# A psalm of protection rewritten as cosmic danger

Commentary on Orthodoxy by G. K. Chesterton.

On [CH04.P027](https://glosses.org/orthodoxy/pg16769-r1/CH04.P027/#char=1464,1536): "We should lift up our eyes to the stars from whence would come our ruin."

The closing sentence reverses Psalm 121:1–2 in the King James Version: ‘I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help’; the following verse identifies the helper as the Lord who made heaven and earth. Chesterton replaces hills with stars and help with ruin. The larger psalm makes the reversal sharper still: verses 6–7 promise protection from sun, moon, and evil. Under the imaginative regime he attributes to Wells, looking upward discloses danger where the psalm promises preservation. The verbal parallel is strong, although it does not determine a unique Bible edition; the witness compared here is [Project Gutenberg's KJV text](https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/10), of a translation first published in 1611.

The paragraph's earlier ‘image of God’ invokes Genesis 1:26–27. Psalm 8:3–6 provides a further illuminating comparison rather than an established quotation: contemplating moon and stars prompts a question about humanity's smallness, yet concludes by affirming human honour and dominion. These passages help explain why, within the biblical outlook Chesterton defends, magnitude need not measure dignity.

## Sources

- [The King James Version of the Bible, Project Gutenberg ebook 10](https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/10), Psalm 121:1–7; Genesis 1:26–27; Psalm 8:3–6

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