Psalm 121: Help Is On the Way
Summer Psalms (2024) • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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· 38 viewsWhen we need real help, we look to the LORD who sees us, protects us, and never leaves us!
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Help Is Here!
Help Is Here!
Text: 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.
Background:
Song of Ascents NOTES
150 individual Psalms
divided into 5 books - with collections within the books. One of those collections is what is called the Psalms of Ascent.
Psalm 120-134 formed a book of worship for pilgrims traveling to Jerusalem.
"The Psalms of Ascent(s) have also been called the Song of Degrees, the Pilgrim Songs, as well as the Gradual Psalms.
The Hebrew term is ma'alot which means 'going up"" appears at the beginning of each Psalm.
The idea of ascent comes from the imagery of the pilgrims ascending the roads to Jerusalem and then ascending the Temple Mount to arrive at the place of worship.
Even during the time of Jesus, devout Jews would sing these psalms as they drew near to God's presence.
While we’re not headed to the mountain of Jerusalem, as Christian pilgrims in our time, we have much to learn from these “Songs of Ascents.”
The ESV Study Bible (Chapter 121)
Psalm 121 seems to be written to stir up confidence in those making the pilgrimage to Jerusalem to worship.
This pilgrim’s journey becomes an snapshot for the journey of life. God is telling us that we - the faithful - can be confident of God’s tireless care!
Be Exultant Psalm 121
The theme is God’s protection over His people; the word “keeps” (watches over) is used six times. Safety is something about which the pilgrims would be especially concerned as they journeyed on the roads through the hill country. A pilgrim could stumble and hurt himself, or someone might suffer sunstroke, or a chilly night of camping out might give somebody a bad cold. There was always the possibility of robbers swooping down. But the message of the psalm applies to God’s pilgrims today and gives us the assurances we need as we journey in this life.
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INTRODUCTION
Help me…!
HOW?
financially
emotionally
physically
spiritually
WHEN?
right NOW
“on this date” (due date, court date, surgery date, exam date
WHO YOU GONNA CALL?
Someone with resources
Someone who cares
Someone who is capable
Someone further along
TRANSITION:
If you look at Psalm 120, you’d see the mess a pilgrim who was on this journey could be in.
We can all easily find ourselves in distress.
Psalm 121 takes us to a beautiful call and response on our journey - whatever the road may hold.
Notice the call for help in verse 1.
The truth in verse 2.
The response begins in 3-4.
1. God Sees Me (in all places)
1. God Sees Me (in all places)
(2-4) / the source of my help
NOTE: watches over me
NOTE: I recognize a need as I look around and up (heaven & earth).
WHY the request for help?
The Hills / Mountains
the mountains could have represented a place of refuge and blessing - for years, that’s what I thought.
Look up to the hills of Jerusalem for help…
But there is another dimension to this. Makes it a little easier to understand to cry for help.
There is a menace afoot
the hills sheltered bandits
the hills around were home to pagan “gods” who lived in high places (Jeremiah 3:23)
this comes to light as the Psalmists are singing together about how the God of Israel never sleeps or slumbers (like other gods do)
While you and I may not be headed up a hill to worship in Jerusalem.
we are no less pilgrims in a strange land
at times there is hostility
at times there will be adversity
the things that come into our life through no fault or action of our own - just a result of this broken world.
wherever we go, GOD SEES US!
8 I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you.
15 The eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous and his ears toward their cry.
21 For a man’s ways are before the eyes of the Lord, and he ponders all his paths.
God sees you.
He loves you.
He is looking out for you!
Why should I feel discouraged
Why should the shadows come
Why should my heart feel lonely
And long for Heaven and home
When Jesus is my portion
My constant friend is He
His eye is on the sparrow
And I know He watches me
The pilgrim recognized he needed something more. Something beyond Himself.
Have you realized that?
Most non-Christians realize that.
Many non-Christians believe in a some kind of God but have no relationship with him.
You might even hear them say “God help me” in a moment of panic and desperation.
I believe this instinctive cry is saying something about human nature: we’re made to know this God. We sense that God exists (Rom 1), but many fail to know him as Savior and Shepherd
The difference between the Christian and the rest of the world is that we KNOW AND ARE KNOWN by our God.
AND OUR GOD SEES US…
Low in the valley - close to the earth.
Climbing up the Mountain - approaching the Heavens!
The Source of My Help - the GOD WHO SEES ME IN ALL PLACES!
2. God Protects Me (from all harm)
2. God Protects Me (from all harm)
(3-7) / the strength of His help
WHAT GOOD IS A GOD WHO CANNOT SAVE?
when I slip (3)
when I slip (3)
3 He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber.
Asaph would note in Psalm 73…
2 But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled, my steps had nearly slipped.
and he confessed this after knowing that God was truly good and righteous and holy.
he let his eyes set on those around him
how the wicked were prospering…and it almost caused him to slip.
GOD WILL PROTECT YOU WHEN YOU ALMOST SLIP.
HE CAN KEEP US FROM SLIPPING TOO!
23 Then you will walk on your way securely, and your foot will not stumble.
24 Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, 25 to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.
when I sleep (4)
when I sleep (4)
4 Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.
You remember the showdown with Elijah on Mount Carmel.
He called the prophets of Baal to make a showing as to which God was the true God.
Let the god who answers by fire.
The false prophets called, screamed, harmed themselves to try to get their god’s attention.
He says go see if your god is sleeping…
we know how it plays out…
the God of the Bible is the one that answers by fire!
God could have created us without a need for sleep.
But He chose to build this need within us, and there’s a spiritual purpose for it.
Each night, as you and I confront our need again for sleep, we cannot avoid the reality that we are a dependent creature.
I am not self-sufficient. You are not.
We are not the Creator.
There is only One who “will neither slumber nor sleep” (Psalm 121:4), and I am not that One.”
24 If you lie down, you will not be afraid; when you lie down, your sleep will be sweet.
he helps us when we slip, when we sleep…and when
when I struggle (5-6)
when I struggle (5-6)
NOTE: Keep used 6x in this passage (protector)
He is our shade on our right hand (that’s the dominant fighting-side of the soldier in battle)
The sun by day (how appropriate on these hot days)
The moon by night
He is our shelter.
1 He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.
10 The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous man runs into it and is safe.
8 I have set the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.
- There’s not an enemy that has our God shaking in his boots.
There’s not a force so big that God can’t handle
There’s no force so small that will eclipse the power of God.
This does NOT mean that we won’t face enemies.
This does NOT mean that we won’t lose battles in our homes, on our jobs, in our culture.
This does NOT mean that we won’t get sick, tired, or weary.
IT ABSOLUTELY DOES MEAN THAT HE IS THE ROCK THAT WE CAN RUN TO in a weary land!
His power is big enough to handle everything…
His purpose is better than our comfort…
His grace is sufficient in our waiting.
What a comfort to know that our God sees us…He knows us. He cares for us so much, He is watching us…
there’s not a place we can go to escape His presence
What an encouragement to know that God PROTECTS US from all harm. THERE ISN’T ONE THING THAT CAN GET TO YOUR SOUL - YOU ARE SAFE IN THE HANDS OF THE TRUE AND LIVING GOD.
Lastly…
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.
3. God is With Me (at all times)
3. God is With Me (at all times)
(7-8) /
If we think of God seeing me as the SOURCE of our help.
and GOD’S PROTECTION as the STRENGTH of HIS help.
then the fact that GOD IS WITH ME points to the SCOPE of his Help!
God sees us in all places; protects us from all harm; and is with us at all times!
Sounds like Deut 28.6
6 Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out.
The sun is 93 million miles away from the earth.
Pluto is 3.7 billion miles from the sun
There are anywhere from 100 billion to 2 trillion galaxies
AND WE KNOW, ACCORDING TO SCRIPTURE - Genesis 1 - that God created all of this.
Creation reminds us of the beauty and vastness of God.
The Reformers reminded us of the majesty and bigness of our God - to elevate our worship to the KING that is HIGH ABOVE THE HEAVENS.
With such a BIG and “BUSY” God, it’s easy to feel like God doesn’t care about the little things going on in our life.
When you think about it…planet earth - humans are very little when compared to the breadth of creation.
But this Psalm is a strong reminder that God cares deeply about us. He is protecting us. He is with us! He is working for our good!
READING PLAN: We just read this in the past couple weeks:
8 This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. 9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
I will be with you!
the Lord your God is with you!
25 I have been young, and now am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken or his children begging for bread.
2 Corinthians 4:7–10 (ESV)
7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. 8 We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; 9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; 10 always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies.
And we all know and love the Joshua 1:5 promise that echos all the way into Hebrews 13…
“I will never leave you nor forsake you.”
——-
This pilgrim was walking and singing…
“from where does my help come?”
he says, “My help comes from the LORD…the maker of Heaven & Earth”
—-then his friend (maybe more than one) responds,
“He will not let YOUR foot be moved…”
This song is not a solo.
Neither is the help of the LORD.
—-
God saved us and called us into His family.
You’re not slipping, sleeping, or struggling alone!
We have one another
we’ll sing together…
we’ll call out together…
we’ll cry out for Help together…
and we’ll encourage one another that HELP IS ON THE WAY!
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If we’re not careful, we can look everywhere BUT the right place…where does YOUR help come from?
the right answer, THE LORD!
He sees us. He protects us. He is with us.
Help Is Here!
Help Is Here!
Let’s pray!
