All right, now let's open up
to Psalm 121. Psalm 121. I knew what I had written in my notes. And I was just sitting here watching
everybody, and everybody was pretty happy to be here. Everybody
was laughing. And I was thinking, we're not
going to enter into the first part of this right now, but it's
not going to take us long, and we will. We will. We human beings, We human beings, mortal flesh, as fallen creatures, as fallen
creatures, there are things in this life that happen to us. And there are things in this
life that happen in us. And there are things in this
life that happen because of us. that cause us to continually
look down. We all know this is true. This
doesn't need much convincing. Continually be cast down, brought
down. It doesn't take much. We can
have the best day that's ever been had and then all of a sudden,
I'm cast down. I'm brought down. I'm ashamed,
depressed. I feel it. I know you feel it.
We all talk about it. Because all that this physical
eye can see is flesh. It's all this physical eye can
see. The things of this world, everything that I see in this
world, it brings me down. It really does. It brings me down. And I'm just
being honest with you. It's easy to be brought down. You see that happen and I think,
oh man. I see that happen and I think,
oh man. It brings me down. When I look at me, the true me,
I'm brought down. When the Lord lets me have just
a second to just get a good look at me, it brings me down. When I look at the troubles and
the sorrows that I have had, and based on the Word of God,
I will have, it brings me down. It brings me down. When I look at the sin that I
commit, and the guilt that I feel from it, and the shame that I feel before
God, I'm cast down. It doesn't take much, and I'm
cast down. That publican, I was thinking
about that publican that went into the temple. He walked into
the temple looking down. smiting himself, saying, God
be merciful to me. When I see my flesh and I see
my sin, my ways, when I see my ways, the way that I think is
right, and then I realize the end is destruction. My pride,
when I see my pride, I have got nowhere to look but down, down,
down, down. But there is one place. Now this is not just a outline,
okay? It's not just let's start it
bad and then let's turn it to good. You know what I'm talking
about. This is honesty. There is one
place. One place. David said one thing. There's one thing. One thing have I desired. And
when I get a glimpse of this one thing, really, It causes me to look up. One thing. Things start looking up. I don't
care how bad it is. If I can see one thing in it,
things start looking up. They start looking up. Now look
at Psalm 121, verse 1 says, I will lift up mine eyes. I will lift up mine eyes. By God's mercy to me, I won't
lift up my works. I won't. When I look at those,
I'm brought down, right? I won't lift up the things that
I've earned. I won't lift up the record of
my deeds. I will lift up mine eyes, the
eyes of faith that God gave me. It's not even a work in lifting
up my eyes. I'll lift up the eyes of faith
that God gave me. Nothing is more pleasant. Nothing is more relieving, more
encouraging, than looking up. Things are starting to look up. Verse one says, I will lift up
mine eyes unto the hills from whence cometh my help. Which
hill is he talking about? Mount Sinai. That's where most people are
lifting up their eyes. You know that? Mount Sinai, where
God gave the law to Moses and covered that place in fire? Am
I going to lift up mine eyes to the law? Is that where my
help comes from? No. No. Turn with me over to
Psalm 125. Psalm 125, verse 1 says, They
that trust in the Lord shall be as Mount Zion, which cannot be removed,
but abideth forever. Mount Zion. I will lift up mine
eyes toward Mount Zion. That's where my help comes from. Why? What's there? Well let me quote a few scriptures
to you and we're going to see. God said in Isaiah 28 verse 16,
Behold, and that means look up, I lay in Zion for a foundation, a stone, a
tried stone. A precious cornerstone. What's on the top of Mount Zion?
Christ is there. The chief cornerstone is there. A sure foundation is there. How firm a foundation, ye saints
of the Lord, is laid for your faith in His excellent Word. How firm a foundation. Just look
up. Isn't that amazing? Just look
up. The law says things that I cannot
do, but I can look up if God gives me eyes to see. Just look
up. Look to Christ. He said, look
and live. What's on the top of Mount Zion?
Solomon built his temple there. Solomon's temple is up there.
This world latches on to us. And do you know why this world
latches on to us? It's because we latch on to it.
It's not the bad guy. It's me who wants it. I latch on to it and then I drag
it around with me like a ball and chain. I really do. I really do. It makes us feel filthy. It makes us feel filthy. The
world does. Crawling through this miry clay and then somebody
says, let's go to the house of the Lord. Look at Psalm 122, verse 1, I
was glad when they said unto me, let us go into the house
of the Lord. Let's go to the house of the
Lord. Where is it? Look up, look up. It's on top of Mount Zion. You're going to find some help
there. You're going to find some help
there. I need help. I need help. I need help to study. I need
help to worship. I need help to pray. I need help. I need some help. You'll find
some help there. How do you know? Because in that temple is an
altar. An altar for sacrifice. A sacrifice
for sin and guilt and shame. And the Apostle John said in
Revelation 14.1, he said, I looked and lo! A Lamb stood on Mount Zion and with Him were all of His
redeemed. There's a Lamb standing on top
of Mount Zion and there's an altar up there and a temple up
there and if we just look to that, things will start looking
up. Whatever our hand finds to do,
we do it with all our might. You know, we have jobs. We do it with all our might.
We work hard. But our jobs can't provide anything
that will satisfy us. It's never enough. We started
out flipping burgers, making minimum wage, and it wasn't enough. You know, and then we did whatever
and it wasn't enough. And now we're making money we
would only dreamed of and it's not enough. And it can't satisfy. It cannot satisfy. There's only
one thing that can satisfy. And it's on top of Mount Zion. We're redeemed. We're redeemed
from this world, redeemed from sin, redeemed by the blood of
the Lamb, redeemed through His infinite mercy, His child and
forever I am. Salvation is up there. Just look
up. It'll lift us up. What's on top
of Mount Zion? The beautiful city of God. the beautiful city of God. God's
people are there. Turn with me over to Psalm 48.
Psalm 48, verse 1 says, Great is the Lord, and greatly
to be praised in the city of our God, in the mountain of His
holiness. Beautiful for situation, the
joy of the whole earth is Mount Zion. On the sides of the north,
the city of the great king. God is known in her palaces for
a refuge. That's where we find refuge. That's where we find refuge.
The joy of the whole earth. There's a song that says, Precious
name, oh how sweet, Hope of earth and joy of heaven. Go over to
Psalm 87. Psalm 87. I love this psalm. Verse 1 says, His foundation
is in the holy mountains. The Lord loveth the gates of
Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob. What that means is,
Jacob is there. That's center. And the sons of
Jacob. His seed. Sinners just like Him,
they're there. Verse 3 says, Glorious things
are spoken of thee, O city of God. I will make mention of Rahab. Rahab, the harlot. That sinner who loved the pleasures
of this world, God turned her from it and she's there. I love
Rahab. I really do. I love that woman. I cannot wait to give her a hug.
She encourages me so much. Every single time I see her name
in this Word, I am so thankful that the Lord kept writing her
name in this Word. I'm so thankful because every
time I see that woman's name, I get some hope that maybe I'll
be there. Maybe there's hope for me. Every
time I see Rahab, I think, that was a prostitute. And he's saying,
Rahab's there. Maybe I'll be there. It causes me to look up. Verse
4, I will make mention of Rahab in Babylon to them that knew
me, that know me. Behold Philistia and Tyre with
Ethiopia, this man was born there. And of Zion it shall be said
this and that man was born in her." I love that. Born in her. From here. One of us. No stranger. Our kin. Oh yeah, they were born
here. Our family. Verse 5 says, Of
Zion it shall be said, This and that man was born in her, and
the Highest Himself shall establish her. The Lord shall count, when
He writeth up the people, that this man was born there. The
Lord is going to write that down in the books. They were born
here, on top of Mount Zion. And in the final word of verse
6 is Silah. That means, why don't you just
stop and think about that for a minute. I think that's wonderful. I really
do. Verse 7 says, As well the singers
as the players on instruments shall be there, all my springs
are in thee. Doesn't that make you want to
look up? Really? Psalm 65 verse 1 says this, Praise
waiteth for thee, O God, in Zion. Praise waiteth for thee, O God,
in Zion. What that means is, we're going
to praise you. We will praise thee. We're trying
as hard as we can right now. We really are. For the rest of
our lives, we're going to try as hard as we can. But one day,
we're going to praise Thee. Every soul that's there is going
to know why they're there. I have always wondered, well,
I grew up wondering and the Scripture made it clear, you know, what
are we going to know up there? Are we going to remember anything
about this earth and anything about the people? Is it all just
going to be forgotten? Every soul there is going to
know exactly why they're there. And they're going to be crying
at the top of their lungs unto Him that loved us and washed
us from our sin in His own blood. Thou art worthy for Thou was
slain and redeemed us to God by Thy blood. We were lost in
sin. We were dead in sin. We know
exactly how I got here, why I'm here. I know exactly what I've been
made to be. They're going to know that all
the peace that they have with God is because of the blood of
that Lamb. They're going to know that they
have constant access to the mercy seat. Constant access to the mercy
seat. They're going to know their liberty to visit with and commune
with the Father and the Son. That's going to bring one result,
one particular result. Go with me to Jeremiah 31. Jeremiah 31 verse 12 says, Therefore they shall come
and sing in the height of Zion, and shall flow together to the
goodness of the Lord, for wheat, and for wine, and for oil, and
for the young of the flock and of the herd. And their soul shall
be as a watered garden, and they shall not sorrow any more at
all." Their soul is just going to be
a watered garden. And there's not going to be any
sorrow any more at all. You know that looking down, that
being cast down and brought down? It'll never happen again. It'll
never happen again. I get down from time to time
and it's okay because the Lord brings me back up. But it's not
an enjoyable feeling. As soon as we lose sight of the
fact that we have a beautiful city waiting on us and we have
a foundation up there. Because there's an altar up there,
and a temple up there, and a lamb standing up there. As soon as
we lose sight of that, everything starts to look down. And the
reason is because we don't have, we're trying to get this world,
but we don't really have it. We don't really have it. But we have one to come. So David
wrote over in our text, go back to Psalm 121, verse 1 says, I will lift up
mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. He doesn't say whence came my
help. It's not a one time, past tense
thing. From whence cometh my help. Help is coming to me right now. I mean right now, to me. Help is coming to me. Cometh. My help keeps coming and keeps
coming. The Lord has helped us. The Lord
is helping us. And the Lord will help us. All
the days of our life. I lift up mine eyes unto the
hills, from whence cometh my help. Now don't get scared. Verse
1 was our text. But I'm just going to read through
the rest of it, okay? We're not going to take 20 minutes
of verse. Verse 2 says, My help cometh from the Lord, which made
heaven and earth. The Lord is our help. He alone is our help. What that
means is, the next time we need some help, there's only one person
we need to go to. And it's not my own mind to try
to figure it out. Let me run some calculations,
like Andrew. There's only one person who is
actual help, and it's the Lord. The Lord is our help. He is able,
it says He made heaven and earth. If He can do that, He's able
to save to the uttermost. And the reason is because He
made the uttermost. He made heaven and earth. Verse
3 says, He will not suffer thy foot to be moved. He's the chief
cornerstone. He's the sure foundation. If
He will not suffer it to happen, we will not suffer it happening
to us. That's all there is to it. We might slip, but we're not
going to fall. We are not going to fall. Spurgeon
said this, He will not suffer that foot to be moved. And if
He keeps our feet, then He's going to keep our head. And He's
going to keep our heart too. If He'll keep our feet, He'll
keep our head and our heart. He'll keep our mind and our belief. And we won't be moved. The end
of verse 3 says, He that keepeth thee will not slumber. Behold, he that keepeth Israel
shall neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord Jesus Christ as a man
was asleep in the bottom of that ship. You remember that? When they're out and the waves
came up and the disciples came to him and said, Master, carest
thou not that we perish? I mean, it was bad. And the Lord was asleep. Do you know why he was asleep? Here's why. It's because as a
man, he believed God. He believed God. He had pure
and perfect faith in God. In obedience to the Word, he
had perfect faith that God was wide awake. He's wide awake. Ordering everything. I'm in a
ship. I'm in a storm. God put me here. Ruling everything, the waves
can only go as high as He allows them to. Controlling everything. And He had so much peace looking
to Him in faith, He could sleep. He could sleep. That's why He
was asleep. He was no safer, no more safe
on dry land sunny and 70 degrees. Then he was in the bottom of
a ship, tossed to and fro in a huge, windy, cold storm. No difference. None at all. Verse 5 says, The Lord is thy
keeper. The Lord is thy shade upon thy
right hand. The sun shall not smite thee
by day, nor the moon by night. If something produces shade,
if a tree casts a shadow and someone sits in that shadow,
then the tree is taking the sun's beating, right? For the person that's sitting
in the shadow, shielding that person. The sun is hitting something. Well, the Lord is thy shade. The sun shall not smite thee,
verse 6 says. If you're not going to be smitten,
then that means you're shielded. Shielded. Verse 7 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. I don't cook. I can make a cup
of coffee and scrambled eggs and fried eggs and toast and
bagels, but I don't cook. But I have seen somebody make
preserves before. And if my memory is right, they
took some fruit and they put it in a jar. And they started a fire. And
that fire boiled the water. And that jar went inside the
water. The fruit didn't touch that water.
The jar, the fruit went in. But the jar was taking all the
beating. And then the jar is what becomes sealed. The fruit is still just
the fruit inside. But that jar is what's doing
all the preserving. Every bit of it. The Lord shall
preserve thee from all evil. Whatever is inside that jar is
not going to spoil. Preserved. Now I want to show you something
really quick and we'll close. Verses 1 and 2, there are 8 verses
in this chapter. Verses 1 and 2 go together. Verses
3 and 4 go together. 5 and 6 go together. 7 and 8
go together. Verses 1 and 2 are talking about
my help. I'll 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. Verses 3 and 4 are talking
about he that keepeth thee is not going to slumber nor sleep.
He that keepeth thee, he that keepeth Israel shall neither
slumber nor sleep. Verses 5 and 6 are talking about
shade and the sun not smiting. The Lord is thy shade. The sun
won't smite you. Verses 7 and 8 keep saying, shall
preserve, shall preserve, shall preserve. Here's the summary
of this psalm. Every soul whose help is the
Lord, is kept, shielded, and preserved. Every soul whose help is the
Lord is kept, shielded, and preserved. That'll make you look up. You
know it? That'll make you look up. Lift
up our eyes unto the hills. And it says in verse 8, the Lord
shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time
forth and even for every more. Every going out and coming in. For as long as the Lord has purposed
for each of us to be here, he's protected us. We all came out of the womb and
into this world and the Lord protected us. And we come out of infancy or young
childhood and we go into kindergarten. We leave the house and we really
go out into the world. And the Lord protected us. And
then we went out of our parents' house and into our own dorm or
apartment or... And the Lord protected us. What's
going to happen to our children? Well, the Lord is their keeper. And then we're going to go out
of our strong years and into our aged years. And then we're going to go out
of this world and into the world to come. And through every stage
and in every time, the Lord will preserve us. However long He
has us to be here until we do go out of this world, He will
preserve thy soul. That's all I need. That's all
I need. If He doesn't preserve anything
else, that's all I need. So look up, talking to myself,
look up. All right, let's stand together.