Psalm 121 (𝔐): A Reformed Catholic Hermeneutic
At the time of the Protestant Reformation, the doctrine of the Scriptures gained significant attention. The resulting concepts were deemed Sola Scriptura and Prima Scriptura, the former becoming one of several theses of the reformers’ amendments. Both doctrines, while slightly different, both articulate that the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament are the primary authority for the Church. The Thirty-Nine Articles, the guiding document for the English Reformation, summarizes as follows:
“Holy Scripture containeth all things necessary to salvation: so that whatsoever is not read therein, nor may be proved thereby, is not to be required of any man, that it should be believed as an article of the faith […]”[1]
The Church must diligently read and confirm the faith passed down to them through the Scriptures. All doctrine must be tested by the inspired words of God. The Scriptures themselves are sufficient to convey all truth; at the same time, Christ has entrusted His Church to study and teach His Word in fellowship. The Scriptures must be read through reason and tradition, lest exegesis becomes individualistic and estranged from its proper safeguards. It is just as St. Athanasius writes in Against the Heathen to the faithful:
“For although the sacred and inspired Scriptures are sufficient to declare the truth,—while there are other works of our blessed teachers compiled for this purpose, if he meet with which a man will gain some knowledge of the interpretation of the Scriptures, and be able to learn what he wishes to know,—still, as we have not at present in our hands the compositions of our teachers, we must communicate in writing to you what we learned from them,—the faith, namely, of Christ the Saviour; lest any should hold cheap the doctrine taught among us, or think faith in Christ unreasonable.”[2]
What then constitutes a “Reformed Catholic” hermeneutic? This methodology guides exegetes to submit all queries, insights, and revelations to the Word of God while regulated by Holy Tradition and Reason as lesser, but essential, authorities. Holy Tradition and Reason act as binding guardrails to defend the deposit of the apostolic faith. Once again, the Thirty-Nine Articles reaffirms this very point:
“[…] whosoever, through his private judgment, willingly and purposely, doth openly break the Traditions and Ceremonies of the Church, which be not repugnant to the Word of God, and be ordained and approved by common authority, ought to be rebuked openly […]”[3]
To demonstrate this hermeneutic, Psalm 121 shall be utilized as a brief case study. The Word of God must be read literally, spiritually, allegorically, morally, and anagogically—while commentators throughout history have emphasized some readings over others, each must be engaged to be faithful to a text (cf. CCC 116–117).[4] Psalm 121 presents no exception. While every aspect of the psalm cannot be treated at length, it shall serve as a glimpse into a more holistic hermeneutic.
The Revelation of Psalm 121 (𝔐)
The text of Ps. 121 reads as follows in the KJV; see footnote five for the Hebrew Scriptures[5]:
I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, From whence cometh my help.
2 My help cometh from the LORD, Which made heaven and earth.
3 He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: He that keepeth thee will not slumber.
4 Behold, he that keepeth Israel Shall neither slumber nor sleep.
5 The LORD is thy keeper: The LORD is thy shade upon thy right hand.
6 The sun shall not smite thee by day, Nor the moon by night.
7 The LORD shall preserve thee from all evil: He shall preserve thy soul.
8 The LORD shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in From this time forth, and even for evermore.[6]
Ps. 121.1–2: A Reformed Catholic hermeneutic examines these words as inerrant, inspired, and infallible. Thus, each intricate detail is worthy of utmost diligence and examination. Ps. 121.1–2 provides such an example. The psalmist looks to the hills, exclaiming “from where comes my help[?]” The MT poignantly demonstrates the semantic overlap between v. 1 and v. 2, forming a chiastic structure (mē’ayin yāvō’ ‘ezrī […] ezrī mē’im YHWH). The structure effectively conjoins the two verses together.
Thus, what can be concluded is that it is the Lord who makes the very hills which the psalmist looks to for salvation. Whereas the Gentile pagans surrounding Israel may look to the hills for reinforcements in battle, the psalmist looks to the One who made the very hills that men stand and fall upon. The cry for help is rooted in a creational motif.
The theme is present in other Scriptures. Consider Ps. 124, where the psalmist uses metaphors of “floods” and “raging currents” to speak concerning Israel’s enemies (cf. Ps. 69.2). Despite the pressure from oppressors, the psalmist concludes that the Lord has made heaven and earth. There is a measure of assurance for the faithful mind to know that the Lord has done this (cf. Ps. 146.6). Moreover, the Scriptures place the tangibility of God’s work in creation. They often use creation as an apologetic for His salvation and a polemic against idolatry (Jer. 10.11; Acts 14.15; Rev. 14.7).
These simple observations remain faithful to the text through a rhetorical and canonical reading. Furthermore, a Reformed Catholic hermeneutic enhances these textual readings. Such interpretations are submitted to the guard of Tradition. One such boundary is the Nicene Creed, which makes explicit mention of the creation narrative. It’s opening reads:
“I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible.”[7]
Often, the Nicene creed is viewed as a concise articulation of orthodoxy—by all means, this is absolutely correct. Through the exegetical insight from Ps. 121.1–2, however, the opening line becomes not only a formulation of faith, but also a sign of assurance. It should bring comfort for the believer to confess that God has created heaven and earth, since it is a reminder that salvation comes from the One who formed both by His Word. The same creation that bears witness against the pagans in Rom. 1 bears witness to the redemption of God for the believer.
Ps. 121.3–4: Verse 3 functions as a continuation of vv. 1–2. The Lord—who has made heaven and earth—will “not suffer thy foot to be moved.” However, the KJV misses a small nuance within the Hebrew Scriptures. Whereas the text translates the verbs “will not suffer” (‘al yitēn) and “will not slumber” (‘al yānūm) as a future tense verb in the English, the Hebrew actually reads as a set of what we call “volitional” verbs: “May He not suffer thy foot to be moved: He that keepeth thee, may He not slumber.”[8] The Hebrew makes this clear through several indicators.[9]
However, this contrast serves an explicit rhetorical purpose. Ps. 121.4 begins with the formulaic marker “behold” (hinēh), used in many poetic and prophetic texts to draw attention (cf. Ex. 16.10; Is. 42.1; Zech. 9.9; Lk. 2.10–11). Then the psalmist uses semantic overlap a second time to bridge Ps. 121.3–4. Verse 3 ends with the participle “keepeth [thee]” (shōmǝreḵā), and Ps. 121.4 ends with the exact same participle. Moreover, Ps. 121.3 ends with the refrain “he will not slumber,” and Ps. 121.4 ends with “he shall not slumber” according to the KJV.
In effect, the psalmist prays that “may he who keepeth thee not slumber […] behold, he who keepeth Israel will not slumber.” Once again, the theme of assurance resounds across the psalm.
For the Israelites, their oppressors never seemed to slumber (cf. Is. 5.27–30), the God of Israel Himself truly never slumbered nor slept and always came to the aid of His people. The book of Judges provides an example. Despite the faithlessness of God’s people (Judg. 2.11–12, 19–20), and many enemies came against them (Judg. 2.14), the Lord always raised a deliver when the people turned to Him (Judg. 2.18).
Moreover, Ps. 121.3–4 builds upon vv. 1–2 by articulating that the Lord who brought creation into existence also cares for the steps of His people. In the Lord’s presence, they will not fall. It is as Augustine observes in his exposition on Ps. 121:
“Nothing then moveth the feet, save pride: nothing moveth the feet to a fall, save pride. Charity moveth them to walk and to improve and to ascend; pride moveth them to fall.… Rightly therefore the Psalmist, hearing how he may ascend and may not fall, prayeth unto God that he may profit from the vale of misery, and may not fail in the swelling of pride, in these words, ‘Suffer not my feet to be moved!’”[10]
Augustine’s interpretation of the prayer is another method of applying a Reformed Catholic hermeneutic to an oft-prayed psalm. For the faithful who remain in the Lord, nothing shall move them except for pride, which invites a fall. Praying Psalm 121, according to the Scriptures and Augustine, invites us to entrust our souls to the Creator and not to our own devices.
Ps. 121.5–7: Once more, semantic overlap connects Ps. 121.5 to the preceding two verses. The first line of v. 5 utilizes a what is called verbless clause (YHWH shōmǝreḵā) to draw cohesion with vv. 3–4, both of which use the Qal participle from the root shmr. Then the psalmist adds something new: the Lord is his shade on his right hand (cf. Ps. 16.8). In other words, the Lord has promised to be by the side of His people (cf. Ps. 109.31; 110.5).
The new information of v. 5 must be read in light of Ps. 121.3–4, since cohesion exists. The Lord keeps His people by being on their right side, never slumbering. This statement reaffirms the centrality of the presence of God in the psalm, as mentioned above (cf. Ps. 139.7–10). Leo the Great may thus preach:
“But that the hearts of the faithful may know that they have that whereby to spurn the lusts of the world and be lifted to the wisdom that is above, the LORD promises us His presence, saying, ‘Lo! I am with you all the days, even till the end of the age.’”[11]
The psalmist can continue to say that “the sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon at night” (Ps. 121.6). In the Scriptures, the scorching sun was sometimes associated with wrath and desolation (Is. 49.10; Rev. 7.16), and the night with “terror” (cf. Ps. 91.5). Here, the psalmist uses an ellipsis[12]—a rhetorical device removing the word “smite” (yakekāh) from the second stanza—to communicate that both the terrors of the day and the night will not strike the Lord’s people.[13] The explicit creational motif and metaphoric language harkens back to Ps. 121.2, implying the sovereignty of God over the affairs of that which He has created.
Before proceeding into the final two verses of this psalm, Origen’s Commentary on John provides yet another perspective for reading the Scriptures with a sound hermeneutic: Christological interpretation. For he writes:
“And if [Christ] refers us to the Scriptures as testifying of Him, it is not to one that He sends us, to the exclusion of another, but to all that speak of Him, those which, in the Psalms, He calls the chapter of the book, saying, ‘In the chapter of the book it is written of Me’ […] He speaks of all the books as one chapter, thus summarizing up in one all that is spoken of Christ for our instruction.”[14]
While the rest of the psalm—and the psalter—does speak of Christ with every word, Ps. 121.7–8 warrants special attention in this regard. Verse 7 states that the Lord will preserve His people from evil. Yet again, semantic overlap exists not only between the two lines of this verse (with dual Imperfect verbs from the root shmr) but also between stanzas (cf. Ps. 121.3–5). To read Christ in Ps. 121.7–8 is to read Him in the rest of the psalm.
But how is Christ portrayed in Ps. 121, and in particular vv. 7–8? Simply put, He is the One that the Lord has kept and preserved from evil. Jesus prayed in Mt. 6.13 that the Father would deliver His people from evil. In Ps. 16.8–11, David speaks of Jesus (cf. Acts 2.25–28), writing that the Lord would not let His Holy One see corruption or abandonment in Sheol. In the same way, the Father has preserved the Son and preserved Him from all evil, despite evil men leading Him away as an innocent Lamb. Though they thought they had prevailed over Him, He prevailed through the resurrection.
Thus Ps. 121.7 finds its fulfillment in Christ and illustrates the preservation of all of God’s people who have been joined to Christ. Though God’s people will suffer at the hands of evil (cf. Jn. 16.33), the Lord will preserve His faithful (cf. Ps. 97.10). The reiteration of “preservation” and “keeping” in the psalm reflects the significance of the redemption as an act of covenantal salvation.
Ps. 121.8: The final verse in this psalm deserves special attention because it is the culmination of the entire psalm. While this cannot be proved from the English alone, the Hebrew makes this abundantly clear. The verse reads as follows:
יְֽהוָ֗ה יִשְׁמָר־צֵאתְךָ֥ וּבוֹאֶ֑ךָ מֵֽ֝עַתָּ֗ה וְעַד־עוֹלָֽם׃
In this final verse, semantic overlap creates more cohesion through the Imperfect verb “He will keep” (yishmār). The conjugation pattern of this verse features some irregularity, though. Whereas the previous seven verses consisted of Imperfect verbs and Participles, the last verse has two Infinitive Constructs (ṣē’thǝḵā ūvō’eḵā). This conjugation is not found in the rest of the psalm save Ps. 121.3
This stark contrast creates an area of disjunction relative to the rest of the psalm. Rhetorically, it indicates that this final stanza creates the climax and summary of the psalm. The psalm does this, notably so, since the last line mentions eternity. The Lord will preserve His people in all their affairs (cf. Ps. 139.5–6). The concept of assurance pervades the entire psalm. That assurance is found in the resurrection of Jesus Christ as the Church confesses in the Nicene Creed, since it is by the resurrection that God’s people have an “evermore” and a “preservation” to begin with. It is as is written in The Divine Institutes:
“[… believers] will rise again, and be clothed by God with bodies, and will remember their former life, and all its actions; and being placed in the possession of heavenly goods, and enjoying the pleasure of innumerable resources, they will give thanks to God in His immediate presence, because He has destroyed all evil, and because He has raised them to His kingdom and to perpetual life.”[15]
Not only will the Lord guide the steps of His people in all of their days, but He will preserve them until the day of Jesus Christ, when all of His works will be brought to completion (Phil. 1.6).
A Holistic Hermeneutic
Exploring the great chasms of depth in Ps. 121 invites a lifetime adventure. Such an article is a glimpse, a spark, of richness. It could never encompass every angle or consideration. Yet, that is not the purpose of this article; rather, it is to invite the Church into a holistic hermeneutic that makes faithful use of the pillars of godly meditation: Scripture, Holy Tradition and Reason. The first provides authority for all practices of life and doctrine, and thus the Lord raises up His people to labor in the Book by the Spirit’s illumination. The second bears witness to the first pillar—the only divine law—and establishes the method [and rule] of interpretation. The third invites communal meditation and displays the reasonableness of the Scriptures to all men.
Molding and trying the method of interpretation will prevent God’s people from falling into the errors of previous defectors from the faith. It will promote unity and foster communion among the Church. Furthermore, it creates a love for the disciplines: biblical studies, historical studies, linguistics, systematics, practical theology, and so forth. Such disciplines do not replace faith, but they inform and guide faith in accordance with the revelation of God.
Unto thee lift I up mine eyes, O thou that dwellest in the heavens. Behold, as the eyes of servants look unto the hand of their masters, and as the eyes of a maiden unto the hand of her mistress; so our eyes wait upon the Lord our God, until that he have mercy upon us (Ps. 123.1–2).
Εν Χαριτι αυτου,
Alex McWilliams
[1] The Reformed Episcopal Church, “Articles of Religion,” Article VI, The Book of Common Prayer (Standing Liturgical Commission of the Reformed Episcopal Church, 2013), 610.
[2] St. Athanasius, C. Gent. 1.1 (NPNF 2.4:4).
[3] “Articles of Religion,” Article XXXIV, 620.
[4] This list is derived from the John Paul II, Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2nd ed (Doubleday, 1995), 39.
[5]The Lexham Hebrew Bible (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2012).
[6] All Scripture quotations are derived from the King James Version KJV (1900). Odd capitalization is retained, as it is indicative of the accentuation and poetic flow in the Masoretic Text.
[7] Rick Brannan, Historic Creeds and Confessions, (Oak Harbor: Lexham Press, 1997), E-book.
[8] It is perhaps worthy of mention that the LXX does not read the same way. The verbs used here (Ps. 120.3–4 LXX) are all indicative in mood save “suffer,” which is a subjunctive from διδωμι, generally translated as “to give [over]” (δῷς). See Henry Barclay, The Old Testament in Greek: According to the Septuagint (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1909).
[9] This can be said with a measure of confidence since vv. 3–4 read the following:
אַל־יִתֵּ֣ן לַמּ֣וֹט רַגְלֶ֑ךָ אַל־יָ֝נ֗וּם שֹֽׁמְרֶֽךָ׃
הִנֵּ֣ה לֹֽא־יָ֭נוּם וְלֹ֣א יִישָׁ֑ן שׁ֝וֹמֵ֗ר יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃
The difference between v. 3 and v. 4 is the use of the jussive negation ‘al in the former, and the use of the Imperfect negation lō’ in the latter. The presence of the jussive creates a volitional mood, and in this case, I believe it to be a worthy argument to suggest this is a prayer.
[10] Augustine, Enarrat. in Ps. 121 (NPNF 1.8:591).
[11] Leo the Great, “Sermon LXXII: On the Lord’s Resurrection,” Sermons 72.3 (NPNF 2.12).
[12] For more descriptions of a multitude of biblical rhetorical devices, see E. W. Bullinger, Figures of Speech Used in the Bible (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1968).
[13] It should be noted that “smite” is the only Hiphil verb in the entire psalm. While this may be significant, most verbs with the root nkh are found in the Hiphil form, and therefore it does not warrant unnecessary attention.
[14] Origen, Comm. Jo. 5.4 (ANF 9.347).
[15] Lactantius, Inst. 7.23 (ANF 7.218).
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