Turn with me, if you would, to
Psalm chapter 12. Psalm chapter 12. And let's read the first two
words of verse one. Help, Lord. Help, Lord. Have you ever found yourself
in such a state of need that that's about all you can get
out? Have you ever been there? Help, Lord. Like when Peter was
walking on the water He was walking on the water. And all of the
sudden, the danger that he thought he was in, he realized that he had no control
over what was happening to him. He realized he was completely
helpless, completely out of control of the situation and the fear. of the utter inability. And that helplessness, it overtook
him. That fear overtook him. And all of his stability dropped
out from under him. And going down, he cried, Save
me, Lord. Save me. That's all he could
get out. Save me, Lord. This is all I have the ability
to cry, help, Lord, help. If you are a believer, if you
are a believer who has not yet experienced that, you will. We will. God's people desperately
need the help of their Lord. For God's people, this is not
a doctrine. God's people constantly realize
that need. They constantly realize the fact
that they need help. Lord. They come to know more
and more of their absolute weakness and inability, the longer they
live on this life. And that's the truth. When we're
young, we're bulletproof. And the longer we go, the more
we realize, I am completely helpless. And it becomes more and more
proven to us. And we get to that place where
all we can do is just say, help, Lord. Help me. David tells us in our text tonight,
which is Psalm 121, if you want to turn over there with me. He
tells us here where we can find this help. And this is real.
This is real. This is real help for real believers
in real need. Anytime we are in a real need,
when we find ourselves in that place where we're in a real need, this is where we can find it.
Verse one says, I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills. He said, every time I look at
the hills, plural, every time I look at the hills,
I receive help. Every single time I'm helped
by it. 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 and those hills. Those hills. I will lift up mine
eyes unto the hills. Tonight I want us to look at
the hills. I want us to lift up our eyes unto five hills,
five extremely important hills for a believer to see if he is
gonna find any comfort and any hope and any help. Five hills. I pray this might honestly be
a help to us, all of us, every believer in need. May the Lord
truly help us in this. To every sinner, that looks up
to these five hills, and in looking at the hills, finds his hope. Every sinner who honestly can
say, when I look at those hills, I find help. That's where my
help is. Every sinner who can say that,
the rest of this psalm is to that sinner. If we cannot find our help and
our hope in these five hills, then this psalm is not to us.
It's not written for us. What it has to say does not apply
to us. But if we can, then it does.
All right, let's lift up our eyes to the hills. The first
hill that we're going to look at is a great hill, full of all,
an awful hill. It's called Mount Sinai. Mount Sinai. We know what Mount
Sinai represents. It represents the law. It represents
what God demands. It represents his holiness. It
represents his justice. It represents his judgment and
his punishment for not living up to what he demands. But do
you know that our help and our hope begins with that mountain? It begins with that mountain. We acknowledge that holy hill. And we acknowledge that because
of our sinful condition, we are not able to step foot on it. We're going to go meet God. We're
going to go stand before God. We all will. We all will, and
the first thing we acknowledge is this first holy hill, Mount
Sinai, and our inability to stand on it. Turn with me over to Exodus
chapter 19. Exodus 19 verse 10 says, And the Lord said unto Moses,
Go unto the people and sanctify them today and tomorrow, and
let them wash their clothes. And be ready against the third
day, for the third day the Lord will come down in the sight of
all the people upon Mount Sinai. And thou shalt set bounds unto
the people round about saying, take heed to yourselves that
you go not up into the mount or touch the border of it. Whosoever
toucheth the mount shall be surely put to death. There shall not
in hand touch it, but he shall surely be stoned or shot through.
Whether it be beast or man, it shall not live. When the trumpet
soundeth long, they shall come up to the mount, And when Moses
went down from the mount unto the people and sanctified the
people and they washed their clothes. And he said unto the
people, be ready against the third day, come not at your wives. And it came to pass on the third
day in the morning that there were thunders and lightnings
and a thick cloud upon the mount and the voice of the trumpet
exceeding loud so that all the people that was in the camp trembled.
And Moses brought forth the people out of the camp to meet with
God. And they stood at the nether
part of the mount. And Mount Sinai was altogether
on a smoke, because the Lord descended upon it in fire. And the smoke thereof ascended
as the smoke of a furnace. And the whole mount quaked greatly."
The whole mountain was full of the fire of God. God's justice and God's holiness,
the strictness of His law. Every time a sinner lifts up
his eyes unto the hills. Every time. Every single time
a sinner lifts up his eyes unto the hills, that's the first hill
he sees. Every time. Every time. He knows, I'm a sinner. And our God is a consuming fire,
and he will by no means clear the guilty. He must punish sin. Now, why would we say that that's
where our hope begins? Why would we say that's where
our help begins? It's because that is what points
us to the next mountain. We're going to go meet God, and
we know the God with whom we have to do. But that is what
points us to the next hill. That hill, that law is the schoolmaster
that points us to the next hill. All right, here's the next hill
we're gonna lift our eyes up to. Mount Moriah. Do you know what happened on
Mount Moriah? Turn with me over to Genesis
22. Genesis 22 verse 1 says, And
it came to pass after these things that God did tempt Abraham, and
said unto him, Abraham, and he said, Behold, here I am. And
he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest,
and get thee into the land of Moriah, and offer him there for
a burnt offering upon one of the mountains, which I will tell
thee of. Offer him a sin offering. a sacrifice for sin. And Abraham
rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took
two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and claimed
the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the
place of which God had told him. Then on the third day Abraham
lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off. And Abraham said
unto his young men, abide ye here with the ass, and I and
the lad will go yonder and worship and come again to you. And Abraham
took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it upon Isaac his son.
And he took the fire in his hand and a knife, and they went both
of them together. And Isaac spake unto Abraham
his father and said, my father. And he said, here am I, my son.
And he said, Behold the fire and the wood, but where is the
lamb for a burnt offering? And Abraham said, My son, God
will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering. So they went
both of them together and they came to the place which God had
told him of. And Abraham built an altar there,
and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid
him on the altar upon the wood. And Abraham stretched forth his
hand, and took the knife to slay his son. And the angel of the
Lord called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham. And
he said, Here am I. And he said, Lay not thine hand
upon the lad, neither do thou anything unto him. For now I
know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son,
thine only son from me. And Abraham lifted up his eyes
and looked, and behold, behind him a ram caught in a thicket
by his horns. And Abraham went and took the
ram and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his
son. And Abraham called the name of
that place Jehovah-Jireh. As it is said to this day in
the Mount of the Lord, it shall be seen. The Lord will provide.
I think about that scene. I think about Abraham and his
son. I think about that ram and I see Abraham laying hold of
that ram. I used to see him shoving Isaac off of that altar, but
I don't see that anymore. I see him laying that ram on
Isaac. And stabbing that ram in the
blood running all over him. Mount Sinai cries. Sin must be dealt with. Mount Sinai cries, blood must
be shed. The wages of sin is death. A
sacrifice must be made. Mount Moriah cries, God will
provide. God will provide. He will provide
the blood. He will provide the sacrifice
through a substitute. He'll provide a substitute. Who is the substitute? You know, we take that question
for granted. The Lord Jesus Christ today is not preached as a substitute. He's not preached as a substitute.
Who is the substitute? Who is this sacrifice that makes
it okay to go meet God? Whose blood will be shed? Who did He provide? Well, there's
another hill to look at. There's a hill in Luke 23 called
Mount Calvary. Turn with me over there to Luke
23. Luke 23 verse 20 says, Pilate, therefore willing to
release Jesus, Jesus of Nazareth, Jesus Christ the Lord, willing
to release Jesus, spake again to the people, all the people,
but they cried saying, crucify him, crucify him. Verse 33 says,
and when they were come to the place which is called Calvary,
There they crucified him and the malefactors, one on the right
hand and the other on the left. Then said Jesus, Father, forgive
them, for they know not what they do. And they parted his
raiment and cast lots. And the people stood beholding,
and the rulers also with them derided him, saying, He saved
others. Let him save himself, if he be
Christ, the chosen of God." Aren't you so glad he didn't save himself? And the soldiers also mocked
him, coming to him and offering him vinegar and saying, if thou
be the king of the Jews, save thyself. And a superscription
also was written over him in letters of Greek and Latin and
Hebrew. This is the king of the Jews. And one of the malefactors, which
were hanged, railed on him, saying, if thou be Christ, save thyself
and us. But the other answering rebuked
him, saying, Does not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same
condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we
receive the due reward of our deeds. But this man hath done
nothing amiss. And he said unto Jesus, Lord,
remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom." When you go
into your kingdom, would you remember me? Would you reserve
a place for me? so that I can come and be with
you where you are. Jesus said unto him, Verily, verily, I say
unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise. And it was
about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over all the earth
until the ninth hour. And the sun was darkened, and
the veil of the temple was rent in the midst. And when Jesus
had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands
I commend my spirit. And having said thus, he gave
up the ghost. Now when the centurion saw what
was done, he glorified God, saying, Certainly this was a righteous
man. And all the people that came
together to that site, beholding the things which were done, smote
their breasts and returned." This was a righteous man. Sinai
cries, there must be punishment. Moriah cries, there is a substitute
for that punishment. Calvary cries, the punishment
is over. It's over. It's finished. There'll
be no more. Because of Calvary, there is
a hill that we can look to and right now stand on. There is
a hill we can right now stand on. It's called Mount Pisgah.
From that hill, we can see the final hill. Mount Pisgah. Turn with me over to Deuteronomy
34. Deuteronomy 34 verse 1 says,
And Moses went up from the plains of Moab unto the mountain of
Nebo to the top of Pisgah, that is over against Jericho. And
the Lord showed him all the land of Gilead unto Dan, and all Naphtali,
and the land of Ephraim, and Manasseh, and all the land of
Judah unto the utmost sea. In the south, in the plain of
the valley of Jericho, the city of palm trees unto Zoar. From Mount Pisgah, you can see
the promised land. You can see the land that God
has given for an inheritance to His people, our eternal home. Verse four, and the Lord said
unto him, this is the land which I swear unto Abraham and Isaac
and unto Jacob saying, I will give it unto thy seed. I have
caused thee to see it with thine eyes, but thou shall not go over
thither. So Moses, the servant of the
Lord died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of
the Lord. As soon as that happened, God's
dear child lovingly, graciously, mercifully died right
there according to the word of the Lord. That's how it is every
single time. It's always according to the
word of the Lord. And as soon as that happened,
as soon as Moses died, we just sang about it, his robe of flesh
dropped. He did rise. He seized the everlasting
prize, the Lord Jesus Christ. And He shouted while passing
through the air. I can only believe that we will
be shouting while passing through the air. Farewell, sin. Aren't you so ready to be done
with sin? Aren't you so ready to be done with sin? Aren't you
looking forward to being done with sin? Farewell, pain. Aren't you ready
to have no more pain? Farewell, sorrow. No more sorrow. No more tears. I have finally obtained the eternal
hell. Mount Zion. The beautiful city
of the living God. I've attained what He secured
for me through that death. Life with Him. Now, if you find
that no matter what sorrow and what pain you are enduring on
this earth, this is a real situation. If you find that when you look
to those five hills, Your help is restored. If you find that
your hope is restored, no matter how bad it is in this moment
right here, no matter how much pain it is, no matter how much
sorrow it is, no matter how many tears you're crying, if you find
that when you look to those five hills and acknowledge every one
of them, if you find that your help is restored, And your hope
is restored if you find that's life to you. That is joy to you. That is all
you need. If you find that, then Psalm
121 is to you. I'll be very quick, but go back
to Psalm 121. This is God's promise to every
soul who finds his help in the hills of the Lord. 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 in the way of my salvation. Verse
three says, he will not suffer thy foot to be moved. Moved means shaken. He will not
allow you to fall. If your help and your hope is
in the hills of the Lord, then He is going to uphold you
all of the remaining days of your life on this earth. He is
going to uphold you. Verse 3 says, He that keepeth
thee will not slumber. That means become drowsy. He will not become drowsy. He will not. Verse 4 says, Behold, he that
keepeth Israel, he that keeps his people, his purchased people,
his chosen people, his precious beloved people, He that keepeth
Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. When you lay your
head down at night to sleep, you rest assured that your God
will not take his eyes off of you. If your help and your hope
is in those hills, he will not take his eyes off of you. Have
you ever been afraid? He will not take His eyes off
of you. He will not take His eyes off of you. He will keep
watch over you. He will not become drowsy. He
will not fall asleep. He will not take His eyes off
of you. You are absolutely safe and secure. You can just listen or look.
It's Psalm 139 verse 12. It says, Yea, the darkness hideth not
from thee, but the night shineth as the day. The darkness and
the light are both alike to thee. It does not matter to him. It
does not matter. Dark day. It does not matter. Nothing hides from his watchful
eye. Nothing. Back in Psalm 121 verse
5 says, The Lord is thy keeper. The Lord is your keeper. The
Lord is your keeper. He is going to keep you if your
help and if your hope is in those hills. The Lord is going to keep you
in the palm of His hand. And God the Father is going to
keep Christ and us in the palm of His hand. And no man is able
to pluck us out of the Father's hand. No man. Verse 5 says, The Lord is thy
shade. He is your shield. He is your
cover. He is your cool breeze. He is
your moment of rest. The Lord is thy shade upon thy
right hand. Right hand means direction, path
of life. What should be your direction?
What should be your path of life? Well, He is going to shield you,
and He's going to be your comfort, and He's going to be your rest,
all of your path of life. He will lead you. He will guide
you. He will not forsake you. Verse
6 says, The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by
night, if your hope and your help is in those hills. At no
time can you be harmed. Daytime, nighttime. Psalm 91 says, Do not worry about
one arrow that flies by day. And do not worry about one terror
that comes by night. It shall not come nigh thee.
Psalm 91 does not say there's a good chance it will not come
nigh thee. It shall not come nigh thee. Not if your hope and
your help is in those hills. Verse 7 says, The Lord shall
preserve thee from all evil. You know there is evil all around
us. More horribly, there is evil in us. But if your hope is in
those hills, the Lord shall preserve you from everything around you
and even from your own self. Preserved, sealed with that Holy
Spirit of promise. Job said, though this body is
going to be destroyed, I know that my Redeemer liveth and I'm
going to see Him with these eyes. And the reason is because He's
going to preserve me. He's going to preserve my soul. Verse 7 says, He shall preserve
thy soul. He loved me. He chose me. He bought me. He called me. He'll
preserve me. He'll preserve our soul all the
way to the end. Verse 8 says, The Lord shall
preserve thy going out and thy coming in. all of our going out and all
of our coming in. The rest of our goings in this
life, wherever we go, the Lord is going to preserve our going
out and our coming in, wherever we go. There will come a point
when each one of us In His loving time, in His perfect time, in
His kind and gracious time, He is going to cause us to go out
of this world. This robe of flesh will drop.
You will literally, I am not my body, I am my soul. And every time I think somebody
hasn't heard this, I'm going to retell it. I'm my soul, not
my body. You can cut off everything on
this body that you can cut off on this body, and I'll still
be me. I will still be me. You can cut
my arms off, cut my legs off, cut everything off, and I will
still be me. And one of these days, I'm going
to watch this body fall to the ground, and I will still be me. And that is God's good time causing
me to go out of this earth. It's a moment we all fear. It's a moment we all must face. But there's no need to fear it
as long as we're looking at those hills. And when that time comes, our
going out is immediately going to be a coming in. And He will
preserve us. He will preserve us and keep
us, and we're gonna see not only was there nothing to fear, this
is the most glorious and joyful and overwhelming thing that's
ever happened to me. I could have never imagined.
I could have never imagined. The moment that I see this body
drop, that very moment, I'll see my Savior's face. And He
will preserve thy going out and thy coming in. And then once
we're there, our Lord said for all eternity, and I love this,
he said the gates of his kingdom are gonna be wide open. They
shall not ever be shut. And the thing that I love most
about it is nobody's ever gonna wanna go out of that gate, but
he said you have liberty in me. You have freedom in me. You're
welcome to come and go as you please. The Lord shall preserve
thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth and even
forevermore. No matter what sorrow we find
ourselves in, whatever pain it is, that's our help, isn't it? That makes it okay. That makes
it okay. That's our help. That's our hope. Anytime we need it, all we have
to do is look to the hills. From whence cometh our help?
It comes from the Lord. I pray that's a help to us. Let's
all stand together.