Many of the greatest fears in life come not from what we can see, but from

what we can’t — from the next unpredictable natural disaster, from the
nameless and faceless thief that might break in while we’re asleep,

from the disease that could strike someone in our family at any time. Satan
consumes us with fear by inflaming the unknown. He exploits our
imagination, and torments our feelings of insecurity.

The Israelites knew insecurity. Each year, they travelled from their homes to
faraway Jerusalem, many of them by foot, for one of the three major feasts
(Exodus 23:14). Jesus himself made the treacherous trip from his own
hometown many times, walking (or riding) more than ninety miles each way.
God had told them to go — to come where His presence was (1 Kings 8:10–11)
— but the road was dangerous and uncertain.
Along the road, the people met threats above and threats below, most of which
they could not saw or predict. They were fully expose to scorching heat and
volatile weather. Robbers hid in the caves and hills, knowing exactly when to
expected its victims. The people knew it had to go, but they did not knew if
they would all make it. Surely, some didn’t. So, they felt fragile, vulnerable,
unsafe.
Our road to heaven, to the new Jerusalem (Revelation 21:2), are much longer
than the dozens of miles they walked, and no less treacherous. We carries
God’s promises with us, but life still often feel desperate and uncertain.
Temptation hide and strike. Trials ambushes us and our loved ones. Besetting
sin linger. Disaster and crises comes unannounced. We feel our need for
keeping.
When Gods people felt their need for keeping along the road to Jerusalem,
they do not cover their mouths in fear; they raise an anthem. They cry out with
hope into the uncertainty, drowning their fears with verse and chorus. They
sing against danger.

Psalm 121 was a song for rough and uncertain roads like this. The refrain over
and over again in this eight verses were that the Lord can and will keepthem.
The psalm were written because the long and lonely road to Jerusalem were
dangerous — and because the long and often lonely road to heaven are also
dangerous. The vulnerability and fragility in this verses describes the very
different world we live in today, the world in which Satan prowl and sin tempt
and death lurks. We still feel our need to be keep. 
You can sense the insecurity in the opening line: “I lift up my eyes to the hills.
From where do my help come?” (Psalm 121:1). We don’t know what was in the
imagination of the writer, whether the hills was  hiding dangerous enemies or
if they were simply empty of allies. Either way, these hill made him feel small,
vulnerable, and helpless: Who will help me now?