Let's turn now to Psalm 121. Psalm 121. And let's hear God's Word. 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. May God bless His Word. This is the second of the songs of degrees or songs of ascent and presumably Larry will be going through these in the next few weeks, not next week for we need to be finishing up Psalm 119 but afterward he'll be on this. And it will be interesting to contrast or compare what I have to say here with his meditation. I can't cover everything and probably what you will find happening is that There, I hope anyway, are some edifying things coming from this sermon today, and in his study he will have some other things to tell you, because there is a depth to the Word of God that is there that is not with the mere Word of man. There is always more to be found in the Word of God. You who have been walking with the Lord Jesus for many years know this. You have maybe read through the Bible a number of times Yet still, doesn't it happen fairly frequently that you are reading along and doing some meditation and a little light bulb goes on and, well, I've never noticed that before. Judy and I will speak of this probably every few weeks or so. We'll go over this and here's something I've just seen, you know, and she's known the Lord Jesus since, well, a number of years. And I have since 1969 and we're still seeing new things as well as meditating on and being blessed by the old things. So let's be praying that we get some good out of this today and in a couple of weeks as well. Preaching from this because of course we have just finished up with the book of John. And I want to the gospel of John and I want to start a new series but I'm not absolutely sure what. And I'm to be gone God willing this next Sabbath. Be there be in Pennsylvania then and didn't take it quite time to start a new series but got thinking that well. A number of people are traveling. That's frequently the case at big what are thought of as family holidays like this. And of course this next week is the biggest week for travel in all the year as people go home or others come to visit us on Thanksgiving. Well Psalm 121 at least in the R.P. Church is often thought of as the traveler's psalm. And so it was in ancient Israel as the people ascended up to Jerusalem to go to the temple there for one or another of the three required feasts. And as one were about to leave, one would be leaving home, familiar surroundings, loved ones perhaps who were staying, friends. And you know back then and today there is no absolute reassurance, absolute promise that we will return home safely. Sometimes it happens that we go someplace and there it is that God calls us home through one circumstance or another. Judy's nephew, for example, thankfully he survived the wreck, but did not expect that in visiting with his girlfriend in Cleveland that he would be totally derailed from being at Ohio State for the rest of this term. Had no idea that his life would be almost in peril. Had no idea that this was coming. In fact, on the very day that he woke up, I rather doubt that he or his friend or His friend's mother had any idea that this was coming and so it happens with us. We have no idea that we will return safely in an earthly sense. This is why often at times of parting, in Covenanter homes anyway, this has been sung. I think of a friend of mine that a number of you know, Ralph McKelvey, who was about to be leaving when he was an Air Force officer. Leaving home, the manse of the former Lohill congregation. Some of you know that Ralph's father was an RP minister for many years, only held one pastorate in extreme eastern Ontario. The congregation has since moved over the provincial line into Quebec and it's now what we call Hudson St. Lazare but Mr. Hayes McAlvey was the minister there for many years and Ralph was a captain in the Air Force, was about to be going off to Thailand to be helping with air traffic control and such during the Vietnam War. And he's told me this story before, a very touching story. His dad and his mother and he and his sister all gathered around singing this, knowing not whether he would return alive or not. As we think about leaving home and familiar surroundings, loved ones and friends, the Israelite in these days would have not only been leaving from home, but on the other hand, they'd be going to the tabernacle or the temple. Now that's a brighter prospect, especially for the believing, the truly believing Israelite there. It was the place of the priests. The priest whose work spoke of one who was to come, who would be the great High Priest, whose work would not have to be repeated over and over again. A priest not from the family of Aaron, not from the tribe of Levi, but a priest after the order of Melchizedek, who would live forever and whose work would stand forever. It was the place of the sacrifices, whose blood spoke of a perfect sacrifice who would come. The priests there, of course, at the tabernacle and then later on at the temple had the sacrifices of bulls and of lambs and of goats, of pigeons even. But this priest who was to come would shed his own blood and would die in the place of sinners. This was the place of blood that spoke of forgiveness of sin. There weren't only offerings given, excuse me, sacrifices given, but offerings as well. The fellowship offerings, the peace offerings, and these spoke as well of fellowship and peace with God, of redemption and justification through the blood of someone else who would dwell there in the midst of his people, even as the throne of God and the holy place and the most holy place were there in the middle of the people of God. It's a picture of God stooping down, of God saving and redeeming a people for Himself. There at the tabernacle and later at the temple, all of this was a picture of how things would be. Because a time is coming when the sacrifice shall be complete and no longer will God dwell with man. Man shall dwell with God. So as the Israelite stepped out of his door, whether it be the door to a built house made of mud bricks maybe, or of stone or something, or maybe from a tent, as he stepped out, taking that first step that led to the journey to Jerusalem, he wasn't so much, at least the believing one, looking back, he was looking forward. Just as we read here. He was going up to Jerusalem. I will lift up my eyes to the hills. From whence comes my help? Well, my help comes from Jehovah who made heaven and earth and who is remaking, was remaking, and is remaking all things in Jesus Christ. That is where the believing Israelites look and that is where we must look ourselves. Our ultimate help and our ultimate hope is in looking to the one who is pictured there, the one who is Emmanuel, God with us, the one who is the perfect priest, the one who yields himself as the perfect sacrifice for forgiveness of sin, for redemption, for peace with God, for everlasting fellowship with him who makes himself to be our father. That is where the believing psalmist looked. That is where we must look today. And the help for which he looked was an unceasing help as we see in verses 3 through 6 here. 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 one to whom the psalmist looked, the one to whom the godly even today look, is the Lord Jesus Christ. And this one always sets out the way for the traveler. Now we sometimes, when we're starting out on a trip, have some aids for our travel. We may have a map or a set of them in an atlas. These days we might have a GPS receiver along. Or perhaps we are going on an airplane and when we come in off the jetway and look inside off to our left before we go to our seats, We see there in the cockpit instruments all over the place. Perhaps you've flown with my son, some of you who are his friends, and you see that cockpit filled with all these instruments and you know he's been trained and he's licensed to be able to fly only using those instruments. But maps can get lost. Maps can fly out the window on a hot day when the breeze is strong and you're traveling along at 65 miles an hour. Atlases can have coffee spilled all over them. GPS's can lose the signal from the satellite or their batteries can go dead. But Jesus never fails. He is there with us. And he has already set out the way for the traveler in his life and his death and his resurrection. He went this way. He is, in fact, the way, as he says in John 14, 6. He has made the way for those who are his people to be in fellowship with God. Furthermore here he is God's king. We sing about that in Psalm 2 often enough don't we? And we sing about him who is king and priest after the order of Melchizedek in Psalm 110. We sing about him being the king in many other Psalms such as Psalm 21, Psalm 45, Psalm 72 and there are others as well. In all these he is shown to be our king and he protects his own. He protects those over whom He has responsibility. He protects those for whom He has an everlasting love. Sometimes there are what appear to us as we walk along the way, as we go to the heavenly Jerusalem. There are what appear to be slippery slopes and dangerous places, but even there, Prince Messiah keeps His people. For after all, He made the way. After all, He appointed it for the use of travelers. After all, He keeps them from all harm in it. We've been going in our early services for quite some time now in an exposition of Isaiah. Let's look at a couple of passages there from Isaiah 30, verse 21. Your ears shall hear a word behind you saying, This is the way This is the way. Walk in it whenever you turn to the right hand or whenever you turn to the left. Let's go forward a few chapters to chapter 35. I'm going to read a fair chunk here from verse 1 on down through verse 10. The wilderness and the wasteland should be glad for them, and the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose. It shall blossom abundantly and rejoice even with joy and singing. The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it, the excellence of Carmel and Sharon. They shall see the glory of the Lord, the excellency of our God. Strengthen the weak hands and make firm the feeble knees. Say to those who are fearful-hearted, Be strong, do not fear. Behold, your God will come with vengeance. For the recompense of God, He will come and save you. And the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf will be unstopped. Then the lame shall leap like a deer, and the tongue of the dumb sing. For water shall burst forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert. The parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water. And the inhabitant of jackals, where each lay, there shall be grass with reeds and rushes. And let's listen to these last few words. A highway shall be there, and a road, and it shall be called the highway of holiness. The unclean shall not pass over it, but it shall be for others, whoever walks the road, although a fool shall not go astray. No lion shall be there, nor shall any ravenous beast go upon it. It shall not be found there, but the redeemed shall walk there, and the ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with singing. With everlasting joy on their heads, they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away." That is the highway that our Lord Jesus has built. That is the highway that our Lord Jesus has established by his life and his death and his resurrection. And there you, pilgrim, as you go along to the celestial city, you are safe from all harm. The care he gives is without ceasing as well. It doesn't stop. It doesn't get suspended. There's no pause button for it. Children, Of course, your parents care for you, don't they? For young children, it's often scary to be apart from their parents. They're scared when their parents are away. But there are some times when your parents can't look after you. Don't they have to sleep sometimes? Sure they do. Don't they have other things they have to do for a time? They can't be there to be taking care of you? Of course. And sadly, bad things occasionally happen to children who do foolish things when their parents are asleep. But that never happens with Jesus. No children. It says here that he who keeps Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. You children know what it means to slumber, don't you? It's just another word for sleeping. It's kind of a very deep sleep. where they're really conked out. Have your parents ever been that way? Probably so. Have you ever been that way? Probably so. Jesus doesn't do that. He is always awake. He is always watching. He is always paying attention. And He is always, if you're in Jesus, children, keeping you and everyone you know of that is in Jesus, keeping them safe. whether it be night or day. Whether the sun might be bearing down or the moon might be balefully beaming, in every time, in every place, in every circumstance, Jesus cares for and protects His own. We'll be singing from Psalm 23 soon. We'll be singing about the fact that he, the good shepherd, leads his sheep in right ways. We saw that also when we were going through John's Gospel. In John chapter 10, verses 1 through 5, and in verse 11, that Jesus, the good shepherd, takes care of his own. Lastly, I'd like us to see that this is an unceasing help. An everlasting help. Children, someday, and I don't want to make you sad, but someday a sad thing's going to happen. It's happened to me. My dad died. And your mom will die. They take care of you now, but they'll be gone someday. In fact it may happen as happened with my dad children and is happening even now with my mom that because of sickness in their minds they can't take care of themselves anymore let alone take care of me or take care of you. And in fact you have to end up taking care of poor old dad of poor old mom. They just can't do it anymore. And then they're gone. And you wish they were back. But wishing doesn't bring them back. I don't know about you men who have lost your dads, but I know with me, I think sometimes I wish I could ask Dad what to do here. His help, his care for me is over. But it is never, ever, ever that way, children, with Jesus. He has died, but He is raised again. Never to die again. Now, we read here in the last couple of verses that the Lord, Jehovah, shall preserve you from all evil. He shall preserve not only your body, but your soul. The Lord shall preserve your going out and your coming in from this time forth and even beyond when dad and mom die. Even beyond when you die. It will be from this time forth and even forever more. For Jesus leads us through not only in the circumstances of this life, but as we sometimes sing from Psalm 48, yes, even on through death itself. Through death itself our constant guide is He. That's good to know. Because not only children, shall your dad and mom die someday, And you'd be looking at their casket there at the funeral and maybe crying like I did. But someday someday I hope many years from now you will get married and you will have children and you should get to be an old person too maybe. And someday there's going to be someone standing around your casket missing you. and wishing you didn't have to go. Because children, you have to die too someday. There's no getting around that. You must die. You will be dead someday. I hope it's a long time, but it will happen. In the Bible we read in Hebrews 9 verse 27, it is appointed unto men once to die and after that the judgment. You have to die unless Jesus comes back. There have only been two men allowed not to die. Enoch and Elijah. As far as we know, that's it. Even Jesus himself had to die. Not because of his sin, but because of the sin of others. So, what happens then? Well, we have the promise of protection here from all evil. Because we see also in another place in Scripture, in Romans 8 verse 28, that Jesus works all things together for good for those who know Him and who are called according to His purpose. We have right here in Psalm 121 the promise that Jehovah will protect our soul just as Jesus spoke of in John chapter 6 in verses 37 through 40 and verse 44. All that the Father gives to me shall come to me. And whoever comes to me, I will never cast out." And he went on to say, that I shall raise them up at the last day. Jesus protects your soul. Yes, even on through death itself. So we have here in Psalm 121 some wonderful words written long ago by someone thinking about leaving his home, going up to Jerusalem. But it had a lot of relevance to saints in times to follow, and sure it has a lot of relevance to us today. Here, believer, you have the assurance that in going out from where you have been, Going out from your past life of futility, your past life of frolic, your past life of sin, your past life of pollution. Going out from there, what Bunyan called in the Pilgrim's Progress, the city of destruction. You've been blessed to be put on the road to the celestial city. you have the assurance that by God's grace you shall get there. Whatever be in the way, Christ will lead you through. And by the way, once again, I'm going to say if you haven't read Pilgrim's Progress or you haven't read it in a long time, take it on. Take it on. You shall make it safely into the celestial city. There you shall hear joyous shouts of saints and angels. You'll have the smiling welcome of the Savior who loves you beyond what you can imagine. And all along the way, you shall be preserved, protected, and there you shall be precious Precious to Him forever and ever and evermore. So, let us make sure that we are looking to Jesus. And then, let us proceed onward with complete confidence. From Him comes our help. From Him comes our safety. From Him comes our assurance. And to Him goes all glory. Amen.