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The psalm from today’s lectionary in most Christian denominations is a familiar and consoling one. At least the first two lines are generally recognized. (“I lift up my eyes from the mountains from whence comes my help. My help is from the Lord who made heaven and earth.” PS 121) The psalmist seems to begin in these verses to be stating his confidence in God and then changes his address to his listeners, giving reasons for all of us to have trust in God.

Lynn Bauman has chosen to frame the psalm as a direct address to God, a kind of testament to relationship, one might say, which I found quite beautiful this morning. I write it here as a streaming totality, a love letter maybe, that flows from the pen of a grateful servant. See what you think.

“The summits of the mountains draw my eyes and lift them upward and beyond to you, the secret source of all my being. For in the height and depths of you, in you alone, I find the grace and help I need to walk upon this path called earth and never stumble nor go astray. For you as guard and guide keep watch; you will not sleep by day or night as we do. I walk into your wakefulness; your guarding eye, your guiding hand protects and shades my way. The sun by day, the moon by night provide no better light than yours, no better shade. And in the shadows of the mountains deep you preserve me from its evils. And in this traffic of the heart you shield my life and keep my soul in all its many wanderings, until at last I come to stand, my weary feet now firm upon the borders of your land, eternity.” (Ancient Songs Sung Anew, p.315)