Lift Your Eyes
As the people of Israel made their pilgrimage up to Jerusalem for holy festivals (it was one of the higher elevations in Judea), they would sing these songs of ascent. It was their road trip playlist. I’m sure the journey was not always easy. They had to face harsh weather, robbers, let alone whatever challenges were going on in their life at the time. As they moved toward the mountains They would sing, “I lift up my eyes to the mountains, from where does my help come from?” Often in those days the mountains or hills were where the “high places” were. Places where people would set up altars to worship false gods, and idols. When we are struggling, it’s easy for us to “look up” to false gods and idols for our help, whether it is a bottle to “take the edge off” from our day, or retail therapy, or we indulge in comfort food, or binge watching the latest tv program as we bury our heads in technology. But, in the end, these will not help us, they may anesthetize us for a while from the pain, but they cannot take the pain away, and often they make it worse for us because then we have another problem to deal with. We need to look beyond the mountains, to the one who actually made the mountains, who can actually do something about our situation. He is able to walk with us and shadow us, to always watch our back and protect us because he never slumbers. He doesn’t fall asleep on the job.
When you are in need of help, where do your eyes go to? What or who are you relying on to help you get through? Look to the Lord the Maker of heaven and earth. He will be your Helper and get you through.