Lift Them Up!

Lift Them Up!

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. Psalms 121:1‭-‬2 KJV

There are actually physical mountains and hills around Jerusalem. A google search on hills in Jerusalem will produce at least 7 mountain ranges: Mount Scopus, Mount Olivet, Mount Ophel, the original Mount Zion, a new Mount Zion, the hill on which the Antonia Fortress is built and even one called the Mount of Corruption. This picture gives an idea of security and protection around that ancient city, and even the bible confirms that David built a fortress around Mount Zion and renamed it the city of David.

So, when you read that someone is lifting up his eyes up to the hills, you get the idea that there must have been some sort of comfort that safety was secured. The hills provided physical protection, yet we recall that years later, due to sin, the city of Jerusalem was conquered and its people taken into slavery. It then means that hills and fortresses aren't the real deal all by themselves; there is something else that is required. 

In these 2 verses are fundamental truths: there is a place for a personal decision: a lifting UP. No matter what goes on around me, I must learn to look up. It is possible to be surrounded by physical high fences yet be full of internal terror. Tell me, what physical measures can truly protect you from the pandemic ravaging the world today? Things around me can be depressing; events have become unpredictable, yet God says that I should look up. It then matters what or who I see when I lift up my eyes. The hills can give a deceptive picture of safety, yet from today's extract, it is clear that these hills are not enough. 

The writer knew this when he then wrote: my help comes from the Lord. We all need help, whether we know it now or not. There is nobody alive who has not been helped at some point in time. Walls are good, but then they are limited. Like the writer, I must realise that nobody else can provide the required guidance, protection and provision that the Lord is able to give. Men of old trusted in the Lord and their lives are testaments to what God can do with a life that fully trusts in Him. 

So, which Lord do you know or have submitted to? Which Lord do you look up to? Whether I admit it now or not, all my life, I will be looking up to someone of something. When a decision is to be made about career, marriage, residence, friendships, all of these would be based on my focus at the time. God wants to help me with all these decisions, but He does not force Himself on anyone. I must lift up my eyes to Him, seek Him out as if my life really depended on it, and trust that He will come through for me. That is His promise, and because He has made heaven and earth, they answer to Him and would provide resources in line with His will for me. I choose to lift up my eyes to the Lord. There are enough distractions around me. His time of favour is here.