A song of ascents:

I lift up my eyes to the mountains;
whence will my help come?
² My help is from Yahweh,
maker of heaven and earth.

³ He will not allow your foot to be moved;
he who protects you will not slumber.
⁴ Look, he will not slumber and he will not sleep—
he who protects Israel.

⁵ Yahweh is your protector;
Yahweh is your shade at your right hand.
⁶ The sun will not strike you by day,
nor the moon by night.

⁷ Yahweh will protect you from all evil;^[b]
he will protect your life.
⁸ Yahweh will protect your going out and your coming in
from now until forever. (Psalm 121, Lexham English Bible)

Clearly this second step of ascent represents the step of faith in God, the second elementary doctrine of the Gospel which the writer of Hebrews states in Hebrews 6:1. It would make no sense for us to repent of our sins if our repentance had no effect upon us, the world, or the world to come. Psalm 121, though, promises that we do have hope and help after repentance and after God’s arrows of truth penetrate our hearts and his coals of fire purify our lips. Our hope comes from Yahweh Himself, the LORD God, creator of heaven and earth. Yahweh, our creator, the one who made us in his image.

Psalm 121 begins with the sojourner, God’s would-be overcomer, looking to the mountains for his help. What does this represent? Remember that in Psalm 120 we see that he sojourns in Meshech and dwells among the tents of Kedar. We saw that Meshech represents countries who trade in men’s souls, like Babylon and Tyre, and Genesis 25:13 informs us that Kedar is a son of Ishmael, the ill-begotten son of Abraham who represents the flesh instead of the Spirit as does Isaac. The mountains, therefore, represent the kingdom of the Spirit, God’s kingdom, versus the kingdom of the flesh, man’s kingdom. The Bible often calls these Mount Zion, Jerusalem, or the hills of Jerusalem.

But here we need to make a distinction when we discuss God’s mountain by terms used in the Old Testament. Throughout Scripture God follows the pattern of first the natural, then the spiritual. Adam was not accepted; the second Adam, Jesus, was. God commanded Abraham to cast out the bond-woman Hagar and his first son, Ishmael. God bestowed blessing upon his second son, Isaac. Concerning Isaac’s sons God says, “Jacob I loved and Esau I hated.” Esau was the first born and Isaac the second, once again following the pattern of first the natural, then the spiritual.

And so it is with Jerusalem and Mount Zion. Just as God never returned to Shiloh in presence and glory neither shall he return to natural Jerusalem, or old Mount Zion, in glory. No, the sojourner in Psalm 121 looks to the mountains of God’s eternal kingdom which we find named New Jerusalem in the Book of Revelation. Concerning this City and the faith in the One who rules there the writer of Hebrews says,

⁶ And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God ^(A)must believe that he exists and ^(B)that he rewards those who seek him. ⁷ By faith ^(C)Noah, being warned by God concerning ^(D)events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household. By this he condemned the world and became an heir of ^(E)the righteousness that comes by faith.

⁸ By faith ^(F)Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place ^(G)that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. ⁹ By faith he went to live in ^(H)the land of promise, as in a foreign land, ^(I)living in tents ^(J)with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. ¹⁰ For he was looking forward to ^(K)the city that has ^(L)foundations, ^(M)whose designer and builder is God. ¹¹ By faith ^(N)Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age, since she considered ^(O)him faithful who had promised. ¹² Therefore from one man, and ^(P)him as good as dead, were born descendants ^(Q)as many as the stars of heaven and as many as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore.

¹³ These all died in faith, ^(R)not having received the things promised, but ^(S)having seen them and greeted them from afar, and ^(T)having acknowledged that they were ^(U)strangers and exiles on the earth. ¹⁴ For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. ¹⁵ If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, ^(V)they would have had opportunity to return. ¹⁶ But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed ^(W)to be called their God, for ^(X)he has prepared for them a city. (Hebrews 11:6-16, ESV)

If we would ascend into the presence of God, then, we must embrace our current status as mere sojourners on earth and look toward the mountains, toward New Jerusalem. Knowing this, then, let us have faith that Yahweh, the God of that City, will help us to climb upward toward it. He will not let our foot slip, he will not let us fall back down this mountain we climb. He will not slumber or sleep as we climb; he will always watch over us on our way. He promises to protect us in the day and the night. He promises to keep us from all evil, to keep our lives, and to keep our every way from this time forth and forevermore.

He promises to keep us from which time? From the time of this second step into his presence, the time when we have soberly evaluated the depravity of our souls, repented of our sins, and looked in faith toward God (Jesus Christ) who in justice then forgives us all our sins. This is the very foundation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and these are the first two steps we take in our ascent to the very throne of God!