Psalm 121:1-8 — 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: the Lord is 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 for evermore.

As Pastor Hayes teaches through the Psalms of ascent, I intend one devotion a week to focus on them.
As someone who travels fairly often, I am fond of Psalm 121, which reminds me both of the dangers of travel and of my protection.
The faithful would make the journey up to Jerusalem three times a year for the great festivals. Though the journey was familiar it was not without difficulty and risk. It is easy for me to imagine the wary traveller looking uneasily up to the hills wondering if there were robbers lying in wait, ready to pounce.
It’s not just when I’m on the road that I can feel the need for caution. In daily life, life’s journey if you like, I can see the dangers too. There’s a wonderful old phrase “the world, the flesh, and the devil” that encompasses the dangers that beset me.
“The world” represents the threats from our surroundings — especially the media, with their seductive promotion of materialism and immorality. “The flesh” represents the threats that come from the remains of my pre-Christian self … a selfish, immoral, unkind self. “The devil” of course, is the arch-enemy who as well as being behind the other threats send his own messengers to tempt me off the safe road.
Again, when I imagine that wary traveller watching the hills for an attacker, I see him lifting his eyes — looking up — looking to the The Lord for protection. I too look up, not physically but mentally and spiritually. I look up to my Heavenly Protector and pray “deliver us from evil”.
Psalm 121 provides a catalog of protections for the traveler:
— The Lord will not suffer his foot to be moved — he will stay on the right path.
— The Lord’s protection is seven days a week, twenty-four hours a day.
— The Lord will provide necessary “shade” — protection from the natural perils that surround him.
— The protection will extend from the natural to the soul-threatening super-natural.
— The protection will be lifelong.
When I consider all these protections that God provides as I travel through life’s journey, I am relieved of the ill-at-ease feeling that I might otherwise feel, and instead filled with gratitude. Thank God for His protection along the way!