Help is Always, "On the Way."
Psalms and the People of God • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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As Christians, prayer should be a part of our daily existence. In learning how to pray, we also discover how dependent we are upon God. Prayer is the eyes of faith.
Aiden Wilson Tozer, one of the giants of the faith during the first half of the twentieth century, pastored the Southside Alliance Church in Chicago for 30 years.
One time after a minister arrived in Chicago, Tozer called him and said: “This city is a devil’s den. It is a very difficult place to minister the Word of God, and you will come up against much opposition from the enemy. If you ever want to pray with me, I’m at the lakeside every morning at five-thirty. Just make your way down and we can pray together.”
One day the minster was troubled and about six o’clock he went to the lakeside. He found A.W. Tozer prostrate in the sand worshipping God. Tozer was a prophetic voice to the church of the twentieth century, and his message grew out of private intimacy with God.”
What makes a person do that? Such a practice of prayer is born out of a realization of one’s total dependence upon God; that He is your source of faithful, consistent help, as Psalm 46:1 states.
1 God is our refuge and strength,
a very present help in trouble.
This morning, we continue our study in the Psalms as we look at Psalm 121, which is an assurance of God’s help. This relates directly to prayer.
Biblical prayer should be something that is ongoing in our lives and done with a sense of awe; of who God is. Prayer is pouring out your heart to God. Psalm 62:8
8 Trust in him at all times, O people;
pour out your heart before him;
God is a refuge for us. Selah
As a brief overview of the Psalms, they comprise Israel’s hymnbook. There are different types of Psalms that speak of a themes or intentions.
Throughout history the Psalms have been very popular. They were put to music and used in temple worship, privately and in groups. For instance, we are told in Matthew 26:30 that on the night that Jesus and his disciples celebrated the Passover, they ended their time singing a hymn (Matthew 26:30). There is a high probability that they sang one of the Psalms.
The Songs of Ascent are a portion within the Psalms from 120-134. They all have a special characteristic in common. They were songs of worship, used by travelers on the way to Jerusalem for special feasts and times of corporate worship. One commentary entitles these Psalms as “Songs for the Pilgrim Journey.” There is a sense in which the Christian life is like a pilgrimage; that this world is not your real home.
The Bible seems to convey that Christians are not to live as if this life was all that there was. Philippians 3:20:
20 But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,
There is a common question among those who sense a great and pressing need.
There is a common question among those who sense a great and pressing need.
Today, we focus our attention on Psalm 121, one of the Songs of Ascents. Its overall theme is protection. It teaches from beginning to end, God shepherds your life. It is spiritually healthy for you to verbally recognize God for who He is. In this psalm, God is your Maker. Psalm 121:1-2
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.
In a pedestrian society, where travel was limited to foot or by donkey, the hills represented trial and hardship, pain and adversity. The terrain was rocky and uneven.
The hills were the hangout of thugs and robbers. In the story of the Good Samaritan, the victim was beaten and left on the side of the road to die. The incident probably happened in the hills surrounding Jerusalem. The Judean Hills were ever present in your life and reminders of the fears that threaten your comfort or your existence.
There is an answer to the question.
There is an answer to the question.
But the psalmist wrote that as he looked at the hills, he asked: “Where does my help come from? (and he answers) “My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth.” Recalling God as our Maker is to remind ourselves that He is a God of immense power and that nothing is impossible for Him. It instills awe and worship in our hearts towards God! Psalm 95:6; “Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the LORD our Maker;”
As you can see, “Maker of heaven and earth” is a common ascription to God. The Bible gives much more dignity to mankind that Darwinian evolution.
The Bible speaks of Creator that is ever present in your life and you are accountable to Him! Ecclesiastes 12:1: “Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth....”
Old Testament Jews believed that the God who created everything, was also the friend of Israel. He is the One who “…never slumbers nor sleeps.”
“The Lord is your keeper..” That word for keeper is expressed some six times in this Psalm. The Hebrew verb is means to keep, guard, observe, give heed. Much like a soldier keeping watch atop a tower or sailors at sea, keeping watch.
You and I need 7-8 hours every night, stretched out over 70 or 80 years or more, if we’re strong. But we serve a God who is eternal, who never sleeps! We have a God who keeps guard. He is closer to us than we can imagine.
The same God who created everything you see is never too busy, too occupied to attend to the needs of His child.Psalm 139:3: “Thou dost scrutinize my path and my lying down, and art intimately acquainted with all my ways.” So let us ask...
How does He help you?
How does He help you?
One way is that He is your Sustainer. He buoys you. Many times without you even knowing it. The Lord sustains you. When you cannot foretell the future, God is already there, making sure everything fits into His plan for your life. And He helps you. John Calvin wrote:
“When men shall have long wearied themselves in hunting after remedies, now in one quarter and now in another, they will at length find from experience, that there is no assured help but in God alone.”[1]
Another way is that He is your Provider. After losing his children through tragedy, Job recalled that they were gifts from God in the first place. He prayed in Job 1:21: "
The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away. Blessed be the name of the LORD."
Nothing you have has come about from your own efforts, ingenuity or intelligence. It exists because of a gracious God.
The Lord is also your Peace. Isaiah 26:3 "The steadfast of mind Thou wilt keep in perfect peace, because he trusts in Thee.” Paul wrote from prison about the peace that transcends all understanding. Jesus said come to Me, all who are weary and I will give you rest. We sing: “Oh what peace we often forfeit; oh what needless pain we bear; all because we do not carry everything to God in prayer.”
The Lord is also your Forgiver. Psalm 32:5: “Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the LORD"-- and you forgave the guilt of my sin.” When sin would destroy your life, God has graciously made a way, through the death of His one and only Son that you and I can be forgiven, cleansed and redeemed! How awesome and gracious is our God!?
The Lord is also your Protector. With these titles comes the promise in verse six: “The Sun will not hurt you by day, nor the moon by night.” It is common knowledge that the sun can hurt a person. In the Middle East, where temperatures can routinely be 120 degrees Fahrenheit, a person is vulnerable to heatstroke, dehydration, etc.
A little known fact is that over-exposure to moonlight can affect a person in a negative way. For those who are excessively exposed to it, having to sleep out in the open air, the moon’s rays can cause a droop in the face and can paralyze.[2] The point here is that God’s protection and provision are around the clock.
This does not mean is that your life will be free from pain. Paul was imprisoned; Jesus was crucified. Christians suffer marriage and family conflicts. We lose our jobs, we develop diseases; we hurt, bleed and suffer pain. But as God was with His people by day and by night through the wilderness wanderings, our Lord Jesus promised His church: “Lo, I’m with you always, even to the end of the age.”
Where are you turning for help? Why would you turn anywhere else than to this gracious God plainly revealed in the pages of Scripture!? As R.E.O. White stated: “We go our own way at our own risk.” (Evangelical Commentary on the Bible, 394).
Such things ought to teach you to pray with more worship; more patience and more faith. That you would trust God more and be willing to wait upon Him. Could it be that He has more in store for you than just the granting of your requests? Maybe He wants to form and shape us through prayer, looking to Him for everything.
We serve One who is Generous With His Help.
We serve One who is Generous With His Help.
D.L. Moody was the most famous evangelist in the world in the late 1800s. People came from around the world to attend his Bible Conferences in Northfield, Massachusetts. One year a large group of pastors from Europe were among the attendees. They were given rooms in the dormitory of the Bible school. As was the custom in Europe, the men put their shoes outside the door of their room, expecting them to be cleaned and polished by servants during the night.
Of course there were no servants in the American dorm, but as Moody was walking through the halls and praying for his guests, he saw the shoes and realized what had happened. He mentioned the problem to a few of his students, but none of them offered to help.
Without another word, the great evangelist gathered up the shoes and took them back to his own room where he began to clean and polish each pair. Moody told no one what he had done, but a friend who interrupted him in the middle of shining the shoes and helped him finish the task later told the story of what had happened. Despite the praise and fame he received because of God’s blessing on his life and ministry, Moody remained a humble man.
One of the most beautiful character qualities of God is that He is generous with His help.
Jesus Christ, the Son of God and King of Heaven, had the right to honor, praise, and worship. Yet to be our Saviour, He laid all of His privileges aside and became a lowly servant. We often hear people talk of living as Jesus lived, and while He truly is the model for us to follow, many who speak of following Him are unwilling to give up their rights and reflect His humility. We will never be like Jesus unless we are humble and lowly.
“Surely he scorneth the scorners: but he giveth grace unto the lowly.”—Proverbs 3:34
[1] John Calvin, Commentary on the Psalms vol. VI, (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2003), 63.
[2] Charles H. Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, vol. VI (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1978), 424.