I don't want to say that we did typecasting here, but I gave the part of Christian to Christian. And because Phoebe has a higher voice, I gave her the part of pliable. And he said, naturally. No, he was very pliable and willing to take the part. So we're going to read to you, picking up with where we left off last week with Pilgrim starting out his journey. And I'm going to do the part of the narrator. It starts here. And I actually, I actually, I just gave it some before. I actually have a couple of dialogue lines that I'll do. So I saw in my dream that the man began to run. Now he had not run far from his own door when his wife and children saw him and began to cry for him to return. But the man put his fingers in his ears and ran on crying, Life! Life! Eternal Life! So he did not look behind him, but fled toward the middle of the plain. The neighbors also came out to watch him run. Some mocked him, others threatened, and some called for him to return. Among those who called to him were two men who resolved to fetch him back by force. The name of the one was Obstinate, and the name of the other was Flyable. They were resolved to pursue him, which they did. And in a little while, they overtook him. And then they said to the man, neighbors, excuse me, then said the man, neighbors, why have you come? They said to persuade you to go back with us. But he said, You will die there sooner or later. You will sink lower than the grave until that place burns with fire. Be content and go along with me. What? And leave our present comforts behind us? Yes, said Christian. For that was His name. Because all that you shall receive is not worthy to compare to little of that which I am seeking. If you go with Me, you shall despair as I do. For I know where there is enough and more to spare. Come with Me. And see that I speak the truth. Fate is kept in heaven to be bestowed at the time appointed by those who diligently seek it. Read about it in my book. Nonsense! I don't care about your book. Will you go back with us or not? No, I will not, because I have put my hand to the plot. Come then, irreliable man. Let us turn back and go home without you. Crazy fools like this are so conceited that they think they are wiser than seven men who can give good reasons why they are wrong. Don't be unkind. If what the good Christian says about the things he seeks is true, I'm inclined to go with him. What? Another fool? Take my advice and go back. Who knows where such a bad fool will lead you? Be wise and go back. No! Come with me, Pliable. The things I have told you about are waiting, as well as many more wonderful things. If you don't believe me, rehear in the Well, neighbor, obviously, I believe I will go along with this good man and cast in my lot with him. But, my good companion, do you know the way to this desired place? I've been told by a man whose name is Evangelist to go to a little neighborhood in the forest and show us some instructions about where to go. Come then, good neighbor, let us be going. And I will go back home, but will not be a companion of such a miserable man. I saw in my dream that when the obstinate had left, Christian and Pliable went across the plain talking together. Since you want to know, I will read to you from my book. And do you think that the words in your book are really true? Yes, certainly, for it was written by him who cannot lie. Well said. So tell me more about this book. There is an endless kingdom to be inhabited, and we will be given everlasting lives, though we may inhabit that kingdom forever. Well said. And what else? We will be given grounds for glory, and God and glory must shine like the sun. Sounds daring. And what else? There should be no more crying, no sorrow in that place where we are. For he who is owner of the place will wipe all tears from our eyes. And who else should be there? There should be the seraphim, the cherub, creatures that will dazzle your eyes. There also should be the thousands and ten thousands who come before us to that place. None of them are unkind, but are loving and full. Everyone walks in the same way. Because of the love that they have for the Lord of that place, all of them will be well, clear, and happy. Just hearing about this is enough to fill my heart. But how shall we get to share in these things and enjoy them? The Lord, the governor of the country, will determine what is worth that and its worth. The substance of it, and if we are truly willing to have all this, he will bestow it upon us willingly. I am glad to hear it. I saw in my dream that just as they had finished this conversation, they came to a very miry swamp that was in the middle of the plain. And because they were not paying attention to where they were walking, they both fell into a bog called the Swamp of Despond. Here, they floundered for a time covered with mud. And Christian, because of the burden on his back, began to sink in the mire. Oh, neighbor Christian, where are you now? Truly, I don't know. At that, Pliable began to be displeased and angrily said to Christian, Is this the happiness you've been telling me about? If we are having this much trouble at the start, what can we expect between here and our journey then? If I can get out of this place alive, you can go on without me. And with that, Pliable gave a desperate struggle or two and got himself out of the mire on the side of the swamp that was nearest to his own house. Sir, I was told to go this way by a man called Evangelist. who directed me also to younger gate that I might escape the wrath to come. And as I was going toward it, I fell in here. But why did you not look for the steps? I was so afraid that I wasn't paying attention, and I fell in. Give me your hand. So Christian gave him his hand and helped drew him out and set him upon firm ground and told him to go on his way. Thank you, guys. I wanted to read this portion because it had the character help in it, who was the servant of the Lord, who gave help to pilgrims. And tonight we'll see that that is a key word. In fact, it's the word that I have written over this psalm, help. Well, where do you look for help? When things go wrong, when you're in need, when you're in distress, where do you look for help? Many times, the world, the flesh, and the devil offer us alternatives to problems that that if we take them, they only lead to greater difficulties. So there are a lot of false sources of help. In fact, I was thinking about Isaiah chapter 30 and the first few verses. Let me read them to you because here the Lord speaks about His children who show their rebellion by seeking help apart from Him. And he says, woe to the rebellious children, says the Lord, who take counsel, but not of me. So they needed counsel, but they didn't go to the Lord. They devised plans, but not of my spirit, that they may add sin to sin, who walk to go down to Egypt and have not asked my advice, to strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh, and to trust in the shadow of Egypt. Therefore, the strength of Pharaoh shall be your shame, and trust in the shadow of Egypt shall be your humiliation." And so, sometimes the world will offer us a way out or a seeming solution to our problems, but it is not a solution at all. Now, the psalmist The pilgrim, as he is traveling, is pondering this matter of where does he receive help. And as he does, he is looking up and examining the natural boundaries around him, and he's looking at the mountains, the hills. And of course, in looking at nature, Romans 1.20 tells us that we are reminded immediately of God, that there is a book of creation, that can be read, not like the book of Scripture, not comparable to it, but a book of creation in which His eternal power and Godhead is seen. And as He lifts His eyes up to the hills, His mind lays hold of the truth that God is His help. And so He says, where does My help come from? My help comes from the Lord. Now that certainly is a strong theme. Psalm 124 and verse 8 says, Our help is in the name of the Lord who made heaven and earth. These first two Psalms, I have thought of them as the sons of Moses. You know, Moses' first son was Gershom. and it means a stranger in the land. And the first psalm had a lot to do with feeling alone and feeling the hostility of the community in which he was living, of individuals who were turning against him, and that's certainly the life of a stranger. But his second son was Eleazar, and his name means God is my help. God is my help. And so this psalm brings us to that article of faith that we can trust in the Lord. And he says, my help comes from the Lord. And we could ask this question at this point, can God help me? Can God help me? And he gives us the answer when he tells us this about God, who made heaven and earth. Although the word sovereign does not appear in this psalm, nevertheless the truth of God's sovereignty is here. And when He says that He is the Maker of heaven and earth, He is ascribing to Him the role of Creator, and consequently He is ascribing to Him the role of Omnipotence, Maker of heaven and earth. Well, that's everything, isn't it? The Hebrews didn't have a word for universe, and so they covered everything by simply saying heaven and earth. And so whether it was space or whether it was mass, it included all things created. And here is the Maker of them all, and He is the One who is your Helper. Now you think about that for just a moment. It deserves some reflection, doesn't it? that the One who is our help, the One we call upon, the One who can help us, is the One who made us, and who made everyone else, and who made all things, heaven and earth. And that's a declaration of omnipotence. And omnipotence leads us to the thought of sovereignty. he says, Behold, he who keeps Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. Well, if he doesn't slumber or sleep, I take that as an indication of his omniscience, that he knows all things. The idea that God doesn't slumber or sleep means that he is always awake and alert to all things. So not only omnipotent, but he is omniscient. And then later he says in verse 8, The Lord shall preserve your going out and your coming in. So, you're going out and you're coming in. I take this to be an implication of His omnipresence that God is everywhere. So God is all-powerful, omnipotent. He knows all things. He's always aware of all details. He's omniscient. There's not a detail that has slipped His mind or that has been overlooked or that He's just never aware of all things at all times in His omniscience. And there's no place where you're going or where you're coming from, you're coming and you're going, there's no place where He is not already there and looking over and watching over And of course, all those things, those omnis, they underscore the truth of God's sovereignty, that He is ruling over all things. We sang about that tonight. I don't know what the history of that song is, but it is a powerful song, isn't it? Whatever my God ordains is right. Well, let's think about our sovereign God here. He says, my help comes from the Lord. He has in mind the providence of God. Now, by providence, we mean God's involvement in overseeing our lives, overseeing the details and the progress of all things that happen in the created universe, that God not only made it all, He sustains it all, He oversees it all, and it's God That fact, the fact of His providence should be of great comfort to us that nothing that is coming into our lives has taken God by surprise. But that in His providence, indeed in His love, that nothing has come into your life except what has come through a Father's love. And knowing that this loving, provident Creator who is your help and Savior, knowing that He is the One who is directing all things, gives us comfort in the midst of our difficulties. Because we need help a lot. You know, most of my cries for help You know, it's like a guy who's drowning. You know, usually you don't see a guy who's drowning. Advice! Advice! You know, it's, Help! I need somebody fast. And that's usually the way we cry to the Lord, isn't it? Because we really need His help. Either by our own foolishness or by the sin of others, we experience great pain and difficulty in this life. This psalm does not promise that He will shield us into a cushy life. We'll see that. But it does promise that He is sovereign over those things, and that His providence guides them, and that He will be our help in them. And so, let's just think about a few of the things that He says here that we can take encouragement from. Let's look at verse 3. He will not allow your foot to be moved. And the first thing I would tell you is that God will keep you from wiping out. I think all of us love watching races, but occasionally you see a guy go around the corner, another car hits him, and he goes out, and it's bad. The race is over for him. Well, the fact is that in all the things that may happen to us, there is nothing that will wipe you out as a Christian. There is nothing that will do you in. There is nothing that can happen to you from which you cannot recover and in which you cannot be victorious. And that's what he means here. The Lord protects us from those disasters that no matter how bad things may happen, He always provides the means and way of recovery. He keeps us from wiping out. He will not suffer. He will not allow your foot to be moved. He who keeps you will not slumber. I didn't say anything about the word keep. But the word keep or preserve in my English version, these are the same Hebrew word, and they speak of God's protection. That's the very idea, is the protection of God, of the providence of God. And we have it over and over again. Here in verse 3 is the first occurrence. He will not allow your foot to be moved. who protects you will not slumber. Behold, he who keeps Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep." So, you know, we cannot accuse God of going to sleep or of allowing things to happen that He wasn't alert to or somehow disaster got by Him. We cannot accuse God of that because He does not slumber or sleep. Verse 5, 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. And here, I want to say that the Lord keeps you from burning out, keeps you from burning out. He is your shade. And so here is sometimes the heat of the sun can be overwhelming, and so He is your shade who refreshes you. And He says, the sun shall not strike you by day nor the moon by night. Now sunstroke, we are familiar with this, sunstroke or heatstroke can be a terrible thing to happen to a person physically. And then moonstruck, you know, we talk about people being moonstruck as well. And I take it to mean that the Lord's protection over us extends to all areas of our life. And whether it is our emotions, our mind, our body, that the Lord is yet over and in charge and protecting and guiding and directing. And this was true even with our Lord. You remember, the things that He suffered. And you say, I thought you said that He protects us, and look at what happened to His Son. They beat Him so badly. But, although God delivered His Son up, He ordained and delivered Him up to wicked men who did those things to Him, He's the one who set the limits because in Psalm 34 he said, not a bone of him shall be broken. And so they beat him and beat him and beat him. They drove nails into his body and they pierced him with a sword and all of that you would think would be multiple fractures. But no, God says you can go this far And no further, you can do these things to my son, but you'll not break a single bone." And so whatever comes into our lives physically, emotionally, that may wound us and may affect us and be tough upon us, nevertheless, God has set the limits of your suffering. He has set the limits. He says, this far and no further. And if you say, well, this seems like too far to me. Well, it is because God is wiser than we are. And He knows what is necessary to purify us, to draw us to Himself and to accomplish His purposes in ways that are unseen to us. And so he keeps us from burning out. So he keeps us from wiping out. He keeps us from burning out. And you know, preachers, we try to put these things together in ways that are memorable, but it doesn't always capture exactly. So I have to explain what I mean. The next one. He protects you from evil. He protects you from evil. Here I say all kinds. Verse 7, the Lord shall preserve you, or protect you, or keep you from all evil. Well now, there are a lot of different kinds of evil out there. There is the evil of men, and men are very evil. They do many wicked things. And then there is the evil one himself, Satan, who is your enemy, who manipulates the lost world to do his bidding, and is very much wanting to attack and destroy your faith. And so you have a mighty being out there who is seeking to demise, seeking your demise, your spiritual ruin. He wants to solicit you into evil. He wants to pound you into discouragement. And there are many evil people who do His bidding. But here is the world of evil people. Here is the evil one, Satan himself. And here is my sovereign God. The Lord shall preserve you from all evil. How many times have we heard the testimonies of those who have suffered? How, despite the wickedness of evil men, you think of Corrie ten Boom, and of many others, who suffered for their faith, and suffered under the hand of much evil, who God preserved, protected, encouraged, used, strengthened, who in their weakness showed Himself strong." So He protects us from evil. And then He protects your very life. He says, He shall preserve your soul. Now when I think of the soul, I not only think about the animation of life that we have, but I also think about my inner man. And a lot of times my inner man becomes very weak. You remember how weak Peter's inner man became during the crucifixion, during the suffering of our Lord? The Lord Jesus told him, He says, Satan has desired to have you that he might sift you as wheat. And Peter's faith was so small that he denied the Lord three times. I mean, that's failure. And many times we fail. Our inner man, we feel so totally defeated, so totally ruined. But, listen, here is the grace of God. He protects our very life. Although Peter's faith appeared as though it was down to nothing, the Lord strengthened him, renewed him in repentance, and then used him greatly through his weakness. It was his weakness that became his strength. By humbling him, He enabled him to minister powerfully. He used him greatly. And so, the Lord preserves us from all evil. He preserves your very soul. And finally, two more, He protects us in all circumstances. The Lord shall preserve your going out and your coming in. These are words that just speak of our going and coming. We're busy. You look over the city, And you know there are people, everyone on their own mission, thinking about what they have to do. Each one with their list or their intended goals, and they're going, they're moving along. Everyone moving in and out of one another's lives. And here are all these people so busy, but the Lord is present in all of our goings and comings. And so as we as believers, I think about Brother Shannon there. We prayed for you when you were going to Georgia the other night and the meeting you were going to have. And we prayed. How can we pray that way? Because we know that God has promised to watch over our going and our coming and to take care of us. And many of you, when you get ready to take a trip, you bow your head and you pray for the Lord's protecting and for His watch care over you. And when you know that your children are going to be going here or there, or when there's going to be this particular circumstance, wherever they may be, you call on God to help. Why? Because He is able to help, since He is present everywhere. And so He watches over our going and our coming, all circumstances. He protects us in all circumstances. And then finally, He protects us for all eternity, from this time forth and even forever. more. He protects us for all eternity. The Lord is preparing us for eternity and we will be His for all eternity. He has promised to care for us all the way to the end. He will guide us with His counsel and afterward receive us into glory, Psalm 73 says. He will guide me with His counsel and afterward receive me into glory. And so the Lord's protection, His providence, is not limited to a certain time. Well now, sorry, you're outside my providence. That could never happen. You are always under the providence of God. No matter how difficult, discouraged, how troubled, how hard or lonely you may feel, you have a God who is always up with what's happening. He said, I can't believe you made that decision. Well, wait a minute, I didn't get my, you know, we want to give our say. But in life, we are always like people coming in late to a meeting because God's already there. Every day you get up and you enter your day, you're like a person coming in late to the meeting because God is previous to all things. He's already there. And when you enter into whatever circumstances you find yourself, God's already involved. The thing that we need to do is to listen and find out what God is doing, and then make ourselves a part of it and cooperate with what God is doing, as opposed to believing that things don't happen until I get here. You know? God is always at work. He's at work in other people's lives, and He's at work in yours. What should I do? What should I do? Rest in the work of God. God's working. God's working. How can I get out? What can be done? You can do humanly. And what should we do in those times? Rest in the God who is at work in all things. Rest in Him. It's the rest of faith. And so Psalm 121 teaches us to trust in the Lord with all our heart, to lean on our own understanding and all our ways to acknowledge Him. And He will direct our paths. Let me close by reading now I think I have it here. Isaac Watts rewrote nearly all the Psalms to lift up their message. Let me just read a little of one of his poetic depictions of Psalm 121. To heaven I lift my waiting eyes. There all my hopes are laid. The Lord that built the earth and skies is my perpetual aid. Their feet shall never slide to fall whom he designs to keep. His ear attends the softest call. His eyes can never sleep. He will sustain our weakest powers with His almighty arm and watch our most unguarded hours against surprising harm. Israel, rejoice and rest secure. Thy keeper is the Lord. His wakeful eyes employ His power for thine eternal guard. Nor scorching sun nor sickly moon shall have His leave to smite. He shields thy head from burning noon, from blasting damps at night. He guards thy soul. He keeps thy breath. Where thickest dangers come, go and return, secure from death, till God commands thee whole." Isn't that great? Let's have a word of prayer and then Seth will come and take prayer request. Father, we want to ask now that you would enable us to apply this psalm to our lives. Each of us, Lord, have different circumstances, but all of us are in need of recognizing your hand and your providence over all things. I ask, Lord, especially for that one who feels so weak or feels so dumbfounded to be able to understand their circumstances. And I ask for that one who is very discouraged, that through the truth of your sustaining grace, your providential sovereignty, that you would encourage them and that their hope would be in you. Lord, help us to see our work as rest and to enter into the blessing of trusting in the one who is at work in all things. Thank you so much for being our God, maker of heaven and earth, the one who does not slumber, the one who watches over our going in and our coming out from this time and forevermore. In the name of your Son, we praise you. Amen.