[0:00] Good evening and a warm welcome to those who are tuning in on the telephone and those who are listening who are watching on the internet it's good for us to be able to come together and to worship God in this way on this evening. We're going to begin this time of worship by singing to God's praise from the psalm that we come to and that we'll study this evening. Psalm 121.
[0:45] I to the hills will lift mine eyes from whence doth come my need. My safety cometh from the Lord who heaven and earth hath made. We'll sing the whole of this psalm to God's praise.
[0:58] I to the hills will lift mine eyes from whence doth come my need. My safety cometh from the Lord who heaven and earth hath made. Thy foot heal not, let slide nor well. He slumber that thee keeps.
[1:39] Behold he that keeps Israel. He slumbers not, nor sleeps. The Lord thee keeps. The Lord thy shape. On thy right hand doth stay.
[2:06] The moon by night thee shall not smile, nor yet the sun by day. The Lord shall keep thy soul. He shall preserve thee from all ill.
[2:34] Henceforth thy going out and in. God keep forever will.
[2:48] Let's unite our hearts now in prayer. Let's pray. Our Heavenly Father, we thank you for the psalm that we have sung, the psalm that we have opened before us and will take time to study this evening.
[3:07] And we thank you, Lord, for that prompt, for that reminder, for that invitation, indeed that command that we are to lift our eyes to the hills and beyond the hills, to the one who made the hills, the one who is the maker of heaven and earth.
[3:24] And we thank you, Lord, that you've given us the opportunity to do so, even as we come together in this way this evening. We thank you that you are the God who has revealed yourself to us.
[3:37] You're the God who calls us to look to you. And we ask, Lord, that in this time that we would be found looking to you. We confess that we're people who stray in our vision different places.
[3:51] We look often into ourselves. And we can find despair when we look to ourselves for help and for strength. We see only in ourselves the sin that so easily besets us.
[4:08] And sometimes, Lord, we are people who are looking everywhere in this world. We are distracted by every passing trend and every different thing.
[4:18] We can be consumed with our hobbies. We can be overwhelmed and addicted even to our work. And our minds can become so full.
[4:29] Our vision can be so full of things which are transient, which are temporary, which are passing. And sometimes, Lord, our focus is on each other.
[4:40] We look to every other person, sometimes with a critical eye. And, Lord, we confess these things and we pray for your forgiveness for how distracted we can be.
[4:52] And even coming into worship, we confess that often our hearts are not tuned to sing your praise, but our hearts can be cluttered with things that need to be purged from them.
[5:04] And our minds can be filled with thoughts which are not of heaven, but which are of this world. And so we confess that, Lord. We ask that you would cleanse us from our sin.
[5:17] We pray, Lord, that you would take away every distraction. And we pray, Lord, that our vision would be firmly fixed upon the Lord, Jesus Christ.
[5:30] That's the calling we are given in the New Testament. Let us fix our eyes upon Jesus, the author, the perfecter of our faith. We thank you that as we look to Jesus, we have the image of the invisible God.
[5:46] He is the word made flesh. He is the one in whom we see the character and the beauty and the majesty of God. He is the one in whom we see the love of God in such great measure.
[6:02] He loved us so much that he came from heaven to this world. He went to a cross. He laid down his life. He suffered for our sin.
[6:14] He died to take the punishment of sin from us. He rose from the dead. And we thank you that the promise of God is that all who believe in him, those who believe in their hearts that Jesus has risen, those who confess with our lips that he is Lord, shall be saved.
[6:34] So, Lord, we ask that you would be working in each one of our hearts, that we may see and that we may come to know in that saving way the Lord Jesus. We ask, Lord, that you would help us.
[6:47] We read of the psalmist, where will my help come from? My help comes from the Lord. And we thank you that this evening, whatever it is that we're struggling with, we can say and echo the words of the psalmist, my help comes from the Lord.
[7:02] We thank you that in the material things in this world, the mundane things of day by day, we can bring our concerns, our worries, our anxieties to the Lord.
[7:14] And we thank you that you are the God who cares for us. And then in the deep things of our souls, in the matters of eternity, the help that we need, the forgiveness of sin, the assurance of salvation, we thank you, Lord, that we can find that in the Lord Jesus and no other place.
[7:34] There is no other name under heaven by which we can be saved. He is the way. He is the truth. He is the life. And we ask, Lord, that we would be given the faith, each one of us, to come to him.
[7:48] We pray, Lord, for those who may at this time be having a battle in their own hearts, who are being pulled this way and that way. We pray for those who have that sense of being drawn to Christ and yet there is that pool of the world in the other direction.
[8:07] And we think of them, Lord. We can think of people who often sit in the church here with us week by week and days gone by. We can think of people who never come to church and whom we know in the community and in our families and our wider families.
[8:23] And we bring them to you. We ask, Lord, in these days of inactivity in terms of what we are able to do, we pray that you would be working on the power of your spirit and that we may see many souls coming to Christ for that salvation that he alone can give.
[8:43] We pray, Lord, that you would be with us in this short time of worship. Enable us, we pray, truly to worship you. Enable us to be sanctified by your truth.
[8:56] Help us to know whatever it is we are sitting. Help us to know that you are God and that you are close, that you are with us. So all these things we bring to you, Lord.
[9:10] And we pray that you would accept us now in Christ and lead us in the power of your spirit. Open your word to us, we pray, and open our own hearts to your word.
[9:20] For we ask these things in Jesus' name. Amen. We'll read now the psalm that we sang. Psalm 121.
[9:33] A fairly short psalm. And we'll read the whole of this psalm. The title given is A Song of Ascents. I lift up my eyes to the hills.
[9:47] Where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth. He will not let your foot slip. He who watches over you will not slumber.
[9:59] Indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord watches over you. The Lord is your shade at your right hand.
[10:11] The sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord will keep you from all harm. He will watch over your life.
[10:22] The Lord will watch over your coming and going, both now and forevermore. Amen. And may God bless that reading of his word to us.
[10:36] Let's just take a few moments now and look at this psalm. And seeking God's help, we turn to it once more.
[10:51] There's some things in life that are so precious that we almost don't want to touch them. Things like a family heirloom that may have been passed down through the generations.
[11:04] Something that can be fragile, very precious, very meaningful. And we're handed it on an occasion and we're told the significance of this thing. And it's so precious and so meaningful, we almost don't want to touch it.
[11:19] You know, or a historic artifact in a museum. Rarely would we get the opportunity. But sometimes these cases are opened up and something may be passed to us that's of great historical significance.
[11:34] And we hesitate to touch it because we don't want to spoil it in any way. We almost don't want to leave our grubby fingerprints on such a precious thing.
[11:46] And I have to say, as we come to Psalm 121, I feel something of that. I mean, every part of God's Word is precious.
[11:58] It is useful for teaching and correcting and encouraging. We know these texts. Every part of God's Word is necessary for us to be in. But there are certain portions of God's Word that have such beauty and have such power and have meant so much in the lives of so many people that, as a preacher, one hesitates to come to it and to pick it up.
[12:28] Psalms like Psalm 23 are an example. And Psalm 121 is another such example. I imagine within the congregation and any who may be listening in, there will be many who have this psalm.
[12:43] Psalm 121 is one of their favorite psalms. And so tonight, that's where we've come to in our studies. And so, as we seek God's help, we take a few moments and we study it.
[13:01] And the first point I wanted to draw out from this psalm is the blessing of suffering. Point number one is the blessing of suffering.
[13:12] Last weekend, on Saturday, I think it was Anna and I decided to bake a cake. And we followed, Anna's my oldest daughter, and we followed this recipe that I found on a website for, for, quotes, a healthy and delicious chocolate cake.
[13:36] And I saw the picture on the website and it looked delicious. It looked an amazing cake. And as I got the ingredients out and as we set them out and looked at this picture, I was very hopeful.
[13:52] And then as we took the ingredients and we started to mix them together and saw how the mix was coming together, again, I was hopeful that we may actually soon have this healthy and delicious chocolate cake there for us.
[14:05] And as it was baking and the aroma was coming from the oven, still I was hopeful that we were going to have this healthy and delicious chocolate cake.
[14:17] And even when it came out of the oven and we iced it, it looked amazing. It looked good. But sadly, it may have been healthy, but it certainly wasn't delicious.
[14:31] It's still sitting in the fridge. That tells you how delicious it was not. See, you don't get healthy and delicious chocolate cakes. I wish you did, but there's just, there's just no such thing.
[14:43] And you might say, looking at this first point, there's no such thing as the blessing of suffering. You know, we tend to think that there's blessing on the one hand and the suffering on the other hand.
[14:59] But these are two different things and they live in two different worlds. They are two different categories. But in the Bible, and especially in the Psalms, we so often see that these two things, blessing and suffering, are not in different categories at all.
[15:16] How many of the most precious Psalms that we have and that we take hold of by faith are actually born in times of the most acute suffering?
[15:30] Warren Wiersbe, the commentator, says, The things that God permits to happen to us in his will may hurt us, but they will not harm us.
[15:43] David had many experiences that brought heartache and even threatened his life. But the Lord enabled him to turn these seeming tragedies into beautiful Psalms that encourage us today.
[15:56] Sometimes it's in our sufferings that we find the greatest times of blessing. Sometimes it's when we think back to the hardest days of suffering that we can testify to the greatest measure of knowing God's blessing.
[16:17] Many of us will remember when Angus Alec and Ina shared their testimony. And we learned when their testimony was shared that it was in years of the most terrible suffering for them that they came to know so much of God's blessing.
[16:40] It was because they went through such dark times of suffering that they shine so brightly for Christ today.
[16:51] I can think of friends of mine in the Inverness area and they went through a terrible period of suffering. Their daughter was very critically, it seemed terminally ill.
[17:04] And yet I remember that little girl's dad in the midst of her illness. She recovered, she's well today, the girl. I remember her dad in the midst of the suffering saying how much of God's blessing and his presence that he came to know that he would never have known in times that were calmer.
[17:33] Tim Keller says, And maybe to different degrees, that's a lesson we're learning just now.
[18:00] Often we find in a trouble-free season where we don't have much to worry about, where we don't have much that weighs us down. Often our experience is that our spiritual progress is pure.
[18:17] And the blessing that we experience is sparse. Sometimes when we look to the Lord, we come to know that special blessing of God.
[18:39] And that was the psalmist's experience often. We see here the blessing of suffering. The second thing we see here, the second point for this evening, is the blessing of knowing where our help comes from.
[18:57] I've been struggling in the last few weeks with something I never bothered much with in the past, online grocery shopping.
[19:08] And the theory is, you book your slot and you do your shopping. You put all your things into the online basket and the shop they deliver.
[19:20] But the problem I've had is, I can't seem to be able to book a slot. There's all these dates that in theory you can book your delivery.
[19:32] But when I look for the dates, they're all taken. And when other people seem to be able to book dates, I don't have these dates as options to be able to book shopping on.
[19:42] So there was a helpline number on the website that I was looking at. And I phoned the number, but there was no one there. All I got was one option after another option.
[19:53] There was no one actually there to help. And it's a trivial thing, I know. But it's very frustrating. It's very alarming in more serious matters, not knowing where to look for help.
[20:10] Now the psalmist, as we think about the life of the psalmist, whether this is David or whether it's someone else, the psalmists, as they wrote, they were never far from trouble.
[20:23] They were very often in the most dire need. And at this point, just to give some context to this psalm, the psalmist was likely on a journey, he was likely on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem.
[20:38] And when one was on a journey of that nature, there was much scope for trouble, that there was much risk that could be, that had to be faced, and much danger that could be encountered on these journeys.
[20:53] There was the danger as they went through the hills of falling and sustaining serious injury. There was the danger of sunstroke in the heat of the day.
[21:05] There was the danger of hypothermia when the temperature fell so low at night. There was the danger of being ambushed by robbers. And so there was many dangers on such a journey.
[21:17] And as the psalmist is traveling along here, he is sharing with us what is in his mind. He's sharing with us that he's wondering where will his help come from?
[21:31] Where could he go for help when he needed such help? And I suppose if we think this through, he could look to himself.
[21:42] If the psalmist is David, we know that David, as a shepherd, he could take on lions, he could take on bears as he defended the sheep.
[21:53] We know from David's life that he could take on Goliath. He was a man who, with God's strength, could handle himself. He could look to friends if he was on this journey with a gathering of people.
[22:08] And together, perhaps, they could defend themselves. But David, as he looks for help, he doesn't look to himself. He doesn't look around him to his friends. He doesn't look down in despair.
[22:22] He looks up. That's how the psalm begins. I lift up my eyes. The King James Version actually is even more determined.
[22:37] I will, says the psalmist, lift up my eyes. So the psalmist, he knows, although he poses the question, he knows where he can find help.
[22:52] And as he looks to the mountains, to the hills, he sees signposts to the help that he needs. He knows his help will not come from the hills themselves.
[23:04] They couldn't help him. In fact, the hills often were places of danger. But the maker of heaven and earth.
[23:19] Verse 2. The Lord. He can help. The psalmist knows that. Where does my help come from? He says, my help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth.
[23:35] Now, we should pause and ask the question, who is the psalmist speaking to as this psalm is going out? Well, it's possible that he was speaking to other pilgrims who may have been on the journey with him.
[23:48] It may be that as this band of pilgrims journeys along the road, that the psalmist is encouraging them to look to the Lord.
[24:02] And that's something, just by way of application here, if we pause for a moment, that's something that we should be doing for each other. As Christian pilgrims, as those who believe, as those who are en route, not to Jerusalem, but to the new Jerusalem, to heaven.
[24:19] As we navigate through a world that sometimes can be difficult and troublesome, we should be constantly encouraging each other to look to the Lord.
[24:32] So it could be that the psalmist is speaking to the travelers who may have been with him. But it's also possible, we don't know, it's also possible that the psalmist here was on his own on this track.
[24:48] And if that's the case, he's preaching to his own soul, as he did in Psalm 42 and in Psalm 43. He says, why are you downcast, O my soul?
[25:00] Trust in the Lord. And it's possible that there's something of that in this psalm. The psalmist may be speaking to his own heart and saying, I will look to the Lord for my help.
[25:16] He's preaching perhaps to himself. And that's something that we should be doing every day. Opening the Bible. Preaching to our own soul.
[25:27] Reminding ourselves constantly of where our help comes from. Certainly I know that as a minister.
[25:39] As I pick up scripture and as I study the text, before it is ever preached to anyone else, it's preached to my own soul.
[25:50] Nothing that comes through me hasn't first come to me. And we need constantly to be preaching to our own souls.
[26:06] So the psalmist, he knew where his help came from. We see here the reality of suffering and yet the blessing that was in such suffering.
[26:22] The psalm that's born out of it. We see here the blessing of knowing where our help comes from. So let's just ask the question of ourselves just now.
[26:33] Where do we look for help? In this world where we're struggling just now with the most unusual circumstances as this virus attacks, where do we look for our help?
[26:48] Well, we could look to the government for grants. We can look to political leaders for guidance. We look to our friends. We look to our family. We look to community groups. We may be those who are looking to the NHS.
[27:02] And it's good to be able to get help from these places. And we're thankful for the help that comes from these places. But we should not overlook. We should not be slow to seek the help that is offered to us by the maker of heaven and earth.
[27:19] We should not be slow to seek the help of heaven and earth. We should not be slow to seek the help of heaven and earth. We should not hesitate to cast all our cares upon him, the Lord.
[27:32] For he cares for us. Are we worried about work? Do we have concerns about our health?
[27:43] Are we struggling with homeschooling? Do we have fears about the future? No, we have a God who cares for us.
[27:57] We have a God who is the maker of heaven and earth. And yet he's the one whom the psalmist can say helps him.
[28:12] My help, verse 2, comes from the Lord. It's so personal. And then it goes from the personal to the cosmic.
[28:26] My help comes from the Lord. Who is he? He's the maker of heaven and earth. And the same God that the psalmist looked to for help is saying to us through the psalmist, you look to me for help.
[28:43] He's the one who cares for us. We can bring all our anxieties, no matter how small they may seem to us, we can bring them to him. He cares for us. And especially when it comes to the anxieties of our souls.
[28:59] For some of us, we're not just thinking about the struggles in life at present, but we're thinking about death. We're thinking about what lies beyond death.
[29:10] We're thinking about our sin. We're thinking about how to be forgiven, how we can be sure that we are saved. Now, who can help us when we have these anxieties? Who can give us the help that our souls need to secure us for eternity?
[29:25] Well, that help only comes from one source. It comes from the Lord. And the word there, the Lord, in capital letters is the word that speaks to us of the covenant making and keeping God.
[29:43] The God of mercy. The God of grace. The God who cared enough for us to come to this world on our rescue mission to help and to save sinners like me.
[29:58] And like you. Our help comes from the Lord Jesus. What a friend we have in Jesus. All our sins and griefs to bear.
[30:11] What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer. The blessing of knowing where our help comes from.
[30:25] Third point. The blessing of being able to sleep. Knowing that God doesn't sleep. There's a story told about Alexander the Great.
[30:38] One of the greatest political and military rulers in history. And the story takes us to a battlefield somewhere.
[30:51] And in the midst of the battle, Alexander the Great was sleeping. And he was asked the question when he awoke, how could you sleep when you're surrounded by so much personal danger?
[31:05] And he replied, because Parmenio, his faithful guard, was awake and was watching.
[31:16] Alexander the Great could sleep and get that rest that he needed because his trusted guard, Parmenio, he was awake and he was watching.
[31:28] Spurgeon tells a story about a captain of a ship. And the ship was sailing from Liverpool to New York.
[31:40] And this captain had his whole family with him on board. And one night, I'm quoting here from Spurgeon now, when all were quietly asleep, there arose a sudden squall of wind, which came sweeping over the waters until it struck the vessel and instantly threw her on her side, tumbling and crashing, everything that was movable and awaking the passengers to a consciousness that they were in imminent peril.
[32:09] Everyone in the boat was alarmed and uneasy and some sprang from their berths and began to dress that they might be ready for the worst. The captain had his little girl on board, just eight years old, who of course woke with the rest.
[32:26] What's the matter? said the frightened child. They told her a squall had struck the ship. Is father on deck? said she. Yes, father's on deck.
[32:39] Little thing dropped herself on her pillow again without the fear and in a few moments was sleeping sweetly in spite of the waves.
[32:52] See, the wee girl knew that her father was awake, he was on deck, he was in control and because she knew that, she could sleep. You know, we have a heavenly father and his promise is that, look at verse three, he will not let your foot slip.
[33:12] He who watches over you will not slumber. Indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. See, because if we are trusting in Christ, if we are believers, if we have asked for our sins to be forgiven, if we are the Lord's people, then we are children of the God of heaven and earth who does not slumber, he does not sleep and because he does not slumber and sleep, we can sleep.
[33:46] We can rest easy. See, when we worry and when we stay awake at night, when our faith levels fall and our stress levels rise, we are in a dangerous place and we are liable to slip.
[34:06] But when we look to the Lord, when we ask for the help of the Lord, when we put our faith in the Lord, when we rest in the Lord, he steadies us.
[34:18] He brings calm. He brings peace into our souls. Even when the waves of circumstance may be crashing all around us and then as we put our head on the pillow at night, we are able to say with the psalmist in Psalm 4, verse 8, I will lie down and sleep in peace for you, O Lord, are with me.
[34:45] The blessing of being able to sleep knowing that God doesn't sleep. That's what the psalmist knew. The blessing of knowing where our help comes from as the psalmist knew.
[35:00] The blessing that we can know even in and sometimes especially in suffering. And finally, the blessing of spiritual refreshment in rough times.
[35:14] Tim Keller, the commentator, asks the question, what is God's help? The psalmist here speaks about God's help and Keller asks, what is God's help?
[35:27] It is spiritual refreshment, shade, through his presence. And again, I think it's fair to say that on first glance, this again is a point that's somewhat surprising, the blessing of spiritual refreshment in rough times.
[35:46] Again, we struggle to see how these two things fit together. If we were to paint a picture of where we could go to be spiritually refreshed, what would we paint?
[36:00] Where is the optimal environment for us to know and to experience spiritual refreshment? Some of us might say, well, that's the kind of thing that takes me to the beach, holiday time, no work, sun, relaxation, an open Bible.
[36:17] That's where I can be spiritually refreshed and recharged. Others of us might think about conventions and meetings, Keswick Convention. Our minds may go there, an army of people clad in beige waterproof clothing, going from one seminar and talk to the next.
[36:36] that's the place for spiritual refreshment, we might think. Others might say it's on a mountaintop. Others still might say it's in some ancient historic cathedral.
[36:47] That's where we find spiritual refreshment. That's the environment we are refreshing. Now, where does the psalmist find a place of spiritual refreshment?
[37:01] Well, he finds it in the going out and coming in of life. Which means, in other words, the daily activities of life.
[37:20] And the daily activities of life, the coming outs and the going ins of life, will inevitably involve trouble at times and difficulty.
[37:31] Jesus said to us in John 16, 33, in this world you will have trouble. Your comings and your goings, you will have trouble.
[37:43] And if the psalmist here is on route through the highlands of Judah, he knows there is a very real threat of danger. He's well aware of the risks and the potential troubles that could be up ahead.
[37:57] Other commentators think that perhaps the psalmist as he pens this psalm is in Babylon. I think it's less likely, but it's not impossible. And if he's in Babylon, he's in a place where he's surrounded by danger.
[38:10] And yet whether the danger that he senses is an actual danger or a possible danger, he writes here about being able to enjoy the shade and the shelter, the refreshment, the help of God's presence.
[38:29] verse 5, 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.
[38:40] 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 forever more.
[38:53] shade, this help, this coverage that the Lord gives to the psalmist. It's comprehensive.
[39:05] It's not some remote call center service that the psalmist writes about here where he hopes to be able to connect with someone far away and get some measure of help.
[39:19] the help the psalmist has here is at his right hand. Spurgeon in his notes talks of the Lord acting as our right hand attendant, placing us in comfort and safety.
[39:36] And that's what the psalmist is experiencing, this right hand attendance of God caring for him and sharing him and helping him. And there was such refreshment in that.
[39:49] And this refreshment of the psalmist experiences is not just for a short time during the day. This is all day. This is all night coverage. This is not protection from some harm with many exclusions.
[40:04] This is protection from all harm. And this is not just a promise that is for a short period in a difficult time. This is all of life cover.
[40:16] Verse 7, the Lord will watch over your life. Now you might ask the question is this prosperity gospel?
[40:30] You know is this a message of become a Christian and you'll be healthy and wealthy and safe and trouble free? Well I think we know the answer to that question and the answer is no it's not a promise of that at all.
[40:42] We know the Psalms I hope better than to suggest that. The Psalms are full of trouble. That's why when we experience trouble this is where we go. The Psalmist's life was full of trouble but in the trouble he knows God's keeping power.
[41:02] And the message that's coming through this Psalm is similar to the message that comes through Isaiah in Isaiah 43 where we read in the verses there when you pass through the waters says the Lord through Isaiah when you pass through the waters I will be with you.
[41:21] See the Lord doesn't promise that they won't pass through waters he says you will pass through the waters but I will be with you. And when you pass through the rivers they will not sweep over you.
[41:33] And when you walk through the fire you will not be burned the flames will not set you ablaze for I am the Lord your God the Holy One of Israel your Savior.
[41:48] See in these rough times of life the psalmist knows the refreshing the keeping presence of God.
[42:02] And then even as he goes from life to death that final going out. to that place of forever more.
[42:16] Still he has promised the refreshing presence of God. The Lord will watch over your coming and your going both now and forever more.
[42:34] The Lord will keep your soul. Is that what the metrical psalm says the Lord shall keep thy soul. He shall preserve thee from all ill. Henceforth thy going out and coming in God keep forever will.
[42:53] The blessing of spiritual refreshment shade in rough times. In rough times. God will be blessed.
[43:04] What a blessing as we finish that the psalmist knew and the psalmist shares with us. The blessing of suffering and the blessings that are found in suffering.
[43:19] The blessing of knowing where his help came from. The blessing of being able to sleep in peace knowing that the God who watched over him never slept.
[43:30] and never took his eye off him. And the blessing of spiritual refreshment of shade in rough times. That was the psalmist's testimony to this psalm.
[43:43] The question is do you know these blessings? Do I know these blessings? That's the question that we're left with. In fact it's more than a question.
[43:54] It's an invitation. It's a free offer to know the blessing. of God. The sad reality of the fall is that our sin cuts us off from the blessing of God.
[44:11] Our sin brings God's curse upon us but Jesus the saviour, the Lord, he took that curse upon himself. He took our sin from us.
[44:24] He is the Lord. Jesus is the Lord. He is the one that this psalm points to and this psalm ultimately is fulfilled in. Jesus is our helper.
[44:35] He is the one who is able to keep us through the power of his blood from all harm if we trust in him.
[44:46] God. And when we trust in him, we can know the blessing of God. In the toughest of times in life even, in death, in death's dark veil, still we can know the presence, the blessing of God.
[45:07] And then forevermore, that's the promise that we're given if we are in Christ, that we will know the blessing of God in full measure for eternity.
[45:21] So may we be given the faith to take hold of this invitation, to take hold of this offer, to take hold of the Savior and to know his blessing for life and for eternity.
[45:37] we'll pray. Heavenly Father, we do pray that this Psalm, which is so well known to us, would bless us in our own souls, in our own hearts.
[45:53] We pray that there would be no one who is within range of this message that would hear what the Psalmist speaks of and fail to grasp it by faith.
[46:07] We thank you that you care for us. We thank you, Lord, that you love us. We thank you that your desire for us is that we will know your blessing. We thank you that Christ has done everything possible, everything necessary to make it possible for us to know the blessing of God.
[46:26] And we pray that we would simply take hold of Christ this evening and know the reality of these things in our life. And we ask all this in Jesus' name.
[46:39] Amen. Amen. What a friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and grief to bear.
[46:57] What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer. prayer. Oh, God, how are we Because we do not carry Everything to God in prayer Have we trials and temptations?
[47:28] Is the trouble anywhere? We should never be discouraged Take it to the Lord in prayer Can we find a friend so faithful Who will all our sorrows share?
[47:51] Jesus knows our very weakness Take it to the Lord in prayer Are we weak and heavy laden Comfort with a load of care Precious Savior, still our refuge Take it to the Lord in prayer Do thy friends despise forsake thee?
[48:24] Take it to the Lord in prayer In His arms you'll take and shield thee Thou will find us solace there Do thy friends despise forsake thee?
[48:41] Take it to the Lord in prayer In His arms you'll take and shield thee Thou will find us solace there Amen And I may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ And the love of God the Father And the fellowship of God the Holy Spirit Be with us all both now and forevermore Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen
[49:43] Amen Amen Amen