Ps. 121 is a beautiful song of trust and confidence in God. It is one of the most cherished of Bible poems in the entire heritage of Hebrew poetry. David composed Ps. 121 in the Wilderness of Paran, immediately after learning of the death of Samuel (PP 664). When David realized that his last influential earthly friend was gone, he turned to the Lord for his sole remaining help. The psalm has been a great blessing to countless thousands who at one time or another have found themselves in circumstances more or less similar to those in which the psalmist finds himself.

 Ps. 121 was sung by pilgrims on the way to the yearly festivals at Jerusalem (see PP 538; see also the Introduction to Ps. 120).

Many commentators take these hills to refer to the mountains of Jerusalem. Because of the presence of the sanctuary, Jerusalem was viewed as the dwelling place of God, and in this sense could be considered the source of divine help. Another interpretation makes these hills refer to the mountains of Palestine on whose heights the heathen set up their idolatrous shrines. On their journey to the festival, “as they saw around them the hills where the heathen had been wont to kindle their altar fires, the children of Israel sang: ‘Shall I lift up mine eyes to the hills? Whence should my help come?’” (PP 538).

 Rather, “from whence?” It is not from the hills or the mountains that God’s children receive help, but from God (see Jer. 3:23).