West Greeley Baptist Church
September 16th 2001
“Where to look when trouble comes”
Psalms 121: 1-8
Pastor Mark Hensley
“I lift up my eyes to the hills-- where does my help come from? My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth. 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.
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. 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 forevermore”
Introduction: NEW YORK/WASHINGTON (Sept. 11) - Three hijacked planes crashed into major U.S. landmarks Tuesday, destroying both of New York’s mighty twin towers and plunging the Pentagon in Washington into flames, in an unprecedented assault on key symbols of U.S. military and financial power.
Transition: What happened Tuesday morning was without question the most aggressive assault against our great country since Pearl Harbor! Our prayers are with the thousand’s of families who along with us will never forget the injustice that befell our country Tuesday morning.
The bloodiest day in U.S. history was Sept. 17, 1862, when about 4,700 Union and Confederate soldiers died in the Civil War battle of Antietam. Pearl Harbor killed 2,388 Americans, and the first day of the Normandy invasion on June 6, 1944, killed 1,465.
I am confident that this tragedy can and will mobilize the American people. We have been staggered yet we stand, we have been assaulted yet we persevere! Attacked yet undaunted, this country will rise above with faith in tact and hope sustained!
FROM PRESIDENT BUSH’S SEPTEMBER 11TH ADDRESS TO THE NATION
"Tonight I ask for your prayers for all those who grieve, for the children whose worlds have been shattered, for all whose sense of safety and security has been threatened. And I pray they will be comforted by a power greater than any of us spoken through the ages in Psalm 23: ‘Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil for you are with me.’"
What will we do? Where will we look for help? We will do what those who came before us did, those who heard by radio the news of December 7th 1941 that Pearl Harbor was bombed. We must follow the council of the Psalmist who in Psalms 121 vs. 1 wrote: “I lift up my eyes to the hills, where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord the maker of heaven and earth”
Psalms 121 is an anchor point for us today, for now for always as American’s.
“I lift up my eyes to the hills-- where does my help come from? My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth. 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. 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. 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 forevermore” Psalms 121:1-8
Listen to the New living translation of Psalms 121: 1-8
“I look up to the mountains--does my help come from there? My help comes from the LORD, who made the heavens and the earth! He will not let you stumble and fall; the one who watches over you will not sleep. Indeed, he who watches over Israel never tires and never sleeps. The LORD himself watches over you! The LORD stands beside you as your protective shade. The sun will not hurt you by day nor the moon at night. The LORD keeps you from all evil and preserves your life. The LORD keeps watch over you as you come and go, both now and forever.”
When trouble comes:
We must look to the Lord
Our God is vigilant
Our life is in his hands
I. We must look to the Lord: “I lift up my eyes to the hills-- where does my help come from? My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth”
The writer of Psalms 121, helps us to understand that when trouble comes we must not look to anything or anyone for ultimate protection, except the Lord!
*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. They were many things that could go wrong, many bad things that could happen.
They had no interstates on which to travel or DMV to call on their cell phones 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. Psalm 121 was written to remind God’s people as to how He protects them in times in danger. We see this in the first two verses which serve as an introduction. Will I lift up my eyes to the hills, one asks, where the pagan temples could be seen upon the mountain tops? Where does my help come from? The answer is our theme this morning: “My help comes from the Lord”.
That word for “help” also signifies protection. God is being pictured as our guardian. The dangers before us may not be the same as the ones they faced, but our unchanging God still protects us from danger. *From the sermon “God’s Protection in Times of Danger” by Howard Harden
The citizens of Feldkirch, Austria, didn’t know what to do. Napoleon’s massive army was preparing to attack. Soldiers had been spotted on the heights above the little town, which was situated on the Austrian border. A council of citizens was hastily summoned to decide whether they should try to defend themselves or display the white flag of surrender. It happened to be Easter Sunday, and the people had gathered in the local church.
The pastor rose and said, "Friends, we have been counting on our own strength, and apparently that has failed. As this is the day of our Lord’s resurrection, let us just ring the bells, have our services as usual, and leave the matter in His hands. We know only our weakness, and not the power of God to defend us." The council accepted his plan and the church bells rang. The enemy, hearing the bells, concluded that the Austrian army had arrived during the night to defend the town. Before the service ended, the enemy broke camp and left. Source Unknown
“I lift up my eyes to the hills-- where does my help come from? My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth.
*Just as this psalm was a song of praise on the journey to Jerusalem, this song is a song of praise that we sing to The Lord as we journey through life as we make our way toward our home in Heaven. *From the sermon “God’s Help from the Hills” by Greg Osborn.
Life is short for the longest tenured among us. Danger looms from a variety of angles. Yet the Psalmist realized as we all must, that when trouble comes we can’t look to a mountain for protection we can’t put are trust in this great country primarily. “I look up to the mountains--does my help come from there? My help comes from the LORD, who made the heavens and the earth!
We must look to the Lord! Notice:
II. Our God is vigilant: “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. 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.”
*God will neither “slumber nor sleep”. 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”.*From the sermon “God’s Protection in Times of Danger” by Howard Harden
He can do this because He is a full time God. Jude 1: 24 say’s that our Lord “is able to keep you from falling.” Those whom God saves, He also sustains! He is vigilant!
There are some that would question God in light of the tragedy of Tuesday. Where was God some wonder? Evil is real Jesus told us clearly “In this world you will have tribulation”.
“As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. "Tell us," they said, "when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?"
4Jesus answered: "Watch out that no one deceives you. 5For many will come in my name, claiming, ’I am the Christ,[1] ’ and will deceive many. 6You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. 7Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8All these are the beginning of birth pains.
9"Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. 10At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, 11and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. 12Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, 13but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.” Matthew 24: 3-13
Our Lord told the disciples in no uncertain terms that life would become increasingly more precarious more difficult! Every heartache every tragedy, each tear stained face that stares back at us from the 10:00 news is a reminder that this world will become more and more wicked.
The promise of our Savior is that “he who stands firm to the end will be saved.”
“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. 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.”
At first look many doubt God’s vigilance, His watch care, especially when we see thousands of people brutally murdered by terrorists.
Over every area of life we must write the word “Permitted”, allowed …for reasons we now can’t see and perhaps will never understand until we arrive in heaven. Where was God Tuesday morning? Watching, caring…not distant not removed but near!
Where was God Tuesday morning? The same place He was when his only son was crucified! When our Lord cried out it was finished, his enemies thought it truly was that he had been silenced forever! Three days later there was a strange stirring in the tomb where Jesus was laid. His heart began to beat the life spirit returned to him scents of aloes and spices filled his nostrils, he stood on wounded feet swaying for a moment getting his balance then walking out into the garden alive for evermore!
Triumph from tragedy! Why? Because God is
vigilant! “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. 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
On Sept. 17, 1862, when about 23,000 Union and Confederate soldiers died in the Civil War battle of Antietam they did not die in vain! The great civil war did end and the sun rose again over this great land! Pearl Harbor killed 2,388 Americans, there deaths spurred our country into action and millions of lives were saved when World War Two ended! The first day of the Normandy invasion on June 6, 1944, killed 1,465.
Their deaths were not in vain! That aggressive assault against the enemy led our Country and allies into ultimate victory and the defeat of Hitler!
My friends those who died Tuesday did not die in vain!
Out of this tragedy will come the greatest campaign in history to end terrorism! Be assured more difficult days are ahead. Others will die for freedom, but ten’s of thousands of people and millions more will discover that even in the darkest hour …God is vigilant!
And history will revere those who in giving their lives, compeled the rest of us...those who remain to seek to end terroism!
When trouble comes:
We must look to the Lord
Our God is vigilant
III. Our life is in his hands 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. 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 forevermore”
*Eugene Peterson, in his book on the psalms of ascent, writes:
The promise of the psalm —and both Hebrews and Christians have always read it this way — is not that we shall never stub our toes, but that no injury, no illness, no accident, no distress will have evil power over us, that is, will be able to separate us from God’s purposes in us. . . . [He goes on:]
All the water in all the oceans cannot sink a ship unless it gets inside. Nor can all the trouble in the world harm us unless it gets within us. That is the promise of the psalm: “The Lord will keep you from all evil”. . . . None of the things that happen to you, none of the troubles you encounter, have any power to get between you and God, dilute his grace in you, and divert his will from you. This portion of message from: The sermon “A song of Ascents” by Bob Hostetler
As Martin Luther wrote and sang,
And though this world, with devils filled,
Should threaten to undo us,
We will not fear, for God hath willed
His truth to triumph through us.
“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?. . . . No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. . . . For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 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” (Romans 8:35, 37-39).
Appeal: When trouble comes:
We must look to the Lord
Our God is vigilant
Our life is in his hands
