between the time I learned them for that theater production to the
time I came into a personal relationship with the Lord many years
later. They became a prayer within me and a love song. In situations
when I knew I needed help, those words flooded my mind and I
would feel my spirit lifted in prayer to this God I had not yet come
to know.
Years later, after surrendering my life to the Lord, I thought again
of the words of Psalm 121 and I understood their meaning. That was
when I realized that God had been answering that prayer in me ac-
cording to his mercy for decades!
Following the World Trade Center attack of 2001, when Word
Music commissioned me to work with Gary Rhodes in the creation
of a new musical, we chose to base it on Psalm 121. Realizing how
powerful and healing the message of this Psalm could be during the
grief and challenge of America’s difficult season, we wove familiar
songs, hymns, scripture verses, and worship choruses together with
our own original narrations and compositions. We invited listeners
to lift their eyes to the God from whom our help comes, the God
who is with us in every trial, the God who neither slumbers nor
sleeps. As I sat in the sound booth listening to our musical, Lift Up
Your Eyes, come to life, I praised God for bringing the prayer he had
set in my heart full circle.
O Father, I lift my eyes to you. In you alone my help resides. I refuse
to give up. I refuse to look at the darkness. Instead I turn constantly
to the light that is in you and you alone. I lift up my eyes. Amen.68 CLAIRECLONINGER