I just so happened to be sitting at the base of a cliff when I read Psalm 121. It begins—

I lift up my eyes to the mountains— where does my help come from? My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth.

Not only was I in the perfect place to read this—surrounded by snowcapped peaks over 14,000 feet tall—but I also needed some serious help. Later that day, my husband I would drive to Denver to move our newlywed daughter and son-in-law across the country. Months earlier, I’d waved goodbye to my parents moving away. Even the “For Sale” sign in my own yard foretold yet another move.

From the foot of the mountain, I was looking back, not up.

Back at holidays that would never be the same. Back at parents I couldn’t just drop in to visit. Back at the valley we were torn about leaving.

Psalm 121 is called a Psalm of Ascent. These fifteen psalms (numbered 120 through 134) were sung by the Israelites as they pilgrimaged to Jerusalem several times a year—an uphill climb no matter where they started from. They may have also been sung on the fifteen steps leading up to the temple.

We can use them today as life progresses upward from faith to faith.

When this journey becomes wearisome, God comes to help. The Hebrew word used in this chapter for help is ezer—the same word used to describe the woman in Genesis 2:18. Ezer is a strong ally or deliverer, and it’s most often used to describe God Himself as Israel’s helper (and ours!) who brings assistance and support in times of hardship and distress.

Six times in eight verses, Psalm 121 promises over and over that God is watching over you. As verse three says, He will not allow your foot to slip on this treacherous climb! He is never inactive or inattentive. Verse four tells us that He never sleeps on the job, his eyes never close! Come to think of it, I can’t sleep either when I’m busy watching and worrying over myself. You can rest easy knowing God is on the job.

In verse five, God is still watching as He is described as your shade at your right hand. Shade is protection and defense, and to be at your right hand puts God in the most ready position when you need him most. He keeps you safe night and day, 24/7!

There is not one detail of your life that God is not watching over. Verse seven promises that he will keep your very soul from all harm! You don’t need me to tell you that this doesn’t mean life is not devastatingly difficult or painful. But it does mean that evil has no hold over you. Christ has swallowed up death in victory (1 Corinthians 15:54), and He has triumphed over every harmful power and evil adversary by the cross (Colossians 2:15).

But it was verse eight that brought me to my knees that morning on the mountain, in a year that had taken my breath away with a whirlwind of unwelcome change. It says—

The Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.

Every coming to a new place is a going from a familiar place. Maybe you are stepping into an exciting season like my newlywed daughter and new son or my adventuresome parents. Or maybe you are like me, waiting in an uncertain place while knowing that change is right around the corner. Or maybe you wish life would change from the darkness around you into a brighter future. God has already seen what you will face, He is prepared for every possibility.

God made your mountains, and He will move them in His time.