The Lord Is Your Keeper

THE LORD IS YOUR KEEPER

Ps. 121:1-8

INTRODUCTION

A. HUMOR

1. A frantic-looking woman came rushing out of her house and into the street crying, “Help! Help! My young son has swallowed a quarter and is choking and I don’t know what to do!”

2. Everyone looked the other way, except for a middle-aged man who rushed into the ladies’ house, found her son, turned him upside down and shook him until the coin fell out of his mouth.

3. “Oh, thank you!” cried the lady. “Are you a doctor?” “No ma’am,” replied the man. “I work for the tax assessor & collector’s office!” Yep, they can get the last penny out of you!

B. TEXT

1. I will lift up my eyes to the hills—from whence comes my help? 2 My help comes from the Lord, Who made heaven and earth. 3 He will not allow your foot to be moved; He who keeps you will not slumber. 4 Behold, He who keeps Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. 5 The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade at your right hand. 6 The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. 7 The Lord shall preserve you from all evil; He shall preserve your soul. 8 The Lord shall preserve your going out and your coming in from this time forth, and even forevermore. Ps. 121:1-8 NKJV

C. THESIS

1. In Psalm 121:5, “The Lord is your keeper,” the Hebrew word used is Shaw-mar – “to hedge about,” as with thorns; i.e., to “guard.” God “keeps” us, in aspects of protecting, preserving, putting sentinels around us, providing for us, and keeps us from evil.

2. So we’re going to look at 3 aspects of God’s “keeping” power tonight. The title of this message is, “The Lord is Your Keeper.”

I. PROTECTING US FROM DANGERS

A. DON’T RELY ON THE WRONG THINGS

1. “Do not put your trust in princes nor in a son of man,” Psalm 146:3-4. Frequently we put our trust in medical science, our employers, in science, or in government – but all these human institutions are prone to abuse or failure. They are also limited.

2. When the Babylonian empire attacked Judah, Judah was confident, but not in the Lord. (God was trying to chasten them but they weren’t paying attention). Judah was not afraid because they had an agreement with Egypt; Egypt would fight for them. They had their hope in Egypt. In the end, Judah fell and Egypt itself was defeated.

3. The Lord told them (and us) not to trust in Egypt. Egypt represents the world. Instead -- trust in the Lord, the Maker of Heaven and earth!

B. GOD IS ALWAYS ON THE JOB

1. A pilot fell asleep while flying. He didn’t fall asleep just for a brief time – he fell asleep the whole flight! The co-pilot tried to wake him up but he always fell back asleep.

2. A train in New York went off the tracks and several people got hurt and four were killed. Investigators tried to figure out what happened. The train engineer’s name was Willy Rockefeller and he confessed that he fell asleep. The speed limit was 30 mph and he drove 80 mph, so the train went off its tracks.

3. Imagine if the people on the train or plane had known the drivers were asleep! Think how scared they would’ve been. But, thank God, the Lord is never asleep!

C. HE WILL PREVENT AS WELL AS PROTECT

Verse 7 in the NIV says, “The Lord will keep you from all harm.” This tells us that God PREVENTS many bad things from happening. I wonder how many times we’ve been kept from fatal car wrecks? I know I’ve had 2 or 3 close calls!

1. NO MATTER WHERE YOU ARE YOU ARE KEPT BY GOD.

2. “ “ WHAT THE OBSTACLE you are kept by God.

3. “ “ WHAT THE HOUR you are kept by God.

4. “ “ WHAT THE CONDITIONS you are kept by God.

5. “ “ WHO THE ENEMY you are kept by God.

6. “ “ HOW LONG IT TAKES you are kept by God!

D. HE PLACES SENTINELS AROUND YOU!

1. The same word used for “keeper” in Ps. 121 is also the same word used for sentinels in Judges 7:19, “they had but newly set the WATCH [sentinels]....” So this means that God is vigilant as a sentinel around us.

2. God also places angels around us; “For He shall give His angels charge over you, To keep you in all your ways” Psalm 91:11 NKJV. So we can see how diligently God watches over us to protect us.

II. PROVIDING FOR US

A. OUR KEEPER IS OUR NURTURER