Pilgrimage Psalms

Background

If we have not had the pleasure of meeting my name is John Colunga and I have the privilige of serving as lead pastor here at New Day Pasadena

I also have the privilige of bringing this weeks sermon

So if you have your Bibles, please turn to Psalm 18

Today is the fifth sermon in our six week sermon series in the book of Psalms

And the series name is On Repeat

You see, we want to repeat and know the Psalms in our minds and in our hearts

The Psalms are not a collection of outdated, meaningless, poems

Rather, they are a blueprint, a model for how we are to live, how our attitudes should be, and how our actions should reflect them

And depending on who you talk to and who you read - The Psalms are usually divided between 5-8 different kinds of Psalms

So for us, we will be looking at 6 different categories

We have already gone over Wisdom Psalms and reviewed Psalm 1

Three weeks ago we went over Royal Psalms and reviewed Psalm 110

Two weeks ago we talked about Psalm sof Lament and reviewed Psalm 51

Last week we looked at Psalms of Thanksgiving and will look at Psalm 18

This week we will look at Pilgrimage Psalms and will look at Psalm 121

Going on a Journey

I remember growing up and loving going on trips

We would do road trips and would travel

We usually went with other family cousins

And so the families would meet up and take off

We usually have three suburbans and we hit the road

We are on the road and we believe that we are going to get to where we are going

However road trips seem to have unexpected surprises and we are aware that there may be issues

One time cow manuer hit one of the suburbans - we locked the keys inside of the suburban

We might have car problems, we might have an accident, we might encounter things that are out of our control

And yet, we still go

We take the time to pray before we leave and then we take off

Psalms of Ascent

Psalms 120-134 are a collection of psalms that recalled God’s goodness, gives thanks, and declares his praises

They were sung/read as the people of God traveled as pilgrims to Jerusalem

Specifically, when they were headed to Mt. Zion to worship

Ascent means a climb or walk to the summit of a mountain or hill

So these 15 Psalms were at the forefront of the travelers minds

Stumbling or Stepping Stone

And the reason why they had these Psalms at the forefront of their minds is because the road to Jerusalem can be dangerous

The harsh mountainous terrain, the long distance, wild animals, and evil robbers are all possible dangers that they may face - they are aware of the dangers of their journey

Yet, in the midst of knowing this, they do not allow fear to overcome them and stop them from their journey

They focus on the fact that they are God’s people and that God is faithful to his people

That their God is over every danger that they may face

That as they travel, they will not allow anything to get in the way of letting them get to Zion to worship God

Any problem they may face on their journey will not be a stumbling block, rather it will be used as a stepping stone

Introduction to Psalm 121

And so today we will look at Psalm 121 which is the second Psalm of the Psalm of Ascents

It comes after Psalm 120 which is about God’s deliverance and

It comes before Psalm 122 which is titled - Let us Go to the House of The Lord

And in Psalm 121 tucked inbetween God’s deliverance and traveling to God’s house

THe pilgrim believes that from the time the Lord saves to the time they get to his house

God is with them and God keeps them

If you are able to stand, I ask that you please do so for the reading of God’s word. I’ll read it as you follow along, Psalm 121

A Song of Ascents. 1 I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? 2 My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. 3 He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber. 4 Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. 5 The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade on your right hand. 6 The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. 7 The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life. 8 The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore.

This is the Word of the Lord, you may now be seated

Eyes on the Lord

The Goal and the Question

As the Psalmist starts this section of this Psalm, it is abundantly clear where the pilgrim is heading

The pilgrim is heading to the hill of the Lord,

Jerusalem is in the hill country and the temple of the Lord is built on a hill

The pilgrim is going to the temple of the Lord

And as the pilgrim is traveling, the pilgrim knows the goal is to get to the temple of the Lord to worship Him

And as we talked about last week, this pilgrim has a heart of thankfulness

To have your eyes set on the Lord, and to want to praise Him for what he has done for you

And so out of this thankfulness, the pilgrim is compelled to make it the goal to make it to the house of the Lord

And as the pilgrim starts the voyage, the pilgrim is aware of all of the things that could hinder the voyage

The pilgrim is aware of the dangers of the journey

And so the question is asked From where does my help come?

This is a valid question of humaness that is asked

If I am going to embark on this journey with the potential danger, what do I have that is going to help me to reach my destination?

As I travel, what do I rely on?

For the psalmist, the answer is simple

Trust in nothing but the Lord, who made heaven and earth

The very hills on which his house sits was created by Him

The same God who is on the mountain is the same God that will watch over me

He has created all things, he sees all things, he knows all things, and he keeps all things

Lets personalize that - He made me, he sees me, he knows me, and he keeps me

Keep my path

The word Keeps occurs 6 times in our text and is mentioned for the first time in verse three

3 He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber.

The rocky and slippery terrain is more than able to cause a man to stumble and hurt himself

The terrain alone makes the journey hard

and yet, the pilgrim is sure that God will watch his every step

God will guide him through the terrain

And the God who lives and needs no sleep watch you every second of every minute of every hour of every day of every week of every month of every year of every decade, up until the point of death

Take the journey because God keeps you and protects you on your path to him

4 Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.

This keeping that the pilgrim is talking about is not exclusive just to him, but to all of God’s people

God keeps every one of his people at the same time

God is everywhere and he never tires

God is sure to keep his people

If you recall, the prophet Elijah mocked the prophets of Baal as they called on Baal to reveal itself as God

1 Kings 18:25-27 “Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Choose for yourselves one bull and prepare it first, for you are many, and call upon the name of your god, but put no fire to it.” And they took the bull that was given them, and they prepared it and called upon the name of Baal from morning until noon, saying, “O Baal, answer us!” But there was no voice, and no one answered. And they limped around the altar that they had made. And at noon Elijah mocked them, saying, “Cry aloud, for he is a god. Either he is musing, or he is relieving himself, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and must be awakened.””

And while we know that Baal was an idol with no life and therefore couldn’t be asleep

The one true God, Yahweh never sleeps and is always with his people

1 Kings 36:-39 36 And at the time of the offering of the oblation, Elijah the prophet came near and said, “O Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that you are God in Israel, and that I am your servant, and that I have done all these things at your word. 37 Answer me, O Lord, answer me, that this people may know that you, O Lord, are God, and that you have turned their hearts back.” 38 Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt offering and the wood and the stones and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench. 39 And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces and said, “The Lord, he is God; the Lord, he is God.”

The Lord, he is God and he is a powerful God that protects the pilgrim on his path

When you know you worship this God, the God of Elijah, you know that you are well kept

Cannot Shake God

Now, I must admit that I am guilty of taking a red laser pointer and pointing at the wall for the cat to chase

I am guilty, I have done it, and I have doen it multiple times

But the cat is chasing a red dot that it will never be able to fully catch

It will never physically feel the red dot nor would it know what to do with it

At the same time, I have laughed at dogs chasing their tails

Maybe the dog is bored, maybe the dog is just curious, I should probably look up why they do that

I don tknow but it is amusing to me, they never catch it

I also find it funny when kids find their shadow

And the kids wants to make shadow figures with it

But the shadow sticks with the kid and follows the kid wherever he or she goes

and the only time the shadow is lost is when the kid goes into darkness

But this imagry of a shadow occurs several times in scripture and it occurrs in our text today

5 The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade on your right hand. 6 The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night.

We brought up Jonah last week who was in a belly of a great fish because he tried to run from God

There is no where where you can run or hide from God

God is with you and never leaves you like a shadow

And remember that God is light, there is no darkness where God is

The pilgrim believes that God will uplift, strengthen, encourage, and keep him

In the New Testament we see the shadow explicitely stated and reffered to i nreference to Jesus

Colossians 2 16-17 “Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ.”

More often the pilgrims went on these jouneys to the temple for a festival or religious cermony

But the very ceremony they were going to observe was a shadow in and of itself

The ceremonies and festivals were shadows of Jesus the Messiah

They did not have the Messiah yet but they knew of the promise of Him and so by faith - they believed God and worshiped God and waited for the Messiah

The ceremonies they performed did not save them, their worship did not save them, it was their belief in God and the faith that a Messiah would come that would save them

And so it was their very faith and belief as God’s people that brought them into God’s light

And because of their faith and belief - they would not be in spiritual darkness and God would keep them all the days of their life

Eternal Life

And so the Psalmist ends with verses 7 and 8

7 The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life. 8 The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore.

In these last 2 verses the word keep occurs 3 out of the six times

And if taken out of context, verse 7 itself can be a stumbling block

Why? Because evil does come upon us

We witness and we experience evil all of the time

THe question is asked all of the time, why do bad things happen to good people?

So why does the Psalmist so confidently say that the Lord will keep you from all evil?

And the answer is in the following verses - he will keep your life - he will keep your coming and going forevermore

The pilgrim does not fear evil for he knows that God is over evil

There is no evil that can overcome God and because God keeps the pilgrim there is no evil that can overtake the pilgrim

And even if - if on the journey the pilgrim does pass away, the pilgrim knows that he will be secure in the presence and security of God and will be with God in heaven

And this is why the pilgrim takes the harsh journey

The pilgrim takes the journey with joy and thankfulness because should the pilgrim make it to the house of the Lord, God will be glorified

And if the pilgrim were to die on the journey, God would be glorified

And while the pilgrim walks through tough, rocky, and slippery terrain,

There is no stumbling block

Anything that may happen on the journey will only be a stepping stone - something to overcome - and it can be overcome because God is with the Pilgrim

Application

Brothers and sisters - for those of us who have put our faith and trust in Jesus Christ alone for salvation, we are pilgrims

We have been redeemed by God through his son Jesus Christ

Jesus Christ is the substance

And the moment we put our faith and trust in Jesus, we are brought into his light that never goes away

He is with us always

And so I ask, do you see evil or the trials of this world as stepping stones or stumbling blocks?

Our goal in life should be to glorify God

By our life and by our death we are to proclaim Him as Lord

And because Jesus is the one who lived perfectly as fully God and fully man

Because Jesus conquered sin and death by dying on the cross and was raised on the third day

We can now be made right with God through him

And so our hearts are changed for him

We read colossians 2 earlier and in the very next chapter, it talks about who we are because of Jesus

Colo 3:12-17

12 Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, 13 bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. 14 And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. 15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. 17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Our lives and our actions should be a reflection of who Jesus - We live for Christ with thankfulness

And when obstacles distract us, hurt us, and try to keep us from living like Christ and for Christ

Know that the one who never leaves you, the one who has overcome evil will keep you and enable you to take that obstacle and hurt and make it a stepping stone and not a stumbling block

When you have Christ, you have everything you need

Do not fear the obstacles or the pitfalls because your eyes are set on the Lord

If you have believed in Jeus Christ for salvation he is with you every second of every minute and even if you die, you will be with Him

This should cause great courage and boldness within every believer to live for Christ as one

You cannot shake God away from you

You are either a lamb that is with the fold or a lamb that will be pursued by God

And so I want to encourage you to be a lamb that stays with the fold

Lay in the green pastures - Don’t allow the evil and pitfalls of the world to shake your faith - to not be stumbling blocks - to lead you away from Jesus

But to be one that is continuously conformed by Him and to Him

That has the trust in Him that by your death or by your life you are His

Some of the stuff going on in our world today is scary

What are we going to do about it?

Will we allow it to be a stumbling stone or a stepping block?

Will we proclaim Jesus or be secret agents for Jesus?

Will we proclaim truth or will we hoard it for ourselves?

We have nothing to fear, nothing to be anxious about, because the one who is Lord, he keeps us

And if you are here today and you have not put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ, I know the world is a scary place

You have been walking it alone, by yourself in darkness

You are seeking truth, seeking peace, seeking hope, seeking comfort

Jesus is the substance

Jesus is the answer

Jesus is Lord and Savior and he wants to be your shepherd

Jesus wants you in relationship with Him so that keep you with Him today and forever more.

There will be a time where you can give your life to him

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