Funeral Psalm 121

Text: Psalm 121

All of us long to feel safe. We want to know that we are protected from danger. We want policemen protecting our streets so we will feel protected at home. The restaurants we attend have safety inspections so we will feel protected when we eat. The cars we drive have to meet safety standards so we will feel protected in case we are in an accident. We want to feel protected from foreign invaders so we emphasize the importance of a strong defense. But where does our safety really come from? Does it come from our policemen, inspectors, or a strong national defense? Let us read in the Word of God the answer to this question. [Read text here.]

Destinations Bring Risk.

In our text this morning, we read a Psalm that Israelites would often sing while making their yearly pilgrimage to worship in the temple in Jerusalem. For many, this was a long and treacherous trip. The miles were long and the traveler was vulnerable. There were dangers that awaited them on many fronts. They were many things that could go wrong, many bad things that could happen. They had no interstates on which to travel. They had reason to fear. They longed to feel the same safety and protection that we still long for in our world today. So, they would sing this song. Psalm 121 was written to remind God’s people how He protects them in times in danger.

Introduction to the Song

We see this in the first two verses which serve as an introduction. Will I lift up my eyes to the hills, one asks, where the pagan temples could be seen upon the mountain tops? Where does my help come from? The answer is our theme this morning: “My help comes from the Lord”. That word for “help” also signifies protection. God is being pictured as our guardian. The dangers before us may not be the same as the ones they faced, but our unchanging God still protects us from danger. The question then is, how does God protects us from danger? Our text suggests three ways God protects us from danger.

I. God provides us the help of His Presence. (verses 3-4)

For the traveler en route to worship in Jerusalem, there were many dangers. One of those dangers was that of falling. When verse three says that “or “slip”. A person could fall and sprain an ankle, or break a leg or hip. When was the last time you tried to walk a hundred miles through mountainous territory on a broken ankle? Get the point? For us, this seems petty, but for them, it was a major concern and a very real danger.

Illustrate:

How is God able to do this? Verse four says God will neither “slumber nor sleep”. When a person is asleep, they are unconscious, unaware of what is going on around them. Many of the pagans in Old Testament days believed that their false gods occasionally slept and had to be awakened.

But this is not so with God. Because He never sleeps nor slumbers, He is aware of every step you take in your life, and is able to nourish you when your foot would “slip”. He can do this because He is a full time God. Jude 24 says that our Lord “is able to keep you from falling.” Those whom God saves, He also sustains.

My friend, God knows our every weakness, every failure in life, and still He wants to use us. He knows how grouchy we can be in the mornings, the things we utter while fighting traffic, our lack of patience...He knows the fears we harbor and every dumb

thing we have ever done. Yet, in spite of all of these things He say to us “take up your cross and follow me!” You do not have to say, as many have said to me, “I have so little to give God. I have so many failures and weaknesses. What if I fail? What if I fall?”

When you feel inadequate, God is more than adequate through you. Trust Him with your every step, follow wherever He leads, and know that “He will not let your foot be moved.”

That same presence that Vivian relied on for her faith and trust when Lenard went to heaven. You see years ago I sat in the Akins living room and I heard how both Vivian and Lenard had trusted in Christ for their salvation and It was this same trust that lived the last few years with.

II. God provides the Help of Carrying us through hard cirumstances. (verses 5-6)

Not only did the traveler have to fear the possibility of being incapacitated by slipping or falling, but there was another danger. This was the danger posed by their circumstances. Verse five says God is our “keeper”. That word in its Hebrew context means “to watch, preserve, support, aid or...keep guard.” What does God guard us from here? The sun and the moon. For the traveler, sun stroke was a dangerous reality. These were the circumstances in which they had to travel. Thus, God is “your shade at your right hand.” He is shade in that He gives relief from the heat of the sun and moon. He is at our “right hand” as that was a symbol of reliability. Just as God sheltered them from their circumstances, He shelters us from ours as well.

Illustrate:

The same word which we here see translated “shade” also translates “shadow”. God is like our shadow. Your shadow follows you every moment of the day. There is virtually nowhere to go to escape it. In fact, the only way to hide it from view is to escape the light of day and to retreat to the darkness. When you are walking in the light, the shadow is clearly seen, walking with you, wherever you go. God has promised us “Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the world.” If God is there, there is nothing in our circumstances that should cause us to fear, for He is Lord over them.

Whatever your circumstances may be, God is your “shade at your right hand.” That means there is nothing about your circumstances that must hinder God’s plan for your life. There is nothing in your circumstances that must rob you of the joy of walking with Christ. You can trust God with your life no matter what your circumstances may be, knowing that He is Lord over your circumstances and promises that you will not be stricken by them.

God protect us by keeping us from falling, sheltering us from circumstances, and by...

III. God provides the Help of Preserving our Soul. (verses 7-8)

Verse seven says, “The Lord shall preserve you from all evil.” The word for “evil” signifies the evil intentions other people might have. Possibly the most frightening danger posed to this traveler was not the possibility of falling, or the chance of being

stricken by the heat of the sun. It was the presence of those evil persons who might do them harm. There were bandits and burglars who were anxious to make quick riches at others’ expense. The family heading to worship in Jerusalem could often make a good target for their crime because they were likely to be tithing when they arrived and thus might be loaded with considerable wealth. Not only might they steal your possessions, but wouldn’t think twice about taking your life. This was a real danger. But for the child of God, they need not fear, for “He shall preserve your soul.” This doesn’t mean that evil will never touch us or hurt us. It means that we will be preserved when those who would devise evil against us enact their evil plans.

Illustrate:

I wish I could tell you that being a follower of Jesus Christ would make you popular, but it will not. What I can promise is that God will preserve you from the evil that He allows to touch your life. It will not be able to overcome what He intends to do in your

life. Isaiah 54:17 says that “no weapon formed against you shall prosper.” God will render them useless, except to accomplish His will. Luke 10:19 says “nothing shall by any means hurt you.” No evil will hurt or hinder God’s plan for your life. Yes, there will be those who, because of your walk with Christ, will persecute you, attack you, lie about you, and seek to destroy your life. However, the good news is that there is no evil that will touch your life that has not first been filtered through the Almighty hands of God. As the ill intentions of evil men against us pass through God’s hands, God’s protection, and God’s care, what is left can only accomplish His sovereign purpose for us.

Understand that God is in the business of “preserving your soul…forevermore” He has done so through Jesus Christ on the Cross of Calvary. For even when death strikes we have A Savior that will carry us safely to heaven.

This is the promise that Vivian Akins is enjoying today. You see she was a sinner, but this sinner saw that she could not manufacture her own righteousness. So she turned to the only one she can trust her eternity too. Jesus Christ is offering salvation to any and all that will turn to him in true believing faith.

If God has promised to protect His children, then we need not fear the dangers this life presents. God’s protective work in our lives will flow from our relationship with Christ. We can trust God to keep us from falling for He sent His Son to walk this earth and He did so without ever falling into the trap of sin. We can trust God to shelter us from our circumstances for we follow a Savior who walked upon the water and calmed the most violent of storms. He controls our circumstances as well. We can trust God to defend us from evil because our Lord suffered at the hands of evil. He suffered even to the point of death upon the cross...yet he rose again! If we are to successfully complete the journey which we are traveling, we too must trust God to keep us from falling, shelter us from circumstances, and defend us against evil.