The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore.

Transcription

1 GOD the PRESERVER of MAN June 11, 2006 Golden Text Ps 121:5 (to:), 7 (to:) The Lord is thy keeper: The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil: Responsive Reading Ps 121:3 he that he that keepeth thee will not slumber. Ps 121: 8 The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore. Ps 107:2, 4-7, 9, 14, 20, (to;), 43 Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy; They wandered in the wilderness in a solitary way; they found no city to dwell in. Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted in them. Then they cried unto the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them out of their distresses. And he led them forth by the right way, that they might go to a city of habitation. For he satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness. He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and brake their bands in sunder. He sent his word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions. He turneth the wilderness into a standing water, and dry ground into watersprings. And there he maketh the hungry to dwell, that they may prepare a city for habitation; And sow the fields, and plant vineyards, which may yield fruits of increase. He blesseth them also, so that they are multiplied greatly; Whoso is wise, and will observe these things, even they shall understand the lovingkindness of the Lord.

2 Section 1: The Bible Ps. 121:3 he that, 5 he that keepeth thee will not slumber. The Lord is thy keeper: the Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand. Deut. 32:9-12 For the Lord's portion is his people; Jacob is the lot of his inheritance. He found him in a desert land, and in the waste howling wilderness; he led him about, he instructed him, he kept him as the apple of his eye. As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings: So the Lord alone did lead him, and there was no strange god with him. Ps. 17:6 (to :), 8, 9 I have called upon thee, for thou wilt hear me, O God: Keep me as the apple of the eye, hide me under the shadow of thy wings, From the wicked that oppress me, from my deadly enemies, who compass me about. Ps, 16:1, 5, 11 (to:) Preserve me, O God: for in thee do I put my trust. The Lord is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup: thou maintainest my lot. Thou wilt shew me the path of life: Ps. 37:23 The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord: and he delighteth in his way. Section 1: Science & Health 444:10 Step by step will those who trust Him find that "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble."

3 249:21-2 God God never slumbers, and His likeness never dreams. Mortals are the Adam dreamers. Sleep and apathy are phases of the dream that life, substance, and intelligence are material. The mortal nightdream is sometimes nearer the fact of being than are the thoughts of mortals when awake. The night-dream has less matter as its accompaniment. It throws off some material fetters. It falls short of the skies, but makes its mundane flights quite ethereal. Man is the reflection of Soul. He is the direct opposite of material sensation, and there is but one Ego. We run into error when we divide Soul into souls, multiply Mind into minds and suppose error to be mind, then mind 151:23-4,26 The divine Mind that made man maintains His own image and likeness. The human mind is opposed to God and must be put off, as St. Paul declares. All that really exists is the divine Mind and its idea, and in this Mind the entire being is found harmonious and eternal. The straight and narrow way is to see and acknowledge this fact, yield to this power, and follow the leadings of truth. That mortal mind claims to govern every organ of the mortal body, we have overwhelming proof. But this so-called mind is a myth, and must by its own consent yield to Truth. It would wield the sceptre of a monarch, but it is powerless. The immortal divine Mind takes away all its supposed sovereignty, and All that really exists is the divine Mind and its idea, and in this Mind the entire being is found harmonious and eternal. The straight and narrow way is to see and acknowledge this fact, yield to this power, and follow the leadings of truth. 2:4, 15-7, 23 (only, to.) Are we benefited by praying? Yes, the desire which goes forth hungering after righteousness is blessed of our Father, and it does not return unto us void. Prayer cannot change the Science of being, but it tends to bring us into harmony with it. Goodness attains the demonstration of Truth. A request that God will save us is not all that is required. The mere habit of pleading with the divine Mind, as one pleads with a human being, perpetuates the belief in God as humanly circumscribed, - an error which impedes spiritual growth. God is Love. Can we ask Him to be more? God is intelligence. Can we inform the infinite Mind of anything He does not already comprehend? Do we expect to change perfection? Shall we plead for more at the open fount, which is pouring forth more than we accept? The unspoken desire does bring us nearer the source of all existence and blessedness.

4 Asking God to be God is a vain repetition. God is "the same yesterday, and to-day, and forever;" and He who is immutably right will do right without being reminded of His province. The wisdom of man is not sufficient to warrant him in advising God. Who would stand before a blackboard, and pray the principle of mathematics to solve the problem? The rule is already established, and it is our task to work out the solution. 494:10-1 God is Love. Can we ask Him to be more? God is Divine Love always has met and always will meet every human need. It is not well to imagine that Jesus demonstrated the divine power to heal only for a select number or for a limited period of time, since to all mankind and in every hour, divine Love supplies all good. The miracle of grace is no miracle to Love. Jesus demonstrated the inability of corporeality, as well as the infinite ability of Spirit, thus helping erring human sense to flee from its own convictions and seek safety in divine Science. Reason, rightly directed, serves to correct the errors of corporeal sense; but sin, sickness, and death will seem real (even as the experiences of the sleeping dream seem real) until the Science of man's eternal harmony breaks their illusion with the unbroken reality of scientific being. Which of these two theories concerning man are you ready to accept? One is the mortal testimony, changing, dying, unreal. The other is the eternal and real evidence, bearing Truth's signet, its lap piled high with immortal fruits. Our Master cast out devils (evils) and healed the sick. It should be said of his followers also, that they cast fear and all evil out of themselves and others and heal the sick. God will heal the sick through man, whenever man is Section 2: The Bible Ps. 33:18, 19 Behold, the eye of the Lord is upon them that fear him, upon them that hope in his mercy; To deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine.

5 I Kings 17:1-6 And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, As the Lord God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word. And the word of the Lord came unto him, saying, Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward, and hide thyself by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan. And it shall be, that thou shalt drink of the brook; and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there. So he went and did according unto the word of the Lord: for he went and dwelt by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan. And the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh in the evening; and he drank of the brook. Ps. 86:1, 2 Bow down thine ear, O Lord, hear me: for I am poor and needy. Preserve my soul; for I am holy: O thou my God, save thy servant that trusteth in thee. Section 2: Science & Health 7:23 The The "divine ear" is not an auditory nerve. It is the all-hearing and all-knowing Mind, to whom each need of man is always known and by whom it will be supplied. 62:22, 31-1 The divine Mind, which forms the bud and blossom, will care for the human body, even as it clothes the lily; but let no mortal interfere with God's government by thrusting in the laws of erring, human concepts. Because mortals believe in material laws and reject the Science of Mind, this does not make materiality first and the superior law of Soul last. 96:15 The breaking up of material beliefs may seem to be famine and pestilence, want and woe, sin, sickness, and death, which assume new phases until their nothingness appears. These disturbances will continue until the end of error, when all discord will be swallowed up in spiritual Truth. 530:5-7 In divine Science, man is sustained by God, the divine Principle of being. The earth, at God's command, brings forth food for man's use.

6 442:22-25 Christ, Truth, gives mortals temporary food and clothing until the material, transformed with the ideal, disappears, and man is clothed and fed spiritually. Section 3: The Bible Ps. 140:4,7 Keep me, O Lord, from the hands of the wicked; preserve me from the violent man; who have purposed to overthrow my goings. O God the Lord, the strength of my salvation, thou hast covered my head in the day of battle. Ps. 18:1, 2, 4, 6 (to :), 48 I will love thee, O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower. The sorrows of death compassed me, and the floods of ungodly men made me afraid. In my distress I called upon the Lord, and cried unto my God: He delivereth me from mine enemies: yea, thou liftest me up above those that rise up against me: thou hast delivered me from the violent man. Ps. 91:9-11 Because thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation; There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling. For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. Section 3: Science & Health 566: :3-6 The Old Testament assigns to the angels, God's divine messages, different offices. These angels deliver us from the depths. Truth and Love come nearer in the hour of woe, when strong faith or spiritual strength wrestles and prevails through the understanding of God.

7 286:21-26 God's thoughts are perfect and eternal, are substance and Life. Material and temporal thoughts are human, involving error, and since God, Spirit, is the only cause, they lack a divine cause. The temporal and material are not then creations of Spirit. They are but counterfeits of the spiritual and eternal. 289:8 A wicked mortal is not the idea of God. He is little else than the expression of error. To suppose that sin, lust, hatred, envy, hypocrisy, revenge, have life abiding in them, is a terrible mistake. Life and Life's idea, Truth and Truth's idea, never make men sick, sinful, or mortal. 96:21-23, 25-27, 31 Mortal error will vanish in a moral chemicalization. This mental fermentation has begun, and will continue until all errors of belief yield to understanding. As this consummation draws nearer, he who has shaped his course in accordance with divine Science will endure to the end. During this final conflict, wicked minds will endeavor to find means by which to accomplish more evil; but those who discern Christian Science will hold crime in check. They will aid in the ejection of error. They will maintain law and order, and cheerfully await the certainty of ultimate perfection. Section 4: The Bible Ps 127:1 except except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain. Isa. 36:1, 2 (to 1st.) Now it came to pass in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah, that Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the defenced cities of Judah, and took them. And the king of Assyria sent Rabshakeh from Lachish to Jerusalem unto king Hezekiah with a great army. Isa. 37:15, 16, (to 1st ;), He And Hezekiah prayed unto the Lord, saying, O Lord of hosts, God of Israel, that dwellest between the cherubims, that art the God, even thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth: thou hast made heaven and earth.

8 Now therefore, O Lord our God, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art the Lord, even thou only. Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent unto Hezekiah, saying, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Whereas thou hast prayed to me against Sennacherib king of Assyria: This is the word which the Lord hath spoken concerning him; He shall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow there, nor come before it with shields, nor cast a bank against it. By the way that he came, by the same shall he return, and shall not come into this city, saith the Lord. For I will defend this city to save it for mine own sake, and for my servant David's sake. II Chron. 32:22 Thus the Lord saved Hezekiah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem from the hand of Sennacherib the king of Assyria, and from the hand of all other, and guided them on every side. Ps.91:1 He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. Section 4: Science & Health 581:3 ALMIGHTY. All-power; infinity; omnipotence. 228:11 (only), 14-15, The enslavement of man is not legitimate. Mortals will some day assert their freedom in the name of Almighty God. There is no power apart from God. Omnipotence has all-power, and to acknowledge any other power is to dishonor God. 454:5, The understanding, even in a degree, of the divine All-power destroys fear, and plants the feet in the true path, - the path which leads to the house built without hands "eternal in the heavens." Human hate has no legitimate mandate and no kingdom. Love is enthroned. That evil or matter has neither intelligence nor power, is the doctrine of absolute Christian Science, and this is the great truth which strips all disguise from error.

9 Love inspires, illumines, designates, and leads the way. 510:18-19 Love alone can impart the limitless idea of infinite Mind. 225:14 The history of our country, like all history, illustrates the might of Mind, and shows human power to be proportionate to its embodiment of right thinking. A few immortal sentences, breathing the omnipotence of divine justice, have been potent to break despotic fetters and abolish the whipping-post and slave market; but oppression neither went down in blood, nor did the breath of freedom come from the cannon's mouth. Love is the liberator. Section 5: The Bible Ps. 31:13 (to 1st :) For I have heard the slander of many: Ps 31: 14 (to ;), 20 But I trusted in thee, O Lord: I said, Thou art my God. Thou shalt hide them in the secret of thy presence from the pride of man: thou shalt keep them secretly in a pavilion from the strife of tongues. Matt. 4:23 And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people. Matt. 5:1, 2, 11, 12 (to 2nd:) And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him: And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying, Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven:

10 Section 5: Science & Health 317:6 Whosoever lives most the life of Jesus in this age and declares best the power of Christian Science, will drink of his Master's cup. Resistance to Truth will haunt his steps, and he will incur the hatred of sinners, till "wisdom is justified of her children." These blessed benedictions rest upon Jesus' followers: "If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you;" "Lo, I am with you alway," - that is, not only in all time, but in all ways and conditions. 10:6-8, 12, 15 If good enough to profit by Jesus' cup of earthly sorrows, God will sustain us under these sorrows. Christian Science reveals a necessity for overcoming the world, the flesh, and evil, and thus destroying all error. Spiritual attainments open the door to a higher understanding of the divine Life. 494:15-19 The miracle of grace is no miracle to Love. Jesus demonstrated the inability of corporeality, as well as the infinite ability of Spirit, thus helping erring human sense to flee from its own convictions and seek safety in divine Science. 518:15-19 The rich in spirit help the poor in one grand brotherhood, all having the same Principle, or Father; and blessed is that man who seeth his brother's need and supplieth it, seeking his own in another's good. 565:13-18 The impersonation of the spiritual idea had a brief history in the earthly life of our Master; but "of his kingdom there shall be no end," for Christ, God's idea, will eventually rule all nations and peoples - imperatively, absolutely, finally - with divine Science. Section 6: The Bible Ps. 141:8 mine (to ;), 9 mine eyes are unto thee, O God the Lord: in thee is my trust; Keep me from the snares which they have laid for me, and the gins of the workers of iniquity.

11 Acts 9:19 Then, 20, Then was Saul certain days with the disciples which were at Damascus. And straightway he preached Christ in the synagogues, that he is the Son of God. And after that many days were fulfilled, the Jews took counsel to kill him: But their laying await was known of Saul. And they watched the gates day and night to kill him. Then the disciples took him by night, and let him down by the wall in a basket. Acts 19:11 And God wrought special miracles by the hands of Paul: Ps. 41:1, 2 (to:) Blessed is he that considereth the poor: the Lord will deliver him in time of trouble. The Lord will preserve him, and keep him alive; and he shall be blessed upon the earth: Ps 121:7, 8 The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul. The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore. Section 6: Science & Health vii: :27 To those leaning on the sustaining infinite, to-day is big with blessings. The history of Christianity furnishes sublime proofs of the supporting influence and protecting power bestowed on man by his heavenly Father, omnipotent Mind, who gives man faith and understanding whereby to defend himself, not only from temptation, but from bodily suffering. 97:22,29 It requires courage to utter truth; for the higher Truth lifts her voice, the louder will error scream, until its inarticulate sound is forever silenced in oblivion. Christianity is again demonstrating the Life that is Truth, and the Truth that is Life, by the apostolic work of casting out error and healing the sick. Earth has no repayment for the persecutions which attend a new step in Christianity; but the spiritual recompense of the persecuted is assured in the elevation of existence above mortal discord and in the gift of divine Love.

12 495:1-3, 16 God will heal the sick through man, whenever man is governed by God. Truth casts out error now as surely as it did nineteen centuries ago. Let neither fear nor doubt overshadow your clear sense and calm trust, that the recognition of life harmonious - as Life eternally is - can destroy any painful sense of, or belief in, that which Life is not. Let Christian Science, instead of corporeal sense, support your understanding of being, and this understanding will supplant error with Truth, replace mortality with immortality, and silence discord with harmony. 6:17-18 "God is Love." More than this we cannot ask, higher we cannot look, farther we cannot go. The End