“May I help you?” That is a familiar greeting when we walk into a store. Anyone who has ever worked in a retail environment knows that question well. When we were in Haiti, we went to an open market to look at some souvenirs. The merchants were most eager to help us with purchasing pottery, painting, and pencil holders. Merchants claimed to be more reputable and cheaper than their competitor next to them. Each one claimed to have made or painted each item themselves. They were most eager to “bargain” for a good price. It was quite overwhelming to an American who is used to walking into Wal-Mart and picking something up and going and paying a set price.
We need help most of the places we go. If we go out to eat someone may help us find a table. They take our order. Someone else even cooks the food. I remember the days when gas stations attendants would fill ‘er up. There were times when grocery stores employed bag boys to carry your groceries out to the car.
When you think about it, we are all dependent on someone for something. We all need someone’s help. The problem occurs when others let us down. Even if something has a lifetime warranty, it is useless if the one who gave you the warranty goes out of business. People will fail us, but there is Someone to whom we can turn for help that is reliable.
Turn with me to Psalm 121.
Read Psalm 121.
To me this is one of the most comforting passages of scripture. Some scholars have labeled this Psalm the “travelers psalm.” You will notice at the very beginning is a notation that says, “A song of ascents.” This is a song that the people of Israel would sing as they made their way to the Temple for worship. It must have been a great source of comfort for weary travelers to be reminded of God’s protection on them as they traveled. As we look at this, I can hear God saying, “May I help you?”
I. God is GREATER than anything.
People and things will let us down. There will always be someone who doesn’t come through for us. As many of you know, I am a baseball fan. There are always some players that are called “clutch players.” They are the ones who make the perfect pitch or get the timely hit at a key spot in the game. When the game is on the line he is the one you want on the mound or in the batter’s box. Not everyone is perfect though. The best pitchers give us home runs. The best hitters strike out a key moments. Even the best “clutch player” fails from time to time.
God never lets us down. God is the “Clutch Player” who always bats 1.000. He doesn’t strike out.
A. Look NOWHERE else.
Verse 1 says, “I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come?” In that time the “hills” were associated with pagan worship. Hills were often used as centers of worship of gods other than the true God. The writer is saying that when he looks to these other gods there is no help.
We snicker at the notion of people bowing down to a pole or the sun and worshipping that as their god. The truth is that we often look for help from sources other than the true God.
We make seek to find help from many different things. It’s not just alcohol, drugs and sex that I’m talking about. So often we can allow our job to become our source of help. We look to our family for help. We look to the Church for help. We look to Oprah for help or Dr. Phil. We look to things that are temporary and unable to truly help us.
God is greater than any of that stuff. Our help doesn’t come from anything other than God.
B. God CREATED all.
Verse 2 gives us the answer, “My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.”
You see God created all the stuff we depend on. God created the Church. God created the family. God created the universe. I think it is a better idea to go to the source.
Back at the turn of the 20th century there was an inventor who invented a new machine. He built several of these machines. One factory bought a machine. After a while they had a problem with it, and it quit working. Engineers from the company looked at it and tried to figure out what was wrong with it. No one could figure out what was wrong. Finally the owner of the factory called the inventor. He came out. He looked at it for a couple minutes, and then he got out a tool and tinkered on it for a couple minutes. He turned to the owner and said, “Well, your problem is solved.” The inventor handed the owner a bill for $100. Now remember this was over 100 years ago and $100 was a lot of money then. The owner exclaimed, “$100! You were only tinkered around for a few minutes.” The inventor replied, “$10 for tinkering and $90 for knowing where to tinker.”
When we need help it only stands to reason to go to the One who created the world to begin with. The inventor knew more about the machine than anyone because he built it. God knows more about what we need because he created us to begin with.
II. God will not SLEEP on the job.
Another reason to look to God is the fact that he won’t doze off on the job. Have you ever fallen asleep at work? I remember being in college and being really tired. I was sitting there taking notes and dozing. I went back and looked at the notes and they make no sense.
A. God will not TURN his head.
Many times when a tragedy occurs involving a child, the parent says, “I only turned my head for a minute.” So much can happen if we turn our head away from our children.
God doesn’t turn his head. There is not a moment when we are out of God’s sight. Verse 3 tells us, “He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber.” When we are tired, God isn’t.
B. God does not need REST.
God doesn’t need to sleep. He is always alert. He is there to protect us when we need him.
When I was a teenager, the youth group took a trip out to Colorado to go camping and work a mission called New Hope in the Rockies. Two moms went along with us to help out and cook. They were driving in a minivan that followed the van driven by the youth pastor with all the kids. On the way back home, the youth pastor blurted out, “Scott, your mom just ran off the road.” We stopped and got out. We pushed the van back on the road. The lady had fallen asleep at the wheel and the van went off the road. The amazing thing is that this happened close to an overpass. They easily could have hit one of those giant concrete pillars. God was watching them and protecting them. He doesn’t doze off on the job.
III. God protects us INDIVIDUALLY and as a GROUP.
Verse 3 and 4 tell us that God looks out for individuals and for the group of his people. Israel is God’s people. We are God’s people, and he watches out for us as a group.
A. God cares for our PERSONAL needs.
Jesus said in Matthew 6 that the lilies of the field didn’t labor for their beauty. If God gave them such beauty, will he not provide for us? Jesus went on to say, “Your heavenly Father knows [what] you need…. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”
God protects those who follow and love him. That’s not to say that bad things can’t happen to those who follow God. God will provide for those who are faithful to him. It won’t always be easy.
When I was a kid, my dad lost his job. It was the recession of 1981 & 82. It was difficult. I remember walking around town with my mom picking up aluminum cans to sell, while my dad was at the unemployment office looking for work. My parents never lost faith. They were faithful. They gave to God, and God provided. I don’t ever remember missing a meal or being without clothes. I didn’t get everything I wanted, but God provided everything that we needed.
B. God does not SEPARATE us from the group.
In the Old Testament, there was really no distinction between the individual and the group. That philosophy is fairly new. The individual existed only in proportion to ones participation in the group. The identity of the individual was shaped by the group identity.
There’s the old adage, there is safety in numbers. When I worked at Nazarene Publishing House a few summers while I was in school, they would always advise new employees not to go outside alone, even in the daytime. It’s not in the best neighborhood. They were concerned about our safety. There really is safety in numbers.
That’s what the Church is for. Here we can be encouraged and built up. We aren’t alone in facing our problems.
God cares about the group.
IV. God protects us DAY and NIGHT.
God’s protection is with his people all day long. He protects from everything.
A. God protects us from NATURAL threats.
Verse 6 says, “The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night.”
This has been the hottest week here since I have lived here. One source of comfort for me has been the fact that Kansas City has been about 10 degrees hotter over the last couple weeks.
We are very aware of the dangers of the heat. The warnings come constantly on the news, “Drink plenty of water. Avoid being outside if possible, especially during the hottest part of the day. Take breaks.” It goes beyond the heat to sunburn and other problems.
The travelers were very aware of the dangers of prolonged exposure to the sun. Heat stroke is always a possibility in hot climates.
God protects us from natural dangers. That doesn’t mean we can be stupid. That doesn’t mean we can go against the will of God. God gave us a brain to be reasonable. When we are in God’s will he will protect us.
B. God protects us from PERCEIVED threats.
We find it kind of strange that the writer would include the moon as a threat. I mean it’s not like we get “moonburn” from extended exposure to the moon.
In ancient times, and even in some places today, the moon is believed to have the power to make people crazy. When we speak of the moon, we sometimes use the term “lunar.” Lunar comes from the same root word as lunatic. It was believed that overexposure to the moon would make someone a lunatic.
God protects us from perceived threats. Often we believe something to be a threat that really isn’t. When I was little, I was convinced that there were dogs hiding under my bed. If I had to get up during the night, I would run and jump into bed so the dogs wouldn’t bite my foot. That is a perceived threat, and God protects us from those as well.
God created all, and we can trust him to protect us.
V. God protects us WHEREVER we go.
Verse 8 tells us, “The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in.” Wherever we go, God will protect us.
I have heard horror stories about vacation gone wrong. Someone buys a vacation package from a discount travel agent. They wind up in Europe after a miserable flight only to find out that they have no hotel reservations. They are in a country where they cannot speak the language, and it seems as though no one speaks English. It’s a nightmare.
God is our travel agent. He doesn’t guarantee a bump free ride, but he does guarantee to protect us along the journey.
Take into consideration that when this psalm was written, a journey to Jerusalem was dangerous. I guess much hasn’t changed. Out on the desert roads, thieves and robbers would hide and wait for unsuspecting travelers. They would jump out, beat, and rob these travelers. These deserted desert roads didn’t have state troopers patrolling the roads. God was the only source of protection for these travelers.
I encountered a man who had driven from Ohio to Kansas City, which is a considerable trip. I asked if he had driven alone. He replied, “No, the Lord was with me the whole way.” God is our protection wherever we go.
VI. God protects us CONTINUALLY.
Verse 8 states, “The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore.”
God’s protection doesn’t ebb and flow. It’s not like the tide that comes in and out. His protection is permanent. Remember he doesn’t need a rest. After Jesus gave his disciples the Great Commission to go into all the world, he said, “And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
When we are in God’s will his protection is permanent. That doesn’t mean bad things won’t happen, and it doesn’t mean that we can do whatever we want. It means that nothing that comes our way will be more than we can handle with help from God. Peter tells us in 1 Peter 5:8, “Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” We are reminded that God’s power is greater than anything, even that of the devil, because all things were created by God. The Creator is vastly more powerful than the creation.
Conclusion
Verse 7 tells us, “The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life.” We all have a purpose to fulfill on earth for the Lord. He will protect us as we fulfill his plan.
His protection is for his people. Are you one of his people? It’s not a matter of asking for God’s help to get us out of a tight spot. It isn’t always going to be easy, but you can say, along with the one man I met, “The Lord was with me the whole way.”
God’s greatest desire is for us to have a relationship with him that is right. He wants us to depend on him. There is no other way than to trust him. The old time song goes:
When we walk with the Lord in the light of His Word, what a glory He sheds on our way?
While we do His good will, He abides with us still, and with all who will trust and obey.
Trust and obey, for there’s no other way to be happy in Jesus but to trust and obey.
Are you trusting and obeying? Is he abiding with you? One of the easiest ways to see if we are right with God is to take a look at how close he is to us. God doesn’t move. If he seems far away, it is because we have moved.
God is waiting for you to trust and obey him. When God asks us, “May I help you?” our answer should be, “Yes!”
Let him have his way with you. You can’t go wrong trusting God. He will protect and keep us safe in his love. He won’t let our foot slip while we walk in his will.
Ask God to guide and direct you and to show you his will. The answer is to completely trust God. We trust many things. Trust God.
