Rachel is about to embark on what some would call the journey of a lifetime. She is about to head off to Hong Kong for three and a half years, she’s going on a journey, to work, to learn and hopefully have a little fun too.
I prayed about what I should briefly speak on this evening that could be an encouragement to Rachel and also to us. God led me to Psalm 121, a Psalm for travellers, that can help us on our journey through life.
Psalm 121 is a poem, a song, written by King David. In most Bibles it has the title “a song of ascents”.
Perhaps a more accurate translation of the title from the original hebrew is “a song for a journey to a higher place,” and that’s how the travellers, the pilgrims on their journey to Jerusalem would have felt.
They were heading to somewhere different, somewhere special, they were taking this specific journey for a purpose.
The Jewish people always thought of going UP to Jerusalem, probably because the city was higher geographically. Walking the 17-miles from Jericho to Jerusalem the road rises by about 3,500 feet. That’s around 1066.8 metres.
The highest point in Hong Kong is in the territory is Tai Mo Shan, at a height of 958 metres.
Maybe Rachel will find the time to visit while she is there and maybe she will sing while she is on the journey up... No, Maybe not.
When the Jewish people went up to Jerusalem for the feasts and celebrations, they had special songs to sing, and Psalm 121 was one of those songs.
Psalm 121
A song for pilgrims ascending to Jerusalem.
1 I look up to the mountains—
does my help come from there?
2 My help comes from the Lord,
who made heaven and earth!
3 He will not let you stumble;
the one who watches over you will not slumber.
4 Indeed, He who watches over Israel
never slumbers or sleeps.
5 The Lord himself watches over you!
The Lord stands beside you as your protective shade.
6 The sun will not harm you by day,
nor the moon at night.
7 The Lord keeps you from all harm
and watches over your life.
8 The Lord keeps watch over you as you come and go, both now and forever. Psalm 121:1-8
This is a Traveller’s Psalm.
It reminds us that the best way to travel in life is to travel with the Lord. Travel with God, because He will help us like no one else can.
In those days the road from Jericho to Jerusalem was so dangerous it was called “the way of blood.”
Travelers were in real danger. There were no air conditioned cars or planes, no mobile phones, no wi-fi, no Facebook, no TripAdvisor, just the dust and the heat and maybe a donkey or camel to carry their luggage.
They had real reason to be fearful of the journey ahead and on their journey, singing these words brought them comfort and strength.
These words helped them to have the same sense of peace and security that you and I can also experience today.
God never slumbers, and God never sleeps.
He is able to watch over us every moment of every day and every night.
Do you know that God is here for you right now?
Do you know that if you wake up at 4 o’clock in the morning feeling sick, or worried God will be there for you?
In verse 5 & 6, we see God is our Shade, our Shelter: The Lord stands beside you as your protective shade.
Can you imagine what it felt like for those travellers walking along in the hot sun with no air conditioning and no sun cream?
They needed to find places of shade and shelter on their journey and often on our journey through life we do too.
Do you know that God wants to be your shelter?
Sometimes trouble comes into our lives, sometimes we experience the heat of problems that burn hotter than the sun.
Sometimes it can also feel like the cold darkness of night has surrounded us.
Jesus can be both our shelter when the worst comes our way and also the Light of our life.
Being a Christian does not mean having a trouble-free journey in this world - it means having Jesus with us on our journey.
We are not alone, God is always with us.
There is great truth and great comfort in the words of verses 7 & 8: “The Lord keeps you from all harm and watches over your life. The Lord keeps watch over you as you come and go, both now and forever.”
What a wonderful promise, what a wondeful truth.
Because God loves us and cares for us He takes an active involvement in our daily lives.
Does this sound like a promise you need to know in your own life?
Maybe your life seems routine most of the time,
maybe it feels like you can live your life on auto-pilot,
you get up each morning with the same surroundings as the day before.
Same breakfast,
same journey to work or to school,
same old, same old.
Or maybe it feels like you wake up each morning to face a new journey through the harsh burning wilderness of life.
Nothing may ever seem to change for you.
You may feel you can make it through today the same way you made it through yesterday.
Maybe you think you don’t need God in your life and somehow, someway, some when, you will be fine on your own.
If we are honest with ourselves, we know the truth is each of us needs God to watch over us.
We all need to experience His presence, His help, His love, His mercy and His grace in our journey through this life and beyond.
Are you willing this evening to ask God to be with you on your journey?
Are you willing to allow Jesus into your life?
To lead you? To guide you? To shelter you?
To protect you? To save you?
Let me tell you a story I read about a boy called John who was looking forward to his best friends birthday party.
His friend only lived a few streets away, but on the day of the party, there had been a heavy fall of snow and all the roads were blocked with three feet of snow.
John pleaded with his dad to let him go to the party, “All the other kids will be there. Their parents are letting them walk through the snow.”
The dad looked out of the window at the heavy snow that was still falling and said, “Ok you can walk through the snow”
John wrapped himself up in his warmest coat, put on his woolly hat and his gloves and went outside into the snow.
It was difficult to walk in the deep snow and because it was snowing heavily it was difficult to see the journey ahead.
It took John almost an hour to travel the short distance to his friends house.
John finally got to the door and rang the bell.
As he was waiting for someone to let him in he turned around to look at the snow he had walked through.
As John looked out, he saw a man walking away.
His dad had followed John on his journey to make sure he arrived safely.
Friends that is exactly what God does for us!
He follows our every step through life to make sure we arrive safely.
He watches over our journey through life so that we will reach our final destination.
How is your journey going? If you give your life to Jesus, He will watch over you and take care of you.
Being a Christian is not the easy option - we still face circumstances and situations in our daily lives, but in everything we experience we have the promise that God is with us in every area of our lives.
When you ask Jesus into your life He will never leave you He will never forsake you, He will always be with you.
I will close by making this verse a little more personal: “Rachel, May God keep you from all harm and watch over your life. May The Lord keep watch over you as you come and go, both now and forever.”
Amen
