Bible Thoughts

The other day our worship leader really struck chord (no pun intended) with me. To understand the Word better, context of the writings are everything. I have been singing this song for a number of years, “I lift my eyes up‿ with no real understanding of the context in which it was written.

I lift my eyes up
I lift my eyes up to the mountains,
Where does my help come from?
My help comes from You, Maker of Heaven,
Creator of the earth.

O how I need You Lord, You are my only hope;
You are my only prayer.
So I will wait for You to come and rescue me,
To come and give me life.

I was always under the impression that the mountain was in some way a metaphor for God. This was an incorrect assumption.

The actual passage where this song draws its roots from is from PSalm 121.

I WILL lift up my eyes to the hills
From whence comes my help?
My help comes from the LORD,
Who made heaven and earth.

He will not allow your foot to be moved;
He who keeps you will not slumber.
Behold, He who keeps Israel
Shall 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 shall preserve you from all evil;
He shall preserve your soul.
The LORD shall preserve your going out and your coming in
From this time forth, and even forevermore.
PS 121

I LOVE my wide margin bible (it was gift from an anonyms party while I was attending some classes at the“Great Commission School‿) because of the center of the page. It is chalk full of cool references to help you understand what you are reading, providing proper context.

Anyways there is a reference that points, “I WILL lift up my eyes to the hills‿ to Jer 3:23 and Jeremiah says;

Truly, in vain is salvation hoped for from the hills,
And from the multitude of mountains;
Truly, in the LORD our God
Is the salvation of Israel.
Jer 3:23.

By this, I see that a hill is just a hill and a mountain is just a mountain. We should not expect salvation from the mountain, whatever that mountain turns out to be, money, things, high rank in the community, etc… We should realize that our salvation comes from and only from the LORD our God.

Thanx Brian for the food for Bible Thought.

A good friend of mine who I have lost touch with over the years, has fallen into darkness. He has always been a little eccentric; I just don’t know how he got involved with this evil Internet cult. His wife is a God fearing woman; she could not handle this change in him. This was very sad for her because of her faith but these changes were starting to border on violence toward her and the kids. She recently shared with me that over the past number of years he told her to not keep in contact with my wife and I because he was afraid of our faith. During the time we really hung out together, I was strong in my faith but I didn’t think I was that strong or I didn’t think my strength showed through as much as it did. I just figured that darkness scurries into the shadows when God’s light shines.

In my Bible study group, we were working through the passage PS 69:1-2. I read on a bit further and found a passage in PS 72:5-7 that explained the fear.

They shall fear You
As long as the sun and moon endure.
He shall come down like rain upon the grass before mowing.
Like showers that water the earth
In His days the righteous shall flourish
And abundance of peace
Until the moon is no more.
PS 72:5-7

The passage really spoke to me; as long as the sun and the moon endure, evil will always fear God’s light and His people who carry that light.