Pilgrimage
by Dr Pauline Simonsen
Click here to download your printable verse to carry with you today.
I lift up my eyes to the hills – from where will my help come? My help comes from the Lord (Psalm 121:1,2).
Read Psalm 121
I can see it now, finally, as I look up: the City of God! It’s been such a long journey, travelling here for the Festival, but now our destination is in sight. We join together singing: ‘I lift up my eyes to hills’ – these beautiful hills of Jerusalem! Mount Zion! ‘From where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.’
He keeps my life and so he will not let my foot slip on the stony road; he will shade me in the fierce noonday sun and guard me as we sleep by the road during the night. He does not slumber. He is the keeper of Israel!
And now here at last are the great gates of Jerusalem! As we go through again for another year, we sing: ‘The Lord will keep your going out and coming in, from this time on and forevermore’. Hallelujah! We are home!
I hear them singing this ‘song of ascents’, the Old Testament Jewish pilgrims going up to Jerusalem. I can imagine their joy as they draw closer, climbing up towards the city of David, the city of their hearts and hopes. The psalm speaks of the pilgrims’ travels and the physical dangers along the way. But the pilgrims trust the Keeper of Israel to guard them on the journey.
We are pilgrims, too, and our journey is towards the City of God, the heavenly Jerusalem. Like Christian from The Pilgrim’s Progress, we’re walking one day at a time towards our true home. The sun gets fierce at times, the nights long and often fearful, and sometimes we stumble on the road. Evil threatens.
But then we lift our eyes again to the hills ahead, where the city of our hearts and hopes lies, and we ask, ‘Where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth’. The God of creation, the God of Israel, is our God too. The great I AM revealed to Moses is the I AM revealed in John’s gospel, Jesus the Christ, Lord of all creation. He is our companion on the road who never falls asleep but vigilantly watches his children.
Today on your pilgrim journey, rest in the peace and assurance that the Lord is your keeper.
Loving Father, always watching over us and guarding our way, give us your peace as we journey towards our home with you. Walk with us, Jesus; show us the way. Comforter Spirit, please encourage us when the journey is hard and fill us with joy. Keep our eyes on the horizon, taking the long view to your heavenly city. Amen.
Pauline leads a Bible college and offers spiritual direction in Palmerston North, New Zealand. She’s married to Roger – who is recently retired – and she enjoys having him home a bit more. When she gets some free time, Pauline loves cooking and reading and likes nothing better than sitting with a cat on her lap and watching the birds in her garden.
- Click here to read previous devotions.
- We are also posting them on LCA Facebook, making it easy for you to share them with family and friends.
- Sign up to receive Daily Devotion in your inbox every morning. If you’re already doing that, please encourage others to sign up. Click here for the link.
