A Light for My Path

The Book of Psalms contains many of the most recognized and quoted verses of the Bible. Many of us were taught passages like the 23^rd psalm in Sunday School or Vacation Bible School. While we may have recited those memorized verses from rote without really paying much attention to their meaning, for most of us, they stuck with us well into adulthood where, at some point, we realized their depth and significance.

Many of the psalms were written as songs to be sung at specific times, such as holy days and celebrations. Some even indicate the instruments that were to be played as accompaniment or a specific tune they were to be sung to. Some were written as prayers or pleas to God in times of war, famine, or exile.

Psalm 121 was written for a unique occasion. It is called “A Song of Ascents.” Ascents as in ascending a mountain. Every year when the Israelites were to gather at the temple in Jerusalem, they had to climb the temple mount, called Mount Zion. This was not an easy hike, especially since most of them were carrying items for sacrifice and for eating, celebrating, and probably camping. Not everyone lived in the vicinity of Jerusalem, so they might have traveled several days on foot or pack animals, and their trek might also include some treacherous hills and pathways.

Many psalms were written to be sung in unison as they traveled, to keep their spirits up and looking forward to the celebrations.

These days we rarely sing the psalms. We may read them as poetry, but more likely we pick and choose verses to prove a point or to proclaim something about God. And sometimes we use them out of context.

The verses that proclaim God’s protection and safety over us are some of the hardest for bereaved parents. If we have prayed over and for our children, we expect God to keep his promise to guard them against harm. Verse 7 of Psalms 121 says “The Lord will keep you from all harm – He will watch over your life.” When Rachel died in a car accident on a clear Tuesday morning driving to work, where was God? I was angry at God for a long time after that. Wasn’t He supposed to give her a long life to be a comfort to me in my old age? Weren’t she and her husband supposed to have a marriage blessed with children and many years together? How was I supposed to believe what the Bible says when my faithful, God-loving, newlywed daughter was swept from this world in a moment?

The hardest lesson to learn is that the Bible is both always true and often hard to fathom. God’s nature is eternal. He knows the past and the future and neither has an end. He knew exactly when Rachel would enter this world and leave this world. He never took His eyes off her and He never will.

I can’t just stop Psalm 121 at verse 7. Verse 8 concludes the song with these words “the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.” God was watching when my daughter came into this world. He was watching where she was going. And where she is now …

And Forevermore

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Laura