He's A Keeper, Part 2
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Every parents dream for their children when they become adults is that one day the person they bring home is a keeper…
Some would say…
She's a keeper is a colloquial phrase derived from "for keeps," which means worth keeping forever. Therefore, the phrase is tantamount to saying she's good wife material.
Relationship counselor Jeanne Cartier says it this way
It is a compliment that means the person referred to is a good boyfriend/girlfriend/spouse.
It comes from terms used when fishermen had to decide whether they could keep a fish they had caught, or had to throw it back in the water b/c it wasn’t the right size or right kind of fish.
But when they hooked the right kind of fish that was big enough, they’d say “that’s a KEEPER!” Because they were going to keep the fish, not toss it back.
A similar phrase is calling someone “a good catch.”
18 While walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen.
19 And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.”
47 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and gathered fish of every kind.
48 When it was full, men drew it ashore and sat down and sorted the good into containers but threw away the bad.
49 So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous
50 and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Transition To Body
Transition To Body
The author of our text for today is unknown.
Or this may have been written for the people of God in exile or written during the second temple period following exile
The original audience is most likely a pilgrim to Jerusalem.
It is a song of Ascents sung by pilgrims who made it to the temple after the mountainous and dangerous journey to the temple
1 I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come?
2 My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.
The psalmist looks to the hills, perhaps he at first can see what everybody is worshiping, but he recognizes the hill or mountain as Mt Zion where the LORD lives- creator of heaven and earth!
Or maybe the psalmist is on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem to worship at the temple, but he sees the path to the temple could be dangerous and perilous and that he will need help in order to survive the journey
As a song of ascent, this psalm may have been sung by the Levites at the Temple in Jerusalem. It is also possible that it was sung by pilgrims on their way to Jerusalem. At the beginning of the pilgrimage, in the mountainous region of the Judean Hills, the pilgrim recognizes that the Lord is the one who can give him the help he needs. The one who trusts in the Lord is certain that He will bring him protection day and night. The psalm's dialogue
On the way while journeying a dangerous way, the Psalmist recognizes his help comes from the LORD
This is written to encourage the Pilgrim to Jerusalem
The LORD God is the psalmist's help i.e. the LORD supplies us with what we need
help, assistance, i.e., acts of supplying what is needed to another
The encourage the LORD's people while we journey through life.
We are naturally fearful of the evil within the world. We need the help and stability of the LORD in our lives.
The LORD protects and guards our lives from evil by our faith in Jesus Christ
Body- The LORD God who Keeps
Body- The LORD God who Keeps
Care, Guardian ,Dependence
The LORD Steadily Stabilizes Our Lives
The LORD Steadily Stabilizes Our Lives
3 He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber.
4 Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.
Ancient Mesopotamian gods would sleep, you might even need to get their attention
25 Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Choose for yourselves one bull and prepare it first, for you are many, and call upon the name of your god, but put no fire to it.”
26 And they took the bull that was given them, and they prepared it and called upon the name of Baal from morning until noon, saying, “O Baal, answer us!” But there was no voice, and no one answered. And they limped around the altar that they had made.
27 And at noon Elijah mocked them, saying, “Cry aloud, for he is a god. Either he is musing, or he is relieving himself, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and must be awakened.”
The LORD actively watches over all Israel
The LORD actively watches over us personally
In regards to us the LORD does not become unaware nor inactive in regards to our life situations
John Peter Lang, in his commentary, says it this way:
First he utters the wish that God’s watchful care may be extended to him, and then the conviction that the Keeper of Israel, He who has been the God of his fathers, who has led the nation through all its eventful history, doth not, will not, cannot, slumber or sleep,
The LORD Personally Protects Us From Dangers
The LORD Personally Protects Us From Dangers
5 The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade on your right hand.
6 The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night.
This is plain, if we consider that the injurious influences proceeding from the sun and moon are introduced only as representative of dangers by day and night, against which the ever-watchful God grants protection.
The moon was believed to be able to cause sickness- hence we get lunar & lunatic
Our relationship with the LORD as the people of God is both personal and communal
1 He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.
The LORD Holistically Handles Our Life's Issues
The LORD Holistically Handles Our Life's Issues
7 The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life.
8 The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore.
forevermore- long time, duration; future time, times to come; long time back
shade- shadow; protection
8 Bless our God, O peoples; let the sound of his praise be heard,
9 who has kept our soul among the living and has not let our feet slip.
Transition To Close
Transition To Close
1 Oh, to be "Kept for Jesus!"
Kept, by the pow'r of God;
Kept, from the world unspotted,
Treading where Jesus trod.
Refrain:
Oh, to be "Kept for Jesus!"
Lord at Thy feet I fall;
I would be "nothing, nothing, nothing;"
Thou shalt be "all in all."
2 Oh, to be "Kept for Jesus!"
Serving as He shall choose;
"Kept" for the Master's pleasure;
"Kept" for the Master's use. [Refrain]
3 Oh, to be "Kept for Jesus!"
Kept from the world apart;
Lowly in mind and spirit,
Gentle and pure in heart. [Refrain]
4 Oh, to be "Kept for Jesus!"
Oh, to be all His own!
Kept, to be His forever,
Kept to be His alone! [Refrain]
16 They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat.
Ultimately Jesus keeps (saves) us from all evil and guards our lives through the power of the Holy Spirit, until we receive our inheritance as children of God.
Close
Close
3 You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.
4 Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God is an everlasting rock.
1 God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
2 Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea,
3 though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling. Selah
The Lord who stabilizes
The Lord who stabilizes
12 Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall.
13 No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.
Our helper is also the Holy Spirit!
Our helper is also the Holy Spirit!
19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own,
13 In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit,
14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.
1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.
2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
The LORD God who shades
The LORD God who shades
24 Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished and rose up in haste. He declared to his counselors, “Did we not cast three men bound into the fire?” They answered and said to the king, “True, O king.”
25 He answered and said, “But I see four men unbound, walking in the midst of the fire, and they are not hurt; and the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods.”
5 Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said, “Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body have you prepared for me;
4 Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.
6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
54 When the centurion and those who were with him, keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, they were filled with awe and said, “Truly this was the Son of God!”