Psalm 121:1, 2 Monday

I LIFT UP MY EYES TO THE HILLS--where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth. Psalm 121:1, 2

If you have already read my thoughts I posted at four o'clock this morning, centering around the words "I LIFT UP MY EYES TO THE HILLS," you should be realizing by now that these thoughts are not the same as the ones you read this morning. No, these are not tomorrow's thoughts either but what I struggled with writing last night. This verse that I thought would be a "piece of cake" to meditate on, turned into THREE HOURS OF MEDITATION for me between the hours of midnight and three o'clock. (Yes, that also included doing other things, like downloading 148 pictures so I could upload 10 of them for you; trying to find a song I knew I had, that was based on Psalm 121, but couldn't find for an hour; finding it on Google; then finding it on Itunes; going back to find the CD (yes I did!); copying it and then trying to change it into an MP3 format so NING would accept it, to no avail.... I WILL have it for you some time this week; I promise.) What I thought the jist of this verse was, was not what it became after chewing on each word and digesting it for three hours. What happened to me last night is why I think meditation is so important and why I include it every day in this group. Don't ever take for granted that the verse means what you think it means at first glance. Spiritual truths are spiritually discerned and discernment comes from the Spirit leading and guiding us into all truth.

I picked this verse out because Phil and I just spent the last four days in Gatlinburg, Tn. with a breath-taking view of the mountains behind us, in front of us, to the side of us, above us and below us. We were nestled in mountains and loved every minute of it. And I heard this verse in my head the whole time we were there. I was constantly lifting up my eyes to the hills. And I was amazed at God and His handiwork. But the significance I gave to the hills is not the same significance the psalmist gives. He down-played them, whereas I magnified them. I had been looking at God's creation and its magnitude rather than looking at God and the magnitude of his power. What I thought this verse said, was the exact opposite. No, the psalmist lifting up his eyes to the hills did not strengthen him; realizing his help was not there did.