Commenting on the verse, "I will raise my eyes to the mountains," the Sages say: "This refers to Mashiach the son of David."

"Raising" one's eyes implies that one ought to contemplate the higher goal of the exile, namely, the superior spiritual state which will be attainable at the time of the future Redemption. If one looks upward in this way, then even when the exile's last grim stretches of darkness make one ask, "From where will my help come?," not only is one not overawed by that darkness, but one can even experience manifest joy. This joy is alluded to by the opening words of that verse: "A song of ascents."