Safe
travels
Psalm 121 is one of the fifteen Songs
of the Ascents, composed for the liturgy of the Dedication of Solomon’s Temple.
They were first sung during the night celebrations of the Feast of Sukkot that
preceded the Dedication, the night of the fifteenth of Ethanim, 959 BC.
Some folk say they were sung by
pilgrims on the roads to Zion. And perhaps, later, they were. But their
original setting was that the Levite chorus sang the fifteen songs on the
fifteen steps - one psalm on each step - that led from the temple’s Lower Court
to the Court of Israel. In this way, they acted out, within the temple, the
pilgrimage of the Israelites to Zion. This they did, annually, for over 1,000
years, from Solomon’s time till the cessation of the temple in AD 70.
Of all the fifteen Songs of Ascents,
this one speaks of the journey. The hills to which the
Merarite psalmist lifts his eyes are the hills of Jerusalem as he travels from
his home in the Transjordan toward the holy city. But travel was a risky
business in the tenth century BC. No Thalys or smooth highways or friendly
policemen. But rocky roads beset by bandits, beasts, and burning sun. A
traveller needed protection. They travelled in armed groups, of course. But
they sought higher protection than arms could give. And so this song was
written as a blessing for the pilgrims. Six times in this little song Yehovah
is called ‘keeper’ or ‘protector’. He is the ever-wakeful helper, a
shield from the elements, the omnipotent Maker who defends those coming to
worship in his house.
Nowadays, the same God keeps our ways.
We may ask his blessing on our coming and going. When we sit behind the wheel,
when the metro pulls out, or the plane takes off, we can affirm verse 8
for protection on our ways.
But those who have set their hearts on
pilgrimage have a bigger journey ahead, a lifelong trudge through a hostile
world to the city of God. But he who called us to his feast is faithful. He
will keep our coming and going, will keep us always, until we enter the gates
of his city with joy.
David Mitchell
Mountain
of the Holy Cross
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