Protected by God

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Sean Couch

Christiansburg Baptist Church

Sermon • Submitted 5 years ago • Presented 5 years ago • 35:52

Psalm 121

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How did it go fighting the good fight this week?

I hope you were able to see God work in some unique ways in your life.

Kept By God

It has been an unsettling week for many, though, hasn’t it?

If you have been watching the news, you have seen the stock market swinging wildly for fear of what may come.

 It is hard to believe that the day has come.

This afternoon, Gordon Howard and I, along with two men from GraceLife, will head to Washington DC so we can fly out tomorrow morning to go to Zimbabwe.

You have seen shootings in America, unrest in Hong Kong, and more.

Perhaps something happened in your personal life this week. You started off well, trying to take hold of eternal life and fight the good fight like we talked about last week, but something came up that got your eyes back on this life and has you concerned.

The closer we get to this trip, the more the world goes insane. There are planes missing, diseases spreading, and enough situations to worry about to drive you insane.

I imagine that most of us are faced with a situation that has us worried.

I know that many of you are concerned about us as we go on the trip, and I hope that is motivating you to pray.

What I don’t want to have happen is for you to be worried about us while we’re gone.

That’s why this morning, I want us to look at one of the most comforting, reassuring passages I know.

The only thing that makes this passage difficult to preach is that it is so straightforward.

This morning, you may not be getting ready to fly out of the country. However, I imagine that most of us are faced with a situation that has us worried.

Maybe you are afraid for your health. Perhaps you are worried about a family member who seems to be out to get you. Is your boss trying to find an excuse to fire you?

As you are starting classes, you are faced with the overwhelming fear of all that needs to be read, written, and studied in the next 13 weeks.

Maybe it is something from your past that you have never faced? A person who hurt you and left you in fear that it would happen again?

What is it that has you afraid this morning?

Whatever it may be, no matter how big or how small it may seem to you or anyone else, I want you to learn this key truth this morning: If you have placed your trust in Jesus as Savior and Lord, you are protected by God.

If you walk out of here with no other understanding than that, I want you to see that you are protected by God.

The psalm we look at this morning explains that in great detail, so turn over to .

Keep in mind that the psalms were originally songs that were sung by the Israelites.

Like last week’s psalm, this is from the Psalms of Ascent, which were songs sung by pilgrims going to Jerusalem to celebrate the holy days God had set in place.

This particular psalm is in a unique group of psalms called “songs of ascent”. They were sung by the Jews as they made their trips to Jerusalem for the feasts God called them to observe.

You will see the word “protect” or “Protector” six different times in this passage, so the psalmist is driving this lesson home.

When you hear the word “keep”, what images come to mind?

Hold on – “I want to keep this”

So, as they are coming from all over Israel to worship at Jerusalem, they would be looking around at the mountains around them and acknowledging that God is their protector, no matter what.

Protect – “I will keep you safe”

Preserve – “How long will these keep?”

The idea here is that God is the one who keeps us. He protects us, He preserves us, He holds on tightly to us.

Let me ask you this question, and don’t be too quick to answer: do you really believe, honestly, that God is able to keep you safe?

Remember, the way you act shows what you believe. Do your actions, your thought processes, your decisions reflect that God really can keep you safe?

Do you think God is bigger than cancer? Is He bigger than your rebellious child or your wicked boss?

Is God good enough to protect you through the drudgery of the day in and day out routine of life?

Do you think God is bigger than cancer? Is He bigger than your rebellious child or your wicked boss?

Maybe you’re like the dad who was completely honest with Jesus when he said, “Lord, I believe; only help my unbelief.”

You may want to believe, but you are still struggling this morning.

My prayer is that God will take His word this morning and apply it to your heart, helping you to find peace because, if you are His, you are kept by God!

As the psalmist writes, he gives us at least five character traits of God that show why He is the best one to keep us.

Look at the psalm with me, starting in verse 1…

1)God created everything.

The writer of this psalm starts off with a question. Look at verse 1.

We don’t know what prompted him to write these words, but that actually may make it better.

There could have been any number of situations that caused the psalmist to need help, but as he looked out over the hills, he couldn’t help but wonder if there was help there.

In verse 2, he seems to answer his own question…

He identifies the source of his help as the LORD.

There, he uses the personal name for God that distinguished Him from other deities.

That name is going to be important to us in a few weeks when we look at the life of Moses.

Just like Baal was called Baal, Asherah was named Asherah, here the psalmist calls God by His name.

If you have ever studied a culture that worships many gods, you know that each has their own realm of expertise. The Canaanites around Israel worshiped Baal, who was the storm god, Asherah who was the fertility goddess, and so on.

The name the psalmist uses here is the name that speaks to the fact that God was, is, and is to come, just like we talked about last week. He has existed from eternity past, he is fully present in this moment, and he is present in every moment that has yet come to pass.

The One who is the source of our help is not limited to only controlling one part of nature at a time.

Why?

Because He made it all.

He is the maker of heaven and earth!

We believe and we teach that makes it clear that God created everything from nothing. He made everything that exists by his own word.

That’s what Paul explains in :

“For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.” (, NASB95)

Colossians 1:16–17 CSB

For everything was created by him, in heaven and on earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities— all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and by him all things hold together.

He created everything that has been made!

 He created everything that has been made!

If He made it, He can control it!

God isn’t like a mad scientist who created a monster he could no longer control; He created everything and still guides and directs His creation today.

Did you notice that in Paul’s words? “…by him all things hold together”?

Right now, everything that exists is there because He is holding it together.

Who better to keep you safe than the one who is holding it all together anyway?

As you think about the God who watches over you at this very moment, remember that He is the same God who created it all.

The psalmist gives us more assurance that God will keep us. Look at verse 3, where we see that…

2) He is proactive.

Here, the psalmist draws a picture for us that is pretty clear and straightforward.

Many of you have hiked some of the gorgeous trails in the forests around our area.

Have you ever noticed that, as you start out, you pay lots of attention to the ground? You may even spend more time looking down than looking up as you watch for roots, rocks, and other problems on the path that could trip you up.

The longer you walk, though, the more tired you become. As you get tired, you start zoning out and not paying as much attention. Before too much longer, you trip, slip, twist, or stumble because you aren’t paying attention.

The picture here is that God, our keeper, is proactively watching out for you to keep you from slipping.

God isn’t like anti-lock brakes that just activate when something goes wrong; he is actively monitoring everything about your life to keep it from going off track.

That doesn’t mean that nothing bad will ever happen to you.

It doesn’t mean that your stock portfolio won’t crash, your health won’t fail, your kids won’t get angry with you, you won’t fail a class, or that you will never have pain.

It does mean that he will constantly work to allow you to bring him glory through those situations.

He will give you strength to keep getting up, keep honoring him, and keep moving through all the difficulties life will throw at you.

He will keep you from falling into sin, even when everything seems stacked against you.

He knows the terrain; he will keep you from stumbling.

Are you worried that He might let up? Look at the next verse and see that…

3) He is always alert.

This is one of my favorite passages in all the psalms. Look at verses 3-4…

 This is one of my favorite passages in all the psalms. Look at verses 3-4…

Think about it: God never gets sleepy.

He has never had a time where He dozed off and missed something.

Imagine a loving parent who doesn’t sleep all night long because they have a sick child.

The difference is, God’s eyes never get blurry, He never nods off.

He is always completely aware of where you are and what is going on.

If you want to see this expanded, check out when you get a chance.

In it, David says that God knew everything about you, almost to the point that it unnerved David how closely God watches us.

Here, however, we see that this was a comforting realization, because that means that the God who created the universe and is right now holding it together never falls asleep at the wheel.

There is another beautiful aspect of God’s character that helps here. Did you see who God protects in verse 4?

God is protecting His people.

Keep in mind that if you are here today and you have never trusted Jesus as your Savior and Lord, then these promises don’t apply to you yet, but they can.

Look at the next verse.

Here, we take the abstract and again make it personal…

4) He gives individual protection & comfort.

God doesn’t simply keep His people in a general sense; He is keeping you as an individual.

He is specifically keeping you from stumbling.

He is the one who is providing you personal protection and comfort.

Look at verse 5-6 again…

In the Old Testament, the right hand was often synonymous with work. The majority of people were right handed.

Not only that, but the right hand would have been the fighting hand, making it important to have someone protecting it.

The picture here is that God is shading you, even during the heat of the hardest work you face.

Think about how hot it got last week. It always feels so much better in the shade!

That’s the idea of the sun by day…That God will protect you from the brunt of the heat from your trial.

Not only that, though, God also protects you from the chill of the night air.

When you are in a difficult season, especially when it seems like other people come after you, there are times when it gets hot and difficult to fight.

Other times, though, the fight turns cold. Rumors start, gossip spreads, and the battle never ceases.

Sometimes, life is hard and tiring because of the pressure. Other times, it seems like you are isolated and alone in the dark.

In either case, God is protecting you!

One commentator put it this way:

“[You will] not be hurt either by the open assaults of [your] enemies, which are as visible as the scorching beams of the sun, or by their secret treacherous attempts, which are like the insensible insinuations of the cold by night.” (Matthew Henry)

There is more than simply protection implied here, though. Although shade protects us from the effects of the sun, it also provides an element of comfort.

In essence, the psalmist is here saying that God lessens the impact of the attack, whether open or hidden, and provides comfort.

He doesn’t promise that the attack won’t come. The sun will still beat down and the chill of the night will still come, yet all the while, you have a protector God who is always alert to give you comfort.

The psalmist may have had this picture in mind, which we will also see in our study of Moses:

“The LORD was going before them in a pillar of cloud by day to lead them on the way, and in a pillar of fire by night to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night. He did not take away the pillar of cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night, from before the people.” (, NASB95)

Exodus 13:21–22 CSB

The Lord went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to lead them on their way during the day and in a pillar of fire to give them light at night, so that they could travel day or night. The pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night never left its place in front of the people.

He is always there, providing comfort and protection.

 He is always there, providing comfort and protection.

Not only that, he gives us the protection we need when we need it.

Did you notice that this protection extends all the way to the spiritual realm?

Listen to verse 7 again.

He protects us from all evil, whether from people or from spiritual forces that we may not see.

He protects not only our bodies and our physical lives, but more importantly, He is guarding our very souls.

Remember, we have an enemy out there who wants to destroy the work of God:

1 Peter 5:8 CSB

Be sober-minded, be alert. Your adversary the devil is prowling around like a roaring lion, looking for anyone he can devour.

“Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” (, NASB95)

Yet, God is able to protect you, even from the one who prowls around to destroy your very soul.

 Yet, God is able to protect you, even from the one who prowls around to destroy your very soul.

Just in case there is any question about the guardian and keeper of your soul, the psalmist gives us one more piece of information about Him:

5) He is constant.

Look at verse 8.

Just like the reminder in verse 4, here we again see that there will never be a time when God’s protection will cease.

There is no limit to this. He will guard the course of your life from this point on until the end of eternity.

What has you concerned today? What has you afraid?

The Lord, the maker of heaven and earth, is working right now to preserve you through what you face. He will never fall asleep and leave you hanging; instead He will personally provide you as a person individual comfort and protection that extends all the way to your very soul.

That protection will never, ever, ever fade away or cease.

Can we then agree with Paul’s words in ?

Romans 8:38–39 CSB

For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

“For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (, NASB95)

Where are you looking for help this morning? Think your doctors have it all figured out? Maybe you trust that your investment broker is able to manage all these difficult days. Perhaps you think you are just plain strong enough or smart enough to pull yourself through it.

 Where are you looking for help this morning? Think your doctors have it all figured out? Maybe you trust that your investment broker is able to manage all these difficult days. Perhaps you think you are just plain strong enough or smart enough to pull yourself through it.

Let’s be honest this morning: there isn’t a single person in this world who can keep you safe, secure, and steadfast. You have no idea what this afternoon could hold.

So why not join with the psalmist and rest in the God who will keep you safe?

After all, if you are trusting him to save you from your greatest danger, then why wouldn’t you trust him in the small ones?

If you have turned to following him, then you are trusting that God is going to keep his word and has saved you from the penalty of sin by placing it on Jesus instead of you.

What area are you still having trouble believing he will protect you in? Why not settle that now as we take some time to respond?

Endnote:

[i] Matthew Henry, MHCC, p 930

Kept By God

Psalm 121

 It is hard to believe that the day has come.

 This afternoon, Gordon Howard and I, along with two men from GraceLife, will head to Washington DC so we can fly out tomorrow morning to go to Zimbabwe.

 The closer we get to this trip, the more the world goes insane. There are planes missing, diseases spreading, and enough situations to worry about to drive you insane.

 I know that many of you are concerned about us as we go on the trip, and I hope that is motivating you to pray.

 What I don’t want to have happen is for you to be worried about us while we’re gone.

 That’s why this morning, I want us to look at one of the most comforting, reassuring passages I know.

 The only thing that makes this passage difficult to preach is that it is so straightforward.

 This morning, you may not be getting ready to fly out of the country. However, I imagine that most of us are faced with a situation that has us worried.

 Maybe you are afraid for your health. Perhaps you are worried about a family member who seems to be out to get you. Is your boss trying to find an excuse to fire you?

 Maybe it is something from your past that you have never faced? A person who hurt you and left you in fear that it would happen again?

 What is it that has you afraid this morning?

 Whatever it may be, no matter how big or how small it may seem to you or anyone else, I want you to learn this key truth this morning: You are kept by God.

 If you walk out of here with no other understanding than that, I want you to see that you are kept by God.

 The psalm we look at this morning explains that in great detail, so turn over to Psalm 121.

 Like last week’s psalm, this is from the Psalms of Ascent, which were songs sung by pilgrims going to Jerusalem to celebrate the holy days God had set in place.

 Over and over again, you will hear the words “keep” and “keeper”. Even the word “protect” and “guard” from verses 7-8 can be translated keep.

 When you hear the word “keep”, what images come to mind?

o Hold on – “I want to keep this”

o Protect – “I will keep you safe”

o Preserve – “How long will these keep?”

 The idea here is that God is the one who keeps us. He protects us, He preserves us, He holds on tightly to us.

 Let me ask you this question, and don’t be too quick to answer: do you really believe, honestly, that God is able to keep you safe?

 Remember, the way you act shows what you believe. Do your actions, your thought processes, your decisions reflect that God really can keep you safe?

 Thinking about the trip, do you believe God is bigger than ISIS, Al Queda, ebola, and anything else that could come up?

 Do you think God is bigger than cancer? Is He bigger than your rebellious child or your wicked boss?

 Maybe you’re like the dad who was completely honest with Jesus when he said, “Lord, I believe; only help my unbelief.”

 You may want to believe, but you are still struggling this morning.

 My prayer is that God will take His word this morning and apply it to your heart, helping you to find peace because, if you are His, you are kept by God!

 As the psalmist writes, he gives us at least five character traits of God that show why He is the best one to keep us.

 Look at the psalm with me, starting in verse 1…

He created everything

 The writer of this psalm starts off with a question. Look at verse 1.

 We don’t know what prompted him to write these words, but that actually may make it better.

 There could have been any number of situations that caused the psalmist to need help, but as he looked out over the hills, he couldn’t help but wonder if there was help there.

 In verse 2, he seems to answer his own question…

 He identifies the source of his help as the LORD.

 There, he uses the personal name for God that distinguished Him from other deities.

 Just like Baal was called Baal, Asherah was named Asherah, here the psalmist calls God by His name.

 If you have ever studied a culture that worships many gods, you know that each has their own realm of expertise. The Canaanites around Israel worshiped Baal, who was the storm god, Asherah who was the fertility goddess, and so on.

 However, the one who is the source of our help is not limited to only one scope or part of nature or control.

 Why?

 Because He made it all.

 He is the maker of heaven and earth!

 We believe and we teach that Genesis 1 makes it clear that God created everything from nothing.

 That’s what Paul explains in Colossians 1:

 He created everything that has been made!

 If He made it, He can control it!

 God isn’t like a mad scientist who created a monster he could no longer control; He created everything and still guides and directs His creation today.

 Did you notice that in Paul’s words? “…in Him all things hold together”?

 Right now, everything that exists is there because He is holding it together.

 Who better to keep you safe than the one who is holding it all together anyway?

 As you think about the God who watches over you at this very moment, remember that He is the same God who created it all.

 The psalmist gives us more assurance that God will keep us. Look at verse 3, where we see that…

He is proactive

 Here, the psalmist draws a picture for us that is pretty clear and straightforward.

 Many of you have hiked some of the gorgeous trails in the forests around our area.

 Have you ever noticed that, as you start out, you pay lots of attention to the ground? You may even spend more time looking down than looking up as you watch for roots, rocks, and other problems on the path that could trip you up.

 The longer you walk, though, the more tired you become. As you get tired, you start zoning out and not paying as much attention. Before too much longer, you trip, slip, twist, or stumble because you aren’t paying attention.

 The picture here is that God, our keeper, is proactively watching out for you to keep you from slipping.

 That doesn’t mean that nothing bad will ever happen to you.

 It doesn’t mean that your stock portfolio won’t crash, your health won’t fail, your kids won’t get angry with you, you won’t fail a class, or that you will never have pain.

 It does mean that He will constantly work to allow you to bring Him glory through those situations.

 He will keep you from falling into sin, even when everything seems stacked against you.

 He knows the terrain; He will keep you from stumbling.

 Are you worried that He might let up? Look at the next verse and see that…

He is always alert

 This is one of my favorite passages in all the psalms. Look at verses 3-4…

 Think about it: God never gets sleepy.

 He has never had a time where He dozed off and missed something.

 Imagine a loving parent who doesn’t sleep all night long because they have a sick child.

 The difference is, God’s eyes never get blurry, He never nods off.

 He is always completely aware of where you are and what is going on.

 That’s what we said last week as we looked at Psalm 139.

 David said there that God knew everything about you, and we said that actually seemed to unnerve David and freak him out a bit.

 Here, however, we see that this was a comforting realization, because that means that the God who created the universe and is right now holding it together never falls asleep at the wheel.

 There is another beautiful aspect of God’s character that helps here. Did you see who God keeps in verse 4?

 God is keeping His people.

 But look at the next verse…

 Here, we take the abstract and again make it personal…

He gives individual protection & comfort

 God doesn’t simply keep His people in a general sense; He is keeping you as an individual person.

 He is specifically keeping you from stumbling.

 He is the one who is providing you personal protection and comfort.

 Look at verse 5-6 again…

 In the Old Testament, the right hand was often synonymous with work. The majority of people were right handed.

 Not only that, but the right hand would have been the fighting hand, making it important to have someone protecting it.

 The picture here is that God is shading you, even during the heat of the hardest work you face.

 That’s the idea of the sun by day…That God will protect you from the brunt of the heat from your trial.

 Not only that, though, God also protects you from the chill of the night air.

 When you are in a difficult season, especially when it seems like other people come after you, there are times when it gets hot and difficult to fight.

 Other times, though, the fight turns cold. Rumors start, gossip spreads, and the battle never ceases.

 One commentator put it this way:

 There is more than simply protection implied here, though. Although shade protects us from the effects of the sun, it also provides an element of comfort.

 In essence, the psalmist is here saying that God lessens the impact of the attack, whether open or hidden, and provides comfort.

 He doesn’t promise that the attack won’t come. The sun will still beat down and the chill of the night will still come, yet all the while, you have a protector God who is always alert to give you comfort.

 The psalmist may have had this picture in mind:

 He is always there, providing comfort and protection.

 Did you notice that this protection extends all the way to the spiritual realm?

 He protects us from all evil, whether from people or from spiritual forces that we may not see.

 He protects not only our bodies and our physical lives, but more importantly, He is guarding our very souls.

 Remember, we have an enemy out there who wants to destroy the work of God:

“Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” (1 Peter 5:8, NASB95)

 Yet, God is able to protect you, even from the one who prowls around to destroy your very soul.

 Just in case there is any question about the guardian and keeper of your soul, the psalmist gives us one more piece of information about Him:

He is constant

 Look at verse 8.

 Just like the reminder in verse 4, here we again see that there will never be a time when God’s protection will cease.

 There is no limit to this. He will guard the course of your life from this point on until the end of eternity.

 What has you concerned today? What has you afraid?

 The Lord, the maker of heaven and earth, is working right now to preserve you through what you face. He will never fall asleep and leave you hanging; instead He will personally provide you as a person individual comfort and protection that extends all the way to your very soul.

 That protection will never, ever, ever fade away or cease.

 Can we then agree with Paul’s words in Romans 8?

 Let’s be honest this morning: there isn’t a single person in this world who can keep you safe, secure, and steadfast. You have no idea what this afternoon could hold.

 So why not join with the psalmist and rest in the God who will keep you safe?