Sermon Tone Analysis

INTRODUCTION:

Notice that the psalmist is already in a position of acknowledging his NEEDINESS.

He is lifting “up” his eyes - he sees himself as below, he sees himself as needy.

If we do not approach this psalm with a posture of neediness, we cannot even begin at verse one - we cannot enter this psalm if pride remains.

The psalmist has already come to that point - he is needy!

Do you see yourself as Spiritually Needy?…Spiritually Broken?…Spiritually Weak?...In Poverty?…Wanting?…Lacking?

We’ve all seen a young child kneeling down to tie their shoe - but they don’t know how to do it…they have never learned, never been taught...

Yet they want to do it themselves!

and any attempt to reach down and help them is brushed aside.

They could struggle and fumble with those laces for a week and never tie those shoes, but they would rather struggle than submit.

If we refuse to see ourselves as spiritually needy and broken, we are like children fumbling with laces we don’t know how to tie.

Yes, we are (hopefully) growing and maturing in our faith, but we all have some spiritual brokenness at some level - and if we refuse to acknowledge that, we cannot even enter into this psalm.

WE NEED TO UNDERSTAND THAT PSALM 121 IS ALWAYS RELEVANT!…It never goes out of season in our lives…our lives never grow out of the need for this passage and the very personal application it provides.

Pride cannot tolerate being helped or admitting neediness…pride cannot “lift up its eyes” because it is too consumed with looking down on everyone else…and the darkest dimension of this pride is that it tries to look down on God, as if just like everybody else, God should look up to us.

There’s probably a small, blank space before verse one there in your Bible…it’s that space I am addressing right now…What does that space look like on your heart?

So as we go to prayer right now, would pray along with me that the Spirit would reveal to us our brokenness and our neediness before God, and that we would, along with the psalmist, lift our eyes?

[PRAY]

Our outline is a simple, five-word framework:

Seeking

Standing

Sleeping

Shaded

Secure

These 5 words define the actions and the mindset of the psalmist and us.

1. Seeking

1. Seeking

A. Asking (v.1)

Notice the question mark at the end of this phrase.

In fact, if your Bible doesn’t have one, would you take your pen and carefully write one in there?

The psalmist has lifted his eyes up to where?…the hills!…and he is still in need…the hills have not delivered.

(there is another perspective on this, which I will share in a moment)

And so the question I believe is in front of us is what hills are we looking to?…what hills are we lifting our eyes to in order to be helped?

The Hill of Human Wisdom

This hill appeals to man-centered philosophy.

It seems that every time you climb up to one ledge, there’s two or three more that seem to have a little different spin and so the climb begins again.

The problem is that the idea of absolute truth is a bygone idea in our secular society, so the top of this hill is always in flux…the philosophical landscape is constantly changing…moving targets are impossible to hit with certainty.

The Hill of Human Wisdom

The Hill of Human Approval

This could also be called the “Fear of Man”.

And this is a very appealing hill to climb - we buy in to the idea that we need another person’s approval in order to move forward, and we are absolutely crushed when that person or those people don’t like our posts, or they are negative about our choices.

We are basically asking the creation to do what the Creator does…we are placing the fear of man above the fear of God.

The Hill of Human Wisdom

The Hill of Human Approval

The Hill of Human Autonomy

The hill of autonomy is one of the most pernicious and pervasive lies that the devil and his culture try to persuade us to believe.

autonomy /ɔːˈtɒnəmi/

■ noun (plural autonomies)

1 the possession or right of self-government.

2 freedom of action.

Do you see any problem with living this way from a theological perspective?

Is there anything in our culture, happening right now as we speak, that is an example of people living this way???

When we place our trust in Christ, we become His servant!

We begin the life-long process not of autonomy, but of surrender!

And so the hills of Human Wisdom, Approval, and Autonomy are all prevalent in our modern world just as they were in the ancient world…and they are no more beneficial today than when this psalm was written about three thousand years ago.

This is psalm is known as a “psalm of ascent” - or going up - meaning they were sung as the Jews were going to Jerusalem - everyone went “up” to Jerusalem - not a direction, but an elevation - and these psalms were likely sung as the Jewish people would make their way to the pilgrim feasts at Jerusalem.

They would travel together in groups and sing these as they went along.

Certainly, the temple was located on the hill, the mountain Moriah, and so the pilgrims would have certainly looked up to the hills, as it were, as they would have equated the presence of God with those hills…but I believe that the psalmist’s question is a tell-tale sign that we must seek for something more…something higher.

And we will see that in verse 2.

1. Seeking

A. Asking (v.1)

B. Receiving (v.2)

Something happened between verse 1 and verse 2 - the psalmist’s eyes lifted up ABOVE the hills!

Verse 1 is a question, but Verse 2 is the answer…it’s our declaration!

“My help comes from the LORD!!!”

This is a declaration of exclusivity!

My help comes from the Lord and only from the Lord!

If you remember nothing else from this sermon, would you please remember this truth?!? [say together]

But he doesn’t only name the Lord…he QUALIFIES the Lord: “Who made heaven and earth.”

Not just any god…not just any deity…but the one and only true God, the self-existent One, the all-powerful Creator God!

First, he looked to the hills, and now he is looking at the One who made the hills!

A creator has a unique position of authority over that which they have made [ex.: kid’s Lego creation, artist, sculpture, etc.]

As creator, God alone has the right to love and to be loved.

The Creator has the only true position and power to help in every sense of the word.

God alone is both qualified and capable to be the Helper that we truly need.

Are you SEEKING help from the Lord?

2. Standing

Psalm 121:3 (NKJV)

3 He will not allow your foot to be moved;...

Notice that the voice changes from first person (I, my) to second person (you, your).

The pilgrim has declared that he is needy and then that his needs are met only by the Lord…and now a fellow traveler begins to tell him all the benefits of seeking the Lord’s help.

In vv.

1-2, the psalmist has acknowledged God’s sovereignty and His authority as the Creator of the universe.

This is a declaration not only of exclusivity but also one of surrender.

Because of this, the psalmist has chosen to submit to that authority by living in obedience…and now he can STAND without falling.

We should not say that God is our help and then continue to look elsewhere for help.

I we look to God for help, we must understand that we are submitting to His help, no matter what that looks like.

The word “moved” here means to be made to stagger or totter or sway.

The same word is used here as well…God is promising to keep us from staggering through this life.

This is a promise of His divine support and balance as we obey Him.

This is not a promise to never experience hardship or loss…this is a promise that God will sustain us IN SPITE OF our hardship and loss.

As we walk in obedience to God, the tribulations we will face are bearable because of God’s peace.

The hardships of life might be swirling around you right now - but you can still experience God’s peace IN SPITE OF those hardships.

God will not allow our foot to be moved as we stand in surrender to Him.

1. Seeking

2. Standing

3. Sleeping

Psalm 121:3–5 (NKJV)

3 ...He who keeps you will not slumber.

4 Behold, He who keeps Israel Shall neither slumber nor sleep.

5 The Lord is your keeper;...