“To you, I lift up my eyes, O you who are enthroned in the heavens!” 

Psalm 123:1 (New Living Translation) 

“Don’t let life get you down.  Keep looking up.”  We hear people say that all the time.  Have you ever wondered why “up” is so important?   We “wake up”, ”get up,” tell our horses to “giddy up”.  We say that things are “upbeat”, “up tempo”, and we get things “up to speed.”   We tend to look up to those who are taller than us.  We also look up to those who have high ideals or those people of great integrity.  When we feel inspired, we say that we are “uplifted”.

In the Psalms, we learn that our help comes from the Lord in heaven.  From the time we are young, we learn that the heavens or the sky is above the earth and the Lord reigns “on high.”  All of these have us looking up.  

In the Psalm for this week, the psalmist reminds us to look up.  The Lord is enthroned in the heavens, as the Psalmist tells us, but even from heaven, God sees everything that goes on in our lives.    Nothing surprises God.  God numbers our days and even the hair on our heads.  God knows what we will walk through in life, and when we get there, God is already there.  

So no matter what you may face today, do as the Psalmist instructs us, and “keep looking up” for our help and strength and comfort and peace come from the Lord. 

Jan McCoy is associate pastor of First United Methodist Church of Covington. She may be reached at jan.mccoy@ngumc.net.