Kingsport Sovereign Grace Church,
located at 2709 Rock Springs Road in Kingsport, Tennessee,
would like to invite you to listen to a message of Sovereign Grace
by their pastor, Gabe Stoniker. For information and service times,
visit www.ksgc.church. And now, Gabe Stoniker. Our message today will come from
Psalm 121. If you would like to read along
with me, Psalm 121, and I'm sure you feel the same way, but I
love the Psalms. I love the Psalms so much. They
bless me in a special way. They truly speak to my heart. I relate to them. I relate to
what the Lord caused David to say. He was just so honest and
so raw with what was going on in his heart, which as we read
was usually despair. Usually that's what was going
on in David's heart as he wrote the Psalms. Despair, fear, sorrow,
pain. Don't we see that as we read
what the Lord inspired David to write? So often he was in
a position of need. He just needed, he deeply needed. So often he was crying. physically
crying. He constantly talked about his
tears night and day. He constantly talked about how
overwhelmed he was. That feeling of just being overwhelmed. You know that feeling. I know
that feeling. He talked about how he felt like
he was constantly on the verge of not making it. Tough place. some bad places. He was so open about his weakness
and his sins. He was so open about his sins. He constantly cried, Lord, I'm
a sinner who needs mercy. Have mercy on me. Have mercy
on me. Don't we read that as we read
the writings of David? For that reason, all of God's
people can relate to David. All who have been caused to be
honest about what goes on inside. Many tried to hide it, many try
to impress others falsely. But to those who are honest,
they truly relate to David very much. And the message today is
for those particular people. This message is for God's people.
This message is for those who are true believers when they
read the word concerning what God has to say about himself,
what God has to say about Christ, what God has to say about his
finished work, what God has to say about man, his sinfulness,
his insufficiency. Those who have been called to
believe God's word, that's who this message is to. This is to
believers. I believe one of the reasons
why we are constantly turning back to the Psalms is because
David constantly pointed us to his help. Those who are truly
clinging to this word, David pointed us to the one who helped
him through it all and carried him through it all. And every
time we see David's help, we see our own. God's people see
their own. And it's because we have the
same help. We have the same help David had. So look with me at
Psalm 121, verse one says, I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills
from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the Lord. which made heaven and earth.
My help cometh from the Lord. I'll lift up mine eyes unto the
hills from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the Lord. Oh, the peace that there is in
remembering that. The comfort in being reminded
of that. Lift up your eyes to the Lord.
Lift up your eyes to the Lord. Behold the Lamb of God." That's
what John the Baptist cried. Look to the Lamb of God. The
song says, if you from sin are longing to be free, are you a
sinner like David is a sinner and like I'm a sinner? If you
from sin are longing to be free, look to the Lamb of God. Don't
look to yourself. Don't look to your ability, look
to the Lamb of God. You cast your eyes on the Lamb
of God, you cast your heart, you cast your all on the Lamb
of God. That song goes on to say, when
Satan tempts and doubts and fears assail, look to the Lamb of God. When you are weary and the way
seems long, look to the Lamb of God. Fear not when shadows
on your pathway fall. In joy or sorrow, Christ is all
in all. Just look to the Lamb of God.
Look to the Lamb of God, for He alone is able to save you
from all of these things. Look to the Lamb of God. Verse
one says, I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills. I will lift
up mine eyes. By that he means the eyes of
his heart. That's what he's talking about.
The eyes of faith that the spirit of God has given to him. The
eyes of faith, the eyes of his hope. The eyes of his plea, the
eyes of his cry, the cry of his heart, no matter where his physical
eyes are looking, that's irrelevant. He's talking about the eyes of
every fiber of the being of his soul, the eyes of his soul. I want to show you a perfect
example of this. I honestly don't know if I could
find a better example in the scripture of what it is to lift
up our spiritual eyes unto the Lord, unto the hills and unto
the Lord is in Luke chapter 18. If you'd like to turn there with
me, Luke 18 verse 10 says, two men went up into the temple to
pray. This is a parable that the Lord
gave. And he said, two men went up
into the temple to pray, the one a Pharisee and the other
a publican. A publican basically was a member
of the mafia, a horrible sinner, a terrible man. Just like the
mafia, he extorted people and he did horrible things. And our
Lord said, two men went up into the temple to pray, the one a
Pharisee, a goody-two-shoes religious man, and the other a publican.
The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank
thee that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers,
or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week. I give tithes of all that I possess. And the publican, standing afar
off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven. He stood
way away. He didn't come right down to
the front and proudly lift his face up toward the sky. He stood
afar off and would not lift up so much as his eyes to heaven.
His eyes were cast down. His head was bowed down. He was
a humbled man. And the reason is because God
gave him the ability and God gave him the humility to lift
up his eyes unto the hills. He wouldn't lift up his eyes
unto heaven because he was lifting up his eyes unto the hills. His
eyes of faith, his heart, his plea, his cry to the Lord, even
though his sorrow and his shame and his sin would not allow him
to lift up his eyes physically toward heaven. Even though all
he could do is physically look down, God gave him that ability.
to lift up the eyes of his soul to Christ. From whence came his
help? And verse 13 says, The publican
standing afar off would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven,
but smote upon his breast, saying, God, be merciful to me, a sinner. That's what it is, to lift up
our eyes unto the hills. From whence cometh our help?
Our help comes from the Lord. which made heaven and earth.
In verse 14, our Lord said, I tell you, this man went down to his
house justified rather than the other for everyone that exalteth
himself shall be abased and he that humbleth himself shall be
exalted. That one who was just so humbled,
so humbled was justified, so abased was justified. Every man
or woman, every sinner, who lifts up the eyes of his or her heart
to Christ for help will find it. Everyone. Every single person
who lifts up the eyes of the soul to Christ for help will
find it. Everyone. This message is to
those who believe God's Word. Everyone. Our Lord said, everyone
that exalts himself shall be abased and he that humbleth himself
shall be exalted." Everyone. Now why is that? Why is it that
every single soul that lifts up the eyes of faith to Christ
for help will find it? Why is that? Here's the reason
why, if you want to read it with me in Hebrews chapter 4. It says
in Hebrews 4 verse 15, we have not in high priest who cannot
be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but was in all
points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. It's because
we have a high priest who knows our frame. When we come to him
so low and so broken and so humbled and so distressed, We have a
high priest who knows our frame. When we come to him in that way,
he knows that frame that we're coming in. He touched himself
with the feeling of our infirmities. When we come and all of those
infirmities, the infirmities of all of his chosen people,
he touched himself with them. He bore them. He carried them. He felt them. In the garden of Gethsemane,
as our Lord was just pained and bowed down and as He sorrowed
unto death, He was bearing the sin and feeling it. He felt the
guilt. He felt the shame. He felt it. He endured it. He was judged
in it. He knows what it feels like to
be judged by God Almighty in that sin. He knows what it feels
like to be condemned in that sin. Can you imagine that? He knows something that his people
don't know. We were not condemned in our
sin. Christ was. He knows what it feels like to
be sentenced and to be punished by God Almighty in that sin.
He knows the feeling of our infirmity, but listen to this, see if this
doesn't bless your heart. He knows what it feels like to
victoriously conquer all of that sin and to put all of that sin
away and to rise up in glory and in victory. Everything in
this world that brings grief to God's people because of our
sin Christ has already dealt with it and He's already put
it away. That's good, isn't it? Verse 15 right here says, We
have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling
of our infirmities, but was in all points tempted like as we
are, yet without sin. He didn't commit it. But he laid
hold of it and brought it to himself. Verse 16 says, let us
therefore come boldly. Let us now come in confidence.
Let us come in assurance boldly unto the throne of grace that
we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
We can come to him believing in our hearts. He will not cast
us out. He will not judge us in our sin
because he was judged in our sin. He will receive us. That's the reason why. That's
why every soul who lifts up the eyes to Christ to find mercy
and grace to help in time of need will find it. That right
there is the reason why. It's because Christ, our high
priest, touched himself with everything that has touched us,
everything that has brought us low, everything that has humbled
us, everything. He touched himself with it and
he knows exactly where we are and he knows exactly what we
need to comfort us through that moment. Now back in Psalm 121,
back here in our text, It says in verse one, I will
lift up mine eyes unto the hills from whence cometh my help. My
help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth. David
said, just look at who it is I'm looking to. You want to find
comfort. You want to find encouragement.
Just look at who it is we're looking to. David said, I'm looking
to the very one who made heaven and earth. I'm looking to the
all powerful one. I'm looking to the one who says
it and it's so, it's done. If he wills for it to be, it
is. I'm looking to the one who is
able. David said, I'm looking to the
one who's able to do something about it. able to help me. My help cometh from the Lord,
Jehovah, God Almighty, God our Savior, God with us. Salvation
is of the Lord and everything else is of the
Lord. And the same Lord, the Lord God who made heaven and
earth and me and everything else That's the Lord I'm looking to
for my help. Now let me ask us a question.
Who is the Lord God who made heaven and earth and everything
else? John chapter 1 says it's the Lord Jesus Christ. All things were made by him.
Without him was not anything made that was made. Colossians
1 says he's before all things. By him all things consist because
he's the one who created it. It's all by him. It's all for
him. Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord our
God. Verse three says, he will not
suffer thy foot to be moved. He will not suffer that foot
to slip. He will not suffer that foot
to fall. If the foot stays, the whole
body stays. The whole person stays. I know
that you've gone somewhere, you've stepped somewhere and you've
thought in your mind, I hope my foot doesn't slip. I know
you've been hiking on a trail or something. You come down a
steep path and there's gravel there or stepping on some icy
areas or something like that. And you think in your mind, because
I think it too, I hope my foot doesn't slip. If my foot slips,
my whole body goes down. Well, stayed upon Jehovah. stayed upon the Lord, the Lord
God, the Lord Jesus Christ, nobody falls. That's true. And that's good news. That's
wonderful news. Standing on Jehovah, nobody falls. Psalm 130, the next page over
in my Bible, Psalm 130, verse three says, if thou Lord shouldest
mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand? If you, if you were
to judge us in one sin, if you were to cause us to have to stand
on one of our own sins, who could stand? All of us would fall. None of us would endure the judgment.
None of us, if you marked my sins and judged me in my sins,
I'd never stand, I'd fall. But in Christ, in the blood of
Christ, on the rock of Christ, nobody falls. Nobody falls from
Christ. Nobody falls away from Christ.
If Christ is the one who set you there, nobody falls from the gospel.
is if Christ is the one who gave you ears to hear it and gave
you a heart to believe it and gave you eyes to see it, nobody
falls from the blood. If Christ is the one who covered
you in it, nobody falls from the eternal kingdom. You say,
people say, now you better watch out. You're going to lose your
salvation. That's not true. Not if Christ saved you. That's
not true. Psalm 130 right here, verse four
says, But there is forgiveness with thee. Verse three said,
If thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall
stand? Verse four says, But there is forgiveness with thee, that
thou mayest be feared and reverenced and glorified and praised. Verse
five, he said, I wait for the Lord. My soul doth wait, and
in his word do I hope. He said, I'm a believer. He's
caused me to be a believer. I don't take pride in it. That's
the grace of God to me. that he would give me faith and
cause me to believe it. Verse six, he said, My soul waiteth
for the Lord more than they that watch for the morning. I say
more than they that watch for the morning. Let Israel hope
in the Lord. For with the Lord, there is mercy. And with him is plenteous redemption
in the blood that he shed. Verse 8 says, And he shall redeem
Israel from all of his iniquities, his people, he shall. He shall. That's why he said
in verse 1 right here of Psalm 130, Out of the depths have I
cried unto thee. That's why I'm crying to you,
Lord. Out of the depths have I cried
unto thee, O Lord. Lord, hear my voice. Let thine
ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications. Please hear
me, I'm crying unto you. Back in Psalm 121, verse 3 says,
He will not suffer thy foot to be moved. He that keepeth thee
will not slumber. Behold, he that keepeth Israel
shall neither slumber nor sleep. Slumber means become drowsy.
That's the definition of the word. He that keepeth thee will
not become drowsy. He that keepeth thee will never
go to sleep. Never. His watchful eye, his
watchful care will never leave you. Never leave you. Listen to this and see if this
is a comfort to your heart. Okay. If you belong to Him, if
I belong to Him, if we are one of His own, if God the Father
chose us and gave us to Him, He will never take His eye off
of you or me. He'll never take His eye off
of us. Never. He will never take His eye off
of you. Psalm 127 says, Except the Lord build the house.
Verse one, except the Lord build the house. They labor in vain
that build it. Men try to build their own salvation,
their own spiritual house. You know, they're going to build
their own mansion next to Jesus and things like that. It's all
in vain, except the Lord build the house. Men and women labor
in vain. There's no salvation. If God doesn't build the house. It goes on to say, except the
Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain. If God doesn't
keep us, we're not gonna be kept. Verse two said, it is vain for
you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of
sorrows, for so he giveth his beloved sleep. He gives his beloved
sleep. That means rest. You know what
will cause a man or a woman to just fall right to sleep? When
you lay your head down at night, You know what will cause you
to fall right to sleep? It's knowing that everything's
okay. knowing that everything's okay.
When you think everything is not okay, you can't sleep. You can't rest. But every soul
who truly lifts up his eyes to the hills in concern for his
or her sin, the putting away of sin, every one of those souls
will hear from the Lord through the word to the heart. Everything's okay. It's good
news. Everything's okay. In Christ,
everything's okay. If you're sitting there saying,
but what about my sin? I believe his word. I'm looking to him,
but what about my sin? Just listen. In Christ, everything's
okay. Christ took care of it. He took
all of that into Himself. He bore that sin in His body
on the tree. He dealt with it. He judged it.
He punished it. He covered it. He put it away. And in Christ, everything's okay.
He gives His beloved sleep, rest. They hear that good news. It's
all taken care of. They're all put away. Back in
Psalm 121, verse 5 says, The Lord is thy keeper. The Lord
is thy shade upon thy right hand. The Lord is thy keeper. That
means if God the Father gave you to Christ, he has the charge
of you. He's your guard. He is your protector. You're being kept by the power
of God. He said in John 17, those that thou gavest me, Father,
I have kept and none of them is lost. The Lord is your keeper. Verse five says, the Lord is
thy shade upon thy right hand. That means he is your relief. He is your covering over in Psalm
91 verse one says, he that dwelleth in the secret place of the most
high shall abide under the shadow of the almighty. I will say of
the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in Him will
I trust. Surely He shall deliver thee
from the snare of the fowler and from the noisome pestilence.
He shall cover thee with His feathers and under His wings
shalt thou trust. His truth shall be thy shield
and thy buckler." He'll cover you. He will cover you. That's where God's people want
to be, covered by Him, safely tucked up under the covering
of His right arm, holy arm, right hand. Back in Psalm 121, verse
6 says, The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by
night. No judgment shall come to you.
If you're looking to Christ, all your hope is in Christ. You may endure fiery trials on
this earth. but no fiery judgments in eternity. Nothing will smite thee. Smite
means slay, kill. Christ has already endured eternal
death and no eternal death will come to you, not in Him. Verse
seven says, the Lord shall preserve thee from all evil. He shall
preserve thy soul, all of your being. The new man made in the
image of Christ will totally be preserved. Now that old man
died in Christ on the cross. The soul of the new man created
in that child of God, which is Christ in that child of God.
No evil will touch it. No sin will touch that new man.
No decay, no corruption will touch that new man. Verse seven
says, 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 and even forevermore. He'll preserve all your days,
all your ways. From the going out of this world
to the coming in of the next, from the leaving of this world
to the entering of His kingdom, the Lord shall be with you and
shall protect you. I pray that that's a blessing
to us. May the Lord cause us to totally look to Christ for
His help. You have been listening to a
message by Gabe Stoniker, pastor of Kingsport Sovereign Grace
Church in Kingsport, Tennessee. If you would like a copy of this
message, or to hear other messages of sovereign grace, you can call
or write to the number and address on your screen, or visit www.ksgc.church. Tune in at this same time next
week for another message of God's free and sovereign grace.