| Psalms 120:1
| A gradual canticle. I have lifted up my eyes to the mountains, from whence help shall come to me.
| Canticle. David wrote this during his flight from Absalom; (Grotius) and de Muis judges from the martial air, that it was composed in the midst of danger. It relates to the captives, (Origen; Calmet) and to all in the pilgrimage of this world. (Berthier) --- Mountains. Jerusalem, and heaven, whence all our help must come. God most readily hears the prayers which are poured forth in places appointed by him. (Worthington) --- Jerusalem was situated among mountains, and the Jews turned towards it in prayer, Daniel 6:10. They did not depend on human aid, Jeremias 3:22.
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| Psalms 120:2
| My help is from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.
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| Psalms 120:3
| May he not suffer thy foot to be moved: neither let him slumber that keepeth thee.
| May. Hebrew, "he will not." Many have read in the second person, both in the Hebrew and Septuagint, "Suffer not thy," etc. (Aquila; St. Augustine, etc.) (Calmet)
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| Psalms 120:4
| Behold he shall neither slumber nor sleep, that keepeth Israel.
| Israel. The Church militant. (Worthington) --- These figurative expressions shew that God will never cease to protect his people. (Berthier)
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| Psalms 120:5
| The Lord is thy keeper, the Lord is thy protection, upon thy right hand.
| Hand. Always ready, Psalm 90:4., and 15:8. (Haydock)
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| Psalms 120:6
| The sun shall not burn thee by day, nor the moon by night.
| Night. Neither prosperity nor adversity shall hurt thee, (St. Jerome) or the Church. (Worthington) --- Cold is said to burn or parch up, Genesis 31:40. Justin (2) writes of the Scythians, Quanquam continuis frigoribus urantur, as the effects of extreme heat and cold are similar. The Jews were protected from both at their return; (Isaias 4:6., and 49:10.; Calmet) though we may doubt of this explanation, as the text is applied to those in heaven, Apocalypse 7:16. (Berthier)
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| Psalms 120:7
| The Lord keepeth thee from all evil: may the Lord keep thy soul.
| Keepeth. Hebrew also, "shall or may." The words of a prophet are always true, and the tenses are varied at pleasure by St. Jerome, etc. (Berthier) --- Soul, or spiritual life. (Worthington) (1 Peter 1:4.)
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| Psalms 120:8
| May the Lord keep thy coming in and thy going out; from henceforth now and for ever.
| Coming in. Hebrew has, "going out," first. (Berthier) --- Yet Pagnin agrees with us. (Haydock) --- This expression denotes all the occurrences of life, Deuteronomy 28:6. (Calmet) --- We may discover a beautiful progression in this psalm; God protects us from each and from every danger. (Berthier) --- He is not like earthly friends, who have not always the will or the power to do it. (St. Chrysostom)
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