SPEAKER_00: Psalm 121, verses 1 through 8.
SPEAKER_00: I will lift up my eyes to the mountains.
SPEAKER_00: From where shall my help come?
SPEAKER_00: My help comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth.
SPEAKER_00: He will not allow your foot to slip.
SPEAKER_00: He who keeps you will not slumber.
SPEAKER_00: Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.
SPEAKER_00: The Lord is your keeper.
SPEAKER_00: The Lord is your shade on your right hand.
SPEAKER_00: The sun will not smite you by day, nor the moon by night.
SPEAKER_00: The Lord will protect you from all evil.
SPEAKER_00: He will keep your soul.
SPEAKER_00: The Lord will guard your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forever.
SPEAKER_00: We just thank you for this passage, and we pray in the name of Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Brian?
SPEAKER_01: What a glorious passage we have before us this morning.
SPEAKER_01: Man, what a joy it is to be able to preach it, and I pray that all of us would be edified by it.
SPEAKER_01: Father, use me for your purposes.
SPEAKER_01: I am nothing but a mere vessel.
SPEAKER_01: Father, we ask you that your word, by the power of your spirit, would impact, would change, would transform us all this morning.
SPEAKER_01: And that we'd be thrilled and encouraged by our great God.
SPEAKER_01: We pray this in Christ's name.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: Well, as you know, many times in our lives there are seasons where sufferings come.
SPEAKER_01: And what do we do as a church?
SPEAKER_01: We rally around one another as the body of Christ.
SPEAKER_01: We mourn with one another, we encourage one another.
SPEAKER_01: Come alongside one another.
SPEAKER_01: Well, since there are numerous folks in this church who are, or maybe who are connected with this church, people we love and care for.
SPEAKER_01: Since there are so many that seem to kind of be in this very season currently, and that is usually all of us in one way or another, whether it's emotional, physical, or spiritual, or a combination of all, the best thing that I can do as one of your shepherds is to pray for you and to preach the truth of God's word to you.
SPEAKER_01: As I mentioned last week, as we're uh we're now through the first three chapters of Ephesians, so we're through what we call the indicatives or what God has done.
SPEAKER_01: And next, as we go back to Ephesians in a month or so, uh, we're going to see the imperatives or what we are to do in light of what God has done.
SPEAKER_01: Along with the fact that Ephesians is a very meaty and weighty and heavy book, and it's glorious.
SPEAKER_01: I just thought it'd be good for us to take some time to be refreshed in the Lord's constant provision and his care for us, even in and maybe especially in the difficult times, before we dive back in to see how we are instructed to live once again in the book of Ephesians.
SPEAKER_01: Therefore, I felt it's a good time for us to go to the Psalms and see the beauty of how we can suffer well as we endure trials within the will and grace of the Lord while we still cling to his tender mercies that are definitely new every morning as he cares for us and shows us such compassion and such love.
SPEAKER_01: So today we're going to be drawing, uh, as was read, we're going to be drawing from a portion of the Psalms that we call, maybe you saw the title heading or you see it in your book.
SPEAKER_01: We call them the Psalms of Ascent.
SPEAKER_01: They've been identified as Ps of Ascent.
SPEAKER_01: They've also been titled something else: the Pilgrim Psalms.
SPEAKER_01: And we'll describe that.
SPEAKER_01: There is a total of 15 of these Psalms, ranging from chapters 120 to 134.
SPEAKER_01: Now these Psalms were later titled this, the Pilgrim Psalms, because they were sung by the Jews as they traveled on this pilgrimage back to Jerusalem for the various feasts.
SPEAKER_01: They were sort of a, I guess you could call it kind of a hymn book for the Jews on a pilgrimage.
SPEAKER_01: Okay?
SPEAKER_01: One of the feasts, for example, would be the feast of Passover or the celebration of Passover.
SPEAKER_01: The city at that time, Jerusalem, would swell to many times the normal population when people would come from all around for that celebration.
SPEAKER_01: They would all come joyously traveling, knowing that they're soon going to be celebrating the remembrance of what their God did all those years ago when the people, their forefathers were captive in Egypt and how he led them out by the hand.
SPEAKER_01: On their way to the city, which is, if you know, Jerusalem's up on a hill, they would sing these songs or psalms as they ascended that hill up to those ancient walls.
SPEAKER_01: Therefore, what these became were songs that would basically aid them in their worship.
SPEAKER_01: It's also said that even the priest, as they were heading up the steps into the temple to worship and to sacrifice, would also be singing these psalms.
SPEAKER_01: These psalms were precious to the people then.
SPEAKER_01: And I know as we study a few of them over the next month or so, they are going to become precious to you if they aren't as well or already, because they cause us to worship the one and only eternal comforter there is.
SPEAKER_01: And that is precisely what we need when suffering or trials or difficulties come our way.
SPEAKER_01: We need to find ourselves being brought, not to you know, hide in a corner, but we need to find ourselves being brought to worship even through the tears.
SPEAKER_01: Oh, Psalm 121.
SPEAKER_01: Many of you probably haven't memorized.
SPEAKER_01: This psalm is powerful and it's thrilling.
SPEAKER_01: It's restful, isn't it?
SPEAKER_01: It's refreshing, it's hope-filled.
SPEAKER_01: Ultimately, I would say what this psalm points us to is to understand and cling to the fact that God is our keeper.
SPEAKER_01: He is our keeper, no matter what.
SPEAKER_01: He is our true and eternal help.
SPEAKER_01: Isn't that just gloriously good news today?
SPEAKER_01: And every day.
SPEAKER_01: How does that not bring a smile to your face to know that God, the God of the universe, is the one who keeps me.
SPEAKER_01: Me.
SPEAKER_01: Sinful, useless in my own life.
SPEAKER_01: Deceived, rotten, fallen, fearful, anxious, untrusting me.
SPEAKER_01: Praise God for his constant provision in our lives.
SPEAKER_01: So that's gonna be the theme as we study this.
SPEAKER_01: The Lord is our keeper.
SPEAKER_01: And to help us in this, we're gonna break it down into two parts.
SPEAKER_01: And given that I am so incredibly creative, the two parts are gonna be one, where does my help come from?
SPEAKER_01: And two, my help comes from the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: Man, I don't know where I came up with, but obviously, first couple of verses.
SPEAKER_01: And so as we dive in though, to answer the first part that the psalmist speaks of, I want to ask you that question.
SPEAKER_01: Where what's your answer?
SPEAKER_01: What's your answer?
SPEAKER_01: Where does your help come from?
SPEAKER_01: And when I ask that, I don't want you to just think in your mind, oh, that's right, I'm supposed to say the Sunday school answer right now.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: I pray that's the case, but really, really think and just be honest with yourself.
SPEAKER_01: You don't have to stand and confess anything, but just be honest with yourself as we get started.
SPEAKER_01: Where does your help actually come from?
SPEAKER_01: Who are you?
SPEAKER_01: Who do you know?
SPEAKER_01: And who do you look to?
SPEAKER_01: Really?
SPEAKER_01: I mean, when when you feel in your life as though, and I know many of us have, if not all of us, when you feel as though the the walls are just kind of pressing in around you, when you're when you're suffering, when you're having such a hard time just coping, even with just a day-to-day.
SPEAKER_01: When you're sick, when you're scared.
SPEAKER_01: Where do you go to find help?
SPEAKER_01: Where do your eyes gaze when cancer comes?
SPEAKER_01: Where do you look for help when you lose your job?
SPEAKER_01: Where does your heart gaze upon when death comes knocking at your door?
SPEAKER_01: Or your spouse's door?
SPEAKER_01: Or your father's door, or your mother's door, or your brother's or sister's door.
SPEAKER_01: Where do your tear-filled eyes gaze?
SPEAKER_01: Now this passage isn't all about suffering, of course.
SPEAKER_01: But I think it starts out by reminding us of it by how the psalmist is speaking.
SPEAKER_01: He needs help.
SPEAKER_01: And as we know, we love to go to a passage like this because suffering does come to us all, doesn't it?
SPEAKER_01: Whatever that suffering is.
SPEAKER_01: I mentioned that the Jews uh were on a path to Jerusalem as they're singing these songs.
SPEAKER_01: Of course, that wasn't the only time they'd sing them.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, uh, you know how it is when you get a good song stuck in your head?
SPEAKER_01: I mean, you can sing it all year like a Christmas song in July.
SPEAKER_01: But what we need to know is that as these pilgrims were on their way to Jerusalem, it wasn't always an easy journey.
SPEAKER_01: Many times, most of the time, they would suffer to some extent on this journey.
SPEAKER_01: So they would sing these psalms.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, think about it, it's scorching hot.
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's hotter than here.
SPEAKER_01: There's robbers out there everywhere on their travels.
SPEAKER_01: There's wild, ravenous animals, thirsts can set in, feet get tired, children are asking what every few minutes.
SPEAKER_01: Are we there yet?
SPEAKER_01: It was hard to travel back in those days.
SPEAKER_01: Way harder than we have it.
SPEAKER_01: And we think it's hard when our car is acting up along a on a drive.
SPEAKER_01: How many of you have had that happen?
SPEAKER_01: And that can be a significant issue, sure, but I'm I'm literally sitting for a long time while traveling in a car that's making noise and maybe quitting on me and have to call a tow truck.
SPEAKER_01: These people are walking for miles and miles and miles with sandals and a hot and dusty climate.
SPEAKER_01: Why?
SPEAKER_01: So they can be obedient to God and go worship.
SPEAKER_01: And what do you do when you're in that kind of predicament if your car breaks down or something?
SPEAKER_01: If you're like these people, you sing.
SPEAKER_01: Do you do that?
SPEAKER_01: You sing of the wonders of God.
SPEAKER_01: Your eyes look up instead of complaining and looking down and being miserable.
SPEAKER_01: You look to the hills when your feet are growing weary, when your strength is failing.
SPEAKER_01: When you're a priest and you're heading up the steps of the temple for the sacrifice and there's a little fear there, rightly so, you are singing and you're worshiping.
SPEAKER_01: Man, I pray that's our continual countenance as a church, no matter what's going on in our lives.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, we're all on a path where God is sending us, right?
SPEAKER_01: And brothers and sisters, hear this.
SPEAKER_01: I wish I didn't have to say this over again, but given our own society, given my heart, and even our evangelical culture, I'm compelled to say this again.
SPEAKER_01: Our path in this life as followers of God was never meant to be easy.
SPEAKER_01: I think if somebody told you becoming a Christian, all your problems are solved, they sold you a bill of goods with nothing behind it.
SPEAKER_01: God never promised us our path in this life is gonna be this nice stroll.
SPEAKER_01: But while we're on that narrow path, he does remind us what?
SPEAKER_01: His yoke is easy and his burden is light.
SPEAKER_01: He does remind us he's with us on the path.
SPEAKER_01: He does remind us he's never gonna leave nor forsake us.
SPEAKER_01: He does remind us that he is the rock, the fortress, the citadel of our faith.
SPEAKER_01: And he does remind us in those tough times, he alone is that sure and steady anchor that keeps us afloat.
SPEAKER_01: The psalmist here says he looks up.
SPEAKER_01: That's a good start.
SPEAKER_01: And he asks himself that question from where shall my help come?
SPEAKER_01: Dear Christian, where does your help come from?
SPEAKER_01: Are you gazing up, looking for Christ?
SPEAKER_01: Or are you gazing down, staring at what the world has to offer, which is nothing but temporary and useless hope?
SPEAKER_01: The most painful experience, the greatest calamity for the Christian is to take our eyes away from seeking the face of God.
SPEAKER_01: When we look away from the hills, so to speak, that's when we end up in a calamitous state.
SPEAKER_01: But when we turn our gaze back upon the Lord and his word, calamity and distress turn into comfort and devotion.
SPEAKER_01: There's this wonderful song called Psalm 62, just a psalm that is sung, kind of a newer version.
SPEAKER_01: In that psalm, it reminds us of what the psalmist is saying, and he says, this line, my king has crushed the curse of death, and I am his forever.
SPEAKER_01: Think about that.
SPEAKER_01: My king, King Jesus, has crushed the curse of death.
SPEAKER_01: Where else am I going to look for help?
SPEAKER_01: So if you're suffering right now in life, you just can't seem to feel close to the Lord in your time of grief.
SPEAKER_01: If you're torn up inside because of some difficulty in your Christian walk, then do as the psalmist says.
SPEAKER_01: Look up.
SPEAKER_01: Look to Christ.
SPEAKER_01: Ga upon him.
SPEAKER_01: Look to the hills.
SPEAKER_01: Listen to the wisdom of the psalmist.
SPEAKER_01: Listen to the voices that have gone on before you in the singing of this psalm.
SPEAKER_01: Look at verse 2.
SPEAKER_01: My help comes from the Lord, not earthly powers or government authorities, not our stuff or militaries or policemen or your loved ones or even human remedies for ailments.
SPEAKER_01: They are not sufficient to protect your souls.
SPEAKER_01: Only in Christ can we find that kind of eternal assistance.
SPEAKER_01: Only in God do we find help.
SPEAKER_01: Ask you again, where does your help truly come from, my friend?
SPEAKER_01: We can all give voice to these kind of things daily.
SPEAKER_01: But truly, when those tough times come, where do you turn?
SPEAKER_01: Where do you turn when difficulties or even basic needs arise?
SPEAKER_01: Remember when asked by Jesus if Peter was going to leave him like the others, what's he say?
SPEAKER_01: I love Peter's response.
SPEAKER_01: Well, where else can I go?
SPEAKER_01: It's like he's looked around.
SPEAKER_01: You know?
SPEAKER_01: Like, oh, what about no, no?
SPEAKER_01: He says, Where else can I go?
SPEAKER_01: You have the words of life.
SPEAKER_01: You're my help.
SPEAKER_01: You're my keeper.
SPEAKER_01: I pray that as we reflect on this psalm this week, it brings to us just a joyful smile that stretches from ear to ear.
SPEAKER_01: As we think about this.
SPEAKER_01: So I just ask you again, as trials are on you, as trials are upon you, what is the strength in your life?
SPEAKER_01: What is the strength of man?
SPEAKER_01: Where does the strength of man lie when difficulties arise?
SPEAKER_01: Can the bodybuilder rest on his great muscles when tragedy strikes?
SPEAKER_01: When disease sets in, and death comes knocking, when persecution, famine, pestilence, pandemic, foreign armies, maybe wildfires.
SPEAKER_01: Or even when the return of Christ comes.
SPEAKER_01: Do you?
SPEAKER_01: We've already dabbled in it, but this is our second part.
SPEAKER_01: My help comes from the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: He says he's the Lord of heaven and of earth.
SPEAKER_01: That means everything.
SPEAKER_01: The pilgrim voices that are traveling on those dusty and dangerous roads to Jerusalem are singing this psalm and they knew the answer, as you can imagine it now in your head.
SPEAKER_01: The priest heading into the temple, he knew the answer.
SPEAKER_01: Do you actually know the answer and live it out?
SPEAKER_01: Not just know it, but live it out.
SPEAKER_01: Do you know that your help comes from the Lord?
SPEAKER_01: I sure hope so, because otherwise you have no real hope.
SPEAKER_01: No matter who you know or no matter what you take.
SPEAKER_01: Do you live as though you have real hope?
SPEAKER_01: Do you live it out when difficulties arise?
SPEAKER_01: Maybe you're asking, how do I do that?
SPEAKER_01: How do I live that out?
SPEAKER_01: When tragedy or difficulty comes, how can I know that my help is from the Lord?
SPEAKER_01: Maybe I don't even feel his presence at all.
SPEAKER_01: If that's you asking, I'm glad you asked.
SPEAKER_01: Because the psalmist isn't done yet with those two verses, is he?
SPEAKER_01: He wonderfully gives us what we need by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_01: He gives us the sure and steadfast promises of the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: If you're in Christ, one of the first things you need to come to understand is that you have one authority in your life.
SPEAKER_01: You must start there, and it is Christ alone, of course.
SPEAKER_01: As Paul reminds us so often, we are bondservants or joyful and willing slaves.
SPEAKER_01: Sounds good, right?
SPEAKER_01: With this wonderful master, Christ Himself.
SPEAKER_01: He's your king, he's your authority in everything.
SPEAKER_01: How do you come to know Christ?
SPEAKER_01: How do you know what to do now that you're a Christian?
SPEAKER_01: The answer is always found in the pages of the Bible.
SPEAKER_01: Our head, who is Christ, has given us his word.
SPEAKER_01: He's given us authority in that way.
SPEAKER_01: Point is that if we do see his word as right, as good, as without error, as authoritative as we should, then we will read the promises laid out for us in it, knowing that our God is a God who never fails, and it will cause us to read it with a sure and steadfast confidence.
SPEAKER_01: His promises never fail.
SPEAKER_01: They never have, they never will.
SPEAKER_01: They will never cease.
SPEAKER_01: They are indeed, as the author of Lamentation says, they're indeed new every single morning.
SPEAKER_01: He is our helper, he is our keeper.
SPEAKER_01: And if the Lord helps, what does that mean for your enemies or even the forces of nature?
SPEAKER_01: Who or what can thwart God's people if he's protecting?
SPEAKER_01: A hurricane?
SPEAKER_01: A tornado?
SPEAKER_01: A great army 200 million strong?
SPEAKER_01: A virus?
SPEAKER_01: If he is our help and he is a creator of heaven and earth, what does that mean for us?
SPEAKER_01: And the little things or the big things?
SPEAKER_01: If God be for us, who can be against us?
SPEAKER_01: Or what can be against us, we could add.
SPEAKER_01: So with that in mind, how can you live out your trust with the Lord's help?
SPEAKER_01: Well, if you're suffering and you don't feel the Lord's presence right now, how can you say that I'm gonna look to the mountains for help and I know he's gonna be faithful to provide?
SPEAKER_01: How do you say that and mean that in the hard times?
SPEAKER_01: Look at the rest of the psalm.
SPEAKER_01: We're gonna go quickly through it.
SPEAKER_01: First, in verse 2, after confidently rejoicing in and recalling to mind the answer to what we call a rhetorical question, the psalmist reminds us how he can assuredly say that his help comes from the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: He essentially is just telling us, uh, my phrase would be, just look at his power.
SPEAKER_01: Just look at who he is.
SPEAKER_01: That's how I can trust him.
SPEAKER_01: That's why I look to him.
SPEAKER_01: As he looks to the mountains, he's looking up, yes, but he's not just looking merely at hills of rock and trees and brush and snow.
SPEAKER_01: No.
SPEAKER_01: Like Jeremiah says in 323 of his book, the mountains can't do anything for us.
SPEAKER_01: The psalmist says this, knowing it is only by the one who owns it, who owns creation through creator's rights, the one who sits upon them.
SPEAKER_01: The one who sits enthroned over all in the highest heaven.
SPEAKER_01: He is the one who can help us.
SPEAKER_01: That's the word picture he gives us.
SPEAKER_01: He is the one who we fix our eyes upon as we gaze upward toward him.
SPEAKER_01: This mighty and majestic one is the help, and he will help.
SPEAKER_01: Verse 2, he's a creator of heaven and earth.
SPEAKER_01: Why does he say that right there?
SPEAKER_01: Says, I lift my eyes up to the mountains from where shall my help come.
SPEAKER_01: My help comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth.
SPEAKER_01: Why does he say that right there?
SPEAKER_01: Think about it.
SPEAKER_01: In the beginning, what did God do?
SPEAKER_01: Created, didn't he?
SPEAKER_01: He created the heavens and the earth.
SPEAKER_01: God said, Let there be light.
SPEAKER_01: Then God said, Let there be an expanse in the waters.
SPEAKER_01: Then God said, notice the said, the power here, let the waters and the heavens be gathered into one place and let the dry land appear.
SPEAKER_01: Then God said, Let the earth brought forth vegetation.
SPEAKER_01: Then God said, Let there be an expanse in the heavens to separate the day from the night.
SPEAKER_01: Then God said, Let the waters teem with swarms of living creatures and let the birds fly above the earth.
SPEAKER_01: Then God said, Let us bring forth living creatures after their own kind.
SPEAKER_01: Then God said, Let us make man in our own image and in our likeness, and let them rule over this creation, let them rule over the earth.
SPEAKER_01: If God can do that, if he can speak creation into existence, if his breath and his word have that kind of creative power, what does it mean when he has promised us that he's going to be our help?
SPEAKER_01: Is he capable?
SPEAKER_01: What's he not capable of?
SPEAKER_01: Helping us in.
SPEAKER_01: I hope we can all resound with nothing.
SPEAKER_01: He made the heavens and the earth.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, what is even the sun in the sky?
SPEAKER_01: It's just some star that he created for his purposes.
SPEAKER_01: What's a grand army?
SPEAKER_01: Read the Old Testament.
SPEAKER_01: Nothing compared to even one angel, let alone the creator of all.
SPEAKER_01: Is there anything he is incapable of doing for his bride, his people?
SPEAKER_01: Anything.
SPEAKER_01: Brothers and sisters, no matter what you have going on in your life right now, if you're his, he promises here he will keep you.
SPEAKER_01: Do you think he's gonna fail on that?
SPEAKER_01: He will keep you until he calls you to be home with him.
SPEAKER_01: Whatever that looks like.
SPEAKER_01: If he is willing to send his only son to die and become sin for your sake, will he not give you everything you need right now?
SPEAKER_01: He will never abandon you.
SPEAKER_01: He will never forsake you.
SPEAKER_01: He was always with you in the battle.
SPEAKER_01: Whatever it is.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, that little moon, that little star up there, those millions of other stars?
SPEAKER_01: That cancer cell, that painful experience.
SPEAKER_01: Maybe you have people who hate you because of his name.
SPEAKER_01: What are they in comparison to the one who created them all with the word?
SPEAKER_01: As you walk in this life, I want you to remember that based on this psalm, based on the whole word of God, as you walk in this life, remember each step you take is secured by the Lord's grace and it is protected by his sovereign decree, his plan.
SPEAKER_01: Verse 3.
SPEAKER_01: He will not allow your foot to slip.
SPEAKER_01: Isn't that good?
SPEAKER_01: As these pilgrims are traveling, as the Israelites would wander in the wilderness, there'd be so many places where they could slip, and if so, they would be put in mortal peril.
SPEAKER_01: But here the psalmist assures us, not that our physical bodies, but he's talking about our souls, will always be on this good foundation, secured.
SPEAKER_01: The foundation of our great and mighty helper is immovable.
SPEAKER_01: If you're his, no matter what temptation may come, no matter what enemy may threaten, no matter what incurable disease comes your way, it's all powerless to take your foot from the tight grip of the hand of the Almighty, meaning your soul.
SPEAKER_01: Think about it this way: we are encircled by the defense of the Almighty Creator and God of heaven and earth.
SPEAKER_01: No flaming arrow, no bullet, no harsh words, no nuclear warhead.
SPEAKER_01: No virus can penetrate the eternal shield, which is the blood of Christ over us.
SPEAKER_01: Your foot, which is planted firmly in the redeeming work of Christ, cannot and will not be moved.
SPEAKER_01: If you are seated with him in the heavenly places, remember what Paul says in Ephesians.
SPEAKER_01: What's going to rip us away from his grip?
SPEAKER_01: How will we slip?
SPEAKER_01: We cannot.
SPEAKER_01: We will never fall from his sovereign grace.
SPEAKER_01: And I love this.
SPEAKER_01: Second half verse 3, look at that again.
SPEAKER_01: In light of that, he says he doesn't slumber.
SPEAKER_01: So he's not going to allow your foot to slip, not just in the waking hours, you know, those what is that, 14 or so hours that we're awake, and then, you know, we saw some of us more or less.
SPEAKER_01: It's not that.
SPEAKER_01: He doesn't slumber.
SPEAKER_01: Friends, whether we like it or not, our need for sleep reveals weakness.
SPEAKER_01: Our bodies grow weary and tired, and we need to be recharged by sleep, again, some more than others.
SPEAKER_01: But God doesn't sleep.
SPEAKER_01: Do you know what this means?
SPEAKER_01: It means first, there's not one single second of your entire life where God is not watching.
SPEAKER_01: For many, that's scary, isn't it?
SPEAKER_01: For the Christian who is pursuing godliness and righteousness, I would say on the on the opposite side, it brings with it immense comfort.
SPEAKER_01: God doesn't slumber, he stands as though he were on the top of a castle as a watchman and never takes a respite because our souls are at stake.
SPEAKER_01: He stands beside our sick bed and does not need a chair when he can no longer keep awake and stand.
SPEAKER_01: His eyelids do not sag and grow weak from weariness and weakness.
SPEAKER_01: His vigilant care and his concern for his children is inexhaustible.
SPEAKER_01: Name something in your life right now that's inexhaustible.
SPEAKER_01: There's nothing in your life other than the love of God toward you that be considered such.
SPEAKER_01: If you were to live till you were a hundred years old, then the Lord would never take his eye off you for over three billion seconds of time.
SPEAKER_01: No sleep, no distraction.
SPEAKER_01: Never.
SPEAKER_01: Without fail, he's keeping and helping you.
SPEAKER_01: He will never look away.
SPEAKER_01: He will never leave you to the wiles of the enemy if you are his.
SPEAKER_01: Even if those times come where you need his discipline, which do come, he's always with you and loving you and protecting your very soul.
SPEAKER_01: He is always your constant shade, as verses 5 and 6 teach us.
SPEAKER_01: Shade is once again describing as protection.
SPEAKER_01: We will not be scorched by the elements or enemies of this world eternally.
SPEAKER_01: This kind of forces us to remember the Exodus back in from Egypt.
SPEAKER_01: One of the things we see there in the time of wilderness is they're always protected by his sovereign shade.
SPEAKER_01: The direction they're heading allowed for them to have the least amount of sun on them.
SPEAKER_01: Now think what shade is.
SPEAKER_01: It's always refreshing, isn't it?
SPEAKER_01: Maybe not if you live in southern areas like Texas, where in the shade it's still 150 degrees or whatever it is.
SPEAKER_01: But here, think about shade.
SPEAKER_01: It's awesome.
SPEAKER_01: We find shade, we take a deep breath, and we say, it's cooler.
SPEAKER_01: It's cooler.
SPEAKER_01: We sit and we enjoy its protection from the sun.
SPEAKER_01: And when we look to the hills, when we look to our God, we realize he's been shading us the whole time as Christians.
SPEAKER_01: Not keeping us away from the world or the difficulties, but guiding and protecting us all along the way.
SPEAKER_01: And when those threats come, when the danger's all around us, that's when his shade is the coolest.
SPEAKER_01: That's when his shade is kind of like, you know, Isaiah says, being carried on eagle's wings.
SPEAKER_01: And we say, oh.
SPEAKER_01: Oh, he's a good God.
SPEAKER_01: He's so good.
SPEAKER_01: He's not prevented the trial, but he's carried me through.
SPEAKER_01: And he's shaded me in it.
SPEAKER_01: The moon.
SPEAKER_01: He goes on to talk about brings with it the dangers of the night.
SPEAKER_01: But our Lord is not asleep when we are.
SPEAKER_01: The Lord protects his own at all times, day and night.
SPEAKER_01: What this points us to in the second half of verse 6 is that he even protects us from the sneaky and secret attacks that come when we least expect it.
SPEAKER_01: You ever had those?
SPEAKER_01: When we're in peaceful slumber, when the moon is out, when our guard is down, the Lord is vigilant in his care for us, and he protects us from the evils that come when we least expect them.
SPEAKER_01: He awakens our soul to danger.
SPEAKER_01: He arouses in us our righteous desire for godliness in those moments.
SPEAKER_01: Verse 7 tells us he protects us from all evil.
SPEAKER_01: Sometimes this means he protects you physically from evil in the world, sometimes not.
SPEAKER_01: Either way, eternally, we are protected from all evil.
SPEAKER_01: What this points us to ultimately, though, is he cares so strongly for us, he loves us so much, he even keeps us from doing evil.
SPEAKER_01: One of the most beautiful aspects and privileges of being a God-fearing person is that he has promised to keep us from evil.
SPEAKER_01: Isn't that what we pray in the Lord's Prayer?
SPEAKER_01: He keeps us in that way as well.
SPEAKER_01: By the indwelling of his Spirit, dear Christian, we have the great privilege of being strengthened and helped so that we can fight sin and be kept from it.
SPEAKER_01: And in this promise, we are comforted by the fact that one day we will be counted pure.
SPEAKER_01: We're already pure through the blood of Christ, but one day this will become a visible reality in eternity.
SPEAKER_01: He will keep us from evil, and one day evil will no longer have any mastery over us at all.
SPEAKER_01: It has been defeated, and one day it will be vanquished completely.
SPEAKER_01: Again, I ask you, where do you look for help?
SPEAKER_01: Right now.
SPEAKER_01: Where do you look?
SPEAKER_01: Now turn with me to verse 8.
SPEAKER_01: Where does my help come from?
SPEAKER_01: I want us to just relish in verse 8 for a bit.
SPEAKER_01: I want you to cling to verse 8.
SPEAKER_01: I want you to go home from this place today with verse 8 on your mind, even after the barbecue.
SPEAKER_01: Do you know what this means?
SPEAKER_01: What's the first thing you did this morning?
SPEAKER_01: You may have had a few thoughts, but mostly we just opened our eyelids.
SPEAKER_01: From that moment, from that second, the Lord was guarding you.
SPEAKER_01: When you put your first foot on the ground, it wasn't gonna slip off of his foundation, even if you tripped on the rug.
SPEAKER_01: You were guarded when you slowly walked to the coffee pot before you gathered all your thoughts.
SPEAKER_01: You are being guarded by the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: When you were thrilled because it's once again the Lord's day, and you're determined to get your body, heart, mind, family ready for church, even though things may not have been going rightly.
SPEAKER_01: When you drove to church, when the pastor began to open his error-proned mouth, when you sing songs of praise, when you leave this place to go home, when you lie down on your bed tonight, while you're sleeping, the Lord is guarding you.
SPEAKER_01: Even if tragedy strikes today or tomorrow, he's guarding your soul.
SPEAKER_01: Even if you fought with your spouse or your children this morning, he's guarding your eternally created soul.
SPEAKER_01: If you're in Christ.
SPEAKER_01: If he cares for and guards our bodies of flesh that are temporary and decaying, what does that mean for our souls which need eternal rest?
SPEAKER_01: We're all gonna die, right?
SPEAKER_01: If you didn't know that, here we go.
SPEAKER_01: But that doesn't mean that God's given up on us, does it?
SPEAKER_01: This passage shows us instead that when we're uh when we're dying, we're entering that final going in.
SPEAKER_01: When it's our time to die and be with him, he's been guarding us and guiding us all the way to that grave.
SPEAKER_01: From our waking to our lying down.
SPEAKER_01: That's why Moses uh talks about this in Deuteronomy 6.
SPEAKER_01: From our rising up to our lying down, from our first moment to our last moment, we speak of God.
SPEAKER_01: We remind ourselves of who he is and what he's accomplished.
SPEAKER_01: Where does your help come from?
SPEAKER_01: Where do you look for help when suffering comes?
SPEAKER_01: For the Christian, it's foolhardy madness to despair in this life.
SPEAKER_01: Because we have Christ.
SPEAKER_01: Christian, if you're suffering, if you've allowed the world to decide whether or not the Lord is with you, please hear this.
SPEAKER_01: Do not allow the prosperity teachers to influence you into believing that pain and suffering is always a bad thing from the devil.
SPEAKER_01: Have you understood in your life that suffering is only punishment?
SPEAKER_01: Is that what you've heard?
SPEAKER_01: Or do you see it, is what the Bible holds out to us.
SPEAKER_01: That it is an eternal opportunity to look to the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: To look to the mountains.
SPEAKER_01: To look for help from the one who has allowed, or maybe even caused your current trial.
SPEAKER_01: God doesn't test us, the trials come.
SPEAKER_01: So that we would be molded and shaped and given what we need to be further fit for our heavenly dwelling.
SPEAKER_01: Suffering is going to come.
SPEAKER_01: Where do you look for help?
SPEAKER_01: As we think about how we can apply this beautiful truth to our lives, I want us to hear a passage out of Romans verses 8, or chapter 8, verses 33 to 39, another familiar passage that dovetails perfectly with what we're talking about today.
SPEAKER_01: Who can bring a charge against God's elect?
SPEAKER_01: It says.
SPEAKER_01: God is the one who justifies, who is the one who condemns?
SPEAKER_01: Christ is Jesus, is he who died, yes, rather, who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us?
SPEAKER_01: Who will separate us from the love of Christ?
SPEAKER_01: Tribulation or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or peril or sore?
SPEAKER_01: Just as it is written, for your sake we are being put to death all day long.
SPEAKER_01: We were considered as sheep to be slaughtered, but in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through him who loved us.
SPEAKER_01: For I am convinced that neither death nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor death, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
SPEAKER_01: What a passage.
SPEAKER_01: Anything?
SPEAKER_01: Name something.
SPEAKER_01: There's nothing.
SPEAKER_01: He's with us if we're in Christ.
SPEAKER_01: There's nothing in the created order, nothing that will happen in your life, nothing at all that can ever put a stop to the joy that we have in cherishing the rigorous and vigorous love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
SPEAKER_01: So I ask again, where is your help coming from today?
SPEAKER_01: When your life seems like an absolute mess, when life seems overwhelming, when life seems too difficult, and the trials just seem to be too much to bear, where do your eyes gaze?
SPEAKER_01: Your spouse?
SPEAKER_01: Alcohol?
SPEAKER_01: Drugs?
SPEAKER_01: Medicine?
SPEAKER_01: Pornography?
SPEAKER_01: Another relationship?
SPEAKER_01: Self-esteem psychology?
SPEAKER_01: Money?
SPEAKER_01: Government?
SPEAKER_01: Which one of those are gonna fail you?
SPEAKER_01: Our help comes from the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: The one who loves us and will not be separated from us.
SPEAKER_01: The one better yet who will not separate his love from us in his son.
SPEAKER_01: And so today, no matter what's going on in your life, if you're in Christ, just remember your feet are not gonna slip.
SPEAKER_01: You will never be scorched by the things or evils of this world.
SPEAKER_01: You will always be protected from all evil.
SPEAKER_01: You will always be guarded by this one who passionately loves you as his bride.
SPEAKER_01: What do you have to fear?
SPEAKER_01: Nothing if your eyes are on him.
SPEAKER_01: If this all-powerful and promise to help keep, guard, and protect us, then that's exactly what he's gonna do.
SPEAKER_01: He doesn't go back on his word.
SPEAKER_01: He's gonna do this all the way to the grave and even into eternal life.
SPEAKER_01: Isn't that good?
SPEAKER_01: So let's live lives that sing of this truth.
SPEAKER_01: Let the song of our lives be a song of assent that gives reverence and obedience and trust to the one who guards us both now and forevermore.
SPEAKER_01: Why?
SPEAKER_01: Why you ask?
SPEAKER_01: Because nothing will ever separate us from this majestic, all-powerful, mighty, and loving God.
SPEAKER_01: Our God, who chose to crush his own son for you, will never stop loving you, nor will he lose you.
SPEAKER_01: Brother and sister, just cast off all the things today.
SPEAKER_01: Cast off all the fear that is not a fear of the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: And just look at what he's promised you.
SPEAKER_01: My help comes from the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: He made heaven and earth.
SPEAKER_01: I'm not gonna slip.
SPEAKER_01: He's always watching, he doesn't sleep.
SPEAKER_01: He's my shade.
SPEAKER_01: Sun and moon can do nothing.
SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna be kept from evil, even my home.
SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna be guarded in every step of my life.
SPEAKER_01: I cannot be torn away from him and his eternal protection.
SPEAKER_01: And so just cast off all the fears, all the anxieties, and look to the hills.
SPEAKER_01: Look to Christ, rest in his blood.
SPEAKER_01: You are surrounded and shielded by the blood of Christ.
SPEAKER_01: You are his, he will keep you.
SPEAKER_01: We love to feel comforted by our various insurances in this life, don't we?
SPEAKER_01: As Americans, we we have life insurance, which is almost kind of a comical phrase.
SPEAKER_01: But dear Christian, even more importantly, way more important than any insurance you may have, you have Psalm 121.
SPEAKER_01: So sing it out.
SPEAKER_01: Sing this psalm in your life when those difficult times come, especially.
SPEAKER_01: Speaking of songs, I'm gonna close with this song that we're gonna sing in just a few moments.
SPEAKER_01: One of the songs I love to sing that speaks of this truth.
SPEAKER_01: The song He Will Hold Me Fast.
SPEAKER_01: It says, When I fear my faith will fail, Christ will hold me fast.
SPEAKER_01: When the tempter would prevail, he will hold me fast.
SPEAKER_01: I can never keep my hold through this life's fearful path.
SPEAKER_01: For my love is often cold.
SPEAKER_01: He must hold me fast.
SPEAKER_01: Those he saves are his delight.
SPEAKER_01: Christ will hold me fast.
SPEAKER_01: Precious in his holy sight, he will hold me fast.
SPEAKER_01: He'll not let my soul be lost.
SPEAKER_01: His promises shall last.
SPEAKER_01: Bought by him at such a cost.
SPEAKER_01: He will hold me fast.
SPEAKER_01: For my life he bled and he died.
SPEAKER_01: Christ will hold me fast.
SPEAKER_01: Justice has been satisfied.
SPEAKER_01: He will hold me fast.
SPEAKER_01: Raised with him to endless life, he will hold me fast till our faith is turned to sight when he comes.
SPEAKER_01: At last.
SPEAKER_01: Your helper and your keeper is coming for you, dear Christian.
SPEAKER_01: Do you look to him now in anticipation?
SPEAKER_01: Father, may we be the people, may we be a church who constantly has our eyes on you, on your son, on the beauty of the king.
SPEAKER_01: Help us to remember our help is found in nothing else.
SPEAKER_01: Everything else is foolhardy compared to looking to our Savior.
SPEAKER_01: Father, be honored, be glorified, be exalted in and through our right worship and our trust and our devotion as we collectively look to you.
SPEAKER_01: We pray all this in Christ's matchless name this morning.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.