From whence cometh my help..?

Psalm 121
I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth. He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber. Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord is thy keeper: the Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand. The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul. The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even forevermore.

The psalmist begins with the phrase, “I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills…” Some have rendered this into more of a question, “Shall I lift up mine eyes to the hills? Whence should my help come?” likely because of the tense we find in the Hebrew. Since such a rendering can be found out of the Hebrew language I don’t think we do any harm to the Word of God by thinking of verse one in the form of a question. For many Christians Psalm 121 is a very familiar verse. Perhaps some of us are familiar with the praise song that is based on this psalm. What imagery is brought to mind when you read verse 1 of this Psalm? An internet search though google images brings up a plethora of beautiful images of majestic scenes of snow capped mountains reaching high into ocean blue colored skies and angelic white clouds hovering above with perhaps a beam of sunlight breaking through the heavens to reach the earth below.

Or perhaps we think of King David to be the Psalmist here, sitting at the foothills and mountains of Judea after spending long hours of labor tending sheep as a boy. Or perhaps when he was running and hiding from Saul taking refuge in such mountainous terrain and declaring his trust in God alone.

Such scenes are for me very peaceful and bring joy as I truly do love the glory of God’s creation. But if we stopped here at the mere consideration of the verse, we would miss a tremendous truth out of God’s Word for us. Perhaps you have heard of the sound rule of interpreting Scripture by Scripture. A.W. Pink in his book “Interpretation of the Scriptures” writes, “..the setting side by side of spiritual things (Scripture) serves to illuminate and illustrate one another, and thereby is there perfect harmony demonstrated.” Many of our Bible’s we use today contain Scripture references in the center column or some other place that help us make use of this principle. I would also highly commend to your consideration the use of the classic work “Treasury of Scripture Knowledge” in which is contained over 500,000 Scripture references to every verse of the Bible helping you compare Scripture with Scripture.

One such reference to our text here can be made to Jeremiah 3:23. In chapter 3 of Jeremiah the Word of the Lord came against Israel and Judah for their terrible backsliding they had committed. The Word of the Lord was against them for their idolatries and turning aside to other gods. This rebuke of God came to this people after the godly reign of Josiah and his reformations, but from which they had fallen away. The Lord was pleading through his prophet in calling the nation to repentance and at the same time declaring their utter destruction during the reign of Zedekiah.

The Lord by Jeremiah laments, “Turn, O backsliding children, saith the Lord; for I am married unto you: and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion: And I will give you pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding. “ God is pleading with His people to repent and turn from their sin and He would bless them. But they will not turn. “If thou wilt return, O Israel, saith the Lord, return unto me: and if thou wilt put away thine abominations out of my sight, then shalt thou not remove.” Jer 4:1. And by verse 7 the destruction is declared, “The lion is come up from his thicket, and the destroyer of the Gentiles is on his way; he is gone forth from his place to make thy land desolate; and thy cities shall be laid waste, without an inhabitant.” The call and pleading for repentence is given, but it is known to God that they will not repent.

And all there is for the prophet to do is weep and howl for the miseries which will surely befall his people. Jeremiah cries out in verse 10 saying, “Then said I, Ah, Lord God! Surely thou hast greatly deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, “Ye shall have peace; whereas the sword reacheth unto the soul.”

Friends, what is happening here is the fulfillment of what God swore to do in the days of Manasseh. It is written in the Scriptures concerning Manasseh that “And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, after the abominations of the heathen, whom the Lord cast out before the children of Israel. For he built up again the high places which Hezekiah his father had destroyed; and he reared up altars for Baal, and made a grove, as did Ahab king of Isreal; and worshiped all the host of heaven, and served them. And he built altars in the house of the Lord, of which the Lord said, In Jersalem will I put my name. And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the Lord. And he made his son pass through the fire, and observed times, and used enchantments, and dealt with familiar spirits and wizards: he wrought much wickedness in the sight of the Lord, to provoke him to anger. And he set a graven image of the grove that he had made in the house, of which the LORD said to David, and to Soloman his son, IN this house, and IN Jersalem, which I have chosen out of all tribes of Israel, will I put my name for ever: Neither will I make the feet fo Israel move any more out of the land which I gave their fathersl only if they will observe to do according to all that I have commanded them, and accoding to all the law that my servant Moses commanded them. But they hearkened not: and Manasseh seduced them to do more evil than did the nations whom the LORD destroyed before the children of Isreal. “ 2 Kings 21:3-9.

These deeds were so heinous in the sight of God that the Lord declared Israel’s and Judah’s destruction would be so bad, that “..whosoever heareth of it, both his ears shall tingle.” V.12 There was famine, destruction, death, captivity and slavery. All the holy things of the temple of God were carried away by the army of the Chaldees.

You may be wondering by now what any of this has to do with Psalm 121 and verse 1. “I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help.” The hills for Israel and Judah was their place of idolatry and shame. It is the “high places” that they set up altars to the host of heaven and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator who is blessed forever. In these high places they set up their images and worshipped the sun and the moon and the stars. And so the Psalmist writes, “Shall I lift up mine eyes unto the hills? Whence should my help come?” And the answer comes to us in the very next verse, “My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth.” For the psalmist, his help is not going to come from false gods or any creaturely thing, but from the Lord alone, the Creator of all things, the Maker of Heaven and Earth.

Friends and brethren, the Scripture says, “For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.” Romans 15:4 How often in times of uncertainty are people tempted to visit the psychic or read their horoscope in the paper, or some other mystical medium to give them some sense of certainty or hope.

The world today is mad with eastern religions and mysticisms, and it seems “Israel” is rushing headlong into the same flood of dissipation by adopting these same things with Christianized names. Pagan meditation is wholesaled into the Church as “contemplative prayer.” Evangelical churches are running into such practices as burning incense, using icons or images in their worship, and other mystical practices being brought into bible-believing assemblies by the mother harlot of them all, Romanism.

At the heart of all such practices is the dissatisfaction with the sufficiency of Holy Scripture. It is the acceptance, assent, and pursuit of divine revelation and illumination outside the pages of God’s only infallible Word and revelation. This is clearly seen is the popularity and perpetuation of the Charismatic/Prophetic movement. I understand and sympathize with the heart's cry for a real experience of God. Yet my brethren, this is not to be sought from God outside His Divine Revelation, the Holy Scriptures. Robert Burns, an old puritan, once said, "The principle on which experimental religion rests is simply this, that Christianity should not only be known, and understood, and believed, but also felt, and enjoyed, and practically applied." And this by and through the means of Holy Scripture read, preached, and expounded.

Friends and Brethren, shall we look up to the hills? Shall we look to the gods of the nations, atheistic philosophy, hedonism, mysticism and superstitions, or any other thing beside the Lord for our help? If we do, then we may share the same fate of the Jews in Jeremiah’s day. And what do the Holy Scriptures say to us concerning such things? “And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly.” 2 Peter 2:6

If you have never repented of your sins and turned to Christ Jesus to believe on Him and Him alone for the forgiveness of your sins in His blood, then you stand under the condemnation of your sins and the wrath of God abides upon you. You must think of it as if Jeremiah were speaking to you and warning you to repent and turn lest a terrible destruction befall you. God has spoken in these last days commanding all men everywhere to repent and believe the Gospel. His command is, “Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your heart.” The Lord has not left us ignorant of His coming judgment. By the hand of the Apostle Paul God said, “..the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of His power.” 2 Thess 1:7b-9.

The Bible says that all who repent and believe on Jesus Christ may have the remission of their sins in His blood and escape the wrath to come. Jesus Christ was crucified for sinners. And on the third day God raised Him from the dead for our justification which means to be declared righteous before an All Holy God because of Christ alone. Will you repent and look to Jesus Christ who alone can save you and forgive your sins?

May the Lord Jesus Christ be gracious to you and merciful toward you. May He make His face to shine upon you, lift up His countenance to you, and give you peace. In the Name of Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.