In the Keeping of God 7-15-07
Psalm 121
INTRODUCTION
Psalm 121 is part of a larger body of Scripture known as the “Song of Ascent.” Sometimes it is translated as the “Song of Degrees.” The Jewish Massorites handed down much knowledge and tradition concerning the Old Testament. They were the scholars who added the vowel sounds to the Hebrew Old Testament. The Massorites taught that the Psalms of Ascent were sung as pilgrims journeyed to Jerusalem for the temple festivals and feasts. This particular psalm, Psalm 121, was sung as the pilgrims caught sight of the mountains surrounding Jerusalem.
“I will lift up my eyes to the hills – From whence comes my help? My help comes from the LORD who made heaven and earth. He will not allow your foot to be moved; He who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, He who keeps Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. The LORD is your keeper; The LORD is your shade at your right hand. The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. The LORD shall preserve your going out and your coming in from this time forth, and even forevermore.” Psalm 121
If you look carefully at this psalm you will see that it has two divisions. The first two verses are in first person. “I will lift up my eyes to the hills.” The rest of the psalm is in second person. “The LORD is your keeper; the LORD is your shade at your right hand.”
Most scholars say that it is a responsive song. The first two verses are sung as a solo, the rest of the psalm was sung by the temple choirs. It reminds me of a much-loved hymn:
“Then let our songs abound and every tear be dry
We’re marching through Emanuel’s ground, we’re marching through Emanuel’s ground
To fairer worlds on high to fairer worlds on high.
We’re marching to Zion, beautiful, beautiful Zion
We’re marching onward to Zion the beautiful city of God.”
The key word in this psalm is “keep.” The word occurs three times in verses 3-5,but it occurs more in the original Hebrew. The word translated “preserve” is the same word translated “keep” above. When this is taken into account the word “keep” occurs six times in this psalm.
The psalmist asks a very important question: “From whence comes my help?” I ask you this question, From whence comes your help? In what are you trusting? And, who do you trust?
Some would say that they trust in money. Now financial security is a great thing, but I have noticed something strange –everyone goes into eternity with the same amount of cash – NOTHING.
Several years ago, when my kids were small, we went to San Antonio. Down at the Riverwalk they have these boats that take you on a tour of downtown San Antonio. The kids begged to go. Our guide kept telling us about the financial exploits of S. R. Mann. He told us that the Riverwalk was his idea. He showed us the S. R. Mann hospital, the S. R. Mann Library. By the way, S. R. Mann isn’t his real name. I cannot remember his real name so I called him S. R. Mann because it stands for Some Rich Man. Then the boat stopped. He pointed to the thirty-third floor of a building. From this building S.R. Mann could see all of his real estate holdings. But on Black Friday, October of 1929, he lost everything. Gone were the bonds. Gone were the stocks. Gone was his great wealth. In one day he went from being the richest man in town to being the greatest debtor in town. He jumped out of a window in that building and splattered on the pavement below. Woe to the one who trusts in riches!
Some place their trust in their health. Many young people put off trusting Christ as their Savior because they think they have plenty of time. They are in the prime of their lives, what do they need with God. But search the obituaries in the paper. You will see that death comes for the young as well as the old. There is one thing that we all have in common. We all have a terminal condition – its called mortality. We are all mortal, and this means that one day our health will fail
Some place their trust in friends. And what a comfort it is to have friends. But death is something that we must do alone.
“Life here is grand with friends I hold so dear
We get along in sweet accord
But when I face the chilling hand of death
Where could I go but to the Lord.”
The believer can say, however, “My help comes from the Lord.” And what a great help this is!
A Watchful Help – V.V.3-4
“He will not allow your foot to be moved: He who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, He who keeps Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.”
It is said that Alexander told his men that they could sleep because he was awake. That’s the way it is with God. We can rest because our God does not slumber or sleep.
I remember that when I was a boy I was traveling with my father late at night. For some reason I was afraid that he would go to sleep. I suppose he noticed that I kept staring at his eyes and he said to me “I won’t go to sleep.” Listen saint of God, God is not going to go to sleep. He has promised to stay awake so that He can keep us in the hour of trouble.
Jude says “Now unto Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, To God our Saviour, Who alone is wise, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever. Amen.”
A Continual Help – V.V. 6-8
“The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. The LORD shall keep you from all evil; He shall keep your soul. The LORD shall keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth, and forevermore.”
First, lets notice His continual help with regards to time. “The sun shall not strike you by day nor the moon by night.” Some have thought that this refers to heat stroke and to superstitious notions about the moon. Our word lunatic comes from lunar, which means moon. But I don’t think the psalmist has anything like that in mind. I think he means that God will keep us at all times. I can put it another way, God will desert us, forsake us at a time when it is neither day nor night. So you see, this means that God is going to watch over us forever.
In Genesis 16 is one of the saddest stories in the Bible. Sarah, the wife of Abraham, kicked Hagar –their Egyptian concubine –out of the house. What’s worse, Hagar was with child! We know that she was going back to Egypt because she was on the “way to Shur.” This was one of the main roads back to Egypt. She had no family, knew the pain of rejection, had a child to take care of with no support. But God appeared to her and gave her a vision of a brighter future. She then gave God a new name. She called Him “You-Are-The-God-Who-Sees.” And she gave a new name to the well where she was drawing water. “The well of Him who lives and sees me.”
I have experienced the silence of God. There have been times when I wanted God to operate on my time schedule. Its those times when I have to remind myself that “God is on His throne. All’s well on earth.”
Second, lets notice His continual help with regards to condition. “The LORD shall preserve your going out and your coming in from this time forth, and even forevermore.” No matter what our state, God promises to watch over us.
The problem is not that God is not going to watch over us, many times God has trouble getting us to go out. We want to stay at home where it is comfortable and safe. I want to that all those who showed up for our prayer walk yesterday. I hope that we will have even more sign up for our prayer drive next week.
Jack and Beth Sheridan, our missionaries to South America, are two great examples of people who were willing to “go out.” I often think of the dangers that they faced in China and now in Peru. They have taught me that there is no safer place to be than in the will of God. Don’t be afraid to “go out,” because the Lord is going to watch over you until you “come in.”
CONCLUSION
God is our help. There can be no greater help.
I have two questions for you:
Has it ever occurred to you that God helps us in proportion to our asking for it? The Bible says you have not because you ask not. There maybe someone here today that would say “pastor, I don’t know if I have a home in heaven. I need help for my soul.” I’m glad you asked that. Follow up on that and ask the Lord to save you. “Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
Are you tired of living life on your strength? You feel drained and lifeless. Perhaps God is using this to teach you to rely on His strength.
A car is not made to run on a battery. You can crank a car on a battery, but if you run the radio, the lights, etc. your car’s battery will die – unless the alternator is working. It is the job of the alternator to keep the battery properly charged. The Holy Spirit is like the alternator of the soul. He fills us, sustains us, empowers us. God never intended for you to live the Christian life without the power of His Spirit. Some of you are having “alternator troubles” and you need to talk to God about that.
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