THE LORD IS YOUR KEEPER
Ps. 121:1-8
INTRODUCTION
A. HUMOR
1. A frantic-looking woman came rushing out of her house and into the street crying, “Help! Help! My young son has swallowed a quarter and is choking and I don’t know what to do!”
2. Everyone looked the other way, except for a middle-aged man who rushed into the ladies’ house, found her son, turned him upside down and shook him until the coin fell out of his mouth.
3. “Oh, thank you!” cried the lady. “Are you a doctor?” “No ma’am,” replied the man. “I work for the tax assessor & collector’s office!” Yep, they can get the last penny out of you!
B. TEXT
1. I will lift up my eyes to the hills—from whence comes my help? 2 My help comes from the Lord, Who made heaven and earth. 3 He will not allow your foot to be moved; He who keeps you will not slumber. 4 Behold, He who keeps Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. 5 The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade at your right hand. 6 The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. 7 The Lord shall preserve you from all evil; He shall preserve your soul. 8 The Lord shall preserve your going out and your coming in from this time forth, and even forevermore. Ps. 121:1-8 NKJV
C. THESIS
1. In Psalm 121:5, “The Lord is your keeper,” the Hebrew word used is Shaw-mar – “to hedge about,” as with thorns; i.e., to “guard.” God “keeps” us, in aspects of protecting, preserving, putting sentinels around us, providing for us, and keeps us from evil.
2. So we’re going to look at 3 aspects of God’s “keeping” power tonight. The title of this message is, “The Lord is Your Keeper.”
I. PROTECTING US FROM DANGERS
A. DON’T RELY ON THE WRONG THINGS
1. “Do not put your trust in princes nor in a son of man,” Psalm 146:3-4. Frequently we put our trust in medical science, our employers, in science, or in government – but all these human institutions are prone to abuse or failure. They are also limited.
2. When the Babylonian empire attacked Judah, Judah was confident, but not in the Lord. (God was trying to chasten them but they weren’t paying attention). Judah was not afraid because they had an agreement with Egypt; Egypt would fight for them. They had their hope in Egypt. In the end, Judah fell and Egypt itself was defeated.
3. The Lord told them (and us) not to trust in Egypt. Egypt represents the world. Instead -- trust in the Lord, the Maker of Heaven and earth!
B. GOD IS ALWAYS ON THE JOB
1. A pilot fell asleep while flying. He didn’t fall asleep just for a brief time – he fell asleep the whole flight! The co-pilot tried to wake him up but he always fell back asleep.
2. A train in New York went off the tracks and several people got hurt and four were killed. Investigators tried to figure out what happened. The train engineer’s name was Willy Rockefeller and he confessed that he fell asleep. The speed limit was 30 mph and he drove 80 mph, so the train went off its tracks.
3. Imagine if the people on the train or plane had known the drivers were asleep! Think how scared they would’ve been. But, thank God, the Lord is never asleep!
C. HE WILL PREVENT AS WELL AS PROTECT
Verse 7 in the NIV says, “The Lord will keep you from all harm.” This tells us that God PREVENTS many bad things from happening. I wonder how many times we’ve been kept from fatal car wrecks? I know I’ve had 2 or 3 close calls!
1. NO MATTER WHERE YOU ARE YOU ARE KEPT BY GOD.
2. “ “ WHAT THE OBSTACLE you are kept by God.
3. “ “ WHAT THE HOUR you are kept by God.
4. “ “ WHAT THE CONDITIONS you are kept by God.
5. “ “ WHO THE ENEMY you are kept by God.
6. “ “ HOW LONG IT TAKES you are kept by God!
D. HE PLACES SENTINELS AROUND YOU!
1. The same word used for “keeper” in Ps. 121 is also the same word used for sentinels in Judges 7:19, “they had but newly set the WATCH [sentinels]....” So this means that God is vigilant as a sentinel around us.
2. God also places angels around us; “For He shall give His angels charge over you, To keep you in all your ways” Psalm 91:11 NKJV. So we can see how diligently God watches over us to protect us.
II. PROVIDING FOR US
A. OUR KEEPER IS OUR NURTURER
1. Isaiah 27:3 NKJV says, “I, the Lord, keep it, I water it every moment; Lest any hurt it, I keep it night and day.”
God’s people are compared to a vineyard. The Hebrew word natsar means “protect, guard, watch over, take care of.”
2. God talks about how He provides for us and He says He “waters it EVERY MOMENT!” This speaks of the continuous, concentrating attention God gives to each of His saints.
3. After my mother’s funeral, we brought home several plants. Angela decided to research how to keep them alive. Some of them are very delicate and require special care. She has done a great job – they’re all thriving in a window in our house.
4. When we understand God as our keeper, we get the image of his daily, indeed – hourly care for us, giving us just what we need to be taken care of & flourish.
B. JEHOVAH-JIREH
1. God was called by Abraham, Jehovah-Jireh, “God will provide.” What a wonderful truth. Paul said, “But my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” All of our blessings proceed from Jesus.
2. Elon Musk’s net worth in 2021 was $300 billion. He’s considered the richest person in the world. But what is that to Jesus, God’s Son, who is the heir of all things? And His riches go much further than houses, lands, and airplanes; He owns eternity and the vastness of the universe, and provides us with eternal life – spiritual life and rewards for all eternity. All these will be ours.
3. In the meantime, the Lord Jesus told us He would provide our daily needs by pointing to other creatures as proof, “Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?” Mt. 6:26.
4. Praise God He’s our provider!
III. KEEPING US FROM EVIL
A. THE BIBLE’S NOT SAYING WE’LL NEVER HAVE TROUBLE
1. God’s not saying that hardships and sufferings won’t come, but He will deliver you out of them. Psalm 34:19 says, “Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all.” Some hardships and sufferings are necessary.
2. When problems come, you have to stay still and let the Lord help you. When a bird is caught in a snare, the more it struggles, the more it will hurt itself. If it just keep still, it would be easier for someone to come and get it out. When you don’t know what to do, the thing to do is to look to the Lord and WAIT. God says, “Be still, and know that I am God” Ps. 46:10.
B. TROUBLES LIMITED TO OUR STRENGTH LEVEL
1. Sometimes we lose things or people out of our lives. When we do, we learn that the one thing we’ll never lose is God. He will never leave us or forsake us. He will never give us anything we cannot bear, if we draw on His power.
2. It’s like individual sports (boxing, wrestling, etc.) – they’re always divided into “weight” classes. They don’t put unequal opponents together, but try to make an equal contest.
3. Similarly, God won’t allow trouble to come our way that’s too big for us. To us, it may look like it’s too big, but when we rely on God, we’ll find we can overcome it.
4. What God expects from us is faith. When we face hard situations, in those times, we have to remember that God is with us and He is our keeper.
5. Paul said in 2 Thess. 3:3, “But the Lord is faithful, who shall stablish you, and keep you from evil.” If anybody ever faced evil people, Paul did. If anyone could speak with authority about God’s protecting power – Paul could!
6. The same God who delivered and kept the Apostle Paul will also keep you! He’s faithful to do that. Praise God!
CONCLUSION
A. ILLUSTRATION: God Spoke to Locusts
1. A plague of locusts had come to a Chinese village. The people surrounded their fields with small flags used in the worship of a god who would destroy locusts.
2. One Chinese Christian refused to pray to the locust god, though his neighbors urged him. "No," he said stoutly, "that god cannot hear. My God can hear. I will pray to Him," and he earnestly sought the Lord to save His little field from destruction.
3. And the Lord did. David said, “This poor man cried and the Lord delivered him." The locusts destroyed every green thing round about, but never touched his field. [The Presbyterian]
B. THE CALL
1. If we had time tonight we could have testimonies of just how God has kept each one of us.
a. He’s kept us when finances were low.
b. He’s kept us when we were in danger.
c. He’s kept us from the slander of others.
d. He’s kept us during times of sickness and health.
2. How many have a request for a need you have? It may be a physical, spiritual, a mental or an emotional need. God is your Keeper & Provider. Stand and let’s go to Him in prayer.
