My husband used to be in sales and sometimes the leads he had were in the evening and a fair distance from home. To stay awake while driving, in addition to opening his windows and turning the radio way up, he sometimes made up songs. He’s quite clever and I thought some were pretty good. Creativity can be fun.

Psalms are poems. Songs are poems put to music. They are often used to help the Israelites remember their content. Only one of these Psalms is directly attributed to David. We don’t know who wrote the others, but they are all titled A Song of Ascents and were sung by travelers, likely on their way to Jerusalem for one of the yearly feasts. These musical poems prompted the Israelites to look at God from many perspectives.

121 - God is their helper and creator. He doesn’t sleep, so He is always watching out for them.

123 – They recognize God is in heaven and they look to Him for mercy.

124 – They acknowledge God as their protector.

125 – They see that God surrounds them – he sees everything, all the time. He brings peace to Israel.

128 – They understand that they need to fear the Lord, and that blessings come from His hand.

129 – They speak of God’s righteousness. They speak of those who hate Zion (are against Israel) that they will be put to shame.

130 – They talk of His forgiveness and the hope Israel has through God’s love. They know He will redeem them.

As they traveled, their focus was on God, whom they were going to worship. These songs would have prepared their hearts, minds and attitudes to come before God.

Get creative, and consider making up your own poem, set to music or not, to tell of what God means to you. Which of His characteristics do you want to tell about? Here’s an easy way to start - borrowing some of what we read today.

To you I lift up my eyes, O you who __________. As __________ surrounds my home, so the Lord surrounds me. Blessed is everyone who fears the Lord. Lord, bless me with __________ and __________. The Lord is righteous. May all who harm your people, Lord, be __________. O Lord, hear my voice; listen to my pleas for __________. I wait for the Lord; I wait for _________. My hope is in you, Lord!