It's the strangest thing we do here on Sunday mornings, isn't it? You ever think about that? We get up early when everybody else is sleeping in. We get showered and cleaned up and dressed when everybody else is just reading the paper and having their first cup of coffee and we're getting our cars and we begin to drive here while everybody else is taking their morning stroll. Did you see them this morning? They're out there and then we come here. It seems so simple. Seems almost like it goes completely unnoticed except by us and quite frankly, I don't think we understand the significance of what we do. I know that I don't. I know that I get up Sunday morning and after Sunday morning and I begin to make my way here and I don't think I really quite understand the significance of what I do. And as I was studying for our passage this Sunday, I began to see that what we do on Sunday mornings as we make our way here is really a metaphor for living the Christian life. It's a small little microcosm of the entire Christian life. When you got up this morning and you left the place where you live and you made your way to the house of the living God, a short trip no doubt for you this morning and a fairly easy trip for you probably this morning unless you have more than two kids and two is enough. But nevertheless a rather unadventful journey but a journey nonetheless and a journey that reflects the journey that you and I are on right now. You and I are on a journey. The metaphor for the Christian life is a life of pilgrimage and what we did this morning is we made our pilgrimage. We made our journey. We left the place where we live presently and we made our way to the house of the living God and that beloved is no small thing because it's a picture if you will of the entire Christian life. We are on a journey. Now it's interesting though when we made this journey this morning I think we got it backwards. I know what I thought when I was making my journey this morning. I was thinking that I got up and I left home and then I came to church. Is that what you thought? Didn't you think that? You thought when you got up this morning you left home and you came to church. That's what I thought. But that's not really what happened. That's not the picture. That destroys the picture. You didn't leave home. You were not home anymore than you are home in this world. You live in this world as strangers as pilgrims on a journey. This world is not your home and when you came here, beloved, you got home. This is the picture of home, the house, the dwelling place of the most high God and so every time we get up on a Sunday morning, every time we make our way here, guess what? It's a picture of that journey that we are on and so we shouldn't make too little of this practice of coming to church on Sunday morning, should we? We shouldn't make too light of this practice because it's a picture to us of the journey that we are on and guess what folks? I believe with all of my heart that this is a bigger picture and a bigger witness to the world in which we live than you can possibly imagine. You know, if you think about it, if you want to really think about why Christians are persecuted around the world, it's not because of some great cause they're standing for or against. It's not because they are, it's not because they're being activists where they live, is it? Most people, most Christians who are persecuted or afflicted around the world and even murdered around the world are martyred for nothing else except their confession of faith, what we confess this morning in the Apostles Creed, and the fact that they worship the Lord their God on this day and in his house. You ever think about that? That's why most people are persecuted around the world today. Not because they're doing anything great, but simply because they're showing up for worship on Sunday mornings. Because they're making their pilgrimage and that pilgrimage is a picture of life and that picture of life is different than the picture of life that other people have and other traditions and other religions. What we do here matters, what we do here makes a difference because it's a picture of the Christian life. And I want to look at that picture in Psalm 121 this morning, Psalm 121. Let's look at that. Let's think of this, that life is a pilgrimage, life is a journey. And notice that Psalm 121 begins with the words, a song of a sense. Now most of the time, when you're reading through Scripture and you see subheadings within the text of the Scriptures, most of the time those subheadings don't have anything to do with Scripture at all. They're inserted there by the editor. So the subheadings usually are not considered to be the inspired text, they're not considered to be the word of God. However, in the book of Psalms, they are. When you see those subheadings in the book of Psalms, this is the word of God. This is part of the inspired text and notice what the inspired text begins. So the first words of Psalm 121 are a song of a sense. And when you see that language, the song of a sense, this is the language of pilgrimage. These are a whole collection of songs that scholars believe were written for the people of God to sing as they were making pilgrimage to Jerusalem for their annual required feast for worship. And what is used here is the language of a pilgrimage. This is the language of a pilgrimage. And what it says is that life is a journey. We are on a journey. You and I are on a journey. This is the journey of the Christian life. You and I are on a pilgrimage. We are pilgrims and strangers and foreigners in this world. And we are on our way home. What we did here this morning is a picture of that. Now, how be it? This journey of life isn't quite as easy as the journey that we made this morning.
A journey of life is a tough journey. It's a difficult journey, isn't it? I was having dinner last night with Gina Rebecca Henry's. And there was a good chance that if you have dinner with me on a Saturday night, you're probably going to show up in the sermon. So just in case you ever think about inviting Carol and I over around a Saturday night, you're probably going to end up in the sermon on Sunday morning. And Gina Rebecca had come back from vacation. And they were telling us about a trip they took the main. I think it was main. And they were saying how, when they got there, they realized they had some extra time on one particular day. They had something scheduled earlier and something scheduled later and they had the sort of big gap in their schedule. So Jean looked over the itinerary and some other things that they could do. And he said, you know what? There's this thing called the walk in the park. Why don't we go there? We'll do that in the afternoon and that'll take up that extra time in the day. And then we'll go to our evening scheduled event and that'll be a nice little thing for us to do. And meanwhile, so they got there and they decided to go on this walk in the park and so they got there and they started walking. And pretty soon they realized we're not in the park, we're in the woods. And then pretty soon they realized we're not in the woods, we're deep into the woods. We're deep into the dark woods and then pretty soon they went deeper and they said we're not even in the woods anymore, we're in the swamp. And it's hot and we're sweaty and our feet are caked with mud. And I thought, you know, isn't that just like life? We think it's a walk in the park, don't we? You start the Christian life and the first thing on your mind is that this Christian life is going to be a walk in the park. It's got to be better than the non-Christian life, right? It's got to be easier, it's got to be less difficult, right? Wrong. Beloved this Christian life around, this pilgrimage around, this ascent we are on, if you will, is no walk in the park. This is a difficult, hard, treacherous, dangerous journey that we are on. And everything in this world and everything in our flesh and everything that the devil has in his arsenal to throw on us, to knock us off this journey, to knock us off this pilgrimage, it will be used against us. And from that perspective, it will be used against us for our hurt, for our detriment, for our mutual destruction. And so when you read these few little words here in this little heading, they sound so nice, don't they? Huh? A song of a sense, doesn't that just sound wonderful? Oh, let's just descend. You know, the Christian life, it's just one big ascent, it's just a walk in the park, right? And on your life, that's not the kind of pilgrimage around, that's not the kind of journey we're on. This journey, without God's help, will kill you. It's more than you can bear, it's more than you can stand, it's more than you can endure. It's too hard for you, it's too hard for me. And so the psalmist says, I lift up my eyes to the hills and he asks the question, where does my help come from? Now implicit in that question is the understanding and the acknowledgement and the confession by the psalmist that he needs help. When somebody says, where does my help come from, implicit in the question is the idea that I know I need help, now I don't take that for granted, because I don't know, I'm not always aware that I need help, sometimes I think I can do this myself, sometimes I think that I can do this alone, sometimes I think that I don't need you or anyone else, sometimes I think that I don't even need God. I know you don't think like that, and I know you don't live that way, but implicit in the psalmist question, it's his understanding and his acknowledgement that he needs, you may ask me a question this morning, beloved, do you know you need help, do you, do you understand that you need help, do you understand that you cannot do this by yourself, do you understand that you don't have the skills for this, do you understand that you don't have the resources for this, do you understand that you don't have the power to do this, and before you shake your head one way or the other, let me just say this, this isn't something you learn once, okay? It's not that you learn this and you say, okay, God it, schools out, we're done here, what are we going to do the rest of the day? Unfortunately this is a lesson that we have to learn on this journey over and over and over again. God must teach us this lesson over and over and over again. Martin Luther said that there is a pope, a devil, and a Pharisee, and every human heart, and I know I got all three living in me. The pope in me wants to control everything, he wants to be in charge of everything. He wants to manage everything so it turns out exactly the way he plants it. The devil in me wants to destroy everything, wants to steal everything, wants to kill everything. Millie problem with the devil in me is he's just like the real devil and that's that he's very subtle and very crafty and what he does with the devil in him is he closes him and he righteous knifes his will. Very much the devil in me looks a lot like the Pharisee in me, in the Pharisee in me. He wants to make everybody live just like he lives, live according to his rules, his regulations. See life the way he sees it, understand things the way he understands them, draw the same conclusions from the same data that he draws. That's not familiar to you. You know those three guys? I know him pretty well and I'll tell you when I see him, I hate him with a passion. I hate the pope in me and I hate the devil in me and I hate the Pharisee in me. But one thing that these three friends, if I can call him that, have shown me, they have shown me that I need help. And I need a lot of help. I don't need just a little help. Let me tell you something right now, a little help is no good for the pope in you and a little help is no good for the devil in you and a little help is no good for the Pharisee in you. You need major, major help against those three guys. And so what does this Thomas say? I lift up to my eyes where does my help come from answer? My help comes from the Lord. You know the first time I read, what is he being trite? Is he stating or overstating the obvious here? Where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord. I mean if I'm in the middle of a conflict and by the way, if you're a pastor, you're always in conflict. As Alan Redpath once said, you're either going to get ready to go into a conflict or you're in the middle of a conflict or you're just coming out of a conflict. And he said, that's why pastors need three faculties. They need to have the mind of a scholar and a soft heart and hide of a rhinoceros because you're always in conflict. Why, frankly, it's not just us pastors, is it? That's the kind of journey we are on. That's the nature of the journey we're on. I will guarantee you right now if you take a little bit of inventory in your life and you probably don't have to think too hard, you're in one of those three stations of life. You're either just coming out of conflict or in the middle of a conflict or getting ready to go into a conflict. And sometimes it's a little bit like living in the sub-burbs, you're not really sure when you're crossing out of one geographic district and moving into the next one because it all looks the same. No, I don't think the Psalmist here is going to be in trouble. I don't think he's stating or overstating the obvious when he says, my help comes from God. I think what the Psalmist is saying here is that I know my help comes from God. Of course it does. The only problem is I don't always believe it. Because when I am in the midst of a conflict, I know I need help. And I know my help comes from God. I just don't really believe that God is ever going to show up and help me. That's the problem. And so what is the Psalmist doing here? Who is he talking to? You ever think about that? I mean, listen to this. I lift my eyes to the hills. Where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven earth. Who do you think he's talking to? Now we know that all of scripture is written to the people of God for all ages, right? We know that. So yes, he's talking to all the people of God throughout all ages. We know particularly here that the Psalms were assembled in a particular way to sort of be the liturgical book of worship for the people of Israel. And so it's for the people of Israel. We know that these particular Psalms and this particular section of the book of Psalms was written for the people of Israel, for the people who are on their way to Israel making pilgrimage on their journey. They were the original audience. But yet there's something other than that there as well. It doesn't seem like that's who he's talking to initially. It's used for that purpose, collected for that purpose, it's edited for that purpose, it's put in this book for that purpose. No, but I don't think that's who he's talking to. You want to know who I think the Psalmist is talking to here? I think the Psalmist is talking to himself. Look at the language, I lift up my eyes to the hills. Where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord. I believe that what the Psalmist is doing here is he's telling himself, he's reminding himself because what happens with his beloved and the midst of conflict and the midst of this journey, what happens is even though we know we need help and even though we know that our help comes from the Lord, we don't really believe it's coming. And so we've got to talk to ourselves. We've got to remind ourselves, we've got to say this to ourselves. Even more, we have to sing this to ourselves. That's what the Psalms are all about, is singing these glorious and beautiful truths. We'll say, I need help and yes, God provides that help. My help comes from the Lord and God is bigger than any of the troubles that I am having. Or any of the troubles that I'm going to have. Or any of the troubles that I've already had. My help comes from the Lord. Singing a beautiful hymn this morning, one of my favorite hymns, come down to every blessing. Second verse, right? What's it say? Here I lift up my Ebenezer. I was thinking about that back the way we were singing that. I said, I wonder how many of these people understand what that means. I know there's a few that do. How many of you sung that hymn this morning, sung verse two? Did you sing it? I sang it. Did you sing it? Does anybody didn't sing verse two because you wanted to abstain from that? Did you all sing it? How many of you know what Ebenezer is? One, two, three, to keep your hands up, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine. We're a little low on attendance this morning, maybe 150 at best. Nine of you know what the Ebenezer is. And yet all of you said you lifted up. Now I'd be a little more careful than that if I was you. That might not be a good practice. Now my elders always tell me they like it when we sing the hymns, especially my old guys. They know who they are. When we sung a few hymns this morning, they were. And they were glorious. But I wonder how many my old guys know what an Ebenezer is, huh? All right, I got one. A lot of seminary students here this morning do, aren't they? What are how many seminary students know what an Ebenezer is? A lot of you people have been in church a long time, haven't you? Sung that hymn a lot, didn't you? Might even be like mine. Might even be like me. Might even be one of your favorite hymns, huh? But you don't know what it means. Come some first Samuel chapter 7, Israelite, we're getting ready to be attacked by the Philistines. Samuel was making sacrifice and crying out to God under the half. God showed up with a loud thunder and confounded and confused the Philistines and the Israelites ended up routing them and defeating them and utterly destroying them. Samuel pulled up a rock and he named it Ebenezer. It means stone of help, God is your, he is your rock, he is your stone of help, he is your Ebenezer. Lift up my Ebenezer, my stone of help, where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, we're on a journey and on this journey it's hard. And on this hard journey we need help and where does our help come from? The Psalmist says our help comes from the Lord, he's our Ebenezer. And all of this is also in the language, not only of the journey but also of God's providence. He's the maker of heaven and earth, what does that mean? We're just saying a song, we didn't actually know what we meant. We just confessed to Creed, I wonder if we know what that meant. I believe in God, the Father Almighty, what, maker of heaven and earth, what does that mean? Is that just a confession of our trinitarian monotheism? Is that just a confession that we believe in God? Is that just a confession that we believe that God is my God? Is that just a confession that we believe in creation rather than evolution? Or is some other model of the origin of the universe? What does that mean? You know, what that means is, beloved is the Heidelberg Catechism has said. Is it means that we trust that God will meet every one of our needs in both body and soul? I believe in God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, the same God that made everything out of nothing, ex nihilo, the same God that made everything in this earth, heaven and earth is the same God that is able to sustain you during your trials and tribulations and afflictions and problems. He is the God who created heaven and earth, he is the God, he is the maker of heaven and earth. It means he's bigger than your problems, beloved, he's bigger than your troubles, he's bigger than your afflictions, he's bigger than your sickness, he's bigger than your relational problems. He's bigger than your problem children, he's bigger than all of the things that you and I have ever faced or ever will face, our God is bigger, he's the creator of heaven and earth. You will not let your foot slip, he watches over you, will not slumber, indeed he watches over Israel, neither slumber nor sleep. 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 will not keep you from all harm. He will watch over your life, the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and for ever more. God's provenance are, short of catechism says, most holy, wise and powerful, governing and preserving all of his creatures and all of their actions, God's provenance, holy, wise
he governs over and exercises provenance over all of his creatures and all of his actions. That is the say, that nothing comes to you that doesn't first go to him. Nothing comes to you that doesn't ultimately work for his glory and are good. Where does my help come from? I'm on a journey, a journey is hard, I need help. My help comes from the Lord. I need to remind myself of that, that God does and will show up, he is your Ebenezer and he will defeat all of your enemies and all of our enemies and all of his enemies. He is our help, our help, our Heavenly Father. We do thank you that you are the maker of Heaven and Earth and we recognize Lord that you have set your people on a journey, on a pilgrimage and Lord every one of us here in this room know how difficult this journey is and we acknowledge that we need help and we know Lord that ultimately there is no self-help, there is no group help that our help comes from the Lord. We pray, O God, that you would ever so gently remind us of that sacred truth. Lord, if there are those here today that don't realize their need for help, I pray that you would instill upon them, that you would open their eyes and open your hearts, they might see their need for help, they might see their need for God, they might see their need for the sacrifice that Christ has made for them as their help. And that all of us may see our need for the Holy Spirit who is our helper and that we would understand that we have the help that we need through our God and give you the praise and Jesus' name on them.