Sermon Notes

Psalm 121

A Psalm for the Journey

July 28, 2013

Introduction: a prayer asking God for help for the journey ahead.

Psalm 121 is a traveller’s song/psalm. It is specifically tailored for God’s people who are on a journey and who need help.

  1. Psalm 121 comes from a section of Psalms known as the songs of ascent.
  2. It would have been song by Jewish pilgrims who were on their way to Jerusalem to celebrate one of the many feasts in ancient Israel.
  3. Great cause for joy, happiness and expectation of upcoming celebration. Yet, there is a problem.
  4. The problem is what God’s people will face along the way. There are obstacles to overcome. (danger lurks in the hill country.)
  5. For the people of God, this journey is mixed with both joy and fear.

This is where we all live. Our earthly lives are a journey, frequently mixed with both joy and fear.

  1. It’s the first day of school – for both your child and for you.
  2. It’s a new job/relationship/friendship/married/having kids/growing older/retirement/persevering through illness/new church etc…
  3. GCF – multi-site adventure beginning in October.
  4. Perhaps as you think and pray about the mission God has given us here at GCF, your prayers reflect a combination of joy and fear.
  5. Much to be thankful for and excited about but change like this can often be the breeding ground for worries, anxieties, fear and sadness.
  6. We wrestle with both the known and the unknown.

The question posed by Psalm 121: Where does your help come from?

The answer given: My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth.

  1. Our help comes from our Creator.
  2. In our time of need, we must look up, for God created everything.
  3. This is His world. He owns it all. He rules over all.
  4. The fact that God created all things naturally suggests that He is able to help in all things and meet the needs of His people.
  5. Practically, this means that our help (and hope) is not in created things.
  6. Who better to help us on this journey but God? Who better to come to our aid in our time of need than the God who formed man out of the dust and fashioned woman from the rib of a man? Who better to turn to with our fears and worries than the God who simply spoke a word….and creation came into being?
  7. God is our Helper. Do you need help this morning?

D. Kidner: “The rest of this Psalm is an ever-expanding circle of promises.”

Main theme in verses 3-8 (repeated 6 times in these verses) is that God is our Keeper. The Creator is also our Keeper.

Three promises from God to His people (us) for the journey ahead:

Promise #1: Because the Lord is our Keeper, we enjoy the promise of His presence. (v 3-4)

  1. Picture of God’s ever-watchful, ever-attentive eye on His children.
  2. The Lord has no blind spots – He faithfully watches over the affairs of His people.
  3. He never sleeps, takes a nap or gets tired. He is always fully engaged with His children.
  4. This is what made Israel’s God so unique among other gods in the A.N.E.
  5. Elijah and Baal – I Kings 18:27 ff..
  6. Good news: Because God never sleeps, you and I can. Because our Heavenly Father never takes a nap, His children can rest.
  7. While we sleep, God continues to rule and reign over His creation and our lives.
  8. We can sleep well at night precisely because God does not sleep. He is always attentive, ever-present and awake.
  9. Promises of God’s presence throughout Scripture. (Joshua 1:5; Isaiah 43; Matthew 28:18 ff.
  10. Whatever God calls you to do, He will enable you to do by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Promise #2: Because the Lord is our Keeper, we enjoy the promise of His protection. (v5-6)

  1. Spurgeon: “The Lord is the convoy and bodyguard of His saints.”
  2. Comforting picture of God’s protective custody over His children.
  3. Nature of His protection: Comprehensive!
  4. Neither the heat of the sun or the cool of the night will harm us.
  5. We need protection as we journey through life.
  6. He is safeguarding you in everything and in all things. (plenty/want, triumphs/tragedies, war/peace.)
  7. Psalm 90:14.

Promise #3: Because the Lord is our Keeper, we enjoy the promise of His preservation. (v7-8)

  1. God will keep your soul. (the entirety of who you are)
  2. He will sustain/preserve your life and keep you secure now and for all eternity.
  3. One commentator on v. 8: “It’s hard to decide which half of v.8 is more encouraging. The fact that it starts from now or that it runs on for all eternity.”
  4. Sound too good? Consider some of the evil you have faced. Is this promise true for you?
  5. Important to understand that the psalmist confidence in God’s keeping and preserving His people assumes that there is evil in the world.
  6. Promise here is in essence same promise we read in Psalm 23.
  7. The Lord does not promise to keep us from problems. He promises to keep us in the midst of our problems.

The Lord is your Keeper. As a Christian, we enjoy every single day the promise of God’s presence to go with us, His protection to guard us and His preservation to sustain us.

What difference might this make tomorrow, a month from now, a year from now, five years from now, if we not only believe this but continue to move forward in faith?

  1. Would we worry less about our lives? Pray more? Move out of our comfort zone? Forgive lavishly? Serve until it hurts?

Moses’ Blessing to the people of God in Numbers 6:

“The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace.”

  1. Same Hebrew word “to keep” as repeated in Psalm 121.
  2. If you want to know the extent of God’s keeping, we must look to the cross.
  3. All the promises of Psalm 121 and the blessings of Numbers 6 are true for us as Christians because the opposite was true for Jesus Christ.
  4. Our Lord was cursed. He did not keep His life.
  5. In the death of His only son, God meted out His perfect justice for our sins.
  6. God poured out all His wrath upon His own son to grant us life and peace. Jesus received wrath. We receive mercy and grace.
  7. We are kept by God in this life because Jesus was forsaken.
  8. We can be assured of God’s help for the journey because Christ refused any help and did not save Himself.
  9. These gospel promises are true for us only as we come to Jesus by God’s grace through faith.
  10. This is the profound beauty of the good news of the gospel: All these blessings and promises for life’s journey are God’s gift to us. It’s all His grace.

GCF: We remain a people in need. Where does your help come from?

Answer: Our help comes from the Lord. He will keep us, now and for all eternity.