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Lenten Season · Second Sunday in Lent · Year A

Psalm 121

I Lift Up My Eyes to the Hills

March 1, 2026

The Rocky Mountains, Lander's Peak, Albert Bierstadt
The Rocky Mountains, Lander's Peak, Albert Bierstadt, 1863Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Painted from sketches made on a survey expedition, with an encampment of Shoshone in the foreground beneath mountains arranged to be grander than the ones he saw.I lift up my eyes to the hills: Psalm 121 starts by looking up at mountains, and this is what that looks like from underneath.Albert BierstadtA German-American painter of the far West on a theatrical scale, who travelled with survey expeditions and sold the results as spectacle.Metropolitan Museum of Art, New YorkThe largest art museum in the Americas, founded in 1870 by a group of New Yorkers who wanted one and had no collection to start from.Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Revised Common Lectionary
GospelJohn 3:1-17Jn 3:1-17 orMatt. 17:1-9Mt 17:1-9
EpistleRom. 4:1-5, 13-17Rom 4:1-5, 13-17
Old TestamentGen. 12:1-4aGn 12:1-4a
PsalterPs. 121Ps 121

Overview & Insights

“I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord.” (Psalm 121:1-2)

Among the psalms of ascent, hints of pilgrimage are particularly evident in this psalm. Mention of one’s “foot slipping” and “your coming and going” point to travel. The journeys to and from Jerusalem were made through hills and under “the sun . . . by day” and “the moon by night.”

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Take it further: Psalm 121

Commentary

Psalm 121 - Enduring Word Bible CommentaryPs 121 - Enduring Word Bible Commentary Enduring Word · David Guzik

David Guzik on the help that comes from the Lord who keeps and does not slumber.

Commentary on Psalm 121Commentary on Ps 121 Working Preacher

The appointed Lent 2 psalm read as a song of ascents trusting the Lord's constant keeping.

Psalm 121 ResourcesPs 121 Resources Precept Austin

Verse-level notes and word studies on lifting the eyes to the hills and the keeper of Israel.

Psalm 121:1 CommentariesPs 121:1 Commentaries BibleHub

Classic commentators gathered on where help comes from for the pilgrim.

Background & Word Study

Psalm 121:1 InterlinearPs 121:1 Interlinear BibleHub

Hebrew text with parsing for the words help, keep, and slumber.

The Church Fathers

Psalm 121 commentary from the Church FathersPs 121 commentary from the Church Fathers Catena

Patristic readings of the pilgrim song of the Lord's protection.

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