I lift up my eyes to the mountains

Psalm 121
A song of ascents.

1 I lift up my eyes to the mountains—
    where does my help come from?
2 My help comes from the Lord,
    the Maker of heaven and earth.

3 He will not let your foot slip—
    he who watches over you will not slumber;
4 indeed, he who watches over Israel
    will neither slumber nor sleep.

5 The Lord watches over you—
    the Lord is your shade at your right hand;
6 the sun will not harm you by day,
    nor the moon by night.

7 The Lord will keep you from all harm—
    he will watch over your life;
8 the Lord will watch over your coming and going
    both now and forevermore.

This psalm I read today brought back great memories. Of the many places I have travelled, the best mountains I know are in British Columbia. I am sure some may find other great mountains better but the mountains in BC are more than aesthetic beauty. There were memories of meeting God in a special way. One memory stood out - I was staying with a Christian friend and his family in Chilliwack, BC. His home was in the middle of God's wonderful creation. We had a very special time together, sharing about painful things that had happened in our lives as well as God's helping hand through it all. Yes, God was watching over us. Those mountains reminded us of his greatness and his faithfulness to his promises.

I had partially committed this psalm to memory before. I will try my best to commit the entire psalm to memory this week. And if I find myself in trouble, I will look up. I will lift my eyes to the mountains! I live on "the mountain" of Hamilton. It really is just the Niagara escarpment - really not much of a mountain. I will have to lift my eyes to some imaginary mountain!!

The Mountain of Zion is also mentioned in a special way in the bible. Mount Zion is known not so much for its physical characteristic (see wikipedia's description of it), but as a symbol of God's covenantal love and protection. Gotquestion.org has a brief commentary on this. The best reference in scripture for the mountains of Zion is in Isaiah 52:7:

How beautiful on the mountains
    are the feet of those who bring good news,
who proclaim peace,
    who bring good tidings,
    who proclaim salvation,
who say to Zion,
    “Your God reigns!”