My Help Comes From the Lord

My Help Comes From the Lord Psalm 121 Pray - Father in heaven, My prayer is simple but desperately important, I pray Lord that you would open our eyes this morning that we might behold wondrous things from your Word. I pray this for your glory and our good. In Jesus name. Amen. Introduction: The Road trip. I m sure many, if not all of us, have taken part in a road trip at one time or another. I m sure we could fill an afternoon, or more, sharing stories about our most enjoyable or memorable road trips or perhaps, we could share stories of the Road Trip gone bad. I would share stories about a 3-day weekend road trip in which my college roommate and I attended major league baseball games in Pittsburgh, Boston, and New York. One of the highlights was watching the Boston Red Sox game high atop the Green Monster at Fenway Park. I might also share stories of our first road trip as a young married couple. We drove from Louisville to Chicago to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and to Minneapolis to visit family in all of those locations. 1

When one thinks about setting out on a road trip, the emotions can often vary. Some may be excited and eager to get on the road. Others may be fearful and worried about the trip ahead. Well, the context of this morning s sermon text is an ancient road trip of sorts, where the emotions of those embarking on the trip were certainly mixed. Psalm 121 is the second of 15 psalms of ascent, spanning from psalm 120-134. These psalms, among others, were sung in the context of the great pilgrimage feasts in which the Jews ascended the hills to Jerusalem three times per year to worship God, celebrate God, and offer sacrifices to Him. While this psalm and this road trip may be ancient, I trust that you will find the eternal truths, comfort, and encouragement contained within this psalm to be graciously relevant to us today, not merely as the framework for a prayer that we pray as we are packed into the mini-van ready for a road trip to Disney World. No, I trust that we will see that the relevance is much greater than that, for those of us trusting in Christ, and who are on a spiritual journey to a city infinitely greater than Boston or New York, or even ancient Jerusalem. Read Psalm 121 2

General Outline: Let me start by providing the general outline for this message. There are three parts to the sermon. First, The Important Question. Second, The Vital Answer. Third, The Hopeful Promises. Question, Answer, Promises. The Important Question: From where does my help come? As mentioned in the introduction, the Jews were often joyful and expectant as they set out on their ascent to Jerusalem to worship their God, but then, they would look to the path before them and their emotions would become mixed. As they raised their gaze to the hills, I take it that they found the hills to be ominous -- creating fear within them. You see, travel could certainly be dangerous during these regular pilgrimages to Jerusalem. For example, everyone knew when the Jews would be on their way to Jerusalem - loaded down with many goods. This included the thieves and robbers who could hide amongst the mountains waiting to plunder the pilgrimming Jews. Not only that, the terrain was also rough and challenging. Their feet could slip and they could fall to their destruction. Additionally, they would be subject to the elements, such as the scorching sun. They faced not only physical dangers, but spiritual ones as well. The high places in ancient Israel were 3

notorious dens of apostasy, idolatry, and gross immorality. So you can see why fear gripped them as they looked to the hills. So, while the opinions vary on this point, again, I would take it that in this psalm, the hills did not constitute the pilgrims refuge. Instead, they were to be seen as a menace. The hills were not the source of their help, but the source of their fear. I suggest to you, that is why, the psalmist is compelled to ask, From where does my help come? Fear can be immobilizing, unlike almost anything else. Thus, the psalmist is desperate to know, to be reminded of the source of his help as he lifts his eyes to the hills and journeys through dangerous places on his way to Jerusalem. Friends, this is a really important question for us as well as we journey through this life. Where does my help come from? What is the source of my security? The psalmist is reflecting a condition that is common to all believers common to you and common to me. When danger surrounds us we are tempted to look here and there and anywhere, but to the true source of our security. So, in the Lord s kindness, He has the psalmist ask this question, so that, we may also ponder where our own trust really is and make certain that it is securely placed in the only place of true confidence. 4

The Vital Answer: My help comes from the Lord. That brings us to the second part of the sermon The Vital Answer. Here we see The Vital Answer to the psalmist s Important Question Verse 2 My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. The source of his help is in the Lord who made heaven and earth. We too must trust that our help is in the Lord. So let me ask you.can you really say that your help is in the Lord? I know that you might be able to say the right answer, but when troubles and difficulties and stresses and pressures, and dangers, even the danger of ease and comfort, surround you --- What does your life reveal about what you truly believe? Where do you really derive your sense of security? There are only two answers: God or anything or anyone else. Sometimes we are tempted to find help in ourselves our own will power, determination, perseverance, intelligence, etc. Sometimes we are tempted to find security in our circumstances. Similar to what the psalmist writes in Psalm 20, Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but, listen to this, the psalmist continues, but we trust in the name of the Lord (Psalm 20:7). The psalmist has it right, our only true source of help and security, is in the Lord our God. 5

In the midst of our fear and difficulty, The Lord says to us, You look up to me and I will watch out for you. Don t fear the mountains, I made those mountains I made everything in heaven and on earth. I spoke them into existence from nothing by the power of My Word. Those mountains may indeed speak a message of danger, but more importantly and ultimately they speak a greater message that I am your God, Your Rock, Your Refuge, and Your Protection. The heavens declare my glory and the sky above proclaims my handiwork. So Don t fear the created, but trust in Me, the Creator. I know your frame. I know your needs and I am the all-powerful God that will supply them. I am more powerful than the dangers you fear. So Why would we turn anywhere else for help? Think about it Everything and everyone else was created created by the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth. Why would we turn to the created, when we can turn to the Creator for our help? It is an awesome and stunning reality to know that the Lord who made heaven and earth is our help. Think about your problems that bother you today. Is there a problem that lies outside of heaven and earth? Of course not. All of our problems are within heaven and earth. And God identifies himself as the maker of both. If 6

you have a money problem, he is the one who owns the cattle on a thousand hills. If you have a health problem, he is the one who knitted you together in your mother s womb. If you are threatened by another person, he knit that person together in his or her mother s womb. Is there any threat, problem, or danger of which God does not have ultimate control? The answer is a resounding, NO! Every molecule, every natural force, and every supernatural force is under his sovereign control. He is the maker of heaven and earth and your help comes from Him. The Lord says that he will help us, but don t our actions and ultimately our hearts often say, Yes, but I believe that you are the God that created the heavens and the earth, but I don t think you can cope with my situation. Of course, it s illogical to think that the God who sustains the entire universe cannot help with your problem, but knowing all of this intellectually doesn t mean that we don t wrestle in our hearts with that initial and important question, From where does my help come? The reality is, Our faith is weak and the cry of our hearts will often be, Lord, I believe, help me with my unbelief. Thankfully, the Lord knows that we are quick to despair and weak of faith. He doesn t mind pulling up next to us and saying over and over and over again in your 7

ear -- I will keep you, I will help you, and your foot will not slip and you will not finally fall, because I am your God and I made the heavens and the earth, and I will be your help. This is a message that we need every day, every moment. When we look at our life and the journey ahead of us, When we think about raising our children, when think about walking in integrity in our work, caring for elderly parents, in our marriages, in uncertain economic times, when we are fearful, when we are despairing, when we look at our world and nation, changing constantly and we do not like what we see, we need to be reminded that our help comes from the Lord. It is simple to understand, but not so easy to believe. Graciously, The Spirit knew that we needed this reminder and that we needed it over and over and over again. That is why we are taught by the psalmist in Psalm 121 how to preach it to ourselves repeatedly and how to encourage fellow believers with these truths. Now, there is actually a lot of debate surrounding the statement that I just spoke when referring to Psalm 121 specifically. I just said, we are taught by the psalmist in Psalm 121 how to preach it to ourselves repeatedly and how to encourage fellow believers with these truths. That seems pretty straight forward doesn t it? So why would there be so much debate? 8

Let me explain. Notice how verses 1 and 2 are filled with I s and my s these are first person pronouns. I lift up my eyes. From where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord. But notice this, in verses 3-8, the pronouns change to second person singular you s and your s -- which seems to indicate a second voice in this psalm. Your foot, he who keeps you, The Lord is your keeper, your shade on your right hand, the sun will not strike you by day, the Lord will keep you from all evil, he will keep your life, The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in. That is 10 second person pronouns. So the debate is this: With two apparent voices in this psalm, Is this a conversation between fellow pilgrims as they journey toward Jerusalem? In other words, Are they speaking to each other about where their true confidence lies? Or, Or is it a conversation within the psalmist himself -- Similar to what we see in Psalm 42 or 43. Do you remember the self-talk contained within those psalms? The psalmist asked of himself, Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? And then he speaks truth to himself Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God. 9

So, the question remains, is Psalm 121 an example of self-talk or is it an example of fellow believers encouraging one another with truth. Well, I don t know for sure. You might think I am punting on the question, but I have studied this extensively and I really don t think the psalm let s us know. But what I do know is that God s people struggle with the subject of this psalm. So either way, the entirety of scripture shows us that we are to spur one another on with reminders of the true source of our help and we are also to take our own thoughts captive to the obedience of Christ with true self-talk. Both are vital on our own pilgrimage to the New Jerusalem, the celestial city. So we have now seen The Important Question From where does my help come? And The Vital Answer My help comes from the Lord. Now, The rest of the psalm aims to affirm, to drive home this one grand truth that my help comes from the Lord. Friends, we really need to let these next six verses dwell in us richly. They are such a treasure. So comforting. So true and trustworthy. So stunning and comprehensive. So how is the Lord my help? That brings us to the third and final part of this sermon The Hopeful Promises. Here, we further see the application of self-talk and or the application of spurring one another on with truth. 10

The Hopeful Promises: How is the Lord my help? How is the Lord my help? Let s look at the first promise in verse 3. He will not let your foot be moved. The imagery here is that the Lord leads his people, like a shepherd, along dangerous paths without allowing his sheep to slip and fall over cliffs, possibly to their death. The pilgrims who climbed the hills to Jerusalem encouraged one another with this truth. They said to one another. The Lord will guide your steps. He will not let you fall. Those who find their help in the Lord will be protected from falling by the Lord himself. This promise is all throughout the pages of scripture. I encourage you to store them up in your heart. 1 Samuel 2:9, He will guard the feet of his faithful ones, but the wicked shall be cut off in darkness. Psalm 66:8-9, Bless our God, O peoples; let the sound of his praise be heard, who has kept our soul among the living and has not let our feet slip. Psalm 94:18, When I thought, My foot slips, your steadfast love, O Lord, held me up. Proverbs 3:21-26, My son, do not lose sight of these keep sound wisdom and discretion, and they will be life for your soul and adornment for your neck. Then you will walk on your way securely, and your foot will not stumble. If you lie down, you will not be afraid; when you lie down, your sleep will be sweet. Do not be afraid of sudden terror or of the ruin of the wicked, when it comes, for the Lord will be your confidence and will keep your foot from being caught. 11

Jude 24, Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy. These verses show us that God steadies us not only physically, but spiritually. He will not let your foot be moved. And He does this continually. That brings us to the next promise. How is the Lord your help? Look at the second half of verse 3, he who keeps you will not slumber. He s never asleep He is always watching and alert. 2 Chronicles 16:9, The eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless toward him. This stresses God's persistent watchfulness and care. He is able to keep you from falling because there is nothing that he never sees. He is always awake. He is eternally vigilant. All knowing. All seeing. Never looking away. Never distracted. Never neglectful of his people. Not just in the difficult moments, but in all moments. With threats on every side, the pilgrims journeying to Jerusalem surely found security in this truth, and thus they reminded each other and themselves of this truth. Friends, there may be times when you feel like God is sleeping. Earlier this year when I was reading through the account of Joseph in the book of Genesis. I often wondered if there were times when Joseph doubted that God was watching over 12

him. Like When he was sold into slavery by his very own brothers. Or when he was falsely accused by Potiphar s wife and thrown into jail. Or When the chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph before Pharaoh. I wonder what he thought about the watchfulness of the Lord at those times? I m not sure, but we do know that when he was reunited with his family, he told them, What you meant for evil, God meant for good. And as we read the account and see it play out, we see God was always watching Joseph and that God s plan was to preserve his people through his providential workings in the life of Joseph. God was not sleeping while Joseph suffered. So, when you doubt that God is watching, I would encourage you to take that thought captive to the obedience of Christ by speaking the truth of this promise to your soul. The Lord does not slumber, nor sleep. And notice this - He is as watchful over the entire flock as he is over just one lamb. Verse 4, Behold, He who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. Here, the psalmist speaks of God s watchfulness over Israel, that is all of His people collectively, but notice the difference in verse 3. It expressly makes his watchfulness individual, He who keeps you (that is a singular you) will not slumber. He watches over all of his sheep. And Why is he keeping vigil like this? To keep you from stumbling, so that not one of His sheep is lost. Hear that weary believer. You are not insignificant in the Lord s eyes. He is vigilantly 13

watching over you, even you. He knows exactly what you need and he cares for you. Now, before we move on, I am going to pause here for a second and make a point that is not the main point of this section of the text, but I think you will find it helpful. At least, I found it helpful when it was shared with me. You and I can worship God with our sleep. This is what I mean. By sleeping, we acknowledge that we are not God. God alone does not sleep, nor slumber. We, however, must sleep. As you come to the end of your day without completing your To-Do list, don t fret about what did not get done or try to burn the candle at both ends, instead let it serve as a regular and humbling reminder that you are not God. God alone finishes His To-Do list every day. In that moment, Give Him the glory that he alone deserves. Don t try to be god. Of course, we are to be faithful with the work and responsibilities that the Lord has given us, but the reality is that we are limited, finite beings that never finish all of our work. Instead of being anxious or bothered or frustrated that you did not finish everything, thank God for his gracious reminder in the incomplete to-do list that you are not God, God alone is God. Confess that as you close your eyes, it is another reminder that you are not God. Be reminded of your utter dependence 14

upon Him. Give thanks to God that as you sleep, He does not. Further, Thank him that he is working for you while you sleep. Thank him that he knows your frame and knows what you need. Thank him that it is no surprise to him that you did not get your To-Do list finished. Worship God in your sleep and your incomplete To-Do list. Rest in Him. The One that does not sleep. The One that gets everything done. The promises continue. How is the Lord your help? Verse 5, The Lord is your keeper. He will keep you. This is the center of the psalm in significance, but also in structure. This is not a coincidence. The psalmists often used literary techniques such as repetition, parallelism, echoed words, etc to help us understand the psalms. Here, structurally, 58 syllables proceed this phrase and 58 follow it. The phrase, The Lord is Your Keeper is in the dead center of the psalm. Furthermore, notice the repetition. There is a 5 fold repetition of The Lord in this psalm, A 6 fold repetition of the word keep or a derivative of keep, and a 10 fold repetition of you or your. These repeated words are the very ones that make up the dominant theme of the psalm, The Lord is Your Keeper. There is so much more to note about the structure. It s all fascinating, in my opinion, but time does not permit further discussion. 15

But What we need to know is that every part of this psalm either points to or unpacks the meaning of that statement -- The Lord is your keeper. It is the language of providence, protection, and guardianship. It begins here and echoes throughout the entire psalm. And that makes sense, doesn t it? Protection is the burning issue for the pilgrim traveling through hard and lonely country. What that pilgrim wants is protection. So how does the pilgrim know that the Lord is his help in his time of need? It is summed up in this phrase, The Lord, the covenant Lord, is your keeper. The same promise that the Lord made to Jacob in Genesis 28, is the same promise that he gives to all of his redeemed people, as it is repeated over and over again in the scriptures, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go. It is this promise that allows David to journey out against Goliath. It is this promise that leads Daniel into the lion s den. It is this promise, which drives Paul out on his missionary journeys. And if you are in Christ today, this promise is true for you. He is with you and will keep you wherever you go. Jesus himself said to his disciples, Behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age. 16

Now, notice this important point, he rejoices in the truth that it is the Lord himself that is His keeper, not just that the Lord will keep him. In other words, it is not simply that Lord provides him protection, or that the Lord is an instrument of his protection through some other resource, No he rejoices that the Lord himself is His keeper. I am afraid that we often miss this in our following of Christ. We love the gifts that He gives us, but the gifts are not the point. The Giver of those gifts is the point. Actually, He himself is the greatest gift that we receive. The Lord is Your Keeper. We find the next promise in the second part of verse 5. How is the Lord your help? The Lord is your shade on your right hand. The Lord is so near to you to keep you and to guard you that He is pictured as the shade on your right hand. Friends, He is not far off. In fact, He is never far off. inseparable from you, like your shadow is to your body. He is near to you, and Not only is he powerful, as we have seen previously, he is also present to help you like the shade on your right hand. Further, The Lord shields you from any kind of external threat. Verse 6, The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. Day and Night he protects you. He guards you from threats that are unrelenting like the sun. You all 17

understand this imagery living in Florida and experiencing hot, sunny summers. Likewise, Heat and dehydration were a constant danger to the pilgrim on his journey, yet the Lord was his refreshing shade. It was also believed at that time that the moon had the power to move one toward despondency or lunacy. You may sometimes feel like the external pressures of life will cause you to despair, lose hope, or go crazy. Yes, the sun and the moon are indeed powerful forces, but the Lord will protect you from all the dangers they represent, because He is the Creator of the sun and the moon. They submit to him. He will protect you from all overpowering forces -- Forces that are greater than your understanding, because there is no force greater than the Lord, Your keeper, the Maker of Heaven and Earth. There is no force greater than his protection. So there is no better shelter from all the various threats to our spiritual well-being than from the God who has saved us, who steadies us, and who shelters us. This brings us to the final two verses. These verses are deliberately as comprehensive as possible. While the promises that we have already reflected on seem to be more in the present - the now, these final promises are future oriented, on-going. So how does the Lord help you not only now, but in the future? Verse 7, The Lord will keep you from all evil. He will keep you from evil. Remember how I said that the high places in ancient Israel were notorious dens of apostasy, 18

idolatry, and gross immorality. Well, in light of this, the pilgrims reminded themselves that The Lord will keep them from this evil. Please hear me, this psalm is not promising exemption from troubles, hardship, difficulty, or any experience of evil in this life. In fact, this psalm is assuming all of them. Remember, the basis for the psalm is where does my help come from, so the need of help is the presupposition of the entire psalm. Further, it is what we see in Psalm 23, Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. The psalmist is not kept from the valley of the shadow of death. No, but his fears are relieved by knowing that God is with him through it. The Lord will protect him from and arm him against all evil. You see, we are not kept from our problems, but we are kept in the midst of our problems. 1 Corinthians 10:13, No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it. Acts 14:22, Through many tribulations, we must enter the Kingdom of God. 19

The Lord will preserve you from everything that could ever threaten your spiritual well-being. Like Joseph, the Lord will keep you from soul-destroying evil, but he may not keep you from fleshly evil. The Lord will keep you from all evil. The next promise is related to the previous one and seen in the second half of verse 7, He will keep your life. In other words, the psalmist is saying, The Lord is concerned about your whole life; your whole existence is a concern of the Lord. It's similar to when Jesus turned to His disciples and said, The hairs, the very hairs on your heads are numbered (Matthew 10:30). There is a comprehensive providence over you, and over your life by the Lord, and the psalmist preaches this message to himself. He is concerned for your whole existence. He will keep your life. The reason why we can be confident of these things is because of the keeping power of God. Jesus says of those who believe in Him, All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out (John 6:37). Jesus pictured it well in John 10:27-29, My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to 20

me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. I and the Father are one. This is the reality of Psalm 121:7. God will keep and protect your life. To bring this further home, here these verses from Romans 8:31-39 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died more than that, who was raised who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered. No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. That brings us to the final promises of this psalm. Look with me at verse 8. How does the Lord help you? The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore. He is not only concerned with the whole existence of your life, he is also concerned about the whole course of your life from beginning to end. He will providentially guard and protect your very steps. 21

No matter where you go or what you do, God exercises his providential care and guardianship over you. He is your keeper. I love the way that Derek Kidner describes this. He says, The psalm ends with a pledge which could hardly be stronger or more sweeping. Your going out and your coming in is not only a way of saying everything. In closer detail, it draws attention to one's ventures and enterprises and to the home which remains one's base. Again, to pilgrimage and return. And perhaps even by another association of this pair of verbs, to the dawn and sunset of one's life. But the last line takes good care of this journey and it would be hard to decide which half of it is the more encouraging the fact that it starts from this time now or that it runs not to the end of time, but without end, like God Himself, who is my portion forever, from this time forth and forevermore. I especially love that last part. These promises run not to the end of time, but without end. Friends, there is no moment that God fails to keep his wonderful promises to his people in Christ. Now let me be clear, not everyone can cling to these promises. He will guard the feet of his faithful ones, but the wicked shall be cut off in darkness. If you are not trusting in Christ for the forgiveness of your sins and the life everlasting, then these 22

promises do not apply to you. In fact, you are an enemy of God. He is not working to keep you. He is not working to keep you from evil. He is not working to keep your life. God s active opposition is upon you, for you have sinned against Him and there must be punishment for that sin. He is a God of justice and judgment is coming. Hebrews 10:31 says, It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. If you are not trusting in this Christ, I plead with you to turn to him today in repentance and faith. These promises only apply to those who are trusting in Jesus The One that that Father did not keep from evil, so that you would be kept. We see this reality in Isaiah 53:3-6 He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was not kept, so that we would be kept. 23

As we have seen, the promises and comforts in this psalm do not merely apply to an ancient earthly pilgrimage that took one from a village in Israel to the city of Jerusalem. The scope is much greater than that. These are promises ultimately about the upward spiritual pilgrimage in which God brings you and all of his chosen people from this earthly life to the heavenly New Jerusalem. In other words, this psalm is a comprehensive promise of eternal security and spiritual blessings for all believers of all time for all of those who are trusting in Jesus Christ. It is full of precious promises that meet every need that you will ever encounter on your upward journey to the celestial city. It is no wonder this is one of the best loved psalms in scripture. These promises will serve you well in every circumstance of life. 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 forth and forevermore. Nothing can ultimately or eternally destroy those whom Christ has redeemed. Although, we do frequently stumble, though we are weak and prone to iniquity, though we utterly lack any virtue of our own. Our help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth. He will not permit our feet to slide back into destruction. He will not let our faith fail. May we look not to the hills, or ourselves, or our circumstances for our help, but to The Lord our Keeper and may we draw on the strength of His keeping power and use it to glorify Him in the eyes of a watching world as we journey to the heavenly New Jerusalem. 24

Let s Pray 25