I Lift Up My Eyes

In 2005, Carolyn and I had the privilege of taking a cruise to Alaska. We cruised from Vancouver up the Inland Waterway and got off the ship in Anchorage.  We spent a couple of nights there before flying home.  On a day trip we took a bus tour of Denali National Park.  You cannot drive up to Mt. Denali but you can ride on a bus to a spot where you can see Mt.  Denali or Mt. McKinley. The Denali mountain range is over 600 miles long and it is big enough to create its own weather patterns. Mt. Denali  is 20,310 feet high.  From the base to the summit, Denali is over a mile taller than Everest.

The bus driver told us all the way up to see this gigantic mountain, that we probably wouldn’t see it because it was almost always covered by clouds.  We stopped at the viewing place and had lunch and to our great surprise and delight, the clouds broke and gave us a beautiful view of Denali or Mt. McKinley.  The bus driver was beside himself saying this didn’t happen very often. The mountain was snow covered and beautiful. The Psalmist said, “I will lift up my eyes to the mountains.” (Psalm 121:1) Sometimes we need to lift our eyes a bit higher!

The Psalmist was pondering where his help came from.  It could have been a hilltop around Israel that was dotted with altars to pagan gods.  It could have been that the psalmist was looking up beyond the hills to Mount Zion where the temple stood and remembered that the Maker of the heaven and earth was the covenant God (vs. 2). In either case we have to lift our eyes higher than our circumstances.  We have to lift our eyes higher than our troubles and trials.  When we do we can see the Creator and Redeemer, the one who calls us by name.

He’s the One who will “watch over our coming and going” today and forevermore. (Vs. 8)

Prayer – Father, thank you for being the One who made the heavens and the earth and being the One who watches over me.  Help me lift my eyes higher to see You and to put my trust in You.  Amen.

Psalm 121:2 – My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.

Author: Tommy Herndon