Psalm 121: My Help Is from the Lord

Psalm 121 (Psalm 120 in the Douay numbering) is one of the Songs of Ascents, sung by Jewish pilgrims as they climbed toward Jerusalem for the great feasts. Looking up at the hills, the pilgrim asks where help will come from, and answers at once: from the Lord, who made heaven and earth and never sleeps.

It is a perfect prayer for journeys, for new beginnings like a move, a new job, or a new school, and for any moment when you feel small in the face of what lies ahead. It is short enough to pray every morning as you leave the house. The traditional Douay-Rheims version follows.

The Prayer

I have lifted up my eyes to the mountains, from whence help shall come to me. My help is from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. May he not suffer thy foot to be moved: neither let him slumber that keepeth thee. Behold he shall neither slumber nor sleep, that keepeth Israel. The Lord is thy keeper, the Lord is thy protection upon thy right hand. The sun shall not burn thee by day: nor the moon by night. The Lord keepeth thee from all evil: may the Lord keep thy soul. May the Lord keep thy coming in and thy going out; from henceforth now and for ever.

Sources: Psalm 120 (121), Douay-Rheims Bible (Challoner revision), public domain.

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