"A Reminder In Times Of Uncertainty"
Psalm 121:1-8
(This Sermon was preached at Trinity Bible Church on September
16, 2001. All Scripture
references used in this sermon are based upon the NASB®,
unless otherwise stated)
(This Sermon was preached at Trinity Bible Church on September
16, 2001. All Scripture
references used in this sermon are based upon the NASB®,
unless otherwise stated)
| This Sermon was written and submitted by: Joseph M. Willmouth, Pastor of Trinity Bible Church in Biloxi, Mississippi 39532. This contributed article is copyright protected, and the sole property of the contributing author. It may be freely copied and used provided the above credits are included. Document expiration: indefinite. |
1 A Song of Ascents. I Will lift up my eyes to the mountains; From whence shall my help come? 2My help comes from the LORD, Who made heaven and earth. 3 He will not allow your foot to slip; He who keeps you will not slumber. 4 Behold, He who keeps Israel Will neither slumber nor sleep. 5 The LORD is your keeper; The LORD is your shade on your right hand.6 The sun will not smite you by day, Nor the moon by night. 7 The LORD will protect you from all evil; He will keep your soul. 8 The LORD will guard your going out and your coming in From this time forth and forever.
Introduction: This past week has sent shock waves throughout American and the world with the four hijacked planes crashing into New York's twin towers, the Pentagon and one failed attempt that plunged into the ground in Pennsylvania. What happened this week was without question the most aggressive assault against our country since Pearl Harbor! As a result of these evil attacks, many peoples' lives has been turned upside down, and many are now living in fear. What will we do? Where will we look for help? Psalms 121 is an anchor point for us today, and was written to remind God's people as to how He protects them in times in danger. This is a Psalm that Israelites would often sing while making their yearly pilgrimage to worship in the temple in Jerusalem. For many, this was a long and treacherous trip. The miles were long and the traveler was vulnerable. There were dangers that awaited them on many fronts such as robbers hiding in the hills, or personal injury and loss due to the rugged terrain. The hills provided cover for mobs and vagabonds who caused great harm to travelers. They were many things that could go wrong, many bad things that could happen. They had no interstates on which to travel or cell phones call on if they were in trouble. They had reason to fear. They longed to feel the same safety and protection that we still long for in our world today. So, they would sing this song, as a reminder them as to how God protects his people in times in danger (Mark Hensley).
I. Look To Our Creator (vv.1-2).
1. Where our help cannot be found (v.1).
A. As the pilgrim-psalmist contemplated his journey through the hills to Jerusalem, asked where his help came from.Application: The psalmist makes an admission here that he needs to ask someone for something beyond himself. He needed help far beyond his own limited resources and what answers man could provide him. When we face a crisis or uncertainty in our lives it forces us to look around and realize that there are things that happen in this world that go beyond our ability to control the circumstances that surround us. And like the psalmist traveling through unsafe country, we must look beyond our world for help and protection, we must look toward heaven for help.- "help," - 'ezer (ay'-zer); aid, help, support, protection.B. Could he find security in the strength of the mountains, in the high places of Baal where licentious rites had been enacted there?
2. Where our help can be found (v.2).
A. Our help comes from the Lord of all creation.Application: Just as this psalm was a song of praise on the journey to Jerusalem, this song is a song of praise that we can sing to The Lord as we journey through life as we make our way toward our home in Heaven. Life is short even for those who have lived the longest among us. And there are many dangers that we face throughout our lives. Yet the Psalmist realized that when trouble comes we can't look to a mountain for protection, nor can we put our trust in this great country primarily, but ultimately there is only One whom we can turn to and trust, and that is the Lord of creation. Who is the Lord of Creation, the Bible tells us that it is Jesus Christ; John 1:1-3, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being by Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being."1) He says that there is a Helper, the God who made those hills.B. Again the psalmist used the Hebrew word, "'ezer", "help" to signify protection.2) Our helper is Jehovah, "the self-Existent or Eternal" God.
1) God is being pictured as our guardian.2) The dangers before us may not be the same as the ones they faced, but our unchanging God still protects us from danger.
3) And who is more able than the Lord who created and fashioned the heavens and the earth.
II. Look To Our Protector (vv.3-8).
1.The Lord is watching over us 24 hours a day (vv.3-4).
A. The psalmist assures his travelers of God's divine protection (v.3).Application: When a person is asleep, they are unconscious, unaware of what is going on around them. Many of the pagans in Old Testament days believed that their false gods occasionally slept and had to be awakened. But this is not so with God. Because He never sleeps nor slumbers, He is aware of every step you take in your life, and is able to nourish you when your foot would "slip". He can do this because He is a full time God. Jude 1:24, "Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy," Those whom God saves, He also sustains! He is vigilant! Not one person who perished this last week was not seen by the Lord. Those who knew Him as their Savior, He gave them the grace they needed to face and overcome death. This is the believer's stability in life, they have a risen Savior who knows what it was like to suffer unjustly at the hands of evil men, who tasted death, but rose again in victory over death; Jesus Christ is the believer's blessed hope.1) God gives us stability to live, no matter what the situation.B. The God of Israel, doesn't sleep or slumber (v.4).2) "slip," (mowt {mote}; a wavering, i.e. fall.
3) The psalmist doesn't say that nothing will ever happen to us, but rather that God is our source of stability throughout life, and most importantly during times of crisis in our lives.
1) God will not be indifferent to or disregard them .2) The Lord is always alert in protecting His own .
2. The Lord surrounds us with His protection (vv.5-6).
A. We are vulnerable on all sides (v.5).Application: This verse speaks of the closeness of the Lord to His people. Even when they were in a far off land, He was watching over them by casting His protective shadow over them. The Lord is never far away from us. We may try to wander from His presence, but He never allows us to get out of His sight. The world my try to separate us from Him, but to separate us from our lives does nothing but put the believer in the presence of His Savior. The Apostle Paul said it best in Romans 8:35-39, "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Just as it is written, 'For Thy sake we are being put to death all day long; We were considered as sheep to be slaughtered.' But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Even in the face of death, the Lord's loving shadow is cast over us, and He will see us safely home.1) The psalmist gives the pilgrims the assurance that the Lord would protect them at all times .B. We are vulnerable to all seasons (v.6).2) "keeper,"- shamar (shaw-mar'); to hedge about as with thorns, i.e. guard, to protect, attend to.
3) "shade,"- tsel (tsale); shade, defense.
A) When it speaks of your "right hand," it means that He is alongside as a bodyguard to shield His own from harm day or night.- He protects them throughout the day, as he is at their "right hand"B) To be shaded by God is to be protected from whatever may harm us.1) God casts a shadow over us.2) He protects believers from the dangers of the day and night, represented here by "the sun" and "the moon"
3. The Lord protects our souls from all evil (v.7).
A. The Psalmist says that God protects us from all evil.Application: We are reminded in this verse that Satan cannot do one thing to us without our sovereign Lord's permission. The Psalmist doesn't say that the Lord protects us from "some" evil, but from "all evil." This isn't a national promise to America. America may claim to be a Christian nation, but in practice we have fallen well short; we call evil good and good evil. We have allowed millions of unborn babies to be put to death in the name of choice. We have tossed God out of our government and schools. And as a nation have turn to the god of materialism and the flesh, and have turned away from the true and living God. What a man or nation sows, that will they reap. God isn't interested in America just giving Him lip service, but wants the nation's hearts. The psalmist says that God keeps the worshipers of God from all evil. And we are told that when He does permit us to be tempted by evil, He also makes a way for us to escape it; 1 Corinthians 10:13, "No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, that you may be able to endure it."B. What does this mean?
1) Does this mean that we will never be sick or suffer?2) No, he speaking of sin, attacks from Satan or his armies.
A) "evil," - ra' (rah); evil, something wicked or injurious.3) No evil can take us away from our Lord Jesus Christ.B) It comes from a root signifying the breaking up of all that is good and it is used especially of moral depravity.
A) His love is constant.4) 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24, "Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass."B) His presence if unfailing.
C) He guards us to eternity.
4. The Lord watches over us in our daily activities (v.8).
A. Whatever the believer does--whether he arrives at Jerusalem, goes on a far journey, or returns home--the Lord will "watch" over his affairs.Application: This is the gracious assurance which is made to all who put their trust in God. At home and abroad; in the house, in the field, and by the highways; on the land and on the ocean; in their native country and in climes remote; on earth, in the grave, and in the eternal world, they are always safe. There is no evil that can endanger their salvation; nothing can happen to them here but what God shall see to be conducive to their ultimate good; and in the heavenly world they shall be safe forever from every kind of evil, for in that world there will be no sin, and consequently no need of discipline to prepare them for the future (Mark Hensley). Regardless of the happenings in life, whether at work or at home, whether asleep or awake, the Lord is "there" to help and to protect. What a God!B. The extent of his care is both "now and forevermore"
Truths to Ponder:
1. This psalm is for believers, so there can be no real comfort for
those who do not know the Lord.
A. For the person who does not have Christ as their Savior, there isn't any hope for them but what this world can temporarily offer.2. For the believer, our Lord is the creator and sustainer of all of creation.B. But this is not enough, because no matter what the world can offer it cannot offer eternal life.
A. He is our hope, because He has conquered death so that those who accept His wonderful gift of salvation can have peace and security in this world regardless of circumstances they may find themselves in.References:B. Even when we see such evil things happening in this world today, the Christian still can have peace and security knowing that nothing can separate us from of our Savior.
1) Not the plans of man, nor terrorist.2) For our God watches over us 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 52 weeks a year.
3) The Lord Jesus Christ gave us this promise that believers can cling to during both good times and in times of crisis; John 10:27-30, "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they shall never perish; and no one shall snatch them out of My hand. 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. I and the Father are one."
4) The Bible also holds out this promise to those who have no hope, those who have never accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior; John 3:16-18, "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world should be saved through Him. He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God."
A) Acts 4:12, "And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men, by which we must be saved."B) Romans 10:9-11, "that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved; for with the heart man believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. For the Scripture says, 'Whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed.'"
Hebrew Study Reference Tools:
. Bible Works 4.0 for Windows, Hermeneutika Bible Research Software,
Big Fork MO., 2nd edition.
. Old Testament Parsing Guide, by Beall, Banks & Smith,
Broadman & Holman Publishers, Nashville TN, 2000.
Sermon Outline:
"A Reminder In Times Of Uncertainty"
Psalm 121:1-8
I. Look To Our Creator (vv.1-2).
1. Where our help cannot be found (v.1).
2. Where our help can be found (v.2).
II. Look To Our Protector (vv.3-8).
1.The Lord is watching over us 24 hours a day (vv.3-4).
2. The Lord surrounds us with His protection (vv.5-6).
3. The Lord protects our souls from all evil (v.7).
4. The Lord watches over us in our daily activities (v.8).