Making the Choice to Look Up

Psalm 121

Verse 1 I lift up my eyes to the mountains—where does my help come from?

We take another day looking at this verse. We need to take notice of the first few words, “I lift up my eyes…”

It is so easy to think surface thoughts about this verse but when we look deeper into these first words we need to think about the eyes and how they function. The eyes can’t be forced to look a direction from an outside force. Yes, others may be able to move our heads to try to aim our eyes to see what they want us to see, but the truth is that unless we move our eyes and focus on the item, we won’t see it. The same is true for our spiritual eyes. Yes, we can move our head so that we don’t focus on the item we need to deal with, but we can also use our eyes to focus on the God of the universe and all that He wants us to see.

When things are going well in life and everything is bright and sunny we can see more clearly. But when the things of life crowd in, our vision is drawn to the things around us and often times we lose sight of the things that we intended to keep our eyes on. This is one reason the first words of this verse are so important. They reveal our need to make the effort to see what we desire to see.

God had commanded His people to come to Jerusalem for these festivals but it was still up to the people to obey. Just as they needed to make the plans and take the steps, they needed to make their focus one of worship. It wasn’t just a command to go to Jerusalem, it was a command to go to Jerusalem to worship God and remember His mighty acts.

Worship is what He desires from us. But we need to desire it too. Unless we make that choice to focus our eyes on Him they will remain focused on the things of this world. The psalmist knew this and that is why he started this psalm with the reminder that this trip to Jerusalem was about lifting their eyes to the One who can help in any situation. The only One worthy of worship. We need to make the choice to turn our eyes on Him as well.

Making It Personal

Do you find it hard to focus your eyes on God in worship? What distracts your eyes from Him? How serious are you about focusing on Him in worship?

Making It Personal Kids

Is worshiping Jesus important? Why does He want you to worship Him? Do you want to worship Him?

Closing Prayer

Father, we confess that we haven’t been as faithful in our worship of You. Help us see the need to choose You as our only object of worship. In Jesus’ name, amen.