So I believe I'll go ahead and
get started, and if you wanna follow along, I'm gonna be in
Psalm 121. Psalm 121. I'm gonna read the
whole Psalm. I will lift up mine eyes unto
the hills. Like this. From whence cometh my help? My
help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth. 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. 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. 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. As I was looking through this
psalm, I was looking at some of the commentaries, and I particularly
like Robert Hawker, but I was looking at his comments on this
passage, and he in this commentary gives three ways that it could
be viewed, if you will, especially when we're talking about the
first verse. The first being is this verse is posed as a question. He stated it that in the margin
of his old Bible that it stated this as a question. I can't verify
this or confirm that it's actually true or not. It's not in mind,
but maybe someone has. I didn't spend time on it. But
if it is stated as a question, like it was stated as a question
like this, shall I lift up mine eyes to the hills? Whence should
my help come? This, of course, being posed
as a question indicating that the hills can in no way help
me. This is certainly true that a
mountain or hill cannot help us in this way that we need help.
This is supported by scripture. Jeremiah 3.23 says, truly in
vain is salvation hoped for from the hills and from the multitude
of mountains. Truly in the Lord our God is
the salvation of Israel. I personally don't believe that
this is what this is talking about and not at least not in
this way in this scripture. Although that is true. I believe
it is a looking unto the hills, but this is a psalm, and it is
poetic language, if you will. The psalms, when you look at
them, are like this. They use poetic language to describe
things. So there are two other views
in which we can see in this psalm, and in all of scripture, really.
And that is we look at them being Christ our substitute, that one
coming down as a man and taking the place of his people, then
that of a believer in Christ. And our view cannot be looked
at without first seeing the view from the Son first. Because without
Him, we have nowhere to look, whether it be mountain or valley.
So in looking at these two ways, I have two points to look at
today, the looking of Christ and the looking of the brethren. It's not hard for us to see Jesus
Christ in this passage because we're told in scripture, Hebrews
10, seven, and it also says it in the Psalms. Then said I, lo,
I come, in the volume of the book it is written of me, to
do thy will, O God. The hills he were seeking were
those hills of the will of the Father. Him which is in the heavens
high above the hills. John 5.30 says, I can of my own
self do nothing. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment
is just, because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the
Father which has sent me. He told Mary and Joseph when
they left him in Jerusalem in Luke 2.48 and 49, He says, and
when they saw him, they were amazed. And his mother said unto
him, son, why hast thou thus dealt with us? Behold,
thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing. And he said unto
them, how is it that ye sought me? Wist ye not that I must be
about my father's business? So it was that which was the
will of the Father, which he was sent to do, that he was looking
to. It's hard for me to grasp the
fact that Jesus Christ was made flesh. He came down to this earth
made of a woman, made under the law. He has, currently, right
now, he has flesh and bones and blood running through his veins,
just like you and I. It was his very purpose to come
to this earth and to perform that which was needed to save
a people for his name. For this, he had to be a man.
He had to obey the law every jot and tittle, and he did. He truly did love his neighbor
as himself, and he loved God with all his heart, mind, and
strength. He had to suffer. This he did
without opening his mouth. Looking into that which he was
sent to do, he could not complain about it for it was the very
purpose why he came. He had to die. That sacrifice
needed to pay for all my sins, for all your sins, for all the
sins of his chosen people. This he did while looking to
the hills to the one whom he knew would be his help, which
is from the Lord. He always did that which pleased
the Father, and the Father was well pleased in him. He was always
looking to do the will of the Father. These things he did being
faithful to what he was sent to do. Him being faith personified,
he is what faith looks like. He is always faithful, the scripture
says. Hebrews 12.2 says, looking unto
Jesus, the author and finisher of faith, who for the joy that
was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and
is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. He is the
author of faith. That is, faith begins with Jesus
Christ. And he perfected faith. That's
what the word finisher means. So what he has done will show
us what faith is. In verse three, we read. the
protection of the Father to the Son, Jesus Christ is God. Yet
we know in Scripture that it says, Psalms 91, 10 through 12,
we read, there shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any
plague come nigh thy dwelling. For he shall give his angels
charge over thee to keep thee in all thy ways. They shall bear
thee up in thy hands, lest thou dash thy foot against the stone.
Nothing was going to befall our Savior Jesus Christ that was
not purposed by the Father himself. Jesus is a man, we have to remember. That is, God is a man. But being
a man, there was a specific thing he came to do, and he always
was set like a flint to do the will of the Father. The father
would protect the son, so much so we read in scripture in John
19, and I'm going to turn there. You don't have to turn with me,
but John 19. John 19 verses 33 through 36
if you want to follow along. But when they came to Jesus and
saw that he was dead already, they break not his legs. But
one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith
came there out blood and water. And he that saw it bare record,
and his record is true. And he knoweth that he saith
true, that ye might believe. For these things were done that
the scripture should be fulfilled. A bone of him shall not be broken. He was a man. And as a man, his
bones could break if it were his will. But it was not his
will for this to happen. So the father kept him from this
happening to him because he is in absolute sovereign control
of all things. The father was always fully satisfied
with the son. So nothing was going to happen
to Jesus Christ that was not purposed to happen to him. He
always looked to the father. We read in verse four, the Lord
God from heaven never slumbers or sleeps. We know Jesus Christ
is God, but think about this. In Mark 4, 38, we read, and this
is when there was a storm going on in the ship. And he was in
the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillar. And they
awake him, and they say unto him, Master, carest thou not
that we perish? The two words there in our psalm
mean drowsy and slack, the words for slumber and sleep. Did the
God of heaven on this ship have a weak moment? No, he was in
absolute control and had perfect faith because he is faith itself. He had no reason to fear because
he is in absolute sovereign control all of the time, even when he
is asleep on a pillow. How can we explain this? We cannot. We just know that what God says
in his word is true and we believe it. There is never a time when
he is drowsy so that he knows not what's going on around him.
And he is not slack or taking too much time to do this or to
do that. Everything is always in its intended
place and all things are happening just as he has purposed them
to be. even when he sleeps on a pillow. We then read verses
five through seven of our psalm where we can see it talk specifically
about nothing is going to be allowed to happen to him. He
will be preserved from all evil and his soul preserved. Yet we
read in the scripture that the wrath of God was poured out on
him. That is God the Father poured
out his wrath on his son Jesus Christ our Lord. What do we begin
to see from all of this? God's thoughts are not our thoughts. God's ways are not our ways. Just as the psalmist has said,
they are too high for me. I cannot attain unto them. What
else does scripture say in 1 Corinthians 1.25? Because the foolishness
of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger
than men. God is not foolish, nor is God
weak. That's not what this is saying.
This is just saying that his thoughts and his ways are high
above man's thoughts and ways. Think about this. When Christ
was on this earth doing the will of the Father, there was no complaint
from Jesus Christ at any time. This our God and our help is
not going to miss anything. And everything that happens,
happens because it is his thought. Because what God thinks, God
does. He did all this on purpose. It
was not a mistake or something that happened because man just
got too bad at that time that caused God to do something he
was not planning on. This was done because it was
ordained of God from the very beginning. Acts 4, 27 and 28
we read, For of a truth against the holy child Jesus, whom thou
hast anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles,
and the people of Israel, were gathered together, for to do
whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done. The hills are all those wondrous
works of God. The hills are all the characteristics
of God. They are all manifested in that
work done by Jesus Christ in love to his people on that tree
on Mount Calvary. It is where he is, which is high
above man so that if we are to see him, we are going to have
to look up to him. So this being the one from where
our help comes, If he looks to the hills, then that must be
where we look to. So now let's look at the looking
of the brethren. The child of God looking to the
hills, those hills of God's wondrous works, which he has done for
his people, the doer of them being the Lord of glory. We read
in the Old Testament where they look to that day when the Messiah
would come. That day that we now know was the work to be done
on that Mount Calvary where he would come and be made sin for
them. They looking forward to that day and us looking back
to that day. This involving all wondrous works
that he has done for us. We see plenty of times in scripture
where it talks about God doing things and many times it is in
the hills or mountains. 2 Chronicles 3 says, Then Solomon
began to build the house of the Lord at Jerusalem in Mount Moriah,
where the Lord appeared unto David his father, in the place
that David had prepared in the threshing floor of Ordon the
Jebusite. We read in the New Testament
about a mount which is called Calvary. Luke 23, 33, and when
they were come to that place which is called Calvary, there
they crucified him and the malefactors, one on the right hand and the
other on the left. This was that, when it is spoken
of in Scripture, it says he must be high and lifted up, just as
the serpent in the wilderness was. He was to be as well. John 3.14 it says, and as Moses
lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so the Son of
Man must be lifted up. This is a glorious thing to think
about. One in which I do believe we
can see in this passage as signifying where it is the child of God
is looking unto. Those hills of the Lord of those
many wondrous works of Christ. It is those hills of God where
we find Jesus Christ. Psalm 2 6 says this, yet have
I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion. This is those hills
that we looking to. We are not looking to flora and
fauna or earth for salvation. We are looking to a person. But
salvation for us starts off with a look. Hebrews 12, one and two
again, it says, wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with
so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight
and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with
patience that race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus,
the author and finisher of faith, who for the joy that was set
before him endured the cross, despising the shame. and is set
down at the right hand of the throne of God. This look caused
by God because we know that there is none that seeketh after God. What does it say about that serpent
which was lifted up? Numbers 21, eight. And the Lord
said unto Moses, make thee a fiery serpent and set it up on a pole
and it shall come to pass that every one that is bitten when
he looketh upon it shall live. This saves everyone that is bitten. What if you are not bitten? Then
you won't live. If you are not bitten, you will
have no reason to look and live. If you are bitten, then you must
still look. God's people are bitten with
the judgment of God's holy law, knowing that for them to have
to keep his holy law on their own is certainly death unto them. His law shuts their mouth and
they begin to see they have no standing before a thrice holy
God. But not only is it deafened to
them, it begins to show them just how dead they are. But when
we see His glory, He causes us to look unto that only place
where we can find safety from the judgment of God. Because
we, as we are born in nature, certainly deserve the wrath and
judgment of God. So it forces us to look to that
place of safety and help which is in Jesus Christ the Lord.
But we do look. Where we look is to Jesus Christ
our Lord. We are continually forced to
look to him. We don't have to debate this,
that is what it's talking about in verse one, when it says the
hills, because scripture tells us who is this talking about,
because in verse two we see that. It says, my help cometh from
the Lord. So if I look to the hills from
whence my help cometh, what does this say to me, reading this?
I will look to Jesus Christ who has done all the works, and he
is the only one that can continue to do the works for me and to
me, and I can count on it. He is faithful to what he has
said he will do. The one we look to is the creator
of heaven and earth. He is now seated at the right
hand of the Father on high. No matter how we view this verse,
this verse one, the second verse makes it clear. Our help comes
from the Lord. As we read through this psalm
knowing this is speaking of the faithfulness of Jesus Christ
to always look to the Father and the faithfulness of the Father
to always protect the Son. We know this is also true for
the believer because it is told us in scripture that he is the
firstborn among many brethren. Romans 8, 29 we read, for whom
he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed
to the image of his Son, that he, that is the Son, might be
the firstborn among many brethren. It is he, even though he was
made sin, he always loved and trusted the Father. Him giving
us this very faith that He Himself is. And we by His faith look
to Him for all our help. Because it is He that loved us
to the extent that the Son died for us. This He does for us if we are
in Christ. He does this for us always. Verse
eight says, the Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming
in from this time forth and even forevermore. He has us hedged
in, whether we are coming or going, or whether we are sitting
down, whether we are laying down, if we are sleeping, whether we
are doing or not doing, he will preserve us. All things work
together for good to them that love God them who are the called
according to His purpose. We are given to the Son and there
will be in no way that someone or something will take us from
Him. God will not let this happen. As we go through this life, no
matter what it is, God will preserve us if we are in Christ because
we are a part of Him and the Son is to have all the glory.
The one Psalm goes so far to show us how God will take care
of us. Psalm 139a says, if I ascend
up into heaven, thou art there. If I make my bed in hell, behold,
thou art there. This also, speaking of Christ,
shows us that the father will never leave the son. We in him,
he will never leave nor forsake us. I listened to Joe's message this
morning, I kind of had to add this in. But we read in John
15, if you heard Joe's message this morning, in John 15 we heard
this, for without me, that is Christ, you can do nothing. We cannot preach God too high
and we cannot preach man too low. He is the Savior of true
Israel because he is the root of Israel. We are a part of God. John 17, 21 says, that they all
may be one, as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that
they also may be one in us, that the world may believe that thou
hast sent me. If we are in Christ and the Father
being well-pleased with Christ, then God is well-pleased with
us. Not for anything that we have done, but all for what he
has done. He will protect and keep us.
It might not be how we always want it to be, but His people
come to love His choice and His ways. If Christ looked to the
hills, if Christ is looking to the hills, that is, He is about
doing the Father's business and doing all that is needed to keep
us safe, these are those wondrous works of God's hills. If He so
looked to these things to accomplish them, should we not look to Him
who has accomplished them? It certainly is where we should
look. It is the only place we will find help. If we are one
of His by faith, that is the faith of Jesus Christ which never
fails, we will look to Him as our help. This is how high Christ
is, and if He is this high, and we are in him, then we are in
him. Hebrews 7, 24 and 25, it says, but this man, because he
continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood, wherefore he is able
also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing
he ever liveth to make intercession for them. Because he is seated
at the right hand of the Father, And I'll just ask you this last
question. Where do you look for, for your
help? It's always Jesus Christ. Amen. Dear old God, thank you for allowing
us to meet here today. May we always look to you, dear
Lord. May you cause us to look to you,
because if you don't cause us to look to you, we'll look to
ourselves, dear Lord. Be with Walter as he's out, and
be with any of those who are preaching the gospel of Jesus
Christ. Be with us as we go about our
ways. Keep us safe as we travel, dear
Lord. Thank you for all things, these things we ask in Christ's
name. Amen.