Read Psalm 121.

Matt. 7:13-14  “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. 14 Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.

The one who seeks to journey to God is on a narrow, winding, difficult road.  There is no other way.  But there is a confidence that he will have all the help he needs from the Lord Who made heaven and earth.  And the traveler will call on Him often (Ps. 124:8; 134:3).  When he does, how will the pilgrim be helped?

* God watches over the pilgrim, v3-4.  The idea of slipping refers to a time of great insecurity or calamity.  The fact that God will neither slumber nor sleep solves a critical issue since, while in the mountains, the traveler will need sleep.  His Help will not be caught off guard.

* God protects the pilgrim, v5-6.  He is our shade.  In this picture the sun is the enemy and it will sap our strength, burn us, cause us to overheat.  But note what the term shade means.  It means first that God is walking with us, and second, that His shadow will be cast over the pilgrim.

* God guards the pilgrim, v7-8.  Here the concern is harm of any sort that might come.  God will guard us, not by always keeping us from difficulty, but by limiting the difficulty and giving us an escape (1 Cor 10:13).  Remember Stephen in Acts 7 who died joyfully at the hands of evil men. He showed the evidence of one protected by God; his body was killed but his soul rejoiced as he entered heaven.

The pilgrimage will lead through one difficulty and then another.  It must be!  But rejoice in the Help who is the Maker of Heaven and Earth.  You will never be out of his sight.  He can and will keep you.

Jude 24: Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy.