Introduction
Join me on a pilgrimage. We do this three times a year. We pack up the whole family and travel to Jerusalem for the festival. Its a long way, and we will be gone for quite a time. From Capernaum on the northern shore of Galilee, where I live it is 90 of your milesi if I go by the most direct route, but that would mean going through Samaria. That's a hostile region, so we will have to go around it. That will make the journey about 120 miles, or sixii days. We will have to pack food and water for the journey, and of course tents for shelter. We have donkeys to carry all of that – and don't think you would get to ride on them, they are much too important for that!
The last part of the journey is hardest as we have
to climb the hills up to Jerusalem. It's there that some of the some
of the family get a little disheartened – but we have our songs to
keep us going. They remind us of the Lord, and how good he is to us.
We sing them every time, so we know them even better than you know
your Christmas songs. We don't need scrolls, or books – the
children learn them by repetition and will know them very well by the
time they are seven years old. We call them 'Songs of ascent'
because we sing them as we begin the long slow walk up the hills to
Jerusalem.
That one you heard this morning can be used as a
challenge and response, it has 4 simple verses, lets give it a try so
you know how we sung it, then I'll tell you a bit about what it means
to us:
L: I lift up my eyes to the hills— where does my
help come from?
A: My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of
heaven and earth.
L: He will not let your foot slip — he who
watches over you will not slumber;
A: indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither
slumber nor sleep.
L: The LORD watches over you — the LORD is your
shade at your right hand;
A: the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon
by night.
L: The LORD will keep you from all harm —he will
watch over your life;
A: the LORD will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.
vv 1 and 2
I lift up my eyes to the hills— where does my
help come from?
My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven
and earth.
We look up to the hill as we approach them and as
we slowly climb them. There are lots of dangers in the hills. There
are bandits, large groups of them, they can ambush you and steal all
your money and provisions, they will even take your clothes, and some
will kill you if you try to fight back. There are also bears and
lions prowling around. Most of them won't come near a human
settlement, but sometimes we will have a visitor to the camp in the
dead of night.
The other danger is temptation. Jeremiah said “Surely the idolatrous commotion on the hills and mountains is a deception; surely in the LORD our God is the salvation of Israel” and he was right, only the Lord our God can save us. We must avoid the shrines and alters of the high placesiii because they are dedicated to the gods. Some to Baal, you'd think they'd have given up on him by now, but well, they don't seem to have. Baal is nothing really, the Lord our God made everything you can see, that is where our help comes from.
vv 3 and 4
He will not let your foot slip — he who watches
over you will not slumber;
indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither
slumber nor sleep.
The Lord our God watches over all of us, all the
time. He is an attentive God and is interested in his people. The
paths we follow are not like your lovely roads, they are dry and
dusty and strewn with rocks and stones. It is easy to trip or turn
an ankle if you do not pay attention. There is nowhere to get help
on our roads, there are no emergency services, there are no service
areas, no hotels, no toilets. If you are hurt here there is only the
family and the Lord God to help you.
Baal sleeps, if you worship him, you might have to
wake him up to get his help. The Lord God does not sleep, He doesn't
even doze, He is never tired, He is awake and watching over us all
the time. Now some of you might think that being watched all the
time was not a good thing, but we know the Lord God cares for us so
we are pleased that He is always there.
vv 5 and 6
The LORD watches over you — the LORD is your
shade at your right hand;
the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by
night.
The Lord watches over us, we remind ourselves of
that a lot – it is easy to forget – especially when bad things
happen to us, but He is always there watching over us. On our
pilgrimage we might encounter some high temperatures, so make sure
you have a hat, or a turban if you've got one. The sun on your head
can make you very ill. Make sure you have light clothes too, to
reflect the heat from your body. Temperatures can reach 120 F (or 40
C) and there is very little shade in the hills.
That word 'shade' can also mean 'shadow'. The
Lord God is like our shadow, always with us, never leaving us on our
own. We use this image to talk about oppression, just as the shade
protects from the oppressive heat of the sun, so the Lord protects us
from oppression.
Some people believed that being caught in moon
light can make you insane, it is a belief that your ancestors had –
your word lunatic comes from the old word luna that means moon. For
us this is just additional confirmation that the Lord God is watching
over us even at night, even when your shadow is caused by the moon
and not the sun, so that the moon cannot harm you.
vv 7 and 8
The LORD will keep you from all harm —he will
watch over your life;
the LORD will watch over your coming and going
both now and forevermore.
God protects us, just like we protect our
children. When you have a small child like my little grandson you
don't let him play in the road, you prevent him going up or down
stairs on his own, you put covers over the electrical sockets, even
if they can't be opened without a plug. You don't protect him from
walking across the floor, even though he might fall flat on his face
– because walking is something he's got to learn, and falling helps
him to learn. If he doesn't learn that his mother is going to
struggle carrying him for six days – that's OK when he's a baby,
but not when he's bigger!
That's just how the Lord is with us – he
protects us from the things that will harm us, but he doesn't stop us
experiencing the hurts that will teach us how life works. As it says
in Deuteronomy (28:6) “You will be blessed when you come in and
blessed when you go out.” Whether we are coming or going the Lord
is protecting us.
Conclusion
So that's a little about how we view the psalm,
but the best thing we can do is to learn it, so lets try it again
L: I lift up my eyes to the hills— where does my
help come from?
A: My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of
heaven and earth.
L: He will not let your foot slip — he who
watches over you will not slumber;
A: indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither
slumber nor sleep.
L: The LORD watches over you — the LORD is your
shade at your right hand;
A: the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon
by night.
L: The LORD will keep you from all harm —he will
watch over your life;
A: the LORD will watch over your coming and going
both now and forevermore.
Next time you're travelling, say the travellers
psalm and remember that the Lord God is protecting you.
References
i http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_distance_from_Jerusalem_to_Capernaum&altQ=How_far_was_Capernaum_from_Jerusalem
ii 20
miles a day -
http://www.blessitt.com/Inspiration_Witness/MilesJesusandMaryWalked/MilesJesusandMaryWalked_Page1.html
iii http://www.gotquestions.org/high-places.html
The Expositors Bible Commentary Volume 5
NIV Bible Study Notes (Pradis)
From Sermon Central.com:
The Expositors Bible Commentary Volume 5
NIV Bible Study Notes (Pradis)
From Sermon Central.com:
God?s Protection in Times of Danger by Howard Harden
Who Ya Gonna Call? by John Beehler
"Powerful Protection" by Robert Leroe
Your Help Is On The Way by Levi
Help From On High by Steve Shepherd
Help From On High by Steve Shepherd
