10/23/24

I went on a quest for colorful leaves . . . and saw a lot of leaves . . . green ones! It’s apparently a late Fall for everyone this year. I was in the Smokies and saw . . . well, too many tourists for one thing. But besides that, I drove up into the mountains and could see brilliant color at the very top, but for the most part, everything was still green. Too green.

A few years ago, I was driving up the Roaring Fork Nature Trail on Apple Orchard Road with a friend, looking at the creek and the Fall leaves and he said, “You really need this don’t you. It really feeds your soul.”

It does. 

Part of it may be genetic memory: I’m the descendant of mountain people. My mom’s people were actually from Cades Cove, that wonderful scenic drive (and currently crowded - did I mention there were too many tourists?) that winds 11 miles around a valley with its homesteads, scenic mountain views, bears, deer, wild turkeys . . . and tourists. I planned on going this year, but bypassed it because a) I read it gets over 2 million visitors each year and most of them come in October and b) it was too green. 

If you do go, and I’d encourage you to do it when it's not bumper to bumper traffic, one of the first stops is the John Oliver cabin. That was my mom’s great-great-great grandfather (I think I’ve counted my greats correctly). Her father was another John Oliver from Paint Rock Valley, Alabama — see the connection? Olivers and valleys.

Not to be outdone by mom, if you go to Burritt Museum on top of Monte Sano in Huntsville, you’ll see the Smith/Williams cabin where my dad lived in the late 1920s. Back then, it was located in the valley (there’s that word again) on the other side of the mountain (and there’s that word again!) off of Governor’s Drive. 

So maybe it's something in my blood that in order to maintain my sanity, I have to periodically “flee like a bird to your mountain,” to quote Psalm 11. You can have the beach. Give me the mountains! 

Since mom loved anything to do with mountains and valleys (any mention of mountains or valleys in a song would get her misty-eyed), naturally, her favorite psalm was 121:

I lift up my eyes to the hills — from where will my help come?
My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.
He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber.
He who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.
The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade at your right hand.
The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night.
The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life.
The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time on and forevermore.

Psalm 121 is the second of a group of psalms called “Songs of Ascent,” Psalms 120-134. Jerusalem sits on a hill, surrounded by mountains and these psalms were written to be sung by pilgrims as they literally made their way up (ascended) to Jerusalem. 

Look back at Psalm 121 for a moment. Notice the change in person: the first two lines are in 1st person, “I will lift my eyes”; the rest is in second person, “He will not let your foot be moved,” culminating in a blessing, “the Lord will keep your going out. . .”

One can almost imagine a little drama, maybe at the foot  the mountain that pilgrims would have climbed on their way to Jerusalem. It’s a steep climb, with many curves and dips and rocks where dangers could hide and so the pilgrim prays the Lord will give him the help he needs to make it safely to Jerusalem. A priest is there to assure him that the Lord will keep him every step of the way, blessing the pilgrim with the assurance that the Lord will always be with him.  

This is a good psalm when we think about life’s journey. 

Life is full of many dangers. The physical: disease, injury, accident, war, or natural disasters. The spiritual: doubt, sin, evil, or false teaching. The economic: recession, depression, unemployment, debt, or theft. The political: well . . . I’ll let you fill that in yourself! 

When you think about the possible pitfalls on life’s journey, what better question can you ask than, “from where will my help come?”

According to Psalm 121, our help comes from the Lord. He is the One who will keep you. The Lord will guide you on this journey of life. He will guard you as you go out and as you come in and as you face the dangers lurking in the day and in the night.

Psalm 121 speaks to us at every stage of life. At the beginning of life,  it is common for Jewish families to post Psalm 121 in the delivery room. At the end of life, Psalm 121 is often read or sung at funerals. A beautiful example was when the choir sang our psalm as Queen Elizabeth’s coffin was carried into Westminster Abbey for her funeral. 

You’ll often find it on statues and memorials throughout the world. Missionaries would often recite it before boarding a ship to go abroad. 

Psalm 121 is a beautiful prayer for protection and safety — sometimes called the “most powerful prayer in the Bible.” 

You might consider ways of incorporating it into your own journey of life. Read it before you begin a trip. Pray it before having a surgery. You can face  any danger or trouble when you hold onto the assurance: “My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.”

It’s a psalm for all seasons. Even late Autumns with too many tourists. 

Blessings,
Pastor Terry