Psalm 121 is beautiful, and short.
It has been much loved and memorised over the centuries.
It also is a good lead-in to spiritual conversation with Muslims. It seems, superficially, to chime with an Islamic worldview. It sets God the Maker of Heaven and Earth before our eyes as our protector. The repeated verb is 'watches over': God watches over us completely:
Day and night.
Our Coming and Going.
Now and Forevermore.
However, it's tempting to leave it as a 'nice-sounding poem'.
Yet, we know the OT speaks of Christ. Will we do so?
And how does Psalm 121 speak of Christ?
Well, remember it's a Song of Ascent. A song for pilgrims making their way to Jerusalem.
Jesus would have sung this. He journeyed to Jerusalem aged 12. And he himself made a final journey to Jerusalem for a major festival: the Passover. God kept him on the journey, but then it all went very 'non-Psalm 121':
Betrayed and sold by one of the inner circle.
Forsaken by his closest friends.
Condemned at night in a kangaroo court. (Was God watching over him by night? Really?)
Tortured.
Crucified as the worst sort of criminal.
But we can point to the pain of this pilgrim to show that he stepped in to take the full force of God's wrath so that we could live under God's smile.
Psalm 121 is a sweet Psalm (try Jamie Soles' nice rendition, great for memorisation; Matt Searles uses a metrical form, so perhaps easier for congregational singing, and it's good for 'campfire guitarists' like me!).
But remember it would be unjust for God to guarantee such an easy ride for wanton criminals. Justice has to be done. We naturally chafe at stories of criminals living in luxurious exile, escaping prosecution.
Psalm 121 in one sense pictures a gross miscarriage of justice. We don't deserve this protection and blessing.
And that's why we should proclaim Christ as the fulfilment of this Psalm.
"For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring you to God." 1 Peter 3:18 CSB