Very familiar psalm to you, Psalm
121. Now as you're turning there, I'll
remind you that this is one of those songs of degrees. Songs
of degrees. Those songs that the children
of Israel sang as they went up to worship those two times a
year. They'd went up in these bands
and they would gather together and as they were traveling, they
would sing these songs as they went up. And this psalm here,
this song of degree, is one that some would say would be a soldier's
song. It would be a psalm that was
sung by soldiers before the battle or they were getting ready to
fight. Listen, you and I are engaged
in a constant warfare, aren't we? A soldier that's ready to
fight, he is a troubled man. He's a man perplexed with doubts
and fears. He doesn't know what's coming.
He just knows the battle is raging and he's about to engage. This
morning you are about to engage. In this struggle we worship,
but there's a struggle, isn't there? There's problems, there's
troubles on every front. And so, believer, this is a psalm
concerning trouble. And so he begins this psalm,
he says, I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills from whence
cometh my help. This rather is to be translated
as a question rather than a statement. He's asking, where shall I lift
up mine eyes to the hills? Question mark. The battle's coming, trouble
is coming, where do I look for help? Shall I lift up to the
hills when soldiers were in trouble? That's where they had the battlements,
weren't they? You wanted the high elevation. Is that where
my help is going to come from, just my elevation or where I'm
at? from whence cometh my help. And that's the title of my message
this morning. Whence cometh my help? When trouble comes and pain flows
like a river over your soul, when sea billows roll, when troubles
like sea billows roll and the waves are tossing your little
ship like a hurricane, whence cometh your help? Where do you find comfort? Where
do you find peace? Where do you find resolve to
continue? To press on. Paul said, press
toward the mark of the high calling of God. That sounds good, but
what gives you the strength to press? What gives you the grace
to move forward when all around you is collapsing? As you find your body wrapped
in pain, Your mind altered by medication? Where do you turn
for peace? Where do you turn for consolation
and help? Because you need help, real help. Where do you go? When the storms
of doubt come down like hail upon your head and you doubt
your very soul, you doubt your condition before God, you doubt
your salvation, where do you find help? When the storms of doubt come,
where do you find refuge from all your fears? Some may ask, if there is a God, where is He? When they're hurt, you'll ask
questions like that. Where is God? Where is God? Where is He when I'm suffering
and I'm being tormented in pain? Where is God when evil men seek
to destroy my life and the sin of my soul overwhelms me? And I tell you, this is not just
the cry of the lost, this is the cry of saints. David had cried many times, hast
thou cast me off forever? Elihu, in the book of Job, asked
this question, where is God who give us songs in the night? Where
is God? David answers that question in
Psalm 42, in the night His songs shall be with me. You see, they're
not with me. They shall be with me, but maybe
not yet. He had hope. He had hope of songs
in the night. You know, this matter of suffering
is what men consider the atheist's strongest argument against God,
isn't it, when men suffer? This one atheist, one man who
didn't believe in God back in 200-something B.C., he made these
concepts. He presented three concepts about
God and human suffering. He said if God wishes to prevent
evil and cannot, He's not all-powerful. He said if God can prevent evil
and will not, He is not good. If God has power and will to
eliminate evil, why then is there evil in the world? Now he considers
that a strong argument, but it's not. It's not a strong argument
at all. The fallacy in his belief is
this. that no good is served by God
allowing evil or suffering. That's the problem with this
fallacy. He doesn't see this, that God uses evil, God uses
trouble, God uses affliction and suffering to bring about
good. My friend, God is just. He is holy and He must punish
evil. Consider that. He must punish
evil, and if He were to prevent all evil, He Himself would still
have to judge us based on all our sinful nature and cast us
into hell. In other words, if there were
no trouble, if God were to eliminate all trouble, what good would
that do you because He still has to punish sin? You would
suffer in hell. But because God is merciful,
He allows men even in their evil state to exist. Consider the
goodness of God that allows men to continue even while they're
sinning against Him. He makes all things work together
for good for those that are called according to His purpose. We
must believe and have faith in and the sovereignty of God that
He is controlling all things, both bad things in your life
in order to work it out for good. So in your storm, remember this,
God is going to use that for good to everyone who is in Christ. Everyone will pass through dark
valleys sooner or later. all of us will become ill. Don't
you know that? Eventually all of us will become
ill. Some permanently. It's an illusion this side of
heaven to think everything is going to go well. That's an illusion,
friend. It's a fantasy. It's not real. For all of us there are periods
of suffering and bereavement and discouragement and dangers
and difficulties. I know many who have give up
any belief in God because of troubles. They say, well, God's not fair. What have I done to deserve this?
You ever heard that? Why are children born dead or
retarded? There's a lot of suffering in
this world that calls men to ask questions. A lot of men just
give up. Fidelity in God, because why me? You ever had that one?
Why me? How will He answer these questions?
How do we answer questions of trouble and difficulty? How do
we learn to sing songs in the night? Here it is. By having faith in a sovereign
God. Having faith in a sovereign God. The world is not being ruled
by chance, but rather by God. Even every sparrow cannot fall
to the ground without His notice. So then, He cares about us. If He cares about us, then nothing
happens to us that does not concern Him. Our Lord Jesus sang in the night,
in his darkest of nights." You remember before they went out
onto the mount, to that garden? What did the Scriptures say?
They sang a hymn. He sang in the night. He sang a song of
grace. John sang praises on the Isle
of Patmos. And at midnight, David arose
and gave thanks unto God. And Paul said this, "'When I
am weak, then I am strong.'" You see, believer, Suffering
causes the believer to become stronger and to grow spiritually. So then as you suffer, remember
it has a purpose. It has a purpose. God has a purpose
in troubles. In our troubles, in our sorrows,
May God cause us by faith to sing of His power, of His love,
of His grace. May God cause us to sing because
of Christ, what He has done. He has died in our stead, rose
again for our justification, is risen, ascended, and sits
on the throne of God, ever living to make intercession. We have
things to sing about even in the darkest of nights. We have
much to sing of. And so in your trials and your
troubles that come in our lives, where are we to look then? Whence
cometh my help? Let's see this. The psalmist
here, he poses that question. He says, shall I lift up mine
eyes unto the hills? That's the first thing he said.
What does this mean, lift up mine eyes unto the hills? This
is where false gods were served. They thought they could get close.
The higher mountain they got, they thought they'd get closer
to their gods. They didn't realize that God is the God of the mountain
and the valley. Remember, I can be in the valley
and worship God, or I can be on the mountain and worship God.
God can protect me just as much in the valley as in the hill.
But these that worship false gods, they had to get up high
in the hills to be seen by their God. One of these wicked kings,
Ahaz, this guy, he sacrificed his own children to false gods. Burned them alive. Where did
he do this? 2 Kings 16, verse 4, he said,
he sacrificed burnt incense in high places on the hills. When you look for help, where
shall you look? Shall you look to a false god?
Shall you lift up your eyes to the hills to a god that does
not exist? No. Friends, there is only one
God. No less than three times in Isaiah,
chapter 45, does God say, I am God and there is none else. In chapter 46, verse 10, He says,
I am God and there is none like Me, declaring the end from the
beginning from ancient times the things that were not yet
done, saying, My counsel shall stand. Listen, if you have trouble,
there's only one place to look, to the only God that lives. to
the only God that lives. Don't look to a false God. Friends,
in false religion, things appear as though they're... they look like happening places.
They look like there's a bunch of energy there. They look like
that the Spirit... they have... they put on a good
show. But listen, friends, God is not
there. He's not among the hills of false religion. There's no
help there. There's no help at all. Shall
I lift up mine eyes unto the hills? No! No. Shall I lift up mine eyes to
the hills of worldly wisdom? Or the strength of men? Or the
imagination of men? No. Jeremiah says truly in vain
is salvation hoped for from the hills. There's no salvation in
man. There's no salvation in man's
wisdom. There's no salvation in learning.
How many people spend all of their time in academia trying
to learn? There's no salvation in learning.
What Solomon said, with much knowledge comes what? Much sorrow. For help in this matter of salvation,
there is none other than to turn but God. And the only way to
get to God is through faith in Jesus Christ. There is no other
help. There is no other place to go.
The Scriptures are clear, there is none other name given among
men whereby we must be saved. There's only one place to go. Only one place a man can be saved
from the distress of sin. Now what is the root of all suffering?
What's the root of all suffering? Sin. The problem is sin. The root of your suffering, whether
it be physical, or temporal, or your body, or your mind, whatever
it is, the root of it is sin. So what help do you need? You
need help from sin. That's what you need help from.
You need to be delivered from your sin. Now listen, God may
save a man out of every difficulty in this life, but if He does
not save him from his sin, what good is it? God gives you everything you
want. Everything you want. And He doesn't save you from
sin. What good is it? Our Lord, He went into a certain
city and there were ten lepers. Ten lepers came to Him and they
all cried for help. And Jesus said, go show yourself
to the priest. And they all turned away and
went and showed them that as they were going, as they made
that first step toward the priest, they began to heal. And their
bodies were healed as they went. But you remember, there was only
one man who stopped and recognized what had happened. He turned
around and gave glory to God. He turned around and came to
Christ and knew this man was God. And He gave Him glory and
He knelt down and He worshipped Him. And Jesus said this. He
said, where are the others? Weren't there ten? And the only
one who came back was this sorry, no-good Samaritan. Sinner. You know, that's the only one
who ever recognized anything is a sinner. Sinner is the only
one to ever come to Christ. You ain't a sinner, you'll never
come to Christ. If you're half good, if you're
partially good, you'll never come to Christ. Sinners come
to Christ. He said, Arise, thy faith hath
made thee whole. This man was given faith to believe
in the Son of God. And he found something greater
than just physical healing, didn't he? He found salvation for his
soul. Our Lord says in Mark chapter
8 and verse 34, Whosoever shall come after me, believe on me,
let him deny himself. You listen to this, take up his
cross and follow me. Does that sound pleasant? Does the Christian life sound
pleasant to you? Or does it sound like a world
of hurt? It is a world of hurt. Taking
up your cross and denying yourself is the only way to believe on
Him. For whosoever shall save his
life shall lose it, but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake
and the Gospels, the same shall save it. You want your life? You want this life? Keep it,
and you'll die in your sins and go to hell. But a sinner recognizes what
this life really is. Nothing. To give up this life,
what are we really giving up? Nothing but our sin. And so we see Christ and we see,
well, that's where it's at. And the believer gladly gives
up this life. For what does it profit a man
if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul? Or what will
a man give in exchange for his soul? What will you give? If you receive physical healing,
what does it profit you if you lose your own soul? Nothing. And this matter of help goes
farther and deeper than just physical. It's spiritual. Where
does your help come from spiritually? Does it come from your religion?
Your priest? Your faith? Your denominator?
Where does your help come from? Where do you find consolation?
You're in trouble, where do you find comfort? From whence cometh
your help? What do you look for? Well, I
go to church, I was baptized, I was... You looking at that?
Really? Well, my preacher said, don't
you, don't you do that. You're in trouble. Don't look to me. I can't help
you. I can't save you. There's no help here. So where do you look for help?
Where does one go? Where do the psalmists go? Look
at verse two. My help cometh from Jehovah,
which made heaven and earth." Where do you go for help? The
believer goes to one place, only one person, the Lord, Jehovah. Who is he talking about really?
He's talking about Christ. That's where the help is. Remember,
He's the one that made heaven and earth, isn't He? John 1 tells
us that. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with
God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning
with God, and all things were made by Him, and without Him
was not anything made that was made. Who made heaven and earth?
Jesus Christ made heaven and earth. Where do you go for help? It is only through the blood
and righteousness of Christ that man is able to look to God for
help. You won't find help outside of
Christ. How many Jews you suppose still
cry to Jehovah and find no help? How many men are today are crying
out to God as some cooperative effort between Christ's work
and their own? Listen, they ain't find any help.
There won't be any help for them. There's only help for those who
believe on Jesus Christ alone. who rests solely in His blood
and righteous. Why? Because He alone accomplished
salvation without my help. I've always liked to look at
salvation as something completely done outside of me first. It was something God purposed
outside of me. It's something Christ accomplished
outside of me, and then it is something Christ works in me
And it's something Christ keeps in me until He brings me to the
fulfillment of it. The completion of it. Everyone
outside of Christ, there is no help for you. So when He says,
My help cometh from the Lord, He is talking about this. My
help comes from Christ alone. From my being in union with the
Son of God by faith. This is a vital thing to consider
that God in His mercy has provided a way to receive help. Are you a sinner? Because this
is the only one that qualifies. Anybody need help, sinners are
the ones that need help. I'm here to tell you God has
provided a way. God has made a way by which you
may receive help from an omniscient Omnipotent God. That's what I
need help. I need help from an omnipotent
God, don't you? I don't need help from a puny
God that needs my help. I need help from a God who has
all power. That's what David said. He made
heaven and earth. Surely He can help me. Have you believed on Christ?
If you believed on Christ and received Him, then you may find
help. What help? Every help you need. Sufficient
help. Abundant help. Constant help. Notice this, it's personal help. David said, my help coming from
the Lord. Notice, He said, My help. God
is personal with all His children because He is personally their
God. Isn't that what He said in the
covenant? He made a covenant. And He said
this, I will be their God and they shall be My people. Because of His covenant, We who
believe in Christ, you are His people and God Himself is your
God. My help cometh from the Lord. It's personal help. The only
help for my sin-sick soul is through Jesus Christ. The only
cure for me is through His person and His work done in my place. For believers in Jesus Christ,
those who have trusted in Him, for the forgiveness of sins,
who have believed on Him as all their hope in standing before
God, and believe that He is the only way to God, the psalmist
then here proclaims some promises. Is Christ all your help? Do you
cease to look to the hills? Do you cease to look to anybody
else but Christ? Then God gives you some promises.
sure things in this chapter. Look at the next thing he gives
you. In verses 3 through 8, he begins to lay out these promises.
Look at the first one. It is a promise of security,
safety. He, Jehovah, my help, will not
suffer thy foot to be moved. He that keepeth thee will not
slumber. So then, this is your promise
who believe in Christ. He will not allow you to fall
from grace. He will not allow your foot to
slip. Some believe that if you're saved
and believe on Jesus Christ, you can lose your salvation,
which is contrary to this scripture as well as multiple other scriptures.
We don't believe such garbage. We know this, that when a person
truly believes in Christ, who has God-given faith, who has
been given life by the Holy Spirit, born again of the Spirit, his
foot shall not slip. He shall not fall from Christ. Paul said this, for this cause
I suffer these things. What did Paul suffer? He said, I suffer the loss of
all things. What did he say about that? He
said, I do count them but dumb. Whatever I lost, it was nothing. He said in 2 Timothy 1 and verse
12, for this cause I suffer the loss of all things. Nevertheless,
by faith he says, nevertheless, I am not ashamed. For I know whom I have believed,
and am persuaded that he is able to, what? Keep that which I've
committed unto him. What did Paul commit? He committed
his soul. He committed his body. He committed
all himself to Christ by faith, trusting Christ. And he said,
I'm persuaded, not that I'm able, but that he is able to keep. Why? He had this promise. He
will not suffer thy foot to be moved. He will keep my soul. and he will keep the soul of
everyone that is in Christ. Remember, he said, I give an
eternal life to them, to my sheep, and they shall never perish,
neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father which
gave them me is greater than all, and no man is able to pluck
them out of my Father's hand. Consider this, that Christ is
in the hand of God, and we are in the hand of Christ, and who
is able then to pluck us out of his hand? This is my help. Doesn't this help you? Doesn't
this help you no matter what your circumstance is? That no
man could pluck you out of the hand of the Father? That no man
could take your soul? That no man could rob you of
the glory that Christ has obtained in your stead? No one could rob
you of that righteousness? No one. Not even yourself. Who? Who shall in thy presence
stand and match omnipotence, unfold the grasp of thy right
hand and pluck the sinner dense? Who? No one. What about men that profess
to believe in Christ and then go away? What about them? Weren't
they saved and then lost? No. John makes that very clear.
He said they went out from us because they were not of us.
If they were of us, they would have no doubt continued with
us. But they went out of us that they might be manifest that they
are not all of us. We are founded upon the rock
of Jesus Christ. Listen, we shall never be moved. I like this. In one of the Psalms,
David said this, The Lord is my rock. I shall not be greatly
moved. Boy, he was struggling. He was being tossed to and fro,
back and forth. He didn't know. He said, look,
I know this. I'm on the rock and I'm being
tossed about, but I know this. It's not going to be greatly.
But he encourages himself in a couple other verses. Then he
says, the Lord is my rock and my salvation. I shall not be
moved. I shall not be moved. Sometimes
we feel, well Lord, I'm not going to be greatly moved. But only
when you encourage yourself in this. You're not going to be
moved because God will not allow it. Now there's something to
stand on. There's some footing for you.
Why? Because the soul that waits on
God for salvation as His rock, All the weight of my soul rests
on Him. Therefore, I shall not be moved." Now, you pay attention. I can
only be moved if God is moved. Why? Because I'm in God. Paul
said, our life is hid with Christ. Where? In God. And you can move
me only if you move God. You can kill me only if you kill
God. Because my life is hid with Christ
in God. This is a promise. Because God
is my help, I shall not be moved. He will not suffer my foot to
be moved. So when troubles come, believer,
in your life We are to look to the rock of our souls. And what
will the circumstances then be? The circumstances then, in comparison,
will dim. The troubles will dim in light
of the glory and grace that we have reserved in Christ for us. Paul said that. He said, I reckon
that the sufferings of this present life are not worthy to be compared
with the glory which shall be revealed in us. So only resting
in the rock is our sure foundation, we'll be able to stand in all
troubles. And listen, you should thank
God for troubles. That sounds counterintuitive,
doesn't it? Sounds like that pastor's lost his mind. No, no. Why should you thank God? Because
Peter said, the trial of your faith is much more precious than
gold that perishes. Why? Because this is how faith
is proven. This is how faith is tested.
Don't you want to make your calling and election sure? Don't you
want to know that you know that you're in Christ? Well, guess
what? Trouble's coming. Troubles are the only thing that
prove it. You remember those two houses
the Lord talked about, that one house built on the sand and on
the rock? Remember that the rain fell on them both. The floods
hit both of those houses. What was the difference? It was
the foundation. One was built on the rock. That's
the only one that'll stand. Jude says, now unto him that
is able to, listen, keep you from falling. How many troubles
have you had? Joanne, how many troubles have
you had in this life? What are you still doing here?
Why are you still here? Unto him that is able to. Only reason I'm still here is
He has kept me from falling. Winds come with my help? Really? You're asking me that? My help
comes from the Lord. Why? He said, I will not allow
His foot to be moved. Therefore, my foot shall not
be moved. He will keep me. And listen to
this. He doesn't sleep. Sleep's necessary, isn't it?
You need some sleep? When you're in trouble, you don't
get much sleep, do you? When you don't get much sleep,
you're worse off than you were. The trouble is magnified, isn't
it? Listen to this. God who keeps you don't sleep.
When Elijah, he came up to those false gods there and they were
shouting and screaming. He said, hey, maybe you need
to shout louder. Your God's asleep. You need to wake him up. Not
my God. My God doesn't sleep. I think of this often when the
Lord Jesus Christ was on the mountain and those disciples
were out in the ship rowing. The scripture says, He saw them
toiling and rowing. He was on the mountain, yet He
saw them. Why? He didn't sleep. He knew
where they were. Listen, He knows where you are.
He doesn't sleep. Do you realize it is as though
I am the only believer God has to deal with? His eye is always
fixed on me. Same with you. But notice, He
doesn't say that. He says this in verse 4, Behold,
He that keepeth Israel shall neither somber. He's not just
keeping you. He's keeping the whole of His
people. See how much power is in that?
If He can keep all of them, surely He can keep me. If He's got all of you, surely
I'm not going to be a burden to keep me. He doesn't sleep. He keeps all of Israel. Jesus
said, While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy
name. And those thou gavest me, I kept
them, and none of them is lost. You got that? How many is going
to be lost? How many is going to be lost? Who will slip? Who
will fall? I know Asaph. He said, My feet
nigh well slipped. How many times your feet nigh
well slipped, they didn't slip. How many times you lost faith
and all of a sudden you had faith? What happened? God says, I will
not allow it. You will have faith. Because he doesn't slumber and
he doesn't sleep. Next look at this, verse 5. The
Lord is thy keeper. The Lord is the shade upon thy
right hand. Notice the Lord here is the keeper
not of angels, not pastors, but the Lord himself keeps the souls
of his people and not from a distance. How far do you think God is from
you? Right now, how far is God from you? I didn't say how far He feels
from you, because often He feels distant. You feel distant from
Him. This is His promise. He is the
shade on thy right hand. How near is the shade on your
right hand? The right hand has to do with
power. When you're born again of the Spirit of God, you are
given life, you are given power, you are given ability, strength. The source of that strength is
God who is as near as the shade on your right hand. The Spirit
of God dwelling in you gives you all the power that you need. You believe on Christ, is that
right? Right now you believe on Christ. How is that possible? Well, the strength comes from
Christ, but yet you believe. No one's believing for you. You
believe on Christ. Love the brethren. Who gives
you love for the brethren? It is God who gives you love
for the brethren, yet we know this. It is you who love the
brethren. So it is this shadow, it is this power that God, on
the shade of your right hand, gives you the power and ability
to obey Him, to serve Him. He gives us power over sin. Sin has no more dominion over
you. He has given us power in Christ
to overcome evil. Paul said that, didn't he say,
to overcome evil with good, isn't that what he said? Well, you
say, I just can't do that. No, you can, you just don't want
to. You're just trying to justify
yourself. We say, well, my flesh is just too strong No, you just
don't want to. You just want to do the other.
So you make an excuse as to why. Well, as though your flesh is
some other part over there. You say, well, he did it. No,
you did it. And you did it because you wanted
to do it, not because of anything else. You say, well, I was overcome
with the flesh. What about the spirit? Did he
die? Was the spirit powerless? No. You just wanted to do it. And so then, if there is temptation
to sin, know this, the power is nigh thee to overcome. Why? He is as close as the shade
on your right. This is a promise. It's a promise. He is a very present help in
trouble. Are you tempted? That's trouble,
isn't it? Temptation is trouble. To sin is trouble. And we are
often tempted to sin. And yet God says, I'm a very
present help in trouble. He keeps our soul spiritually
and practically in our troubles. He's a present help. Not always
out of trouble, but in trouble. He's right there giving us strength
to fight against sin that remains in our mortal bodies, to trust
Him no matter our circumstances and how they appear, to rest
in His holy Word and His promises. He shall not leave us nor forsake
us. Now look at verse 6. The sun
shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night. This is talking about all types
of troubles. Sun is talking about the heat
and the passions of men, the troubles. The man in the desert,
when he's going out in the desert, he needs shade. He needs refuge. These are the hot afflictions
of passion, of lust. The fiery darts of Satan. But
this moon is speaking of something cold, like the coldness and indifference
of our own heart. God says this, It shall not smite
thee by day, nor the moon by night. What does this mean? It
means God doesn't mean it's not going to smite you. How many
of us have been smitten by troubles, passions, grief, sorrows, coldness
of heart? He said, look, I'm in control
of these things, is what He's telling you. It's not going to
smite you unless I give it permission. I was reading in Isaiah, I think
it's 63-64, Isaiah had said this, Why hast thou caused us to err
and hardened our hearts? Who does the hardening of the
heart? God does. Why does He allow such things?
He allows such things and troubles so as to show us His power and
His grace, His mercy and His love. And so then, when these things
smite us, what is our attitude to be? Paul said this, be content
with such things as you have. Now what do you have? This, I
will never leave thee nor forsake thee. There's our contentment.
So no matter what troubles or trials or difficulties we face,
this is our hope, that God works all things together for our good. All things, both the sun and
the moon. The heat and the coldness, whatever
it is, God is working all things. Things we consider bad, the things
that we consider evil, God says, look, it's not meant for that.
I'm working that for your good. Have you not experienced that?
That every evil, every trouble that you've experienced, the
heat or the cold, whatever it is, that God has worked that
for your understanding so that you might know more of His love,
more of His grace, more of His mercy. He uses these things. I like this in Zephaniah 3. It
says, "...the Lord hath taken away thy judgments, cast out
thine enemy." The King of Israel, even the Lord is in the midst
of thee. Thou shalt not see evil, listen, anymore. So, is what is happening to us evil? According to God, it's not. Thou
shalt see evil no more. Why? The Lord's cast out your
judgments. There's no more sin. He's taken
it away. The Lord himself reigns inside
of you. This is his promise. This is
my help. All things are of God, what Paul
said. All things are of God. Let me
not talk of sovereignty and then complain of my lot in life. That
is inconsistent, isn't it? All things are of God. And what
are all things doing? They're working toward my good.
Verse 7, the Lord shall preserve thee from all evil. He shall
preserve thy soul. The Lord shall preserve thy going
out and thy coming in from this time forth even forevermore. Believer, all your labors on
earth are preserved by God no matter what. What you do, God is preserving
for you in time, from this time forth, even unto eternity. Jesus
said, I am the door. If any man enter in, he shall
be saved and he shall go in and out and find... What does this
mean, in and out? He's going to preserve us going
in and going out. Right now, you have come in.
You have come in to hear what? The Word of God. You have come
in to hear the Word of God concerning help. You need help. Whence cometh
your help? Your help comes from the Lord.
And what is His help? His help is the promises He has
given you in Christ. You come in and you receive these
promises. You hear them. And may God plant
them on your heart so that when you go out, guess what? You're preserved when you go
out. He preserves you in here. He
preserves you out there. He keeps you. So no matter where you are, no
matter what trouble you're in, if the Lord is your help, you
will be kept. You will be preserved. Why, He
don't sleep. all of His people. He is so near to them, He is
a shade on their right hand. Nothing will happen to His people
without His direct decree. And I know this, no matter what
happens, He will preserve us. He will preserve thy soul. Isn't that the most important
part? The soul? It is. Now listen, He does keep
this body, and I'm thankful for it. He does heal us from sickness
and trouble and difficulty. What's the most important part?
The soul. And if the Lord is your help,
then friend, you've got help. You've got help. I'll close with
this. I'll put it in the bulletin,
you can read it later, but Concerning the Lord's help. He said in Isaiah,
I believe 45 I can't remember where it is.
He said I will help they I will help Now listen God says if I
have given You a covenant if I've given you my oath if I've
given you my son if I've sacrificed my blood for your salvation If
I am seated on the throne ever living make intercession for
you. Shall I not help you? I in every other thing? If I've done the greatest, can
I not do the least? Yes, I will. So whence cometh
your help? My help cometh from the Lord,
which made heaven and earth. My help comes from Him who gave
Himself for my sin. and has risen for my justification.
My help comes from him whoever liveth to make intercession for
me and keeps me until he comes again and receives me to himself.
There is my help. Where's yours? I pray God give
you grace to have the same help. Let's stand and be dismissed
in prayer.