TIME OUT Pastor Ben Talley - Psalm 121:1-4

Psalm 121 and God Our Keeper

Morning! I am Benjamin Talley. I am the associate pastor at Witton Memorial Baptist Church and this is another timeout. Our scripture today is coming out of the Psalms. I love the Psalms for many reasons.

They are prayers and songs and hymns from the Old Testament Saints. They express their desires and they express their heartfelt needs and cries to God. We can personally make them our own. You know, when we sing the Psalms, when we read the Psalms, a lot of their prayers can become our own thoughts and our own feelings and our own desires, especially when we feel like we simply have no thoughts.

We have no words to say. We don't know what to say. We can read the Psalms and basically share and relate to the Old Testament Saints. So, I'll be reading out of Psalms 121 and we'll be going to verses 1 through 4.

It says, I lift my eyes to the hills, for where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. He will not let your foot be moved. He who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.

Looking to the Hills and the Need for Help

So, he says, I lift my eyes to the hills. Israel was seated on kind of a hill upon hills. So, a lot of commentators have said that it was surrounded by other hills. What's up, Lisa? So, you got Israel in the middle and it's surrounded by other hills and mountains.

So, the thing is, they have a really, a really delicate thing. They couldn't see when the enemy was coming. So, it's not like having a plan, living on a plane where you could see from a far out distance or anything like that.

So, they couldn't see over the hill. They had to have a watchman, you know, post it up. So, for them to be in Israel, it was hard for them to see over the hills. So, that could be a kind of panicky situation, you know, not knowing who's coming over the hill or something like that.

So, that could cause a lot of panic. That could cause a lot of worry, not knowing when the enemy's coming, when danger is coming, or anything like that. So, he says, he says, from where does my help come?

He says, he says, from where does my help come? He says, my help comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth. So, good morning, Karen. I'm sorry, Karen. So, you know, it's like us, you know. We don't know when danger is coming.

We don't know when our trials might come or, you know, a pandemic might come. We don't know when any kind of harm might come to us or anything like that, any trials of any kind. But, but God does, you know.

The Lord Who Made Heaven and Earth

So, he says, my help comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth. If you really narrow that down, the fact that God made heaven and earth. Not only did he make heaven and earth, but he made it out of nothing.

God made everything out of nothing. This is the God who is our help. Think about that. Think about that, okay. He made everything out of nothing. He made you. He made me. He made the trees. He made everything out of nothing.

He knows your intricacies. He knows your idiosyncrasies. He knows your personality. He knows your faults, your fears, your failures. He knows all that. He made you. He knows where you're gonna fail, when you're gonna fail.

He knows when you're gonna succeed. He knows the things you're good at. He knows the things you're bad at. He knows when bad things are gonna come. He knows when good things are gonna come. It says in verse 3, says this, he will not let your foot be moved.

He who keeps you will not slumber. He will not let your foot be moved. He who keeps you will not slumber. That means that he does not get drowsy. He does not get weary, okay. He will not slumber. He keeps you.

He keeps you. He keeps you secure. He's got you in the palm of your hand, alright, his hand, sorry. He's got you in the palm of his hand. And then it says this, it says, behold, he keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep, nor sleep.

God Never Sleeps and Never Stops Watching

Now I don't know about you, Shane's a cop. He can't sleep on the shift, but I'm sure there's been several times that he was taking a late shift and he got tired. Well, the difference between a human cop and God is that God neither sleeps nor slumbers.

God does not grow weary. God does not sleep. God takes a 24 -7 shift all the time and never sleeps. He's on call all the time and he's always watching, always watching. He's on the prison and he's always watching.

He's always watching over us. If you really wrap your mind around that, that is mind-blowing. The fact that God is always watching us. He's always watching over us. He's always looking over us and he's always keeping us.

It says he keeps you. He sees you're secure in his hand. So he is our helper. Remember that as you go through the day. Remember the fact that in times of panic, when you don't know when trouble is coming, you don't know when your next situation is coming, when your next trial is coming, you can't worry about that.

You can't fear in that. You can't. You simply put your trust in the Lord because he has created everything. Everything. He knows what's gonna happen from beginning to end and he is keeping you. He will keep you and he will help you through everything because he is the keeper and watcher of your soul.

Prayer for Salvation, Repentance, and God’s Ongoing Care

Amen. God, I pray for your people and I pray for those who don't know you. I pray, Lord, for those who don't know you. I pray that you just prick their heart, Lord. I pray that you make them sick over their sin.

I pray, Lord, that you convict them of their sin and bring them to repentance and help them see that Jesus died on the cross for their sins and he arose again from the grave, conquering hell, death, and the grave, and that he ascended on high, conquering all, overcoming all the world, and he will one day come again to receive those who have repented of their sin and place their faith and trust in you.

For your children, Lord, I pray that you keep them. You watch over them. You give them peace that is unspeakable, Lord, and I pray you keep them safe today. I pray you remind them of your goodness and your promises and I pray, Lord, that you just help them know that you are constant, that you are never changing, and that you are a watcher over their souls and you are the giver of all good things.

In Jesus' name.