today Lord, I acknowledge you as my all and wait on you for your thoughts are better than mine. Help me to be back on track depending on you, looking always to you. Lead me through the night to a brighter morning. Heal the world dear Lord! AMEN.

Do have a God filled Tuesday.
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