“In my distress I called to the LORD, and He answered me.” Psalm 120:1

I am currently participating with a group of women at my church in a Beth Moore Bible Study, Stepping Up, based on the fifteen “Songs of Ascents,” Psalms 120-134, which sing of the pilgrimage that the Jewish people took to Jerusalem each year to celebrate their festivals, and they also represent the journey the Jewish exiles made back to Jerusalem from their captivity.

Those pilgrimages were historical, but the application for us today is to our growth in our Christian life.  Journey, pilgrimage, and walk are all metaphors commonly used for the sanctification process which occurs from the time we are justified by Christ until the time we are glorified in Christ.

In a purposeful journey, our starting point matters. If I’m just strolling the neighborhood or the park, it doesn’t really matter, but in a purposeful journey, I must have a reason and a starting point, as well as a desired destination.  The Songs of Ascent begin with a distress call, “In my distress I called to the LORD.” Psalm 120 goes on to describe a dangerous and miserable place, both physically and spiritually. In the ESV, the writer says he is an alien in his present place. Our journey begins when we realize that we are in a dangerous and miserable place, somewhere that we don’t belong, so we call out to the LORD.

The next requirement of a purposeful journey is a destination. Psalm 121 provides that imagery of the destination for all of us. “I raise my eyes toward the mountains, Where will my help come from?” (Psalm 121:1).

We are saved by the grace of God, who sent his Son to pay the ultimate punishment for our sin. All we must do to be saved, that is justified before God, is to believe and receive that grace. However, our ongoing growth as a believer, our journey to maturity, is a cooperative process, meaning that it takes our own effort along with the Holy Spirit. One of the things we must do on our journey is to constantly look ahead to our destination. We must raise our eyes toward the mountains constantly rather than looking behind or even side to side. When I’m driving, I like to look around. It scares my husband because he says that I turn the wheel the direction I’m looking. I’m trying to do better, but it is true; we tend to veer off in the direction in which we look. And you can apply that concept to any number of things. The point is to keep our eyes focused on the goal of eternity in the Kingdom of God.

My husband and I recently purchased a roadside protection plan from our automobile insurance company. It’s kind of like AAA.  There’s a tollfree number to call if we get stranded, have a flat tire, need towing, etc. The provider will come to wherever we are, fix the problem, and get us going on our way again. Psalm 121 is also a beautiful reminder that on this journey, God will always protect us. The question in verse 1, “Where will my help come from?”  is answered by the remainder of the psalm. Verse 4 says God is 24/7/365; he “will never slumber nor sleep.” “The LORD will keep your going out and your coming in from this time on and forever more” (Psalm 121:8). I don’t know about you, but that verse is tremendously reassuring to me, especially when I am facing the unknown. And I don’t even have to be concerned about paying an annual fee to keep the plan active. The cost has already been covered for my lifetime.

“Now all glory to God, who is able to keep you from falling away and will bring you with great joy into his glorious presence without a single fault” (Jude 1:24).

It is a wonderful thing to be on this journey with you as fellow pilgrims in Christ.

In Christ,

Judy