Welcome! It’s Good to be a Christian. June 26,2016

Psalms 121: 1-8 (6) Where does your help come from?

Psalms 121: 1-8 (6) Where does your help come from?

Review Of Context: “Your help is here Review Of Context: “Your help is here!” Psalms 121 is marked in the title as the second of the “Songs of Ascents.” This is a sequence of 15 Psalms, from 120 through to 134, which were sung by pilgrims on their way up to Jerusalem to visit the Temple. In this Psalm we find the pilgrim still some way from Jerusalem and considering the journey ahead of him. This is a “Song of Degrees,” that is, this is a Psalm that worshipers would sing as they made their way to Jerusalem to participate in the three great annual feast; Passover, Pentecost and Tabernacles. With that in mind, it is plain to see that this is a pilgrim’s song. It tells of the dangers of the journey, and of the help God provides along way.

Verse 1 is not a declaration of hope, but rather, it is a cry of despair. The Psalmist is telling us that danger is lurking in the hills above and is waiting for an opportunity to pounce upon the weary travelers. The dangers of the climb; the danger of bandits; the danger of heatstroke and exhaustion in the fierce summer heat; the danger of wild animals at night. *All this prompts his question, “Where does my help come from?” The Psalmist’s answer is immediate and emphatic, “My help comes from the Lord.” This is not a wishful cliché, but he has detailed reasons for confidence in God’s help, which he goes on to unpack.

I want to look at his reasons under two main headings *I want to look at his reasons under two main headings. God is bigger than our troubles and second God cares about our troubles. 1) God is bigger than our troubles (vs.2). The Psalmist is convinced that God can help him because he is the Maker of heaven and earth. The pilgrim lifted his eyes to the hills, and what he saw made him anxious. But now he lifts his eyes higher and looks beyond to the very one who made the hills; the one who made heaven and earth. With the Maker himself on his side there is no need to fear anything that has been made. Nothing is beyond God’s reach and control.

This is so obviously true, and such a basic point that it might seem hardly worth making. But it’s where the Psalmists starts. Sometimes we need reminding of obvious truths; when we face anxious times, do your thoughts turn first to our God, Maker of heaven and earth? God is the source of help, the creator of the hills. 2) God cares about our troubles (vs. 3-8). * In verses 3-8 we find that the pilgrim’s confidence is built not only on the fact that God is bigger than his troubles, but also on the fact that God cares about his troubles. Look how often he repeats the phrase “watch over”, “The Lord watches over you.” The Hebrew word the writer uses means “to keep”; “to hedge about”; “to protect”, and he uses it six times in six verses, in the NIV in vs. 7 The Lord will keep you from harm.

So the Psalmist is really keen to get over the idea that God keeps watch over his people. What wonderful assurance! (1) The Lord’s care is constant. (vs.3-4) Verse 3, “He will not let your foot slip-He who watches over you will not slumber.” God’s watch is constant; He is never asleep, never day-dreaming, never distracted, never inattentive. “We can sleep safely because our God is ever awake.” In verse 4 we see the reason that he is constantly concerned for us. It is because He is constantly concerned for his people, Israel, and us today, if we are believers, we are a vital part of his people. God’s people is not complete with out you!

2) The Lord’s care is close. (vs 2) The Lord’s care is close. (vs.5-6) One of the greatest perils for the traveler was the fierce heat of the middle eastern sun, but the promise is that God cares for the pilgrim even through this. God is close enough to take the heat for the traveler. In verse 6 we see the full spectrum of God’s care. I’, not sure that the Psalmist really believed that exposure to the moon is harmful, but what he has done is to choose two opposites, the sun by day and the moon by night, to encompass everything in between. The Lord guards the pilgrim through perils of the day and the perils of the night, and everything in between. There are no circumstances in which He will abandon the pilgrim to look after himself.

* Whatever it is that you are worried about, God is close enough to help you, and there is nothing He will abandon you to face alone. So, the Lord’s care is close. 3) The Lord’s care is continuing. (vs. 7-8) “ The Lord will keep you from all harm, He will watch over your life; the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and for evermore.” God’s concern for the pilgrim of the Psalm doesn’t end when he completes his journey; God’s commitment to his people is for ever, for the greater journey we each undertake, our journey through life itself.

In what sense is the Lord keeping His people from harm In what sense is the Lord keeping His people from harm? As we know, don’t we, that you and I are just as subject to the perils of this world as others. On average, in my experience, I’d say that Christians suffer sickness, bereavement, crime and unfairness just as much as the unbelievers. In what sense is God keeping us from all harm? Are we deluded? If we has a narrow, worldly perspective the promises would look bogus. The Psalmist’s would not want us to have this perspective. Just as earlier he lifted his eyes above the troublesome hills to see his creator, here he looks beyond his present anxieties to eternal truths. God is concerned with our whole lives, not just now, but for evermore.

Often our first concern is that we have a comfortable life; God’s first concern is that we have eternal life. So God’s promise is to do what it takes to keep you safe for eternal life with Him. That may mean facing situations you’d rather not face. It may mean that some troubles you find yourself in you can’t understand. But crucially, God is committed to being with you. The Lord’s care is continuing; He is committed to making sure we finish our journey, until we finally enter into life with him. In the end we will look back and know that we were kept safe; and God did shield us from harm.

Conclusion: We like the Psalmist’s are on a journey, and when we look around it is easy to give into worry (hills), and miss the creator who made them. Looking at the hills in our lives we sometimes question, Is God able to help me and take care of me?; Is God unwilling to help me?; Sometimes we are such victims we think that think that He has left us and we just need to cope on our own.

*As Christians we have a God bigger than the troubles (hills or mountains) that we face and must pass through. Also, He is a God that cares about our troubles that occur as we walk through this life. We care so much at times about having a good long life, when God is concerned about us making it through this life and having eternal life with Him. Binoculars!?

Faith is like having big binoculars *Faith is like having big binoculars! And a faith that can see past the mountains that bring trouble, comes only from God’s word which tells us about a Great God in heaven who is interested in everything that happens in my life. My burdens, problems, worries are all His also. My duty is to know Him and trust Him, His job is to take care of me. Are we performing our part?