1. PSALM 121 A PILGRIM’S SONG ON THE PILGRIMAGE PSALM 1
: A SONG OF ASCENTS
Pilgrims, followers of God, on a journey to Jerusalem, Zion, to worship during one of the three most important festivals: Passover, Pentecost, Day of Atonement.

2. The Pilgrim's Progress from This World to That Which Is to Come; Delivered under the Similitude of a Dream a 1678 Christian allegory by John Bunyan

3. 121:1 I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come
121:1 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.
What was their goal? What is your goal?
God is the Creator!

4. 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.
Israel: God’s chosen people…Christians are grafted in!
God is our “watchman”!

5. 5 The LORD is your keeper; the LORD is your shade on your right hand
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.
God is our keeper…our “shade”!

6. 7 The LORD will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life
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.
All phases of your life now and for eternity!

7. PERSEVERANCE OF THE SAINTS
The perseverance of the saints means that all those who are truly born again will be kept by God’s power and will persevere as Christians until the end of their lives, and that only those who persevere until the end have been truly born again.

8. Revelation 21:2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
The Celestial City…Zion...The New Jerusalem
The Christians eternal home!

9. John 10:27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me
John 10:27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. 30 I and the Father are one.”
God keeps His sheep...His people.

10. 1 Peter 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ
1 Peter 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, 5 who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials

11. Philippians 1:6 And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.
Romans 8:35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? 37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.

12. 1 Peter 2:11 Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. 12 Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.

13. 1 John 2:19 They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us.
Not all who start in the Christian faith are truly Christians…born again.
Those who finish are the ones who are born again and guarded by God.

14. Come, we that love the Lord, And let our joys be known; Join in a song with sweet accord, Join in a song with sweet accord And thus surround the throne, And thus surround the throne. We’re marching to Zion, Beautiful, beautiful Zion; We’re marching upward to Zion, The beautiful city of God.
Isaac Watts ; “Christianized” psalms as hymns. “Come We That Love The Lord”
A Pilgrim's song.

15. Then let our songs abound, And every tear be dry; We’re marching through Immanuel’s ground, We’re marching through Immanuel’s ground, To fairer worlds on high, To fairer worlds on high. We’re marching to Zion, Beautiful, beautiful Zion; We’re marching upward to Zion, The beautiful city of God.

16. PRINCIPLES The One Holy Triune God is the Creator
Believers are on a journey to “Zion”
God saves believers and God keeps believers faithful until they reach “Zion”
Believers can rejoice now because of confidence in God’s faithfulness and anticipation of living in “the city of God”
We are not

17. APPLICATIONS
Do you today trust in Christ to forgive yours sins and take you without blame into heaven, the city of God, forever?
Is there evidence of the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit in your heart (Galatians 5:22)?
Do you see a long-term pattern of growth in your Christian life?
Do you journey here with your focus on heaven?