WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.799 Well, good morning, y 'all. Bring you greetings 00:00:04.799 --> 00:00:08.099 from Downtown Presbyterian Church in downtown 00:00:08.099 --> 00:00:10.400 Greenville. Really thankful to be here with y 00:00:10.400 --> 00:00:13.419 'all and very honored to be here with y 'all. 00:00:14.400 --> 00:00:17.059 Thank you for leading and just I love having 00:00:17.059 --> 00:00:19.559 the choir. I feel like the songs y 'all selected 00:00:19.559 --> 00:00:22.780 just align perfectly with the sermon. So very 00:00:22.780 --> 00:00:26.019 grateful for that as well. So again, Scott Holtz 00:00:26.019 --> 00:00:28.250 strand. I've been married to my wife Marybeth 00:00:28.250 --> 00:00:32.130 for 26 years and some change. We have three grown 00:00:32.130 --> 00:00:34.869 children. One's in the workforce and two are 00:00:34.869 --> 00:00:37.729 at Clemson. And this was our first year last 00:00:37.729 --> 00:00:40.049 year of being empty nest. And I don't know why 00:00:40.049 --> 00:00:43.530 I smile so widely whenever I say that we're empty 00:00:43.530 --> 00:00:47.250 nest, but it's been a great year together. But 00:00:47.250 --> 00:00:52.929 we miss our kids. Well, we are in Psalm 121 this 00:00:52.929 --> 00:00:56.409 morning. And I invite you to turn in your Bibles, 00:00:56.590 --> 00:00:59.090 if you have one, to Psalm 121, because I'll be 00:00:59.090 --> 00:01:01.850 referring a good bit to this Psalm. But before 00:01:01.850 --> 00:01:04.829 we dive into the Psalm, I want to just do a little 00:01:04.829 --> 00:01:07.750 bit of an introduction to it. This is what is 00:01:07.750 --> 00:01:12.629 known as a Psalm of Ascent. Many believe that 00:01:12.629 --> 00:01:16.250 these were Psalms that the Israelite people would 00:01:16.250 --> 00:01:19.469 sing on their journeys to Jerusalem. There were 00:01:19.469 --> 00:01:21.189 three journeys that they were required to take 00:01:21.189 --> 00:01:23.469 under the Old Testament for three festivals during 00:01:23.469 --> 00:01:26.329 the course of the year. And on the way to Jerusalem, 00:01:26.469 --> 00:01:29.349 they would sing these Psalms at Psalm 120 through 00:01:29.349 --> 00:01:32.590 Psalm 134. And Psalm 121 would have been one 00:01:32.590 --> 00:01:35.010 of them that they would have sung over and over 00:01:35.010 --> 00:01:39.030 again as they moved towards Jerusalem. And this 00:01:39.030 --> 00:01:42.189 Psalm in particular is what's called a Psalm 00:01:42.189 --> 00:01:46.450 of Confidence. You've probably heard Psalms. 00:01:46.760 --> 00:01:51.280 of lament or psalms of joy or psalms of praise. 00:01:51.760 --> 00:01:55.640 This psalm we have this morning is a psalm of 00:01:55.640 --> 00:01:59.739 confidence. And what that means is, is the psalmist 00:01:59.739 --> 00:02:05.000 is facing an uncertain future, but even though 00:02:05.000 --> 00:02:09.500 that future is uncertain and even possibly treacherous, 00:02:09.800 --> 00:02:13.280 the psalmist is entirely confident in the God 00:02:13.280 --> 00:02:17.110 who he's singing to. And so, if you're like me, 00:02:17.150 --> 00:02:19.689 we probably all have lots of things ahead of 00:02:19.689 --> 00:02:22.150 us that we're uncertain about, unsure about, 00:02:22.250 --> 00:02:25.629 maybe even scared by. My hope and prayer is that 00:02:25.629 --> 00:02:28.770 this psalm of confidence will give us confidence 00:02:28.770 --> 00:02:32.729 in the God who walks with us every step of the 00:02:32.729 --> 00:02:36.050 way. So I'm gonna read the psalm and then we'll 00:02:36.050 --> 00:02:39.150 pray and then we'll dive into this passage together. 00:02:39.430 --> 00:02:41.789 So let me read the psalm. Hear now the word of 00:02:41.789 --> 00:02:47.530 God. from Psalm 121. I lift up my eyes to the 00:02:47.530 --> 00:02:53.090 hills. From where does my help come? My help 00:02:53.090 --> 00:02:56.810 comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth. 00:02:57.770 --> 00:03:00.909 He will not let your foot be moved. He who keeps 00:03:00.909 --> 00:03:04.550 you will not slumber. Behold, he who keeps Israel 00:03:04.550 --> 00:03:08.909 will neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord is your 00:03:08.909 --> 00:03:12.009 keeper. The Lord is your shade on your right 00:03:12.009 --> 00:03:15.169 hand. The sun shall not strike you by day, nor 00:03:15.169 --> 00:03:18.169 the moon by night. The Lord will keep you from 00:03:18.169 --> 00:03:22.250 all evil. He will keep your life. The Lord will 00:03:22.250 --> 00:03:25.129 keep your going out and your coming in from this 00:03:25.129 --> 00:03:29.629 time forth and forevermore. This is the word 00:03:29.629 --> 00:03:34.330 of the Lord. Let me pray. We do thank you Father 00:03:34.330 --> 00:03:37.110 for this word, and I pray that this morning that 00:03:37.110 --> 00:03:41.189 this word would become more true, more nourishing, 00:03:41.889 --> 00:03:44.650 more encouraging to us. Would it give us confidence 00:03:44.650 --> 00:03:47.750 in you? Would it remove any confidence we have 00:03:47.750 --> 00:03:50.789 in our own selves or anything else in this world? 00:03:50.889 --> 00:03:53.810 And would we, because of this song this morning, 00:03:54.090 --> 00:03:58.330 turn confidently to you when we need help? And 00:03:58.330 --> 00:04:03.919 I pray this in Jesus' name, amen. Well, as I 00:04:03.919 --> 00:04:07.400 said, this is a song about a journey and about 00:04:07.400 --> 00:04:10.979 an uncertain journey. And this week, my wife 00:04:10.979 --> 00:04:13.360 and I took another step towards one of our own 00:04:13.360 --> 00:04:16.199 uncertain journeys together. She was diagnosed 00:04:16.199 --> 00:04:20.220 a few months ago with a very rare condition where 00:04:20.220 --> 00:04:23.839 her trachea or windpipe develops scar tissue 00:04:23.839 --> 00:04:26.680 inside of it and starts closing up her windpipe. 00:04:27.759 --> 00:04:30.439 And a couple months ago, when we did some testing, 00:04:30.579 --> 00:04:34.040 we realized that she was breathing out of her 00:04:34.040 --> 00:04:36.800 windpipe, out of a tiny little hole, kind of 00:04:36.800 --> 00:04:39.879 the size of a McDonald's straw, because everything 00:04:39.879 --> 00:04:42.259 else had kind of closed up, so that she was really 00:04:42.259 --> 00:04:44.779 having a hard time breathing. Well, this Monday, 00:04:44.879 --> 00:04:47.620 just this week, she had her second surgery in 00:04:47.620 --> 00:04:50.439 about four weeks to remove that scar tissue. 00:04:50.800 --> 00:04:53.759 And now she is breathing great. We are very thankful 00:04:53.759 --> 00:04:57.300 for how well she can breathe. But in terms of 00:04:57.300 --> 00:04:59.439 the journey we have ahead of us, the doctor has 00:04:59.439 --> 00:05:02.019 told us he's treated a number of other people 00:05:02.019 --> 00:05:05.100 that have this condition. And unfortunately, 00:05:05.759 --> 00:05:09.279 it continues to grow back again and again until 00:05:09.279 --> 00:05:13.480 he thinks she reaches the age of 75 or 80. And 00:05:13.480 --> 00:05:16.579 we're both turning 50 this year. And so we've 00:05:16.579 --> 00:05:20.540 got about 25 or 30 years more of surgery after 00:05:20.540 --> 00:05:25.370 surgery after surgery. As you can imagine, that's 00:05:25.370 --> 00:05:27.870 a daunting thing to have to think about ahead 00:05:27.870 --> 00:05:32.370 of us. My guess is, is that each of you, if you're 00:05:32.370 --> 00:05:35.670 like me, have a number of daunting things ahead 00:05:35.670 --> 00:05:39.730 of us. When we think about what lies ahead, it 00:05:39.730 --> 00:05:42.970 can be really scary, it can make us feel very 00:05:42.970 --> 00:05:47.370 uncertain, it can make us lack confidence. All 00:05:47.370 --> 00:05:51.269 of us have these things. And what this song does 00:05:51.269 --> 00:05:55.379 is it asks the question, What kind of help do 00:05:55.379 --> 00:05:59.139 we need and who can give us the help that we 00:05:59.139 --> 00:06:01.480 need? And so those are the two points we're gonna 00:06:01.480 --> 00:06:04.040 look at this morning is what kind of help do 00:06:04.040 --> 00:06:06.519 we need as we're walking through life's journey? 00:06:07.060 --> 00:06:10.480 What help do we need and who gives us the help 00:06:10.480 --> 00:06:13.339 that we need? So first off let's think about 00:06:13.339 --> 00:06:19.100 what kind of help we need as Dalton said I work 00:06:19.100 --> 00:06:21.199 at downtown Presbyterian Church as our executive 00:06:21.199 --> 00:06:24.060 and as part of my duties there It's kind of like 00:06:24.060 --> 00:06:27.420 everything from A to Z. And so one of them is 00:06:27.420 --> 00:06:29.639 we're looking into purchasing a new security 00:06:29.639 --> 00:06:32.680 system for our church building. And as you can 00:06:32.680 --> 00:06:34.819 imagine, when we started looking at new security 00:06:34.819 --> 00:06:36.639 systems, we had a number of vendors that would 00:06:36.639 --> 00:06:39.300 come and say, well, what kind of security do 00:06:39.300 --> 00:06:41.339 you need? What kind of help do you need? How 00:06:41.339 --> 00:06:43.540 much help do you need? When do you need it? What 00:06:43.540 --> 00:06:45.680 kind of cameras do you need? What kind of video 00:06:45.680 --> 00:06:47.560 do you need? All this kind of stuff. Because 00:06:47.560 --> 00:06:49.879 they're asking questions to try to determine 00:06:50.269 --> 00:06:52.870 What kind of product do they need to try to sell 00:06:52.870 --> 00:06:56.250 us? And as you can imagine, when they came up 00:06:56.250 --> 00:06:59.490 with their product offering, there was a standard 00:06:59.490 --> 00:07:05.990 plan, a deluxe plan, and a premium plan. And 00:07:05.990 --> 00:07:08.490 we're working on what we're gonna go with, but 00:07:08.490 --> 00:07:11.069 in this passage that we have this morning, it 00:07:11.069 --> 00:07:14.209 actually talks about what I would call a standard 00:07:14.209 --> 00:07:17.910 needs. what I'll say, deluxe needs and then premium 00:07:17.910 --> 00:07:20.290 needs. So what kind of needs do we have in this 00:07:20.290 --> 00:07:22.930 passage? Let's talk about the standard needs 00:07:22.930 --> 00:07:25.689 first. Here's the standard needs. Here it is. 00:07:26.089 --> 00:07:31.750 We need protection from both real and imaginary 00:07:31.750 --> 00:07:35.350 threats. So protection from real and imaginary 00:07:35.350 --> 00:07:38.370 threats. First of all, real threats. Look at 00:07:38.370 --> 00:07:41.730 verse six. It says, the sun shall not strike 00:07:41.730 --> 00:07:46.100 you by day. nor the moon by night. And if you 00:07:46.100 --> 00:07:49.060 can think about someone traveling towards Jerusalem 00:07:49.060 --> 00:07:52.259 and Israel, the sun, and if you're actually traveling 00:07:52.259 --> 00:07:54.439 from your car to this building this morning, 00:07:54.839 --> 00:07:58.699 the sun is a real threat. It is hot on the journeys, 00:07:58.839 --> 00:08:01.339 especially back in the times of Israel, going 00:08:01.339 --> 00:08:04.680 to Jerusalem from a long way away, that sun is 00:08:04.680 --> 00:08:08.839 a legitimate threat. Heat stroke, all kinds of 00:08:08.839 --> 00:08:11.240 dehydration, other problems that the sun could 00:08:11.240 --> 00:08:14.519 cause. Well, the psalmist needed protection from 00:08:14.519 --> 00:08:17.939 the sun. That's a real threat. And we have all 00:08:17.939 --> 00:08:20.720 kinds of real threats in our life. It certainly 00:08:20.720 --> 00:08:23.699 is the sun during this July, but there's other 00:08:23.699 --> 00:08:27.199 things that threaten us on our journey. Our health. 00:08:27.750 --> 00:08:30.769 What might happen with our jobs? Maybe general 00:08:30.769 --> 00:08:33.049 threats like what's gonna happen with our country 00:08:33.049 --> 00:08:34.669 or what might happen with China or what might 00:08:34.669 --> 00:08:37.529 happen with AI? And certainly more personal things 00:08:37.529 --> 00:08:39.690 like I've already said our health our jobs our 00:08:39.690 --> 00:08:41.990 family What's gonna happen with our grandchildren 00:08:41.990 --> 00:08:45.090 my own children my own self all kinds of things 00:08:45.090 --> 00:08:49.250 are in the way of our journey ahead But not just 00:08:49.250 --> 00:08:51.570 threats that are real even imaginary threats 00:08:51.570 --> 00:08:54.149 things that will actually never happen, but might 00:08:54.149 --> 00:08:57.370 happen can cause problems. And that's the moon 00:08:57.370 --> 00:09:00.210 by night. You notice in verse six that he needs 00:09:00.210 --> 00:09:03.570 protection from the moon. Well, who needs protection 00:09:03.570 --> 00:09:06.190 from the moon? The moon's rays are not going 00:09:06.190 --> 00:09:09.509 to hurt anybody. But back in that day, and even 00:09:09.509 --> 00:09:12.690 in this day, there's a concept called being moon 00:09:12.690 --> 00:09:14.690 struck. Have you ever heard of that concept? 00:09:15.610 --> 00:09:18.210 There were beliefs that the moon could kind of 00:09:18.210 --> 00:09:20.809 create imaginary threats that really couldn't 00:09:20.809 --> 00:09:23.509 hurt you, but you think can hurt you. And if 00:09:23.509 --> 00:09:26.330 anybody's been ever in this room, if like me, 00:09:26.929 --> 00:09:29.710 anxious or worried and thinking about what might 00:09:29.710 --> 00:09:35.529 happen, that's a threat alone. And in fact, John 00:09:35.529 --> 00:09:39.389 Cox, who's in our denomination, the PCA, he's 00:09:39.389 --> 00:09:42.710 a counselor and a psychologist, says that over 00:09:42.710 --> 00:09:45.029 the course of his counseling career, which has 00:09:45.029 --> 00:09:49.820 been 30 years, He said that 98 % of the threats 00:09:49.820 --> 00:09:51.740 of people that have come into him, that they 00:09:51.740 --> 00:09:53.759 think they're gonna have these things happen 00:09:53.759 --> 00:09:56.000 to him, he says 98 % of those things have never 00:09:56.000 --> 00:09:59.580 happened. But those things cause anxiety and 00:09:59.580 --> 00:10:03.940 worry and concern. And we need protection from 00:10:03.940 --> 00:10:07.779 that. And we also saw in that first verse, or 00:10:07.779 --> 00:10:09.679 that third verse, about he will not let your 00:10:09.679 --> 00:10:13.039 foot be moved. And if any of you are like me, 00:10:13.259 --> 00:10:16.299 every step we take is treacherous. I don't know 00:10:16.299 --> 00:10:18.259 if y 'all keep track of how many steps you take 00:10:18.259 --> 00:10:23.080 during the day, but every step we take is a fall 00:10:23.080 --> 00:10:24.720 risk or something could happen. We don't know 00:10:24.720 --> 00:10:27.179 what's around the corner. All kinds of things 00:10:27.179 --> 00:10:29.100 out there threatening us. And so we need in the 00:10:29.100 --> 00:10:31.639 standard plan protection from real and imaginary 00:10:31.639 --> 00:10:35.440 threats. But we also need protection in a deluxe 00:10:35.440 --> 00:10:37.720 kind of way. And I want to talk about this in 00:10:37.720 --> 00:10:40.600 three different ways. We need a family plan. 00:10:40.879 --> 00:10:44.059 We need 24 hour coverage and we need a comfort 00:10:44.059 --> 00:10:46.960 plus plan. So family plan, 24 hour coverage, 00:10:47.259 --> 00:10:51.320 comfort plus. First of all, a family plan. And 00:10:51.320 --> 00:10:53.440 I don't know about y 'all, I get all kinds of 00:10:53.440 --> 00:10:56.039 emails. I have some newspapers that I belong 00:10:56.039 --> 00:10:58.460 to and some other websites and they always want 00:10:58.460 --> 00:11:01.289 to offer it to my children for free. and you 00:11:01.289 --> 00:11:02.889 know what they're doing. They want my children 00:11:02.889 --> 00:11:04.710 to get hooked on that website too eventually 00:11:04.710 --> 00:11:08.070 so they'll start paying as well. But we see here 00:11:08.070 --> 00:11:11.490 in verse four that we want protection not just 00:11:11.490 --> 00:11:14.509 for ourselves, we want protection for our loved 00:11:14.509 --> 00:11:19.490 ones too. Verse four, behold, he who keeps Israel. 00:11:20.529 --> 00:11:23.610 You see, we don't just need protection for our 00:11:23.610 --> 00:11:26.330 own lives. We want protection for much poorer 00:11:26.330 --> 00:11:28.490 than ourselves. And I know y 'all know this too. 00:11:28.769 --> 00:11:30.570 You want your family to be safe. You want your 00:11:30.570 --> 00:11:32.529 loved ones to be safe. You want your church members 00:11:32.529 --> 00:11:36.370 to be safe. And not just safe every once in a 00:11:36.370 --> 00:11:39.370 while, but we want 24 hour a day coverage. Look 00:11:39.370 --> 00:11:42.490 in verses three and four. He who keeps you will 00:11:42.490 --> 00:11:45.389 not slumber. Behold, he who keeps Israel will 00:11:45.389 --> 00:11:49.940 neither slumber nor sleep. we know we need protection 00:11:49.940 --> 00:11:52.100 more than we can give ourselves. We can't stay 00:11:52.100 --> 00:11:54.399 awake every moment of every day. And even while 00:11:54.399 --> 00:11:57.419 we're awake, we miss things. We need protection 00:11:57.419 --> 00:12:01.299 all of the time. And then this comfort plus, 00:12:01.679 --> 00:12:03.919 because along the way our journey is hard enough, 00:12:03.980 --> 00:12:06.460 can't we just get a break for a minute? Can't 00:12:06.460 --> 00:12:09.120 we just have something that provides comfort 00:12:09.120 --> 00:12:11.659 even in the hardship? And we see in verse five 00:12:11.659 --> 00:12:15.559 at the end it says this, the Lord is your shade 00:12:15.559 --> 00:12:20.309 on your right hand. You see that shade? Imagine 00:12:20.309 --> 00:12:21.970 that if you're walking along in this journey 00:12:21.970 --> 00:12:24.250 outside, imagine if you could have someone with 00:12:24.250 --> 00:12:26.830 a little shade that's just blocking the sun from 00:12:26.830 --> 00:12:29.529 you. And in fact, I was walking home last week, 00:12:29.950 --> 00:12:31.389 and there was someone across the street from 00:12:31.389 --> 00:12:34.230 me. We both had a telephone pole near us, and 00:12:34.230 --> 00:12:36.470 both of us were standing so that the telephone 00:12:36.470 --> 00:12:38.750 pole's shade was on us, because even just that 00:12:38.750 --> 00:12:42.450 little bit of shade was nice and relief from 00:12:42.450 --> 00:12:45.610 the journey. But we want to be comfortable even 00:12:45.610 --> 00:12:50.509 in the midst. of a treacherous journey. And then 00:12:50.509 --> 00:12:53.649 we've got the premium features. If you look in 00:12:53.649 --> 00:12:58.570 verse seven, the two worst enemies of them all, 00:12:59.549 --> 00:13:02.889 evil and death. We want protection from both 00:13:02.889 --> 00:13:06.070 of these, don't we? Verse seven, the Lord will 00:13:06.070 --> 00:13:09.409 keep you from all evil. He will keep your life. 00:13:10.129 --> 00:13:12.509 We see there that evil, and certainly we've already 00:13:12.509 --> 00:13:14.889 prayed this morning, Lord deliver us from evil. 00:13:15.149 --> 00:13:18.250 We know that evil is out there, but we also know 00:13:18.250 --> 00:13:21.029 that we have evil in our own hearts. If you're 00:13:21.029 --> 00:13:23.769 like me, with this confession of sin, I'm assuming 00:13:23.769 --> 00:13:26.929 you'll do a confession of sin each week. Oftentimes 00:13:26.929 --> 00:13:30.049 I'm confessing the same sin every week, and I 00:13:30.049 --> 00:13:32.710 just want to be rid of that sin. And you know 00:13:32.710 --> 00:13:34.450 what happens when you finally feel like you've 00:13:34.450 --> 00:13:37.549 broken free from that sin? It gets revealed to 00:13:37.549 --> 00:13:39.110 you. There were other sins that you weren't really 00:13:39.110 --> 00:13:40.690 paying attention to, and now I've got to deal 00:13:40.690 --> 00:13:43.529 with those too. We want to be rid of the evil 00:13:43.529 --> 00:13:46.029 in our hearts. We want to be rid of the evil 00:13:46.029 --> 00:13:49.330 that attacks us. And then most of all, death. 00:13:50.409 --> 00:13:54.110 Death is the greatest enemy. And we want to be 00:13:54.110 --> 00:13:58.850 free from that too. Well, if I were to sum it 00:13:58.850 --> 00:14:03.610 up, in terms of what do we need help from, it's 00:14:03.610 --> 00:14:06.990 a long list. We've got known and unknown threats 00:14:06.990 --> 00:14:10.879 to our lives. Every step that we take each day 00:14:10.879 --> 00:14:14.080 is unpredictable and treacherous. We want to 00:14:14.080 --> 00:14:17.159 find some type of comfort in the midst of this 00:14:17.159 --> 00:14:19.820 hard journey and some kind of rest. And we want 00:14:19.820 --> 00:14:22.779 protection not just for us. We want protection 00:14:22.779 --> 00:14:25.960 for our family, too, and our loved ones, our 00:14:25.960 --> 00:14:28.559 colleagues, our neighbors. And we also don't 00:14:28.559 --> 00:14:30.860 want just protection sometimes. We want protection 00:14:30.860 --> 00:14:34.080 all the time, all day, every day, and all night, 00:14:34.200 --> 00:14:36.960 every night. And of course, we want protection 00:14:36.960 --> 00:14:41.759 from evil and from death itself. And so the question 00:14:41.759 --> 00:14:46.940 becomes, what kind of helper do we have? We know 00:14:46.940 --> 00:14:48.919 the help that we need. We need lots and lots 00:14:48.919 --> 00:14:53.659 of help. Who is it that's gonna provide us with 00:14:53.659 --> 00:14:56.980 this help? And y 'all, the answer is kind of 00:14:56.980 --> 00:15:00.860 obvious, but it is profound. Here's the obvious 00:15:00.860 --> 00:15:05.220 answer from our passage, verse five. The Lord 00:15:05.220 --> 00:15:10.720 is your keeper. The Lord is your keeper. And 00:15:10.720 --> 00:15:12.720 what I love about, if you get into the Hebrew 00:15:12.720 --> 00:15:14.620 a little bit, and I'm not a Hebrew scholar, but 00:15:14.620 --> 00:15:16.700 when it says you're there, it's easy to think, 00:15:16.759 --> 00:15:18.919 oh, of course, God's kind of the general keeper 00:15:18.919 --> 00:15:22.539 for everybody, but the you're in verse five is 00:15:22.539 --> 00:15:27.019 a singular you. So when it says the Lord is your 00:15:27.019 --> 00:15:31.539 keeper, the psalmist is saying the Lord is individually 00:15:31.539 --> 00:15:35.669 your. kind of personal bodyguard. And so it would 00:15:35.669 --> 00:15:39.470 be fair to say the Lord is my keeper. The Lord 00:15:39.470 --> 00:15:42.610 is my personal helper. And here's why I say this 00:15:42.610 --> 00:15:46.549 is so profound. I learned this week that one 00:15:46.549 --> 00:15:49.769 out of four homes in our country has what's called 00:15:49.769 --> 00:15:52.909 a video doorbell. Do y 'all know what I'm talking 00:15:52.909 --> 00:15:55.509 about? The ring is kind of the most popular one, 00:15:55.529 --> 00:15:57.669 but one out of four homes in our country has 00:15:57.669 --> 00:16:00.370 a doorbell that's taking video and watching what's 00:16:00.370 --> 00:16:02.649 happening outside the front door. And of course 00:16:02.649 --> 00:16:06.230 the reason we get that is for security and for 00:16:06.230 --> 00:16:08.809 safety and to know what's going on in our houses. 00:16:09.509 --> 00:16:11.730 So imagine that you go home today after I've 00:16:11.730 --> 00:16:14.129 just talked about this video doorbell and you're 00:16:14.129 --> 00:16:16.149 like, I'm gonna order one myself. And so you 00:16:16.149 --> 00:16:19.789 go onto Amazon and you press the button and you 00:16:19.789 --> 00:16:23.470 buy this ring doorbell and two days later you 00:16:23.470 --> 00:16:26.080 hear a knock on the door. And you open the door, 00:16:26.360 --> 00:16:29.720 and it's three very strong -looking brawny men 00:16:29.720 --> 00:16:32.100 wearing dark suits like mine, and they've got 00:16:32.100 --> 00:16:35.279 an earpiece and sunglasses, and they say, did 00:16:35.279 --> 00:16:38.200 you order a ring doorbell? And you say, in fact, 00:16:38.200 --> 00:16:40.720 I did. And they said, well, instead of a ring 00:16:40.720 --> 00:16:44.000 doorbell, we've decided to give you a full secret 00:16:44.000 --> 00:16:46.179 service detail for the rest of your life, 24 00:16:46.179 --> 00:16:49.860 hours a day. And you would look and say, well, 00:16:49.860 --> 00:16:52.240 I don't think I need that much protection. I 00:16:52.240 --> 00:16:55.799 just wanted a doorbell. And they respond back 00:16:55.799 --> 00:16:59.220 and say, well, sorry, you've got full presidential 00:16:59.220 --> 00:17:02.120 -level Secret Service protection for the rest 00:17:02.120 --> 00:17:04.500 of your life. And you would probably be thinking, 00:17:04.680 --> 00:17:07.720 wow, I've got it made. It's going to be pretty 00:17:07.720 --> 00:17:10.460 safe from here on out. And here's why this passage 00:17:10.460 --> 00:17:13.940 is so profound. Because as we sung this morning, 00:17:14.480 --> 00:17:17.079 come thou, Almighty King, we heard from the choir, 00:17:17.740 --> 00:17:21.740 the choir sung about the ancient of days. Y 'all, 00:17:22.119 --> 00:17:27.349 the ancient of days. God Himself is your keeper, 00:17:27.369 --> 00:17:31.569 individually, for you. That's way better than 00:17:31.569 --> 00:17:35.630 the Secret Service, y 'all. God Himself is your 00:17:35.630 --> 00:17:38.730 keeper. So what do we learn about this keeper 00:17:38.730 --> 00:17:41.289 in our passage? Well, we're gonna learn three 00:17:41.289 --> 00:17:44.089 things about our keeper. What is he like? What 00:17:44.089 --> 00:17:48.470 is our helper like? We learn, first of all, that 00:17:48.470 --> 00:17:52.980 our keeper is the creator of the universe. So 00:17:52.980 --> 00:17:54.480 imagine, you know, we've already talked about 00:17:54.480 --> 00:17:57.980 the sun striking you by day, or the moon by night. 00:17:58.500 --> 00:18:01.099 And so you imagine, and you say, I need help, 00:18:01.380 --> 00:18:03.680 Lord, from the sun and from the moon, from real 00:18:03.680 --> 00:18:06.759 threats, from imaginary threats. And what does 00:18:06.759 --> 00:18:10.299 God say back to us in this Psalm? Verse two. 00:18:11.079 --> 00:18:15.019 My help comes from the Lord who made heaven and 00:18:15.019 --> 00:18:18.480 earth. So imagine, you say, I want security, 00:18:18.579 --> 00:18:21.700 I want help. from the things that threaten me, 00:18:21.700 --> 00:18:24.859 real and imaginary, the sun and the moon. And 00:18:24.859 --> 00:18:28.240 God comes to us in this passage and says, I made 00:18:28.240 --> 00:18:30.940 the sun and the moon. I'm the one who made them. 00:18:31.279 --> 00:18:33.160 Do you think that I can protect you from these 00:18:33.160 --> 00:18:35.960 things? Yes, I can protect you from these things. 00:18:36.500 --> 00:18:38.720 And if y 'all are familiar with what's called 00:18:38.720 --> 00:18:41.240 the Westminster Confession of Faith, which is 00:18:41.240 --> 00:18:43.500 one of our constitutional documents in our PCA 00:18:43.500 --> 00:18:47.319 denomination, the very first sentence in the 00:18:47.319 --> 00:18:50.140 Westminster Confession of Faith, tells us what 00:18:50.140 --> 00:18:53.599 we learn about God being the maker of heaven 00:18:53.599 --> 00:18:56.720 and earth. It says this, although the light of 00:18:56.720 --> 00:18:59.859 nature and the works of creation and providence 00:18:59.859 --> 00:19:05.079 do so far manifest the goodness, wisdom, and 00:19:05.079 --> 00:19:08.240 power of God. And so that's kind of an old English 00:19:08.240 --> 00:19:11.500 way of saying, when we look at creation, what 00:19:11.500 --> 00:19:15.880 we see is that God is powerful, God is good, 00:19:16.299 --> 00:19:19.940 and God is wise. And what that means is as we're 00:19:19.940 --> 00:19:22.619 walking in our journey and we see treachery ahead, 00:19:22.740 --> 00:19:25.180 we see danger ahead, we see uncertainty ahead, 00:19:25.539 --> 00:19:29.599 we can be certain that God as our maker is strong 00:19:29.599 --> 00:19:31.920 enough to help us. If he made the sun and the 00:19:31.920 --> 00:19:34.460 moon, he can help us with anything. But he's 00:19:34.460 --> 00:19:37.440 not just strong enough to help us. He's also 00:19:37.440 --> 00:19:40.420 wise. And so what that means is sometimes in 00:19:40.420 --> 00:19:42.859 the journey ahead we do face treacherous times 00:19:42.859 --> 00:19:46.650 that harm us and we can trust. that God is wise 00:19:46.650 --> 00:19:49.170 enough to put things in our path that are good 00:19:49.170 --> 00:19:52.430 for us. And that's that third aspect. His goodness 00:19:52.430 --> 00:19:56.029 is revealed in creation. We can trust that whatever 00:19:56.029 --> 00:20:00.450 we face, he is good. And whatever he does is 00:20:00.450 --> 00:20:04.769 good towards his people. Well, we see that he 00:20:04.769 --> 00:20:07.529 is the maker of the universe, but we also find 00:20:07.529 --> 00:20:10.950 from this passage that he is a powerful and yet 00:20:10.950 --> 00:20:15.049 humble king. A powerful and humble king. And 00:20:15.049 --> 00:20:17.150 I want to imagine if you were doing a journey 00:20:17.150 --> 00:20:20.470 like this back in the day of Israel and you got 00:20:20.470 --> 00:20:22.589 to go before the king and the king said, I want 00:20:22.589 --> 00:20:27.170 you to go on a journey to Jerusalem for me. And 00:20:27.170 --> 00:20:28.990 the king would say to you, and I can give you 00:20:28.990 --> 00:20:32.349 whatever resources you need to go on this journey, 00:20:32.410 --> 00:20:34.670 to keep you safe. Think about the things that 00:20:34.670 --> 00:20:37.730 you would ask for. You would probably ask for 00:20:37.730 --> 00:20:40.930 a caravan to be able to support you with food 00:20:40.930 --> 00:20:43.220 and nourishment and water. You would probably 00:20:43.220 --> 00:20:45.740 ask for soldiers to go ahead of you and behind 00:20:45.740 --> 00:20:48.299 you and to be with you. And this king can give 00:20:48.299 --> 00:20:50.660 you anything that you want. And the king says, 00:20:50.680 --> 00:20:52.559 sure, I'll give you a caravan. I'll give you 00:20:52.559 --> 00:20:54.740 all the water and food you need. I'll give you 00:20:54.740 --> 00:20:57.579 soldiers both ahead and beyond and soldiers with 00:20:57.579 --> 00:21:01.299 you. And so you are totally protected. And then 00:21:01.299 --> 00:21:03.819 you get your nerve up and you say, King, can 00:21:03.819 --> 00:21:06.740 I ask for just one more thing? And the king would 00:21:06.740 --> 00:21:09.119 say, well, what is it? What would you like? And 00:21:09.119 --> 00:21:10.839 you say to the king, well, I'm glad you're providing 00:21:10.839 --> 00:21:13.900 for my journey. But I would love just a little 00:21:13.900 --> 00:21:16.319 comfort along the way, maybe some shade. Could 00:21:16.319 --> 00:21:18.500 you give me maybe one of those persons that walks 00:21:18.500 --> 00:21:20.700 beside me with that shade to block me from the 00:21:20.700 --> 00:21:25.839 sun? And here's what the king says. Hey, I'll 00:21:25.839 --> 00:21:29.240 do that myself. I'll go with you. I'll carry 00:21:29.240 --> 00:21:32.279 that shade so that you can walk along in comfort 00:21:32.279 --> 00:21:35.339 because you see here in verse five at the end 00:21:35.339 --> 00:21:38.119 it says this. Who is your shade at your right 00:21:38.119 --> 00:21:43.069 hand? The Lord is your shade. at your right hand. 00:21:43.769 --> 00:21:47.630 See, God as the Almighty King says, I'll walk 00:21:47.630 --> 00:21:51.630 alongside you. I'll be that shade for you. And 00:21:51.630 --> 00:21:53.390 by the way, you'd be fine without the shade, 00:21:53.470 --> 00:21:55.549 it's kind of a luxury to have it, but I'm gonna 00:21:55.549 --> 00:21:58.509 give you a luxury, and I'm gonna be the one providing 00:21:58.509 --> 00:22:02.369 it myself. And so what that means is, is that 00:22:02.369 --> 00:22:04.990 you're not only receiving shade from the God 00:22:04.990 --> 00:22:07.509 of the universe, it means he's really close to 00:22:07.509 --> 00:22:10.130 you on your journey. It means He's less than 00:22:10.130 --> 00:22:13.549 a step away from you all the way along. And I 00:22:13.549 --> 00:22:15.250 don't know if y 'all have ever felt like God's 00:22:15.250 --> 00:22:17.849 not been with you on your journey. What this 00:22:17.849 --> 00:22:20.490 passage is telling us is that He is right there. 00:22:20.930 --> 00:22:24.490 He's always right by your side as you journey 00:22:24.490 --> 00:22:28.829 through your life. And then we find, thirdly, 00:22:29.890 --> 00:22:32.970 that God reveals Himself in this passage as a 00:22:32.970 --> 00:22:36.440 mighty Savior. So he reveals himself as the maker 00:22:36.440 --> 00:22:39.500 of the universe, he reveals himself as the humble 00:22:39.500 --> 00:22:42.240 and generous king, but he also reveals himself 00:22:42.240 --> 00:22:46.660 as the mighty savior. If you looked in verse 00:22:46.660 --> 00:22:49.720 two and then twice in verse five, once in verse 00:22:49.720 --> 00:22:53.799 seven, and once in verse eight, God is referred 00:22:53.799 --> 00:22:57.880 to as the Lord. Five times in this passage, it 00:22:57.880 --> 00:23:00.420 says the Lord. And if you're looking in your 00:23:00.420 --> 00:23:02.279 Bible, you might have all capital letters there 00:23:02.279 --> 00:23:05.089 for the Lord. It says, the Lord is your keeper. 00:23:05.410 --> 00:23:08.190 The Lord is your shade at your right hand. The 00:23:08.190 --> 00:23:12.569 Lord, the Lord, the Lord. This is actually God's 00:23:12.569 --> 00:23:15.329 personal name. That's why it's in all caps. It 00:23:15.329 --> 00:23:17.849 was known as Yahweh back in the Hebrew days. 00:23:18.750 --> 00:23:22.269 This is God's name that is revealed to His people 00:23:22.269 --> 00:23:25.150 to show how personal He is, but also to show 00:23:25.150 --> 00:23:28.880 that He is a strong promise keeper. Because even 00:23:28.880 --> 00:23:31.700 in the days of Abraham, they knew God as Yahweh, 00:23:31.960 --> 00:23:34.700 but it was not until the days of the Exodus that 00:23:34.700 --> 00:23:38.140 they truly knew what that name meant. And what 00:23:38.140 --> 00:23:42.259 that name Yahweh meant was, I will keep my promises 00:23:42.259 --> 00:23:45.440 to my people and I am stronger than all evil 00:23:45.440 --> 00:23:48.789 and death. I am the one that can conquer the 00:23:48.789 --> 00:23:51.569 empire of Egypt, and I can take you out of bondage, 00:23:51.589 --> 00:23:53.950 and I can bring you to the promised land. And 00:23:53.950 --> 00:23:57.109 so the Lord took on a new meaning. And so when 00:23:57.109 --> 00:24:00.309 this psalmist is reminding us about who it is 00:24:00.309 --> 00:24:02.349 that's actually leading us through every step 00:24:02.349 --> 00:24:06.509 of the way, he's reminding us that it's the Lord 00:24:06.509 --> 00:24:10.210 himself who keeps his promises, and who doesn't 00:24:10.210 --> 00:24:13.630 just keep his promises, but comes into history 00:24:13.630 --> 00:24:17.400 itself and saves his people. You see, that's 00:24:17.400 --> 00:24:19.160 one thing that's actually really distinctive 00:24:19.160 --> 00:24:22.799 about Christianity. Christianity is not just 00:24:22.799 --> 00:24:25.359 about a list of rules about how to live well, 00:24:25.500 --> 00:24:27.200 even though we do have a list of rules about 00:24:27.200 --> 00:24:30.339 how to live well. It's not just a philosophy 00:24:30.339 --> 00:24:32.720 of life to make us into better people, although 00:24:32.720 --> 00:24:35.160 scripture and its laws do make us into better 00:24:35.160 --> 00:24:37.880 people by the work of the spirit and faith, but 00:24:37.880 --> 00:24:42.079 it's much more than that. Christianity is a historical... 00:24:43.000 --> 00:24:46.039 religion that is about real things that happen 00:24:46.039 --> 00:24:49.599 in real time by a real God who came to save his 00:24:49.599 --> 00:24:52.220 people. It's about good news. That's why it's 00:24:52.220 --> 00:24:54.380 called the gospel. It's about good news of something 00:24:54.380 --> 00:24:57.019 that actually happened. And so in the same way 00:24:57.019 --> 00:24:59.119 that the Israelites who would be reading the 00:24:59.119 --> 00:25:01.720 psalm and singing the psalm would say, Lord, 00:25:01.819 --> 00:25:04.619 Lord, Lord. I am so thankful for how you've saved 00:25:04.619 --> 00:25:06.819 us from Egypt and how you brought us out of bondage 00:25:06.819 --> 00:25:09.140 and how you delivered us from evil and how you 00:25:09.140 --> 00:25:11.859 conquered evil in Egypt. They look back to those 00:25:11.859 --> 00:25:15.759 real events to remind them of who their real 00:25:15.759 --> 00:25:19.259 God was and is. Well, we do the same thing, except 00:25:19.259 --> 00:25:21.000 we have something better to look back to than 00:25:21.000 --> 00:25:25.220 just the Exodus. We get to look back to the second 00:25:25.220 --> 00:25:28.670 Exodus, which was Jesus' coming. And Jesus is 00:25:28.670 --> 00:25:30.890 saving his people from their sins. And Jesus 00:25:30.890 --> 00:25:33.990 conquering all of death and evil. And Jesus living 00:25:33.990 --> 00:25:36.049 the perfect righteous life that he shares with 00:25:36.049 --> 00:25:40.549 us so that we might be forgiven. You see, he 00:25:40.549 --> 00:25:43.589 is a mighty savior that we can depend upon. And 00:25:43.589 --> 00:25:47.930 because of that, evil can't conquer us. Because 00:25:47.930 --> 00:25:51.710 of that, death no longer has its sting. Because 00:25:51.710 --> 00:25:56.450 Jesus is our savior. that we can look back to 00:25:56.450 --> 00:25:58.690 in history, knowing that he has accomplished 00:25:58.690 --> 00:26:02.150 these things for our good and for his glory. 00:26:03.890 --> 00:26:07.210 Well, I think the last question, and the natural 00:26:07.210 --> 00:26:10.230 question would be, all right, we need a lot of 00:26:10.230 --> 00:26:12.630 help. I think that's been pretty clear. We need 00:26:12.630 --> 00:26:14.829 help from all kinds of things in our future. 00:26:16.069 --> 00:26:20.190 And we know who helps us, God himself. And the 00:26:20.190 --> 00:26:22.779 last question is, well, How do I qualify for 00:26:22.779 --> 00:26:25.500 this kind of help? Who gets this kind of help? 00:26:27.500 --> 00:26:30.680 And it's kind of an interesting answer. And an 00:26:30.680 --> 00:26:32.859 answer that has both bad news and good news. 00:26:33.819 --> 00:26:35.519 So the Israelites who would have been singing 00:26:35.519 --> 00:26:38.460 this Psalm in verse eight, if you notice it says, 00:26:38.660 --> 00:26:41.980 the Lord will keep your going out and your coming 00:26:41.980 --> 00:26:45.140 in from this time forth and forevermore. When 00:26:45.140 --> 00:26:47.339 they would be singing that going out and coming 00:26:47.339 --> 00:26:49.640 in, they would have known their Bibles really 00:26:49.640 --> 00:26:51.769 well. their Old Testament, and they would have 00:26:51.769 --> 00:26:54.049 known that in the book of Deuteronomy, that same 00:26:54.049 --> 00:26:57.430 language is used about going out and coming in 00:26:57.430 --> 00:26:59.930 and going out and coming in. So as they were 00:26:59.930 --> 00:27:02.970 singing Psalm 121, they would have been thinking 00:27:02.970 --> 00:27:05.970 about the book of Deuteronomy. And it's actually 00:27:05.970 --> 00:27:07.950 in the place in the book of Deuteronomy that 00:27:07.950 --> 00:27:11.650 talks about blessings and curses. And basically, 00:27:12.029 --> 00:27:17.009 in Deuteronomy 28, it says this, if you faithfully 00:27:17.009 --> 00:27:20.960 obey the voice of the Lord your God, being careful 00:27:20.960 --> 00:27:23.680 to do all his commandments that I command you 00:27:23.680 --> 00:27:27.319 today. The Lord your God will set you high above 00:27:27.319 --> 00:27:30.539 all the nations of the earth and all these blessings 00:27:30.539 --> 00:27:34.339 shall come upon you and overtake you if you obey 00:27:34.339 --> 00:27:37.660 the voice of the Lord your God. Blessed shall 00:27:37.660 --> 00:27:41.680 you be when you come in and blessed shall be 00:27:41.680 --> 00:27:45.380 when you go out. So same language, you'll be 00:27:45.380 --> 00:27:47.799 blessed and you're going in and you're coming 00:27:47.799 --> 00:27:52.680 out. And all you have to do is perfectly obey 00:27:52.680 --> 00:27:56.700 the Lord. And it says later on in Deuteronomy 00:27:56.700 --> 00:27:59.680 28, that if you do not obey the voice of the 00:27:59.680 --> 00:28:01.859 Lord and be careful to do all that he tells you 00:28:01.859 --> 00:28:05.440 to do, here's what it says, cursed shall you 00:28:05.440 --> 00:28:09.200 be when you go in and cursed shall you be when 00:28:09.200 --> 00:28:12.279 you go out. And so as these Israelites are singing 00:28:12.279 --> 00:28:14.460 this song on the way to Jerusalem for these annual 00:28:14.460 --> 00:28:16.819 festivals, they would have been singing knowing 00:28:16.819 --> 00:28:19.599 that it's only those who obey the voice of the 00:28:19.599 --> 00:28:21.599 Lord that get these blessings, that get this 00:28:21.599 --> 00:28:24.420 protection, that get the deluxe, the premium, 00:28:24.619 --> 00:28:26.799 the standard. All this stuff is for people who 00:28:26.799 --> 00:28:30.339 obey the Lord. And the bad news is, is that none 00:28:30.339 --> 00:28:34.539 of us can obey him like we're called to. None 00:28:34.539 --> 00:28:37.019 of us can obey him, which means none of us deserve 00:28:37.019 --> 00:28:40.299 this level of protection and goodness. from the 00:28:40.299 --> 00:28:45.400 Lord. Well, here's the good news, y 'all. There 00:28:45.400 --> 00:28:48.180 was an Israelite who sang this song on the way 00:28:48.180 --> 00:28:51.619 to Jerusalem who had obeyed the voice of God. 00:28:51.920 --> 00:28:54.859 who had done everything that the Lord who commanded, 00:28:54.940 --> 00:28:57.700 who had lived a perfect life. And you can imagine 00:28:57.700 --> 00:29:00.940 that Jesus, as he is approaching Jerusalem for 00:29:00.940 --> 00:29:03.039 the Passover and obedience to God's commands, 00:29:03.160 --> 00:29:05.920 and he's singing this Psalm. He is singing this 00:29:05.920 --> 00:29:08.940 Psalm about his life being kept, about him being 00:29:08.940 --> 00:29:13.759 protected. And we know what happens. The keeper 00:29:13.759 --> 00:29:19.859 wasn't kept. The keeper wasn't kept. And yet 00:29:19.859 --> 00:29:22.740 he was. Because Jesus, as he approached Jerusalem 00:29:22.740 --> 00:29:25.019 for the last time, singing this song about God's 00:29:25.019 --> 00:29:28.099 protection, instead faced the wrath of God. For 00:29:28.099 --> 00:29:30.880 all the ways that we don't follow him, for all 00:29:30.880 --> 00:29:33.380 the commands that we break, for all the ways 00:29:33.380 --> 00:29:36.579 that we have failed him, he took all the punishment 00:29:36.579 --> 00:29:40.140 we deserve on the cross for that. And then for 00:29:40.140 --> 00:29:42.400 all the ways that Jesus lived a perfect life, 00:29:42.420 --> 00:29:45.400 he says, I give you my righteousness, I take 00:29:45.400 --> 00:29:48.970 your sin, in this great exchange. Which means 00:29:48.970 --> 00:29:51.789 that because we are now united to Christ by faith 00:29:51.789 --> 00:29:54.549 in Him, not by works, not by doing anything good, 00:29:55.170 --> 00:29:58.609 but by faith alone, we receive the blessings 00:29:58.609 --> 00:30:01.950 that are promised in Psalm 121. Because we are 00:30:01.950 --> 00:30:05.490 united to Christ, we get all of these blessings. 00:30:06.269 --> 00:30:08.329 And really the encouraging thing and more good 00:30:08.329 --> 00:30:12.230 news is it's only sinful people that get to be 00:30:12.230 --> 00:30:15.089 united with Christ. Sinful people that place 00:30:15.089 --> 00:30:17.619 their faith in Him. Sinful people that repent 00:30:17.619 --> 00:30:19.640 and turn away from sin and turn towards Jesus 00:30:19.640 --> 00:30:22.880 and say, I have no hope but for you, Jesus. Those 00:30:22.880 --> 00:30:25.980 are the kind of people that receive this blessing 00:30:25.980 --> 00:30:29.859 and this union with Christ. And that's good news 00:30:29.859 --> 00:30:31.839 for us because we're all in need of this, aren't 00:30:31.839 --> 00:30:36.920 we? We all fail in many ways. And yet we get 00:30:36.920 --> 00:30:39.720 to have this blessed Savior, this strong Savior, 00:30:39.839 --> 00:30:42.420 this generous and humble King is the one who 00:30:42.420 --> 00:30:46.279 comes after us. and showers us with his grace. 00:30:48.099 --> 00:30:51.619 And so let me close with this thought. I was 00:30:51.619 --> 00:30:54.019 probably not smart, but running on the Swamp 00:30:54.019 --> 00:30:56.259 Rabbit Trail, I did an eight mile run yesterday. 00:30:56.880 --> 00:31:00.200 It was a little bit warm out there. And as I 00:31:00.200 --> 00:31:02.279 was getting towards the end of the run, I was 00:31:02.279 --> 00:31:04.220 a little bit delirious, but still kind of paying 00:31:04.220 --> 00:31:08.099 attention. and someone on a bike kind of came 00:31:08.099 --> 00:31:11.220 past me and I could hear some singing as they 00:31:11.220 --> 00:31:12.779 were coming behind me and then they passed me 00:31:12.779 --> 00:31:15.519 and it turns out it was a dad on a bike and then 00:31:15.519 --> 00:31:18.500 his like maybe six year old daughter on a little 00:31:18.500 --> 00:31:20.720 bike attachment to the back of his bike so she 00:31:20.720 --> 00:31:24.380 was attached to his bike and he was riding ahead 00:31:24.380 --> 00:31:27.220 of me and as she passed me she was singing a 00:31:27.220 --> 00:31:29.339 little song I don't know if you've heard this 00:31:29.339 --> 00:31:32.079 song before I think it's from the 1940s but she 00:31:32.079 --> 00:31:35.339 said she was starting to sing If I had a nickel, 00:31:35.799 --> 00:31:39.420 if I had a nickel, I'd tell you what I'd do. 00:31:39.779 --> 00:31:42.200 I'd tell you what I'd do. So she's singing this 00:31:42.200 --> 00:31:45.019 song with just this sweet little, not like my 00:31:45.019 --> 00:31:47.039 old 50 -year -old voice, but like with her sweet 00:31:47.039 --> 00:31:49.519 six -year -old voice. So she's singing the song 00:31:49.519 --> 00:31:52.700 as she passes me. She's in great delight. And 00:31:52.700 --> 00:31:55.960 as she passes me, she is just fearing as hard. 00:31:55.960 --> 00:31:58.799 as she can on that bike, like that bike attachment. 00:31:59.019 --> 00:32:01.500 I mean, she's about to wreck. And I'm looking 00:32:01.500 --> 00:32:04.220 at this thinking, oh no, she is gonna wreck this 00:32:04.220 --> 00:32:06.180 thing. And of course, she's having the time of 00:32:06.180 --> 00:32:08.039 her life, you know, veering. I can just imagine 00:32:08.039 --> 00:32:10.500 this big smile on her face as she's veering back 00:32:10.500 --> 00:32:13.259 and forth. And I was really, really concerned 00:32:13.259 --> 00:32:17.400 until I looked at the dad ahead of her. And he 00:32:17.400 --> 00:32:21.319 was as stable as a rock. His bike wasn't moving 00:32:21.319 --> 00:32:24.880 at all, which meant that she was completely safe. 00:32:25.160 --> 00:32:27.819 She didn't know how close she was to treachery 00:32:27.819 --> 00:32:30.400 and danger because she was having the time of 00:32:30.400 --> 00:32:33.220 her life with her dad as the rock and the steadfast 00:32:33.220 --> 00:32:36.720 one ahead of her. Y 'all, that's the kind of 00:32:36.720 --> 00:32:39.619 God that we have. We have no idea, y 'all, how 00:32:39.619 --> 00:32:41.940 much danger we actually face. We know about some 00:32:41.940 --> 00:32:46.240 things, but we have no clue how much God is protecting 00:32:46.240 --> 00:32:49.440 us every moment of every day, even at night. 00:32:49.579 --> 00:32:53.720 He is with us. He is that strong and stable father, 00:32:53.799 --> 00:32:56.119 just like this father is not even flinching at 00:32:56.119 --> 00:32:57.799 what his daughter's doing behind him. He's just 00:32:57.799 --> 00:33:00.839 giving her a good time. Y 'all, that is the joy 00:33:00.839 --> 00:33:03.960 that we have by being connected to the God of 00:33:03.960 --> 00:33:06.980 the universe, the maker and the keeper of his 00:33:06.980 --> 00:33:09.839 people. And so I want to encourage you, if you've 00:33:09.839 --> 00:33:15.069 never connected to this God, The way to connect 00:33:15.069 --> 00:33:17.349 is not by being good. The way to connect is not 00:33:17.349 --> 00:33:19.509 by being better. The way to connect is by saying, 00:33:19.769 --> 00:33:22.529 I need you. I place my faith in you and what 00:33:22.529 --> 00:33:26.109 you have done, Lord Jesus. Save me. And if you 00:33:26.109 --> 00:33:30.069 have been connected to him and you've lost some 00:33:30.069 --> 00:33:33.269 of the confidence that you used to have and want 00:33:33.269 --> 00:33:36.210 to have back, my prayer is that this passage 00:33:36.210 --> 00:33:38.869 this morning will renew your confidence, will 00:33:38.869 --> 00:33:42.410 renew your faith knowing that The Ancient of 00:33:42.410 --> 00:33:46.410 Days is your keeper. How could anything go wrong? 00:33:46.609 --> 00:33:51.529 He is good. He is powerful. He is wise. You can 00:33:51.529 --> 00:33:56.849 trust him. Amen. Let me pray. We do thank you, 00:33:56.930 --> 00:33:59.609 Father, that you give us all of these benefits 00:33:59.609 --> 00:34:01.950 when we are connected to your Son through faith. 00:34:02.490 --> 00:34:05.509 Would we experience your goodness? Would we experience 00:34:05.509 --> 00:34:09.010 your wisdom and your power? As we're scared about 00:34:09.010 --> 00:34:11.110 things that lie ahead, would you comfort us? 00:34:11.750 --> 00:34:14.949 We thank you, Lord, that we can experience all 00:34:14.949 --> 00:34:17.909 the keeping, all the protection, all the help 00:34:17.909 --> 00:34:20.869 from you, from God yourself. Thank you, Lord 00:34:20.869 --> 00:34:24.150 Jesus. I pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.