Sermon on Psalm 121

January 31, 2009

Text:  I will lift up my eyes to the hills - From whence comes my help?  My help comes from the Lord, Who made heaven and earth.  He will not allow your foot to be moved; He who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, He who keeps Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord is your keeper; The Lord is your Shade at your right hand.  The sun shall not strike you by day, Nor the moon by night. The Lord shall preserve you from all evil; He shall preserve your soul. The Lord shall preserve your going out and your coming in from this time forth, and even forevermore.

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In Christ Jesus, Dear Fellow Redeemed:

            This past year saw more than its share of financial unrest, lost jobs, terrorist attacks, and just general uncertainty.  What kind of year did you have in 2009?  Did the Lord continue to provide for you throughout the year?  I don’t want to know if you received everything that was on your Christmas list.  I mean, were you taken care of, as the holy writer states, “Having food and clothing, with these we shall be content.” -- 1 Tim 6:8.

            Throughout 2009, one way or another, the Lord God provided for us food for nourishment and clothing to cover our bodies.  And He has provided a wealth of extras.  In addition to food and clothing, the Lord has provided jobs, families, transportation, entertainment, etc., etc., and the list could go on and on.

            The Lord is, as we note in our text, the One “Who made heaven and earth.  All blessings flow from the Creator, i.e., the one, true God revealed in the Bible.  It is He who made all things, and it is He who provides for us the things that we need.

            But the Lord does so much more for us than simply providing for us our daily bread and all of things included under that heading.  As our text for this evening states:

THE LORD IS YOUR KEEPER

            Again, this does not mean that the Lord is like some divine zoo keeper, who merely feeds us and houses us.  Lit., in the original language, our text reads, “The Lord is your watchman.  He has made it His task to guard and protect us from all harm and danger, as He promises, “No evil shall befall you, nor shall any plague come near your dwelling; for He shall give His angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways.  They shall bear you up in their hands, lest you dash your foot against a stone.” -- Ps 91:10f.  Even some injury as simple as stubbing your toe is the Lord’s concern, as our text notes, “He will not allow your foot to be moved.

            Whenever we are in need of help, usually before we even realize that we need it, the Lord provides it.  He has done so in 2009 and He will continue to do so in 2010, for “He who keeps you will not slumber.  Behold, He who keeps Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.

            Which is the point made by the psalmist in verses five and six, “The Lord is your Shade at your right hand.  The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night.  The Lord promises to cover us completely, to preserve us from harm and danger in the daytime and through the night.

            How this is beautifully demonstrated throughout Holy Scripture again and again.  We think of Lot and his family delivered from the destruction of Sodom and Gomorra; of Joseph delivered out of slavery and prison to become the ruler of Egypt; of Daniel in the lion’s den and the three men in the fiery furnace, delivered by the Angel of the Lord; We think of the angel that delivered Peter from prison in Jerusalem; we think of Stephen; we think of...

            What’s that, you say?  Stephen wasn’t delivered, he was killed by the Jews for confessing Christ’s name.  We might think that he could well have used some cover at his right hand as he was struck by rocks.  Where was the Lord then?

            He was where He promises to be for all of His people, as we read in our text, “The Lord shall preserve you from all evil; He shall preserve your soul.  The Lord shall preserve your going out and your coming in from this time forth, and even forevermore.

            If you recall the account given in the book of Acts, Stephen died praying for his murderers, at a time when many, even many Christians, would have died cursing their killers, hoping they would get what they deserved.

            Well, again I ask you, what kind of a year was 2009 for you?  Did you get everything that you deserved?  I hope not, because, when we speak of deserving something, that means we’ve earned something.

            Did you do everything that you were supposed to have done this past year?  Did you always tell the truth?  Did you deflect every temptation to sin?  Did you think only holy thoughts and speak only God-pleasing words?  An honest look at the past year in the light of God’s law will reveal that, no, you did not.  Neither did I.  Thank God that I did not get what I deserved this year, for you and I were, even in this past year, yes, even in this past day, guilty of sin, and we are told in Scripture that, “The wages of sin is death.” -- Rom 6:23.  We have had many sins for which we have repented in this past year.

            Now what does this have to do with our text for this evening?  To put it simply, you and I did not get what we deserved this past year, nor will we suffer what we have deserved, because Christ got what He didn’t deserve.  I.e., He got what we deserve, as it is written, “Christ was delivered up for our offenses...” -- Rom 4:25; “[God] made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us...” -- 2 Cor 5:21; “Christ...[became]  a curse for us...” -- Gal 3:13.

            I mentioned earlier that many times, we don’t even realize the number of times the Lord has preserved us or delivered us from some physical danger.  This is even more true in the realm of spiritual things!  It is not possible for us to number the instances in which the Lord turned away some temptation or gave us the strength to turn from a sin and repent during the last year. And He will do so again in 2010, for it is written, “The Lord shall preserve you from all evil.  Why does our heavenly Father do this?

            Again, it is not because we have done anything to deserve this preservation.  We were not so good that the Lord decided to be the watchman for our souls; it is not because we were so perfect that the Father determined to send His Son to die for us.  Rather, it is because God is so good that He watches over our souls; it is because the Father is so good that He sent His Son in our place, for, indeed,  ...all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus...” -- Rom 3:23f.  The Lord promises to preserve us from all evil, to preserve our soul.  This He has done through Christ Jesus who redeemed our souls from eternal punishment by paying for our sins upon the cross.

            In our text the Lord promises to guard us at all times from harm and danger.  This He does by His grace.  But this is not to say that we will never cut our finger, stub our toe, or even die.  Does that mean that the Lord does not keep His promises?  Of course He keeps His promises.  But again, what about Stephen?

            In Stephen’s case, the Lord was where He promises to be for all of His people, as we read in our text, “The Lord shall preserve you from all evil; He shall preserve your soul.  The Lord shall preserve your going out and your coming in from this time forth, and even forevermore.  Stephen set a wonderful example for us as he, at his death, did not curse his killers or curse God, as many would have been tempted to do.  Instead, we read, “And they stoned Stephen as he was calling on God and saying, `Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.’  Then he knelt own and cried out with a loud voice, `Lord, do not charge them with this sin.’  And when he had said this, he fell asleep.” -- Acts 7:59f.

            How could Stephen do this?  Just prior to Stephen’s death he saw something:  ...he, being full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God, and said, `Look!  I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!” -- Acts 7:55f.

            Though he suffered a violent death, Stephen died at peace.  And so will you and I.  As the apostle reminds us, “...we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.” -- 2 Cor 5:1.

            God does keep His promises.  In Stephen’s death we find, once again, “All things work together for good to those who love God, who are the called according to His purpose.” -- Rom 8:28.  To those who killed him Stephen might well have applied the words Joseph spoke to his brothers when he forgave them for their evil against him:  But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good...” -- Gen 50:20.

            For his listeners, God was glorified as Stephen testified of their Savior, Jesus Christ.  For Stephen his death was for his eternal good, for as we have seen, heaven was opened to him and the Lord received his soul into eternal life.  For us, Stephen’s death serves to strengthen our faith, as we see that no matter what the Lord permits to enter into our life, it will be to His glory and to our eternal good.

            Rather than worrying about what will happen in 2010 we then look forward to the New Year with hope and faith, for the psalmist shows us that “The Lord shall preserve your going out and your coming in from this time forth, and even forevermore.

            We go in and out of the house, in and out of church, in and out of the car, many times every week, so much so that we hardly think of it.  But the Lord is thinking of it.  He who has numbered even the hairs of our head is working to preserve our going out and our coming in.  As He has kept us from all harm and danger throughout the past year, so also He will keep us from all harm and danger in the New Year.  After all, He is the Lord, “Who made heaven and earth.” He has promised to keep and preserve us forevermore.

            That’s right.  When we stop coming and going at the end of our life, we will be blessed with exiting this world, this veil of tears, and we will be blessed with coming into everlasting life in heaven.

            Of this He has assured us by raising His Son from the dead, for, Christ was “...delivered up for our offenses, and raised again for our justification.” -- Rom 4:25.  In Him we have the complete forgiveness of sins, so that we do not receive what we deserve, but what Christ deserved by His righteousness, viz., the favor of God, so that we are Israel, the people of God, through faith in Christ.

            By our beloved Savior, the Lord has preserved us from evil.  By His Holy Word He continues to preserve our souls, from this time forth, even forevermore.  By His Gospel, the forgiveness of sins given us in Word and Sacrament, the Lord will continue in 2010, even as He has through 2009, to keep us in the one true faith, until He grants us His grace to receive our spirit for Jesus’ sake.

            No matter what happens in 2010, we know that it will be a blessed year.  This we know for we have the same faith as the psalmist, the same faith as Stephen, and the same faith as the apostle Paul, with who we confess, “For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thin, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” -- Rom 8:38f. We know it will be a blessed year for God’s Word continues with us, assuring us daily of God’s grace, the forgiveness of our sins, and life eternal.

            We have this assurance from our great God and Savior from this time forth, even forevermore.

AMEN.

Pastor Joel S. Fleischer

Calvary Lutheran Church

Marquette, Michigan

 

 

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