Opening Prayer And Setup

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God, we are just grateful for your presence here this morning. Just pray your blessing upon Sean as he speaks your word. Just give him the power, give him wisdom to speak your word freely. Have our hearts ready for the word, Lord, this morning. May we have open hearts and minds. And may you give the increase in Jesus' name.

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Thank you.

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So

Worship Songs And Psalm 121

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it's about 20 till 11, and I do not have a 50-minute sermon prepared. So we might be dismissing a bit earlier than 11:30 today. You never know how the spirit leads. My own. There you go. So this morning, for an introduction to the sermon, I would like to listen to two songs to introduce the sermon and also the passage of scripture that we're going to use as a text this morning. So turn your Bibles to Psalm 121. Psalm 121. And as I play these two songs, you can either glance through the psalm as the song plays and connect the song to the psalm. Or feel free to close your eyes and just worship with the words of the song this morning.

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Does my help not come from the law?

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And from hot seat, a night, and from hot seat a night. He was all he was he was.

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By the way, the um that was sung by the timeless vocal tapestry. It's a group that I just sort of happened to come across, and I've been so blessed with their selection of songs. This album is entitled Songs of the Journey. And these songs are all based on the songs of ascent. The 15 Psalms of Psalm 120 through 134.

Recent Losses And The Need For Help

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The inspiration for this sermon this morning comes out of the happenings of the last few weeks. Joe already touched on that this morning. And we have Renee Troyer killed in an accident. We have the Dustin Miller family, the Alan Miller family. Then we have Gaylord. I talked to an EMT at work, and he just made mention there's a amongst the local EMTs in the last few weeks they've had six life flights. And I asked myself the question who's next. Am I next? Is it one of my family? And as I was thinking through this, I've listened to these songs I don't know, probably twenty times. And I was I was led to to go to Psalm 121 and just as a sermon of encouragement. I don't know what we all are going through here, what you individually are going through. Maybe life is good. And maybe you're going through a hard time. So this sermon this morning is meant as an encouragement that he watches over you.

Songs Of Ascent And Pilgrim Danger

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So before I read the text, I'd like to give a little bit of a context to the Psalms of Ascent. The word ascend, I'd like for one of the school children that are here this morning. Can can one of you tell me what does the word ascend mean? Going down? What's the opposite of going down? Going up. Descend is going down, ascend is going up. There's only one letter difference in the two words. Ascend simply means anything that is moving upward. Songs of ascent. So the context of this, there's three different ideas that theologians attach to the context of these 15 Psalms. Psalm 120 through Psalm 134. One of them is because of the first verse of Psalm 126 says, when the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion. So one idea is that the context of the songs of ascent are when people were coming out of the Babylonian exile. Another one is the idea of the Levites on the steps of the temple going up into the temple to worship. But the one that is most assumed is the context of the Israelites ascending to Jerusalem three times a year for the feast, the three annual feasts of Jerusalem. And you could say the Israelites, you could say the pilgrims, or you could use the term the worshippers. As they were literally ascending to Jerusalem. We sit here at Grace Point, we sit at about 935 feet above sea level. Jerusalem sits approximately 2,500 feet above sea level. And basically all roads leading to Jerusalem go up. The Dead Sea Road in Palestine is right around, I think, 1100 uh feet above sea level. So even from there to Jerusalem, you have about 13, 12 to 1,300 feet of elevation. Now the location of Jerusalem is also known to be sitting in the Judean hills or the Judean mountains. How many of you have been to Jerusalem? Okay. Am I correct in saying that it does sit on like a hill? And these mountains and these hills, these Judean hills, they're beautiful to look at, but they hold there's a lot of danger surrounding these hills. And the idea is as the Israelites were making their way ascending, going up into Jerusalem, that they might have been singing these songs. My eyes look up to danger. Now these roads were steep. The thoughts might have been bandits and robbers. The thoughts might have been wild animals coming out of these hills. The thoughts might have been we suffer warm during the day and maybe cold at night. It was dirty, it was hard work as they climbed up to Jerusalem. That is the context that we'll use this

Psalm 121 And Its Promise

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morning. Let's read the Psalm, Psalm 121. I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? And by the way, this psalm I believe is anonymous. We don't know for sure who wrote this psalm. Some of the songs of ascent were written by Solomon, some by David, and then there's quite a few that are simply anonymous. We don't know for sure who the author is. Again, verse 1 I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth. He will not let your foot be moved. He who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, he keeps Israel will behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord is your keeper. To the Lord is your shade on your right hand. The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord will keep you from all evil. He will keep your life. The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from time from this time forth and forevermore. And just to support the context, as we would read into the next few verses of Psalm 122, it reads like this Let us go. I was glad when they said unto me, let us go into the house of the Lord. Our feet have been standing within your gates, O Jerusalem. Jerusalem, built as a city that is bound firmly together, to which the tribes go up. Ascending to Jerusalem. Songs of Ascent.

Asking For Help As Faith

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But we're gonna take this verse by verse, and it'll be more of a Sunday school type session. Let's begin in verse one. I lift my eyes to the hills. I lift my eyes to the possible danger around me. And then what does he ask? He doesn't ask, will there be danger or what will the danger be? But he says, Who's gonna help me? Who's gonna help me as we're ascending, as we're climbing, as we're walking with this huge group of people, and what if danger arrives? Who's going to help me? The first thing that I like to notice here is whoever penned this psalm, he's actually admitting that he might need help. How often are we willing to admit that we might need help? Or do we try to face the perils, whatever's coming our way on our own? The first step in faith is asking for help. If you don't ask for help, there's really no need for faith because it's indication of we're trying to do it on our own. From where does my help come? So many times in the past I've been tempted to look at other sources except to God for my help. I've been tempted to look at my own resources. Maybe it's my job, maybe it's just my family. And by saying looking to God for help, sometimes, uh most times God uses other people to do his work. But where do I look first? Do I turn to my own resources or do I actually have faith, grab faith, and look to God for my help? We all need help. And folks, we all need to be prepared to ask for help. Not just worry about what might come our way, but be prepared to know where to go when the things come. The takeaway from this first verse that I like to leave with you is faith begins when we ask for help. Verse number two. My help comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth. He goes right to the point. He skips right to the highest being that there is, and that's Creator God. God created the hills that their eyes were set on. God allows the problems to come our way. I don't believe God orchestrates everything that comes our way, but he allows it to come our way if he so chooses. God does not orchestrate evil. But God allows evil to come if he so chooses. Who better to turn to than the God that created everything, including ourselves? He knows our frame. He knows that we are dust. He knows that we are imperfect. The point I like to make with you this morning on verse 2 is our problems will never be bigger than our God. No matter how big a problem is. You might face those hills were hills that he created. Those hills are not bigger than the creator. Your problems, my problems will never be bigger than the God that I serve.

Stability On The Hard Road

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Verse 3. He will not let your foot be moved. He who keeps you will not slumber. A few years ago, I had the opportunity of joining a men's retreat out in the mountains of Idaho. It's called the Rocky Mountain Men's Retreat. And I'm just going to put a plug in for you men. I know Conrad, Conrad, you've been there? No? Maybe in the future. I think Mike has gone. There's numerous guys from work that have gone. And if you ever want an enriching experience, yes, stretching, but an enriching experience, I I really encourage you guys to sign up for the Rocky Mountain Men's Retreat. Life Ministries is uh is the organization that that runs it, but there's a church out in Bonner's Ferry that hosts it. What this is, is you go up into the mountains, you go back in, and you get to the trailhead, and there you'll meet your horse. And you don't have to be a horseman to enjoy this. They have levels of horses from like really slow to regular to highly active. Don't take the plug if you go. You want more than that. However, what this these days consist of, there's like you're you're there for I think four days, three or four days. And every or two days, you trail ride up onto another peak of a mountain. You go through trails that are quite narrow. When I was out, we had a bunch of horses, and there was a few guys that rode mules. And the mules, they say, are more stable. Their feet they they do better in rough terrain and in steep paths than a horse does. One of the reasons a mule is better than a horse or more stable than a horse, a mule's eyes are set differently in their head than a horse's eyes are. And a mule's eyes are set to where they can literally see all four feet at once, which gives them more stability and they're just they're just more sure-footed than a horse's. I chose to ride a horse instead of a mule, but there were some guys that rode mules. He will not let your foot be moved. God wants nothing more to bring stability into your life and into my life. God is a God of order. He allows chaos to come into our lives, but he doesn't want us to stay there. Staying in God's word and staying on your knees brings sure-footedness, brings stability in our lives. He who helps you will not slumber. God is never off duty. And most of what I'm saying this morning is not new, but it's an encouragement for us to look to the right source when trouble comes your way. God is never too busy for us. There's never a busy signal when we call on God. Sometimes there's a wait for us to hear back from God, or so it seems. But that's no reason for us to give up on the creator who made heaven and earth. The point that I like to leave with you in verse three is ask God for feet and but not for an easy path. So often we ask God, or I ask God for just give me take all the roadblocks away. I want easy. I love easy. I want the path of least resistance. But that's not realistic. Ask God for stable feet that you can stay on the path no matter how steep it gets. Verse 4.

God As Protector And Companion

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Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. Again, always alert, very trustworthy. If he can keep his people Israel, he can keep us as his people as well. The same God that they served, and the same God that we serve. Verse 5: The Lord is your keeper, the Lord is your shade on your right hand. Not only is God our protector, but he is our companion as well. How many of you, I'm asking this question not to see who was there or who wasn't there, but I'm asking this question to see the uh the pond where we did the last baptism. How many of you were at the baptism? So I have a story to tell you about that pond. So when Ivans and us met um Gabe, Gabe and Linda are the people that lived there, when we met them to just look at the place, see would this be a good fit for Grace Point to have a baptism. Gabe told us a story about that place that happened a few years ago. So years ago, more than a few years ago, that area was what we call called spoil land. In this area, it was considered spoiled land. It was it was former coal mining land that had never really gotten reclaimed. And I can't say for sure if that immediate property was part of that, but it was in the general area. And Gabe just made the made the comment. He said, it's pretty amazing that now we're having baptisms here compared to all the partying that used to be done in those in that area. He said, We didn't build this place for baptisms, we built this place because we wanted to entertain company and we wanted to have people over, but now we end up having baptisms here. Light in the Valley has a baptism there once a year. And he said at one of those baptisms, there was a missionary uh that was related to somebody from their church. There was a missionary from Africa at the baptism. And after the baptism, the missionary came up to Gabe and asked the question, Do you ever see angels here? And Gabe says, I never saw angels here, but I I constantly ask for protection from the angels. And then this person said, During the baptism, on the back bank behind the pond, there's a pond, then there's a bank, and then there's there's a row of trees. He said, On that bank behind the pond, I saw angels, and they were standing every 10 feet. And he said, The every other angel was turned out. He said, The angels turned in watching the baptism were holding trumpets, and the angels turned out were holding swords. God protects his people. We don't always interpret his protection as the best thing for us, but it's God's will for us, and then it's up to us to accept whatever form of protection he brings. If I would go to the young widow out in Walnut Creek and I would tell her this morning, God protects his people, she'd probably have some questions for me, and rightly so. If I'd go to Kenny Troyer and tell him that God protects his people, he'd probably also ask me some questions. Randy might have some questions for me this morning with his father-in-law in the hospital. But ultimately, ultimately, in God's plan, for however that looks, he does protect his people. It might not always be how we think it should be, but God, his sovereign will, protects his people. The Lord is your keeper, the Lord is your shade on your right hand, he is our protector, but even more than that, he's our companion. He's our companion. He wants that relationship with each one of us. The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. God is with us, God is our shepherd through any circumstance. The sun shall not strike you by day. Even when things go well, God is our companion, God is our protector. During the night, when there's fear, when there's anxiety, it might be, when you're laying in bed worrying about whatever might be coming up, or when you're laying in bed worried about the situation you might be in, or even when you're laying in bed excited for the next day. God's right there. He is right there through every season, through every circumstance. God's protection is always on duty. God's companionship is always on duty. It is not conditional. It's always on duty.

Never Abandoned In Evil And Fear

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Verse 7: the Lord will keep you from all evil, He will keep your life. What does that mean? The Lord will keep you from all evil. I don't think that means this morning that the Lord won't allow evil to come our way. But mind you, he will be with you and lead us through that if we ask for help. If we allow him and follow his leading. There's been times in my life where I haven't followed his leading or I've thought he was absent, but I missed it for whatever reason. I was looking for the wrong thing. I was looking for what I thought should happen. And then I miss what he's actually doing. It doesn't mean that evil won't come our way, but what it does mean is God will never abandon us. God is not a God of abandonment. Some of you may have experienced abandonment in your life. And some of you may yet be struggling against ill feelings because of that. Your Abba father will never leave you nor forsake you. He will not abandon you. And then the last verse. Every aspect of your life. With everything that's happened the last few weeks, sometimes it'd be nice if things would just come to an end. The rapture would happen. This life would be past. But life goes on. Life goes on. The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in. Everyday life. Your work, your family, your finances, your spiritual growth, the good, the bad, the ugly. He's always there. You're going out and coming in. That doesn't leave anything excluded. We're usually either coming or going. You're either in or out. And that big word forever and forevermore. There is no end. Our minds can't fathom that, or my mind can't fathom that. Every aspect of our life now and forever.

Everyday Life Forever And Closing Song

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This morning, and bringing this sermon to a close, my encouragement to all of us is don't just anticipate what might happen, but ask for help. Ask the God that created everything that is always here for help. And you might be sitting and wondering, well, how does that look? Folks, this morning, if you get into his word and you communicate with him on a regular basis, he will show you what that looks like. That might look different for Marcus than it does for me. It might look different for all of us in here. We're different human beings. Our relationships are the same but different. So if you're wondering, well, how do I how do I experience this? Get into his word. Spend time with God. Spend time with the one who you who you want to get close to. That's how we experience it. By knowing the God that we serve. I like to, in uh conclusion of this sermon, to number 401. I like to sing this song that also goes well with the sermon this morning. Unto the hills, do I lift up my longing eyes? After this song, I'll turn the time back over to Kill.