Protection and Hope
Notes
Transcript
If you have ever been to Beersheba Springs Retreat Center, then you may have come across the first verse in our passage for today under your feet at the lookout spot. Right in the center of the stone pavement on the lookout, in a circle emblem you will read “I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills.” Then you will look up and see hills, mountains rolling in breathtaking splendor. It is such as calming scene, any time of the year really. I have often stood still thanking God for such beautiful creation. Then I begin to think, the same God who made all of this, also made me. I can feel God’s love for me as I look upon his wonderful creation. I am in awe over each little detail from the various colors to the different animals and insects that God has created. It brings me to the realization that I am small part of His creation. God loves even the smallest ant, so how much love does He have for me?
Pray and Read Psalm 121
A Song of Ascents. I lift up my eyes to the hills— from where will my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber. He who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade at your right hand. The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life. The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time on and forevermore.
Let me reword this psalm in our modern slang so that you can hear what the author was writing in Hebrew:
I look up to the hills and wonder, “Where is my Helper and from where will the help come?” My help is from Yahweh the creator of everything on earth and in the heavens. This same God will not let you slip. He will not ever be in a deep sleep. He keeps His people Israel safe and secure. He does not fall asleep and stay asleep. The Lord God is your protector. He stays beside you and covers you like sun block in the day and stays with you through the night. He will keep you from all harm and will safe your life from the Evil One. Everywhere you go, as you leave and as you return, God is with you. He is with you now and for all time. Amen
When I was praying over this passage, in my mind I kept replacing the word “help” with the word “hope”. I don’t think that was by accident. We often times ask God to help us with things. Our prayers become a time of venting or crying about our live circumstances. We wonder if God can hear us, or if He really is listening. I hope you know that God is listening and that He is faithful. Again, looking at God’s creation and know that details are important to Him. He not only cares, but this is the way He created this world, He truly has all things under control. He has been faithful in the past, then you know He will be faithful in the future. Instead of just asking for help, what if we also had hope? When we ask for help, we understand that we may not get it. But If we have hope, then we know we will. Where does our help and our hope come from? As Jesus said regarding the birds of the air in Luke 12:24
Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds!
What does it look like to have hope in God, the One who will not let you slip away? This is the same One who does not fall asleep on His creation. The same God who took Noah and his family on the Arc, calls you His child. The same God who shut the mouths of the lions while Daniel was held in their den, promises that no weapon formed against you shall prosper. The same Savior who died for you and gave you His Spirit to be with you always has never been unfaithful.
Think about when you have had a mountain of paperwork in front of you that had an impossible deadline. Or think of a time when you recieved a diagnosis that changed your life. Maybe you recieved a phone call that you never expected to receive. Know that God was with you then. God is your help and your hope. No task, situation, or crisis is bigger than your God.
The thing of it is church, in terms of our situation, this is just our first step. God is calling us to step into this new path and has promised to help us if we stay in His will. Know that God is our help, what is our hope? I have seen some truly inspiring replies from you guys as we look forward with hope. Some of you hope that we will be a Christ-centered church that is strong and works together. Some of you hope that we help others in need and be supportive of one another. Many want to see more people gathering together and to grow our youth and children’s programs. If these hopes are God’s will for us, and I think they are, then we need to have faith that God will help us make this our reality.
So I want you look into the future and see where we are five years from now. What do you see? If you are struggling with something in your personal life, look forward to the future and envision what would happen if you put all our faith, hope, and action in Christ. What does your future look like? Look at the blessing that we have had in the past, how faithful has God been to us? Look at the blessings that we have now? How faithful is God to us? How could there be any doubt that God will not be our constant help and give us hope in the future?
In the name of God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen