1.26.26
Hey, Calvary Fremont –
Spoiler alert! This may slay one of your sacred cows in that it turns a well-known Scripture passage on its head. You’ve seen it in beautifully framed, high resolution photographs, painted in breath taking detail and scope, and printed on cards innumerable. Psalm 121:1 reads, “I will lift up my eyes to the mountains; from where shall my help come?”
The immediate thought is that my help will come from the mountains. They are splendid, majestic, and almost infinitely beautiful. Surely the Psalmist is comparing the help coming our way with the glory and the unmovable strength of the mountains. Not so. The mountains in this Psalm are not the answer, they are the problem. They are not filling the Psalmist with inspiration; they are presenting him with a problem. Psalm 121 is the second of 15 Pilgrim Songs. In Psalm 120, the Psalmist realizes that he can no longer live where he is because it presents a threat to his soul – it no longer resonates with his desire to follow after God. And because of this, he sets his face to ascend to Jerusalem – the City of God.
As he begins his journey to the City of Peace, he is immediately confronted with the mountains that are in his way. He needs to get over those mountains to get to Jerusalem. As he lifts his eyes to the mountains (not to the Lord), he realizes that he is going to need help to get over and through these mountains which are keeping him from Jerusalem. We can paraphrase Psalm 121:1 this way, “I lift my eyes up to the problems and challenges that are in my way. They are towering over me, keeping me from where I want to be. Who will help me get through and over all this stuff in my way?”
You could have written Psalm 121:1! You are surrounded by those who are not on the same page with you. Your soul longs for continual, sweet fellowship with God. But you are surrounded by so many challenges and difficulties that interfere with continual, sweet fellowship with God. What are the mountains in your way? There is personal sin, fractured families, broken relationships, shattered dreams, lingering regrets, persistent shame, unrelenting strongholds, cultural chaos, etc. Yet with all this, there is within you a heart that cries out for God – for the Living God! Who will help you over and through all the mountains that lie before you?
Psalm 121:2 reads, “My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.” There it is – the Lord is your Helper and Deliverer and Sure Guide! Psalm 121 goes on to tell us that the Lord won’t allow your feet to slip! He is your Keeper and Shade and Protector. You serve a God who has taken you by the hand and is guiding you into continual, sweet fellowship with Him. He promises to keep your foot from slipping, to shade you from the heat of the sun, and to protect you from all evil. When the path gets steep, when you are exposed to hostile elements, and evil men – the Lord’s hand is on your life. David put it another way in Psalm 139:5, “You have enclosed me behind and before, and laid Your hand upon me.”
The Lord is above me. The Lord is beneath me. The Lord is behind me. The Lord is before me. The Lord says, “I’ve got you covered.”
No matter what mountains are in your way, your help comes from the Lord.
Be blessed and stay healthy and follow Jesus – Pastor Tim
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