Unto the Hills

The pandemic of 2020 has kept us all close to home. My wife and I love to travel. Road trips together are amazing. We particularly admire the Rocky Mountains of the American West and Canada. The green hills of Tennessee are a special destination of ours as well. They all remind us of a favorite hymn Unto the Hills with lyrics from Psalm 121. It was set to music in 1860 by John D. S. Campbell. The first stanza of this old hymn offer a great promise:

Unto the hills around do I lift up my longing eyes;

O whence for me shall my salvation come, from whence arise?

From God the Lord doth come my certain aid,

From God the Lord who heav'n and earth hath made.

Whether rolling hills, mountains with snow-capped peaks, or that knob that bore the cross of Christ just outside Jerusalem, we enjoy viewing and imagining those landscapes. Ponder what it must've been like to stand on Skull Hill as our Savior was dying on that tree. William Gaither captured the image well in 1968 with Stanza 2 of A Hill Called Mount Calvary:

I believe that the Christ who was slain on the cross, Has the power to change lives today;

For He changed me completely, a new life is mine; That is why by the cross I will stay.

I believe in a hill called Mount Calv'ry; I'll believe whatever the cost;

And when time has surrendered and earth is no more, I'll still cling to that old rugged cross.

Dalton Highway to Brooks Range
in Northern Alaska

I trust I will never grow tired of the beauty of God's Creation remembering the day we drove to the top of Pike's Peak. Neither will I ever forget the day the clouds parted and gave me a majestic view of Denali. No matter how many times I wind on Interstate 40 up the Cumberland Plateau heading to the Smoky Mountains, the views always inspire. I cherish with pure joy every time I lift up my longing eyes UNTO the HILLS.