SERMON OUTLINE:
(1). The God of creation is BEFORE me (vs 1-2).
(2). The eyes of God of are UPON me (vs 3-4).
(4). The care of God is AROUND me (vs 5-6)
(3). The presence of God is BESIDE me (vs 7-8)
SERMON BODY:
Ill:
• What do these objects have in common?
• (I will be amazed if you can guess the answer)
• A geological hammer.
• Some cards containing quotations
• (From the likes of Thornton Wilder and John F. Kennedy. Astronaut Rusty Schweickart)
• An unopened miniature bottle of Coronet Brandy
• A Madonna figurine
• A six-iron golf club.
• Other items included,
• A folding pen knifes
• And a copy of the American Declaration of Independence.
• The Photographed items on the screen are pictures by Steve Pyke,
• Who contacted American astronauts who had travelled to space or walked on the Moon,
• These items are from their personal possessions that they took.
• Source: Surprising Objects That Have Been to Space.
• https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/objects-that-have-been-to-space
• TRANSITION: If you were Jewish and a male,
• The greatest journey you could make, dare I say even greater than a trip to the moon,
• Would be to go ‘up’ to Jerusalem
• Now just about every time Bible writers talk about going to or from Jerusalem,
• They say they are going “up to Jerusalem” (Galatians 2:1),
• Or they are headed home “down from Jerusalem” (Luke 10:30).
• It doesn’t matter if the writer is talking about going north, south, east, or west.
• It’s always “up” to Jerusalem and “down” from Jerusalem.
• One reason is obvious, geographically Jerusalem sits on the top of the ridge of hills.
• So, no matter where you’re coming from or going to,
• You have to climb the hill to get to Jerusalem and you have to descend the hill to leave.
• Another reason is theologically,
• Jewish writers held Jerusalem in high regard.
• In all the world, the one and only Jewish Temple was in Jerusalem.
• There were synagogues throughout the world, but just one Temple.
• So, for Jewish people this was the most important place to visit,
• It was and still is the most holy place.
Note:
• The Psalm has a title ‘Psalms of Ascent’.
• This title gives us a setting for this Psalm,
• It is part of a collection.
• There are a group of Psalms/songs, numbers 120 to 134.
• That were used by Jewish worshippers in their adoration of God.
• They are called the ‘Psalms of Ascent’.
• The word ‘Ascent’ simply means “on their way up”,
• So as these people were travelling “on their way up” to Jerusalem,
• As they are walking up the hillsides which led to the city.
• They sang this collection of Psalms.
• Ten of these psalms are anonymous (including 121),
• Four are attributed to David (122, 124, 131, 133)
• And one to Solomon (127).
Now because these Psalms/songs are short they would have been easy to remember.
• No need for a hymnbook or a projector, a screen and a PowerPoint!
• Three times a year Jewish men would make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem.
• Three times a year they went “up” to Jerusalem to celebrate three major yearly feasts:
• The Feast of Passover in the spring
• The Feast of Pentecost in early summer
• The Feast of Tabernacles in the autumn/fall.
Just about every type of psalm is represented in this mini collection.
• There are psalms of thanksgiving and praise,
• Psalms of lament and confidence, confession and wisdom.
• This Psalm (121) is a Psalm of confidence,
• The psalmist is assured, convinced that God is his helper.
Note:
• This Psalm is an antiphonal psalm.
• That means it is sung, recited, or shouted alternately by two groups
• Verses 1-2 are in the first person,
• Verses 3-4 are in the second person.
• So, the leader of the group opened with verses 1-2,
• And the rest of the travellers responded with verses 3-4.
• Let’s try it, I will lead, and you respond,
• Two verses each.
LEADER:
I lift up my eyes to the mountains –
where does my help come from?
2 My help comes from the Lord,
the Maker of heaven and earth.
GROUP:
3 He will not let your foot slip –
he who watches over you will not slumber.
4 indeed, he who watches over Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.
LEADER:
5 The Lord watches over you –
the Lord is your shade at your right hand.
6 the sun will not harm you by day,
nor the moon by night.
GROUP:
7 The Lord will keep you from all harm –
he will watch over your life.
8 the Lord will watch over your coming and going
both now and for evermore.
Note:
• As you read through the Psalm notice the repetition,
• The theme is God’s protection over his people.
• The word ‘watches over’ (or ‘keeps’) is used six times
• “He who watches over (keeps) you” (v.3)
• “He who watches over (keeps) Israel” (v.4)
• “The Lord watches (keeps) you” (v.5)
• “The Lord will keep (watch) from all harm” (v.7a)
• “He will watch (keep) over you” (v.7b)
• “The Lord will watch (keep) over your coming and going” (v.8)
• So, the primary theme of this Psalm is that the Lord is our Keeper,
• We ultimately look to him to watch over us.
• Note: The Psalm actually divides up into sections,
• Four visual pictures that are easy to understand.
(1). The God of creation is BEFORE me (vs 1-2).
“I lift up my eyes to the mountains –
where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord,
the Maker of heaven and earth.!
ill:
• Little girl was sitting on her grandma’s knee,
• She looked at her wrinkly face and her gray hair and said to her,
• “Grandma, did God make you?”
• Grandma replied, “Yes, God made me”
• The little girl looked in the mirror at her beautiful blond hair,
• And her smooth skin, and said,
• “Grandma, don’t you think he’s doing a better job these days?”
• TRANSITION: The Psalmist was traveling to Jerusalem to celebrate a religious feast.
• The journey would take a few days or weeks.
• Travel Like today, travel wasn’t safe in the Middle East. The Psalmist was looking for help on his journey. Where would help come from? From the Lord.
• It was a time of both anticipation and anxiety,
• Anticipation because they will soon see and worship at the temple in Jerusalem.
• Anxiety because there was always the fear of being robbed,
• They probably had money for the journey, for their stay in Jerusalem,
• And money to buy an offering at the temple.
This group of travelers are looking for help on their journey,
• We have a saying, “There is safety in numbers”
• Emphasizing that being part of a group makes you less likely to be harmed.
• And there is a lot of truth in that statement.
• But these pilgrims are not trusting in numbers alone,
• They are trusting in a greater protector.
• Remember the primary theme of this Psalm is that the Lord is their Keeper,
• They must look to him to watch over them.
Question asked: Where does our help come from (vs 1)?
Answer: “The Lord who made the heaven and the earth” (vs 2).
• Notice that in verse 1 the psalmist, “lift his eyes to the mountains”
• But he does not stop there!
• The pagans and apostate Jews worshipped at shrines in high places,
• Such as mountains and hills (2 Kings 16:4, Jer 3:23, 13:27, 17:2, Hosea 4:11-13).
• But the psalmist and these travelers lift their eyes even higher,
• They look beyond the hills to the God who made not just hills and mountains,
• But the heavens and the earth – now you don’t get much bigger than that!
• Therefore, who should we fear?
• The answer is God is the one in whom we will trust!
(2). The eyes of God of are UPON me (vs 3-4).
“He will not let your foot slip –
he who watches over you will not slumber.
indeed, he who watches over Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.”
ill:
• In the 1700’s the Marquis de Lafayette,
• Fought with George Washington during the revolutionary war,
• After which he returned to France and led a French army against Austria.
• During that battle he was captured, and put in prison, into a small cell.
• In the door of that cell was a small hole.
• A soldier was placed at the hole day and night to watch him:
When Lafayette looked out, all he could see was the soldier’s eye he said:
"It was dreadful, there was no escape from that eye.
It was always there, watching his every movement."
• TRANSITION: That illustration is negative,
• An intrusive, unpleasant, disturbing presence that could not be escaped from!
• Now this psalm is saying the very opposite of that!
• We have a caring, loving God who watches over us.
• Who is aware of each and every situation we face?
ill:
• A traveler could easily stumble and hurt himself,
• Someone might suffer sunstroke or become dehydrated after walking under the hot sun.
• A chilly night of camping out might result in somebody getting a bad cold.
• As I have mentioned,
• There was always the possibility of robbers swooping down and raiding their camp,
• While they were sleeping.
Note:
• There are four negatives in verse 3-4,
• Four things that God will not allow to happen.
• He will not let your foot slip (slide, stagger, be shaken)
• He will not slumber (sleep, snooze, rest),
• In case you doubt that he repeats it,
• “He who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.”
Ill:
• We recently got CCTV cameras for the Church building that I attend,
• We have had a bit of anti-social behavior in our car park and by our building.
• Now I can view those cameras on my phone via an app 24hours a day.
• We didn’t but we could have paid to have the company that fitted the cameras,
• To monitor them and respond to any incident on our behalf.
• Now since we have had the cameras fitted,
• The anti-social problems seem to have gone away.
• TRANSITION: we have a God who watches out for us 24 hours a day!
• Whatever our circumstances or situation, God is aware!
(3). The presence of God is BESIDE me (vs 5-6)
ill:
• A vine clings to an oak tree,
• And in so doing finds the protection in times of trial that preserves it.
• If a violent storm should arise and the vine is on the side of the tree away from the wind,
• The tree serves to protect the vine from the wind,
• Which would otherwise tear it away and rip it into shreds.
• If the vine is on the exposed side of the tree,
• The wind serves only to press the vine closer to the tree it already clings to.
• TRANSITION: The strong oak tree gives protection to the vine,
• The weak vine can survive because of the strength of the tree.
“The Lord watches over you –
the Lord is your shade at your right hand.
the sun will not harm you by day,
nor the moon by night”
ill:
• People and especially travelers are often exposed to the elements.
• My wife and I went for a walk in the New Forest on Wednesday.
• We slapped on the sun cream, took a hat and plenty of water.
• In November/December I am going to Moldova for a 10day mission.
• The predicted weather is -1°C,
• So, I will take wooly hat, gloves and thermal vest/t-shirts.
• TRANSITION: we protect ourselves from the elements.
• So did the travelers/pilgrims in Bible times.
• In the Middle East, the sun is hot and distressing in the daytime,
• And at night the temperature drops suddenly,
• And the clear skies can make for a very cold night!
• TRANSITION:
• Yet the Lord promises to protect them from such exposure.
• We would say, “Whatever the weather” or “temperature or conditions” of life,
• God’s presence provides all that we need.
Ill:
One day, C.H. Spurgeon the famous Baptist preacher from the 18th Century,
Was walking through the English countryside with a friend.
As they strolled along, the evangelist noticed a barn with a weathervane on its roof.
At the top of the vane were these words: GOD IS LOVE.
Spurgeon remarked to his friend,
That he thought this was a rather inappropriate place for such a message.
He said, "Weathervanes are changeable, but God’s love is constant."
His friend replied.
"You misunderstood the meaning. That sign is indicating a truth:
Regardless of which way the wind blows, God is love."
• TRANSITION: these verses are not promises that all the physical problems of life,
• Or associated with our situation will automatically be erased,
• But rather that God will reinforce our spiritual character,
• To cope with whatever life throws at us.
(4). The care of God is AROUND me (vs 7-8)
“The Lord will keep you from all harm –
he will watch over your life.
the Lord will watch over your coming and going
both now and for evermore.”
ill:
• Modern English is filled idioms:
• “Butterflies in my stomach, killing time, blow your mind, Cat got your tongue?”
• These are all easily understood expressions by our contemporaries.
• But for those for whom English is a second language,
• These simple idioms would require explaining.
• When I preach abroad, I often use the expression,
• “In English we say….” Then explain the term to my translator/audience.
• TRANSITION: “You’re going out and you’re coming in” is a Hebrew idiom.
• You went out to work in the morning and you returned at night.
• Everyone went out to grow crops, tend cattle, chop wood, etc.
• Your home was your ‘safe haven’, the place you returned to,
• The place that provided you with love and security.
• People in Bible times were the most vulnerable while going to and from work.
• And safest within the four walls of their homes.
Note:
• The Lord’s protection is around me does not imply a trouble-free life,
• No-one in the Bible ever had a trouble-free life, so don’t you expect one!
• In fact, the opposite, Jesus promised us ‘Tribulations, difficulties, problems in this world’
• (John chapter 16 verse 33). So, expect to tribulate!
• The promise is not a trouble-free life but a well-protected life.
• It echoes the truth of other scriptures,
• e.g., #1: Psalm 23 verse 4: “Walk through the valley of the shadow of death”
• God is with us!
• e.g., #2: The words of Joseph to his brothers in Genesis chapter 50 verse 20.
• “What you intended against me for evil, God intended for good.”
• e.g., #3: Romans chapter 8 verses 35-39.
• Maybe some of the best-known verses on this idea.
“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 As it is written: “For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” 37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Notice too the last word, “evermore” or “forever”
• This Psalm is not just an encouragement for this life on earth,
• But for our entire life with God in eternity.
• And that is the most important protection he provides for us.
As Jesus said (Matthew chapter 10 verse 28),
“Men may kill the body but cannot kill the soul”
• The persecuted Church all around the world know that truth.
• People can hurt, torture and kill the physical body,
• But they cannot take away what God has given them,
• Or keep them from one day being with their God!
Punchline:
• Back to verse 1-2:
• “I lift up my eyes… My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.?”
• If we are not looking to him each day,
• Then we are looking to something else to replace Him.
• Normally that something is our own strength or other people.
• Where do YOU expect help to come in the issues and trials of life?
• May we all learn the secret of knowing the Lord and his strength day by day.
SERMON AUDIO:
https://surf.pxwave.com/wl/?id=qx4njFu8ybmiQRNEJEKhf1dlchg8XNZf
SERMON VIDEO:
https://youtu.be/Mz_-ImzFI9Q
