Psalm 121

Psalm of Encouragement

What a blessing we have to be able to come to the Park and celebrate this beautiful Day the lord Has for us

Now before we get started, today we are going to go through a shorter Psalm, one that is Packed with meaning and encouragement

But before we get started I want to talk about the significance of today. Anyone know what is special about this weekend , why we are celebrating this weekend with an extra day off ?

Its Memorial Day weekend ! Its the weekend to be thankful for those that served our country and Died for our country

Now For me this hits a little different since I served and was able to experience what it was like to do something bigger than myself , but for me I was blessed to not ever have to go to war in the middle east and deal with the evil that exists over there

Not everyone had the opportunity to just serve on Home soil, a-lot of other guys dependent on the job they had, had to go to war

My Grandpa is a Vietnam Vet and was drafted in the late 60s and spent a whole year in Vietnam he was only 18 at the time

He didn’t have a choice like I did. He had to go to war as a combat engineer and fight the evil that was taking place over there

Some of us might say that wars are senseless and that they are avoidable and all that but the truth is we live in a fallen world and it takes men that are willing to step up and serve the country to make a difference

We would not be here today if it weren’t for the men and women that have selflessly served our country

I just want to share some stuff with you guys regarding vets, some statistics

Since the founding of America, there has been many wars, each carrying the cost of death

Im going to name off each war and the amount of deaths that occured from that specific war

American Revolution (1775-1783): Approximately 4,435.

War of 1812 (1812-1815): Approximately 4,000.

Mexican-American War (1846-1848): 13,283.

American Civil War (1861-1865): Over 620,000.

Spanish-American War (1898): 2,446.

World War I (1917-1918): 116,516.

World War II (1939-1945): 405,399.

Korean War (1950-1953): 36,574.

Vietnam War (1965-1973): 58,220.

Persian Gulf War (1990-1991): 382.

Iraq War (2003-2011): 4,418.

Afghanistan War (2001-2024): 2,459.

If you add all these up It comes out to 1,268,132 total deaths

For Perspective, if you took the population of Cities that we live close to it would be like this:

Anaheim Ca would be gone

Brea Ca would be gone

Yorba Linda would be gone

La Habra would be gone

Whittier would be gone

La Mirada would be gone

Huntington Beach would be gone

Newport Beach would be gone

city of orange would be gone

And Garden Grove would be gone

The population of all those cities is equivalent to the amount of deaths that have been caused by war here in the United States : Its just shy of 1.3 million people

Thats a- lot of death that has occured over the history of our Nation

So its a privilege for us to enjoy the fruits and labor of those that came before us

its a blessing that we can come here to this park on a Sunday morning and celebrate the sacrifice that many Men and women endured for us to be here

Some of you guys may have family that has served in the Military and though they might be alive, How awesome would it be to just thank them for the sacrifice they were willing to give

The thing that is mind blowing about the number we just read is that there are even more service men and women that have been injured due to war than those that have died

Millions of Americans have either paid the ultimate price or have pad a price for the success of our nation

so before we get into the Psalm we are going to read, lets pray for the men and women who have blessed us with the opportunities we have and the freedoms we have

Alrighty Turn over to Psalm 121

Psalm 121 is a very comforting and encouraging Psalm that was believed to be written by None other than King David

Now this Psalm as it says next to the chapter is A song of Ascents, Or the NLT says A song for pilgrims Ascending to Jerusalem

It was a Psalm that was written by David that was sung by pilgrims on their way into Jerusalem, which at the time would have been a very dangerous Journey for most

During their journey the leader of the company or group would open the song or would sing the first two verses which are in first person and then after the first two verses, the next two verses would be responded in second person people ( Try it…. read the first two, and then the kids read the next two)

Its like a Jodie, which is a military thing, the instructor says one line and the group says another , very simple

When we look at this Psalm you will see the word “keeps” or “watches over you” 6times

Safety to the Pilgrims at the time was a big deal , they feared many different things on their journey

they didn’t have a nice paved road or a nice groomed trail like we have today. Pilgrims would often fall and become injured because of the terrain

some would become ill because of the difficulty of the journey, they didn’t have camelbacks or Hydro- flasks like we do today, so heat stroke or sun stroke was also another common thing that would occur

if you were to visit Israel which some of you should prayerfully one day, its all desert, today a good portion of Israel is modernized but there is still a-lot of land that is not. It still gets super hot and its still a dry desert

these people didn’t have BMWs or rarris, they had camels and horses ! No air conditioning

Now since they were in the desert, the night time was equally as bad, it would become freezing cold and the extremes of hot and cold caused some to become sick and unable to complete the journey

The conditions were at times horrendous for travelers

Not only did they have to deal with the horrible conditions, but they also had to deal with dishonest people, (ROBBERS) or what Scotti says (WOBBERS), they would see these people struggling and they would come down from the mountains and plunder what they could

So the Pilgrims had a great deal of Fear when it came to traveling long distances and it was a fear that caused them to cry out to the Lord

The message of the Psalm that we are going to read is still applicable to us today, our journey of life that we are on is one that requires assurance from the Lord. Assurance that only the lord can give us in order to combat the fears that come from daily Life

Romans Says this

Romans 8:38–39 “38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, 39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Our Assurance is in Christ, nothing else, no matter what the enemy throws at us, not matter how good a material thing is, the only Peace and assurance we have is found in Jesus christ our Lord

That is powerful !!

So lets get into this Psalm

Psalm 121:1–2 “1 I will lift up my eyes to the hills—From whence comes my help? 2 My help comes from the Lord, Who made heaven and earth.”

the Hills again created potential danger for the pilgrims traveling

but the writer of the Psalm understood where His help truly came from and thats the creator of Life , the one who created those very Hills !

God created this world that we live in. Without Him nothing would have ever even been created

creation itself is proof of the powerful mighty God that exists, (Romans 1:19–20 “19 because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. 20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse,” )

though the Hills may bring danger, God is above those very Hills,

He’s dwelling in places that are far higher than the hills

Idk about you guys but if you’ve ever been on a hike and you’ve summited a peak its pretty awe inspiring to see Gods creation and the magnitude in which he created things

Maybe some of you have been to the Grand canyon , when you look out over some of those ledges you cant help but be taken back like dude who made that , who created that

how is that Even possible…….. Its God ! He did it ! He’s the one who build that !

the one who Built that, ya thats where our Help comes from !

When we are in fear of what ever is being thrown at us, or even the unknown because of the Journey that Lies ahead. We can find peace and comfort knowing that the one who created us also has our back and will protect us !

no matter how big and scary the hill is in front of you your assurance is found in the Lord

God is our protector

Psalm 121:3–4 “3 He will not allow your foot to be moved; He who keeps you will not slumber. 4 Behold, He who keeps Israel Shall neither slumber nor sleep.”

God doesn’t cause us to stumble, when we do stumble its our fault based on the decisions we make but God himself doesn’t allow us to stumble

God holds us up in a straight line and he Keeps us from falling over or falling off the edge

I think about this verse it reminds me of when little Scotti was Learning to walk, you could see the little fear in her eyes as she would take a step

It was almost sad at times because she would look at us like mom, dad what are you doing to me

why are you teaching me to do this, but there we were Keeping her upright not allowing her to fall over and get Hurt

its the same with our Loving God who protects us each and every day. He’s holding you up by the hands keeping you from falling over

He’s there assure you every step that you take

He’s better than me and Kelci, he doesn’t even rest, He doesn’t even take a brake from His post. He’s always watching always providing us a helping Hand when we need Him.

there might be times when we slip physically, there will definitely be times when we slip spiritually , but one thing is for sure, God will always be there to pick us back up and help us get our footing

Ephesians 6:11 “11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.”

we stand firm because of the foundation that God the father is to us

he cares about our walk and he wants us to find our assurance in Him !

Psalm 121:5–6 “5 The Lord is your keeper; The Lord is your shade at your right hand. 6 The sun shall not strike you by day, Nor the moon by night.”

back in this time period the Pilgrims may have had some weird superstitions but that didn’t matter because just as the Lord looks down on us and protect us,

He is also at our side protecting us. He protects us from Harm !

this does not mean that a believer will never experience physical or emotional pain, God permits things to happen to us if they are in His will, they may hurt us but they do not Harm us.

Just as the shade protects from the sun, so God protects us from Harm

Psalm 91 says this

Psalm 91:1 “1 He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.”

heres the thing about shade, in order to be under the shade, you have to be close to the thing thats actually casting the shade

so in order for us to be protected By God and the shade he provides, we gotta be close to Him! He wants to bless us by relieving us of the hot sun that comes during the day !

what ever happens during the day, what ever happens during the night, hot or cold, days or months , year to year , season to season God the father is with us and He is standing right next to us !

We don’t need to be afraid because the Presence of the Father is always with us

How cool is that knowing that you’ve accepted Jesus and not only is He looking down on us protecting us , but He’s right next to us protecting us

He is with you at all hours of the day and all hours of the night, what a blessing it is to know a God that is that BIG !!

Psalm 121:7–8 “7 The Lord shall preserve you from all evil; He shall preserve your soul. 8 The Lord shall preserve your going out and your coming in From this time forth, and even forevermore.”

Gods continuous care and protection never stops, it never slows down and there is nothing that can stop Him from caring for us !

wether its the present time we live in or the future ahead of us, He preserves us and he watches over us

we don’t need to fear Life or death, today, tomorrow, we don’t need to fear time or eternity

By the Grace of God all evil turns to good, We have good days and sanctification days, bad days don’t exist as a believers only hard days that are turned and worked out for the Good. By His Grace

Romans 8:28 “28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.”

all the evil that is meant for you by this world or by people will be superceded by the goodness and sovereignty of God

The going out and coming in , what ever activities you do during your daily life,

what ever your schedule looks like for the summer , for the year, what ever minor details you’ve got going on God cares about and is concerned about

Its a wonderful thing to know that when ever we leave the house, when ever you are out and about running around, running the skreets, flying from state to state, city to city , traveling to other parts of the world, God the father is with you and he cares for your every need

1 Peter 5:7 “7 casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.”

Jesus loves you, you have nothing to fear.

He wants a relationship with you ! Seek Him

He wants to cover you with His shadows to protect you

He wants you to look at the mountains and look beyond them to recognize that He is fat bigger than them

( Lets Pray )