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Psalm 121
(English Standard Version)
Psalm 121
My Help Comes
from the Lord
A Song of
Ascents
(121)
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.
(3)He
will not let your foot by moved;
He who keeps
you will not slumber.
(4)Behold,
he who keeps Israel
will neither
slumber nor sleep.
(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.
(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.
English
Standard Version
(ESV)
The Holy
Bible, English Standard Version Copyright, 2001 by Crossway
Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.
Introduction:
Read
Isaiah 30:29
The Israelites sang songs as they made their way to Jerusalem to
participate during the three annual feasts: Passover, Pentecost,
and Tabernacles.
Psalm
121 is
one of these “Songs of Ascent.” The pilgrims ‘ascended’ to
Jerusalem as they journeyed. This psalm tells of the help God has
available for His people.
I.
The Source of Our Help
(Verses
1-2)
(Verse
1) “I
will” – a voluntary choice Where we choose to lift our eyes has
great consequences. (Genesis
13:10, 14-15)
Today we need to fix our eyes on Jesus. (Hebrews
12:2)
We must take our eyes off earth and look to heaven.
-
The
psalmist’s hope did not come from the hills, but from the One
who created the hills.
-
“Help” – We
should look to God in our time of need. (Psalm
72:12)
(Hebrews
4:16)
A similar idea is expressed in
Acts 27:17.
Look to God for
wisdom. (II
Chronicles 20:12)
Look to God for
deliverance. (Psalm
25:15)
Look to God for
comfort. (Psalm
141:8)
(Verse
2)
“Lord” – Jehovah – Yahweh (Exodus
3:14)
The eternal One (Isaiah
43:10-11)
The self-existent One, “my help” We must recognize our
helplessness. If He made heaven and earth, He can provide help for
you. (Jeremiah
32:37-38, Psalm 46:1, Psalm 41:1)
II.
How He Helps
(Verses
3-8)
(Verse
3a) The
paths of life are dangerous and difficult. It is easy to stumble
and slip into sin. (Jude
24-25)
If we hold on to Him, He will bring us through it all. (Psalm
55:22)
(Verses
3b-4)
He is always aware of what is happening in our lives. God is never
caught off guard; He has constant vigilance.
-
“Keep” –
Hebrew for watching over with great care, protect, guard. It
occurs six times in eight verses. (Proverbs
29:18)
As we obey God’s Word, it shows how precious God’s Word is by
guarding it from being broken.
-
“Keep” –
God is wakeful and watchful.
We are God’s sheep (Isaiah
40:11)
and His jewels (I
Peter 2:9).
In the mid 1800”s, the Pinkerton Detective Agency’s
symbol was a wide-open eye with the caption, “We Never Sleep.”
-
(Verse
5) Shade
or shadow is the symbol of protection. It keeps an object safe from
danger. (Isaiah
25:4)
“right hand” – (Psalm
16:8)
(Verse
6) God
continually watches because we continually need watching. Dangers,
afflictions, adversities, . . . Satan constantly bombards us with
harmful rays, temptations, and deceptions. God protects us.
(Psalm
144:2)
But we must apply protection through prayer, Bible reading,
obedience, Christian fellowship, . . .
(Verse
7) He is
the “Guardian of your soul.” (II
Timothy 4:18, I Peter 2:25)
(Verse
8)
Everywhere you go, you are guarded by His power. (Deuteronomy
28:6)
Invitation:
Help us always
look to God for help in our time of need.
Bobby Stafford
May 20, 2012
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