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e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e good evening everyone and welcome back to free Grace Baptist Church are welcome if you weren't here with us this morning it's good for all of us now to be in the house of the Lord for the worship of our Triune god let's get to that worship if you'll turn with me in your Bibles to Psalm 47 Psalm 47 that's our call to worship this evening Psalm 47 the word of God to the chief musician a Psalm of the sons of cor oh clap your hands all you peoples shout to God with the voice of Triumph for the Lord most high is awesome he is great king he is a great king over all the Earth he will subdue the peoples under us and the Nations under our feet he will choose our inheritance for us the Excellence of Jacob whom he loves say la God has gone up with a shout the Lord with the sound of a trumpet sing praises to God sing praises sing praises to our king sing praises for God is the king of all the Earth sing praises with understanding god reigns over the Nations God sits on his holy Throne the princes of the people have gathered together the people of the god of Abraham for the shields of the earth belong to God he is greatly exalted amen well let's stand and sing together as a church our first uh Psalm that we'll sing is 145 D is in David 145d let's stand and sing together [Music] will by still will my praim [Music] through his mesty can to age his [Music] work all glory and story and might ofure by and mercy Works ofing measure Works of Mercy passing and compassion so to all is good to all cre all his goodness all Lord bless me shall all my [Music] god let's go to our God In Prayer let's pray Heavenly Father we thank you for this Lord's Day evening worship that we can gather in this place as the Saints of the Lord Jesus Christ for the worship of the one and only living and true God Father Son and Holy Spirit we pray that you'd help us again to gather here as we have gathered that we'd worship you in spirit and in truth do help us by your spirit to worship you a right this evening we I pray that you would help us by your spirit to cast off any thoughts that would intrude that we would now be solely focused upon the worship of Father Son and Holy Spirit we thank you for salvation by Jesus Christ Our precious savior we know that salvation is not by Deeds of righteousness which we have done but much rather according to your mercy you saved us through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit and these these salvific blessings come by virtue solely and alone of the perfect finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ we rejoice in the fact that he came into this world Sinners to save that you did send him in the fullness of the times that he was born of a woman having assumed our Humanity that he came forth that he went about doing good that he hung upon the cross and that in that perfect work he has secured the salvation of a multitude which no man can number from from every tribe tongue people and nation and we do pray that you would help us to to daily appreciate our salvation but to daily appreciate as well the fact that we're not alone in that but we have a multitude of brothers and sisters throughout the world who confess the same Lord who have the same faith and we do pray that you would throughout the world uh Lord's day upon Lord's day and uh throughout the week as missionaries engage in missionary Endeavors we do pray that throughout the world you would bring forth dead Sinners to life in Christ that you would send your gospel forth and that by the power of the Holy Spirit uh thousands of newly redeemed tongues each and every day would sing the Praises of their redeeming King we do pray Lord God that you'd help us as we are now in worship once again we pray that you'd help us us to reflect upon your Perfections that you'd help us to reflect upon the Incarnation and the perfect work of Jesus Christ and that we would reflect upon salvation by amazing and Victorious Grace that we came forth not by our own doings but by virtue of the doings of the Lord Jesus Christ and his death and resurrection and that our Salvation is one that comes by The Amazing Grace of the Triune God we do pray God that you be with those unable to join us due to to travel to illness we pray that you'd watch over them that you'd strengthen them and we pray for the the sick in our midst uh whether here or away from us on able to join that you'd strengthen them that youd tend to the physical body heal their bodies that cause them to know gains in in strength and uh improvements in in Vigor of body and we pray for all of us that you would lift us up in the Inner Man cause us to daily reflect with joy upon you our great God and to be resting solely and alone upon the Perfections of Jesus Christ we do pray then that you'd be with Pastor Butler as he comes up here to preach in a number of moments as we often acknowledge the minister of the Gospel does not rest upon his own strength upon his own intelligence uh upon his own uh upon his own power but much rather upon the uh uh upon the power of the Holy Spirit we pray that you'd be with uh with Pastor malar as I correct myself in prayer as he uh as he preaches and as he knows your your Aid in the Pulpit we do pray that you'd help him uh strengthen him we thank you for his ministry and for his church there in in Armstrong that we have that Fellowship in the gospel we do pray Lord God that you'd be with those Saints as they uh have already gathered and completed their day of worship we pray that they would reflect with joy upon uh their Sabbath day today and that they would go into this week seeking to live in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ and we pray that for all of us uh in uh in this church in the church in sui all of those churches that are near and dear to us and and certainly no doubt Lord God in every single one of your churches that your people would be empowered by the Holy Spirit to rest solely and alone upon Christ and to go uh functioning and operating uh in a in an ungodly world to uh to to highlight to demonstrate and to to glory in uh the god of Heaven and Earth who brings forth dead Sinners to life do be with us now as we continue to worship as we sing hymns as we engage in prayer the reading and the preaching of the scpt scriptures might our Lord Jesus Christ be exalted upon the Praises of this local assembly we pray in his name amen well let's stand and sing again together this time 476 uh hymn 476 let's stand and sing together [Music] R my when sorrow my heart th me to it is it is my [Music] soul with My Soul [Music] this [Music] Christ my and his for my soul with my soul is is with my [Music] soul my S his glor I sing the to the cross and praise the praise the with My [Music] Soul Is My [Music] Soul as a strong the shall and the [Music] shall my soul it is it is well [Music] can turn in your Bibles with me to the Book of Joshua as we continue our Old Testament scripture reading consecutively we've got uh we've arrived at Joshua chapter 22 and once you get to Joshua 22 It's a larger section we'll we'll read it all but we'll just back up to Joshua 21:43 to help as a kind of a reminder in a in a transition in Joshua 21 43 to 45 we have a summary essentially of the entirety of the book of of Joshua the first couple sections in the entirety of the book as a whole as God uh as the the summary captures God's faithfulness in executing upon his promises Joshua 21 beginning at verse 43 so the lord gave to Israel all the land of which he had sworn to give to their fathers and they took possession of it and dwelt in it the lord gave them rest all around according to all that he had sworn to their fathers and not a man of all their enemies stood against them the Lord delivered all their enemies into their hand not a word failed of any good thing which the Lord had spoken to the house of Israel all came to pass then Joshua called the reubenites the gadites and half the tribe of Manasseh and said to them you have kept all that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you and have obeyed my voice in all that I commanded you you have not left your brethren these many days up to this day but have kept the charge of the Commandment of the Lord your God and now the Lord your God has given rest to your brethren as he promised them now therefore return and go to your tents and to the land of your possession which Moses the servant of the lord gave you on the other side of the Jordan but take careful heed to do the commandment and the law which Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you to love the Lord your God to walk in all his ways to keep his Commandments to hold fast to him and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul so Joshua blessed them and sent them away and they went to their tents now to half the tribe of Manasseh Moses had given a possession in Bashan but to the other half uh to the other half of it Joshua gave a possession among their Brethren on this side of the Jordan Westward word and indeed when Joshua sent them away to their tents he blessed them and spoke to them saying return with much riches to your tents with very much livestock with silver with gold with bronze with iron and with very much clothing divide the spoil of your enemies with your brethren so the children of Reuben the children of GAD and half the tribe of Manasseh returned and departed from the children of Israel at Shiloh which is in the land of Canaan to go to the country of Gilead to the land of their possession which they had obtained according to the word of the Lord by the hand of Moses and when they came to the region of the Jordan which is in the land of Canaan the children of Reuben the children of GAD and half the tribe of Manasseh built an altar there by the Jordan a great impressive altar now the children of Israel heard someone say behold the children of Reuben the children of GAD and half the tribe of Manasseh have built an altar on the the frontier of the the land of Canaan in the region of the Jordan on the children of Israel's side and when the children of Israel heard of it the whole Congregation of the children of Israel gathered together at Shiloh to go to war against them then the children of Israel sent Phineas the son of Eleazar the priest to the children of Reuben to the children of GAD and to half the tribe of Manasseh into the land of Gilead and with him 10 rulers one ruler each from the chief House of every tribe of Israel and each one was the head of the House of his father among the divisions of Israel then they came to the children of Reuben to the children of GAD and to half the tribe of Manasseh to the land of Gilead and they spoke with them saying thus says the whole Congregation of the Lord what treachery is this that you have committed against the god of Israel to turn away this day from following the Lord in that you have built for yourselves an altar that you might Rebel this day against the Lord is the iniquity of peor not enough for us from which we are not cleansed till this day although there was a plague in the congregation of the Lord but that you must turn away this day from following the Lord and it shall be if you Rebel today against the Lord that tomorrow he will be angry with the whole Congregation of Israel nevertheless if the land of your possession is unclean then cross over to the land of the possession of the Lord where the Lord's Tabernacle stands and take possession among us but do not rebel against the Lord nor rebel against us by building yourselves an altar besides the altar of the Lord our god did not Ain the son of Zarah commit a trespass in the accursed thing and wrath fell on all the congregation of Israel and that man did not perish alone in his iniquity then the children of Ruben the children of GAD and half the tribe of Manasseh answered and said to the heads of the divisions of Israel the Lord God of gods the Lord God of gods he knows and let Israel itself know if it is in Rebellion or if in treachery against the Lord do not save us this day if we have built ourselves an altar to turn from following the Lord or if to offer on it burnt offerings or grain offerings or if to offer peace offerings on it let the Lord himself require an account but in fact we have done it for fear for a reason saying in time to come your descendants may speak to our descendants saying what have you to do with the Lord God of Israel for the Lord has made the Jordan a border between you and us you children of Reuben and children of GAD you have no part in the Lord so your descendants would make our descendants cease fearing the Lord therefore we said let us now prepare to build ourselves an altar not for burnt offering nor for sacrifice but that it may be a wit between you and us and our Generations after us that we may perform the service of the Lord before him with our burnt offerings with our sacrifices and with our peace offerings that your descendants may not say to our descendants in time to come you have no part in the Lord therefore we said that it will be when they say this to us or to Our Generations in time to come that we may say here is the replica of the altar of the Lord which our fathers made though not for burnt offerings nor for sacrifices but it is a witness between you and us far be it from us that we should rebel against the Lord and turn from following the Lord this day to build an altar for burnt sacrifices for GR uh for burnt offerings for grain offerings or for sacrifices besides the altar of the Lord Our God which is before his Tabernacle now when Phineas the priest and the rulers of the congregation the heads of the visions of Israel who were with him heard the words that the children of Ruben the children of GAD and the children of Manasseh spoke it pleased them then Phineas the son of Eleazar the priest said to the children of Reuben the children of GAD and the children of Manasseh this day we perceive that the Lord is among us because you have not committed this treachery against the Lord now you have delivered the children of Israel out of the hand of the Lord and Phineas the son of Eleazar the priest and the rulers turned from the children of Reuben and the children of GAD from the land of Gilead to the land of Canaan to the children of Israel and brought back word to them so the thing pleased the children of Israel and the children of Israel blessed God they spoke no more of going against them in battle to destroy the land where the children of Reuben and Gad dwelt the children of reuin and the children of GAD called The Altar witness for it is a witness between us that the Lord is God Amen well just very briefly if if the last two chapters this chapter on its own as well but the last three chapters speak to anything it's about the unification of the tribes or the the unification the unity of the people of God to Rally around the the singular worship of the the Triune God we see here and there's a righteous response on the part of the children of Israel where we read in verse 12 that the whole Congregation of the children of Israel gathered together at Shiloh to go to war against them uh the tribes of Ruben and Gad and half the tribe of Manasseh because they were transgressing the very Divine rules captured in Deuteronomy 12 with regards to the centrality of the worship uh of Israel's God and so there is a jealousy there is a jealousy of course on the part of God not a a sinful jealousy or not even jealous jealousy properly speaking because God does not properly have jealousy but he does have a most Holiness Perfection to him and he cannot suffer his Covenant people to worship him uh in a wrong Manner and the people of Israel LED here by Phineas remember who's something of a hero and the the perfect man to lead this this inquiry into what's going on amongst these these two and a half tribes remember he's the he's the man that in the Rebellion spoken of with regards to Bal PE peor um he's the one who who thrusted that Javelin through uh Zim and the moabit woman and their transgression idolatry not only a spiritual uh adultery but a uh an actual fornicating Act of adultery in the midst of the congregation of Israel so he leads this inquiry and he leads this inquiry arriving at what is a blessed result that they were not engaging in idolatry they were not engaging in spiritual adultery but they had simply erected this altar as a witness to the to the to the solidarity that they wish to have uh with regards to the children of Israel and their their Oneness with the children of Israel if we had a if we had a a singular New Testament uh equivalent wouldn't be necessarily narrative but a theological summary it would be Ephesians four or five one Lord One Faith one baptism one God and Father of all and that's the that's the lesson that's the thrust that's the point of Joshua 22 and chapters 23 and 24 that follow the singular worship of the Triune God and God is jealous for his worship and might we also be jealous for his worship let's pray Heavenly Father we thank you so much for your word we rejoice in its goodness to us we thank you in your goodness towards us that you have revealed yourself to the sons of men that we might Avail of Salvation by Jesus Jesus Christ Our Savior we do pray that you'd help us once again in worship now as we move towards that Central act the preaching of your word we pray that you'd be with Pastor Mal jars that you'd be with the people here that we might in this act glorify the god of Heaven and Earth and we pray in Christ's name amen let's stand and sing together our final hymn is going to be 560 56 let's stand and sing together [Music] father of the heaven Earth Jesus Christ ouri son of the Holy Ghost for son he in [Music] iy as the prophet for he AR [Music] might coming he to the living and the I conf the holy Christ [Music] the the Church of Jesus holy cath we are through all the the of the sa for [Music] will his oh good evening everyone it's good to be here again to worship with you and again to hear from the word of the Lord you can turn in your Bibles to Psalm 121 Psalm 121 will be our passage this evening I'll read the entire Psalm together and then we'll pray before the preaching of the word Psalm 1121 it is a song of a sense I will lift up my eyes to the hills for whence comes my help my help comes from the Lord who made Heaven and Earth he will not allow your foot to be moved he who keeps you will not Slumber behold he who keeps Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep the Lord is your keeper the Lord is your shade at your right hand the sun shall not strike you by day nor the Moon by Night the Lord shall preserve you from all evil he shall preserve your soul the Lord shall preserve your going out and you're coming in from this time forth and even forever more amen oh let us pray together oh Lord most high again we do come before you and we appeal to the power of your spirit to be here Among Us Lord that you might dwell with us and that you might attend to the preaching of your word Lord I pray that you would reveal yourself through your word by your spirit to your people here Lord may you be glorified may it be for the edification of of your people here may it be for the Salvation of sinners Lord we pray for the aid from on high to uh to assist and or to and to assist in the preaching of the word so that we might hear from you now and we pray this in Jesus name amen so Psalm 121 if you notice at the top of the psalm it gives us a title song of ascent and if you look probably in your Bibles at many Psalms on the same page there we have the same thing a song of ascent they're all called that what or we might say a song for ascending or even a song for climbing and we have to ask the question what what are we climbing what is this talking about now in in this these Psalms were Psalms that the the children of Israel would sing as they were climbing as they were returning to Jerusalem and they were climbing the mountain that Jerusalem was on working their way Mount Zion the Bible calls it that so but in order for us to better understand what the significance of that is we have to locate this Psalm within the greater Biblical context the entire Cannon of scripture so that we can better then see how it applies to us now in the 21st century we're not climbing Hills on our way we don't climb Hills to to go to church those things how how are we trying to or how do we need to understand this Psalm here so that's what we're going to do first I'm going to spend some time giving us a bit of a greater the greater Biblical context that we need to understand in order to to understand this Psalm then we'll look at verses one and two the reminder of the Lord's identity the identity of the psalmist's god and then really the rest of the psalm is the practical application of that when when we know who our God is there's a lot of practical applications for that so 3 to six the climbers protection 7 through eight the climbers preservation so first the Biblical context in order to understand this we need to go back to the Garden of Eden Genesis 1 Genesis 2 that's where most often we need to go back to to get our the the context here and I'm going to say now I'm going to I'm going to pack a lot of information into you know probably not as much time as is needed for all that information but I do trust that U you know most of you probably familiar with a lot of these Concepts Covenant of Works type things um things that's that are going on that are revealed to us in the in the creation narrative so in Genesis chapter 2 we read about the creation of man and his unique role as God's image Bearer in the Physical Realm the or on this Earth and we also read that God had planted a beautiful garden and that Garden was on a mountain now it doesn't tell us in Genesis it was on a mountain but we can because we you know water flows downhill we know it's on a mountain because a spring flowed out of that garden and flowed down the this mountain and then went through out the four corners of the earth there Ezekiel 28 also tells it calls uh Eden the Holy Mountain of God so picture a garden on a mountain God creates this Garden he places man in that Garden but Genesis 2 also tells us that the land around this Garden was empty and and Barren and there was nothing growing in there Genesis Genesis 2 verse 5 before any plant of the field was in the Earth or before any herb of the field had grown so again we have a garden on a mountain and around that mountain is Wilderness and there is nothing growing in that Wilderness but God creates man to solve that problem why was there nothing in the growing there because the Lord had not yet caused it to rain on the earth and there was no man to till the ground so God then creates the Mist the raincloud that Waters the Earth and then God forms man of the Dust of the ground and breathes life into him so God solves the problem of nothing in that Earth by creating man man as God's image Bearer is then to go and to fill that Earth it's an empty Barren Earth he is told to be fruitful and multiply and fill it with image bearers and by and and also he is then to turn that empty Wilderness into a beautiful Garden Paradise he has to follow the pattern that God gave him on the mountain you you you hear the temple building language there too so for this to happen then Adam would have to go down the mountain he was he was created and placed in that Garden in the presence of God he would have to go down the mountain and then he would he would procreate with his wife they would fill this this Earth with image bears and they would and they would cultivate this Garden or this this Wilderness make it turn it into a beautiful Garden Paradise so what God had done on a cosmic scale where God had taken what was empty and void and nothing and Barren and brought order to it Cosmos from the chaos God had done this on a cosmic scale Adam as God's image bearer was to do this on a a global or a local scale as as God's image Bearer and then this is what this is what we have to where where we start to need to start we start seeing the connections when this task is done when Adam is when Adam has done his task and he has all his children there and they've they've turned this Wilderness into into a beautiful garden he would call his children then he and he would say he would he would say come children we're going back up this mountain we're going to we're going to climb up this mountain back into the presence of God and all the people would come stream from the four corners of of the earth rejoicing singing into the presence of God in that garden and then and they would say I finished Adam would say I've finished my task Lord here are all these children and God would God would then in the result was that they would get to rest In God's Presence they would get to enjoy the greatest POS possible reward that God could have offered man to be in his presence to enjoy his goodness and to dwell with him and also what we should know then too is that every seven days Adam was given a little taste of that every seven days he would have been he would he was to call his children even though the task wasn't done every seven days they would get to climb back up that mountain they would get to ascend into the or they would climb up enter that Garden garden and there they would meet with God and there they would have one day of rest and then and then they were to go down and continue the work that day of rest is the Sabbath day problem is we know that none of that happened did it Adam and Eve didn't have one child before before they sinned the Adam and Eve didn't even go down that mountain they stayed in the midst of the garden what was in the midst of the garden the tree of knowledge of Good and Evil that they were forbidden from eating from so they violated they broke God's law they did not fulfill any of the righteous requirements of what they were supposed to do they violated the law so we know that story Adam was exiled out of the garden he was sent out sent into that Barren Wilderness and the curse takes over thorns and thistles now spring up that are going to hinder them prevent them from doing any gardening that and and being able to turn this into this paradise they were supposed to their children when their children were born they looked more like the liar more like the murderer who had deceived them than they do their own Creator we know that from the story of Cain and Abel who murdered his brother but we also know that's not the end of the story is it in fact it's just the beginning we had one man who was supposed to obey God's law who was supposed to make a people to present to God to bring them into the presence of God this first man failed but we know another man was coming another Adam the last Adam Paul calls him who would come who would undo the who would crush the head of the serpent the serpent who had deceived Eve and Adam into into violating this law the who had deceived them into bringing the curse upon them and upon the Earth this man this man who had come who would come down the mountain and who would go rescue those those broken image bearers people who no longer represent their creator who are who are Tangled in the thorns and the thistles of sin and bondage and and the curse and he is there and then he would go to the four corners of the earth I'm not a flat earther in case anyone's wondering I'm using biblical language the imagery the Bible gives to us he's going to the four corners of the earth he's Gathering his people who are in bondage bondage to their sin the Bible uses the imagery of being Tangled in Thorns we can escape he comes he cuts us loose he breaks Us free he breaks our chains he G gathers them he calls them and he says come children we're ascending the mountain we're we're going I'm going to bring you into God's presence and he brings us he does that and he says here am I here am I and the children you have given me and then All Those whom he has rescued all those get to rest and enjoy God's presence forever we know that's our Lord Jesus Christ that's what he does he comes to this earth Adam Adam didn't want to go down the mountain Adam didn't want to to do his duty but Christ was willing to go down the mountain again I'm using biblical language here that's teaching us a point it's not a Jesus didn't literally come down a mountain Jesus came down from heaven down to earth what the mount what that signifies see remember Genesis even Genesis 1 and two is is Redemptive Revelation Dr barcelos taught on that at the at the last um the conference last year even those chapters are revealing Christ to us they're revealing the work of Christ what he had what he came to do we see that pattern already in in Genesis but Christ so so Adam was not willing to go down the mountain wanted to stay in the midst of the garden but what is but Jesus was willing and Jesus does die John 6:38 for I have come down from heaven not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me and this is the will of the father who sent me that of all that he has given me I should lose nothing but should raise it up ascending raise it up at the last day and this is the will of him who sent me that everyone who sees the son and believes on him may have everlasting life and I will raise him up at the last day so that's Christ the faithful Adam the last Adam the one who does what the first Adam failed to do the one who comes who his father has given him these children he says of all that the father has given me the father says I have ch there's children sons of Adam and Eve out there that I want as my children adopted into my family and you need to go and you need to rest them and you need to raise them up and bring them into my presence you need to go they're they're Tangled in those thorns and thistles they're in bondage to their sins they're sitting there ready to die you need to go redeem them and that's what he does so in one sense we could say that Christ has accomplished this work already Christ came down from heaven he didn't physically leave a place in he somewhere and come down coming down from heaven is Incarnation language taking to himself human nature assuming human nature he became a man and he lived he died he went down down the mountain to Earth we might again playing on biblical imagery he went down even lower into the valley of the shadow of death but then he too he came he rose up from the dead he ascended into heaven so in one sense Christ has completed his work already and that he has overcome death and the curse and he has ascended back into heaven into the presence of God but in another sense he's still working and he's still building his his church and he's still him and his bride the church as the church proclaims the gospel and brings that message that we heard this morning brings that God's gospel to the to the ends of the Earth he's still working he's still building his kingdom he's still calling Sinners out of Darkness bringing them into this glorious company that we call the church and then he's still he's still reigning he's still taking Dominion then as 1 Corinthians 15 says when the task is complete and when the last of the of the children have been redeemed that whole joyful company from every tribe tongue people and and nation and language is brought together rejoicing and he says here am I and the children you have given me present them to the Father the task is completed the second Adam the last Adam the Lord Jesus Christ does what the first Adam failed to do so that's the greater Biblical context that we need to understand this in and this this idea of climbing mountains what it signifies it signifies entering in to the presence of the Lord so when we come to the nation of Israel we in this in this old Covenant context that they are in with Yahweh the Creator they experience this same thing in an outward typological very physical way they had Jerusalem Jerusalem was on Mount Zion in Jerusalem was the temple and in the temple was where God dwelt so God the presence of God was on that top of that mountain in Jerusalem in the temple and they would go down the mountain out of the city and they would go and they would work in their fields or they would or perhaps they were fighting against their enemies and they would go out and when either the the work week was over or if the situation was a battle and the battle was done then the king would call his people and the king would say would would say come let us go up to Zion let us go up to the house of of the lord we see that in in many of these of these Psalms here Psalm 122 I was glad that joy that rejoicing I was glad when they said to me come let us go into the house of the Lord our Fe have been standing within your Gates oh Jerusalem so they were they would come into the presence of the Lord in that outward physical again typological sense pointing us to the Lord Jesus Christ so this joyful possession procession sorry coming ascending the Hill singing These Psalms the Psalms that we have uh that we're going to look at today into the presence of God so this Psalm then is here to teach us or or to be applied to to the people of God in their life in their journey into the presence of God at the end of the age when they die and and even and and more so at the end when the Lord returns and and the consummation of his kingdom so we apply it in that way where we are all in one sense climbing a hill climbing the mountain on this journey that will that will end with us in the presence of of the Lord being presented to him by our savior the Lord Jesus so now let's imagine the context here D perhaps it's David I don't know um I'm going to assume it's David that wrote this Psalm let's picture David he's in the plains below David was the warrior king the king had to come and and Conquer enemies he's down in the plains below maybe he's just won a battle perhaps and it's time to return back to the city back into Jerusalem and he's he's standing in the plains below these mountains and he looks around and he sees mountains all around him there and he and he sees Mount Bal Herman sometimes called Mount Herman or Mount Bale Herman in the north and Baal was said to live there that was said to be B mountain and Bale lived at the top and Mount Herman he saw Mount Herman there maybe he looked and he saw Mount Nebo in the land of Moab and where the God chimos was worshiped on the top of that mountain or maybe he looks more to the South and he sees those the high steep Red Cliffs dark Red Cliffs of Mount Seer and he knows or where the where the lived and then he but but he also sees Mount Zion and that's why he says here then in verse one I lift I lift on my eyes to the hills where does my help come from so again all of these all the Pagan Nations around Jerusalem they all claimed that their gods lived on these mountains and they all claimed that they that they or and that's where they went to worship their gods that's why was always condemned for having those high places because they went on high places or mountains where they where they were said to where where they thought they could worship all these other gods so when David's seeing looking at these mountains these high places all around him where all these other little G gods are worshiped he looks at them but he and he and he says where where has my help come from who's my helper my God my Defender he's The God Who dwells in Mount Zion Yahweh the Lord my verse two my help comes from Yahweh who made Heaven and Earth Yahweh I'm sure you're familiar with it it's just the Hebrew uh word name for for God who who we um who we call whom we call God the Lord capital L capital O R and D Yahweh David knows who his God is he knows his God is not like the gods of the Nations at all this is Yahweh this is yahweh's name means I am I am and that there's none like this one just like Moses said back in Exodus 15 after they crossed the Red Sea and pharaoh and his host were drowned in the sea Moses says who is like you oh Yahweh among the gods who's like you glorious in Holiness fearful in Praises doing wonders so this is this is Yahweh this is this is the Holy One of Israel Yahweh I am self-existent Eternal infinite in every way the Perfection of being and who the Perfection of being the one who is I don't get leave this for cam the one who is a say you can ask him for explanation later who is from himself if you ever heard of of divine a means he is from himself means he depends on nothing outside of himself to be who he is he doesn't need anyone to exist or anything to exist just as he is is and in his fullness and in the Perfection of his being that's who this God is and and and therefore everything else that exists is a creature has been made by this one that's what David reminds himself of here my help comes from the Lord who made Heaven and Earth Sovereign Supreme Lord King of the universe so Yahweh is not one God among equals David's not looking at all these mountains and and thinking wow I really hope my God is is stronger than than these ones is God Is Not Yahweh is not one God among many gods Yahweh is supreme Sovereign over all things and everything else that exists is a creature and therefore everything else that exists depends on this one this Yahweh for their very existence without him they would cease to exist and this God is David's God and this God is our God creator of Heaven and Earth never never forget that Brethren if you're a believer in the Lord Jesus if if you belong if you believe in him you belong to this God none like him none more powerful than him see David could have looked around at all these mountains he could have he could have looked at them he could have seen how tall um Mount Herman was the snow was on it all year round it never melted and the and and the Canaanites said our God is stronger than your God because his Mountain's taller than your uh than your God's Mountain he could have worried about that he could have looked at those those Cliffs where the lived and he knew how Fierce those were and how much they harmed his people he could have looked anywhere become anxious and worried but instead he looked to Zion to Mount Zion because that was the dwelling place of his God and His God was not like these ones he belongs to the creator of Heaven and Earth Whom Shall I Fear he says and that's the reminder that we need when we look around us we see evil in the world and it seems very strong at times and it seems very power powerful and it can be frightening and maybe it's more personal it's not out there but it's in our own lives as we feel the effects of the curse on us we feel the the the thorns and the thistles of life in a in a sin cursed World sickness and cancer and and and suffering and loss of life and trials but when we we need to look to Zion like David we need to remember who our God is remember who it is that we belong to it's so important that we know who our God is it's so important every Lord's day you have the opportunity to to to come and hear from him and to learn from him as he reveals himself through the preaching of the word to his people and more so here in this church you have you have the the Sunday School where you can really learn about who your God is uh take advantage of that it's it's there for your good I'll let you in a little secret I don't think it's a secret last at the at the um the conference Dr barcelos said to me he said I've listened to these guys confession studies on their on their website he said they this church is so blessed you have two men here who can teach you all about God about our Our God use it when I say right now we talk about Divine ay you might not get at all you spend some time learning about the what divine aity means what a comfort that is a comfort for the people of God to know who our God is because when we know him we can trust him we can be assured of of his protection over us and his and his preservation of us and that's the rest of the psalm here verses three and four he will not allow your foot to be moved he who keeps you will not Slumber behold he who keeps Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep you will not allow your foot to be moved think of climbing a mountain think of our life as a mountain climbing it's steep it could be slippery we can lose our footing we can slip first of all remember if you're looking up you're looking ahead you're looking to your God is is a sure way to keep you from slipping or to be kept from slipping when you know him if you're looking over your shoulder if you're looking down if you're dangling from a cliff and you're looking down as opposed to looking upward you may slip but look to the top there's our God he's waiting at the top of the mountain there our Christ is there seated in glory at his right hand that's means god uses to prevent us from slipping we see our Christ there we know what our Christ did he he climbed he's climbed that same Mountain he has he has suffered he's he's he came down the mountain first by becoming man and he took that same path that you're currently on it's a path of suffering and trials and difficulties but it's a path that leads to glory in his presence at the end so when we know our God we can be strong in the battle strong in the race strong in that Ascent of our life into his presence and we can trust him for the strength to keep us from from slipping and to be able to put one foot in front of the other on our in our walk through this life because there there may be times when when your path of life up up this mountain is a gentle winding path through through Green Pastures beside Still Waters but often the path of life is hard and it's uous and it's and and it's tiring at times and you might feel like that today that that tired that weariness of life there's so much opposition there's so much trials and and setbacks and difficulties you you feel those thorns and those thistles you know Tangled around you see trying to to pull you you down as it were but he promises here that he will not allow that to happen he will not allow your foot to be moved your foot to slip and again if you know him you can better trust him as and and that's the means by which he keeps your feet from slipping Isaiah chapter 40 says those who who trust in the Lord shall renew their strength and they will Mount up or they will soar or it will Ascend with wings like eagles see it doesn't mean when you trust in the Lord it doesn't mean the path suddenly becomes easy and suddenly every path is a is is through Green Pastures and by Still Waters it's not like that it still may be steep treacherous difficult but when we know who he is we can persevere we can trust him we can go in his strength to keep one foot in front of the other and keep pressing on to Glory where he's where he's waiting he watches over us he knows us he cares for us we may be tired and we may be weary but he never Slumbers or sleeps he tells us here he never grows weary he never he he watches over his people all his people he doesn't never has to take an na or he's never too busy somewhere else and gets tired from from taking care of of an orphanage in in Myanmar that he's too busy over there to take care of you here today he knows all things he knows his people he knows his own people this people that he has he has released from bondage and has sent on that Journey up this mountain he knows them na 1 ver7 the Lord is good a stronghold in the day of trouble and he knows those who trust in him he knows them he's the he's the the he's the keeper of Israel behold he who keeps Israel the or the he who keeps Israel the shoem man Israel the keeper of Israel watching over his people keeping them protector that's what keep means to protect protects them you may be weary but he never is weary he never ceases doing what he promised he will do to protect you to give you the strength to keep going even when the path may be very hard you can put one foot in front of the other and you can keep going up this mountain Glory awaits you at the top he's your keeper he never Slumbers nor sleeps in verse five the Yahweh is your keeper the Lord is your shade at your right hand the sun shall not strike you by day nor the Moon by Night the Lord is your keeper again go back to the Garden Adam Adam was to be The Keeper of the garden Genesis 2:15 The Protector he was to protect not only the garden but he was protect to protect his wife and to protect his offspring had he followed through um from anything evil anything that would seek to to ruin the goodness that he enjoyed but Adam didn't protect his bride his wife he should have grabbed that serpent the moment he sensed what that serpent was up to he should have grabbed that serpent by the Scruff of its neck and I don't know if serpents have necks I guess they're all neck he should have grabbed them by its neck and put it out of the garden back into the Into the Wilderness where it came from but he didn't and now as as Peter says that that this serpent he still the devil he still goes about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour he's still out there we saw in Thessalonians we didn't really see it too much but but he Satan was hindering Paul on his mission on his life and Satan is still out there seeking to hinder seeking whom he may devour but we have a promise here from Yahweh for his people that are on this journey and he will be our keeper he Yahweh himself keeping us from the mouth of that roaring lion from from the devil swallowing us up and taking us back for himself Yahweh himself as the second person of the Trinity takes upon himself our Humanity to come to rescue his bride to free them from the clutches of of our Captor and to protect us from him so we never need to be never need to fear being captured Again by this by this by Satan in simple terms when the Lord saves his people he does not lose them no no one can snatch them out of my hands he says we don't need to fear the Lord will protect us yes we may face his hindrances the the hindrances of Satan yes we may face this the effects of the curse all around us the thorns and thistles of life but none of that can keep us from arriving at our destination in glory Yahweh is our protector he's our keeper he promises to be there with us as well he's waiting for us in glory but he's he's also there with us as we go through this life he is your shade at your right hand there's two ways in which we can understand this this here is that he's like your Shadow he's your shade at your right hand he's your shadow that never leaves you you think of David climbing that mountain and the Sun is beating upon him and and as he looks down he sees his shadow and his shadow takes a step with him every time he steps another foot in front of the other the shadow is with him Yahweh is like that shadow with him every step of the way bringing with him into his presence in that in the temple in Jerusalem what like that for us Yahweh is there every step of the way ensuring we arrive in his presence and more so not only is God Is Not only the like the shadow that's being cast at our side but he's also casting a shadow over us or a shade over us to protect us and to keep us from uh and give us a reprieve from the heat so whatever it is in our life maybe right now you're facing something it feels like it's it's it's like a it's sapping your energy it's drying you out like a like the blistering Heat Of The Sun whatever trial it may be whatever whatever it is whatever we're facing and it doesn't matter how small it is either there's no there's no trial in life too small where God says you you're you you're on your own that's you can take care of that one yourself he never says that every trial every every thing that we Face everything we go through in this life he knows he cares he protects he keeps us he's promised to shade us here it may still be hot it may still be difficult but it will not overcome you it will not cause you to to to to die of heat exhaustion before you reach the top it cannot overcome you he promises he who began a good work in you will complete it to the day of Christ he promises you will make it not on your own strength but on the strength that he gives his people no matter how steep the path is no matter the trial you'll never slip and fall to your spiritual death he promises neither height nor depth nor any created thing will separate you from the love that is in Christ Jesus our lord that brings us to the the preservation the climber's preservation the Lord vers the Lord shall preserve you from all evil he shall preserve your soul he shall preserve your soul see David knows this wasn't ultimately about him climbing up this hill into Jerusalem he knows that he's writing this pointing us on that greater scale concerning our souls our spiritual life and entering into the into the presence of of of Yahweh for real not just the SIM what it the the temple in Jerusalem he will preserve your soul it's not about a physical climb up a physical Mountain to Physical City it's a spiritual journey and he promises to preserve our souls again there so it's not easy there's so much opposition Thorns trying to tangle us trying to impale us trying to trip us lions roaring fiery serpents trying to bite us so to speak we Face the curse we Face the curse in so many different ways through this life so we go through this life living in a in a creation as Paul says groaning waiting for the Redemption we Face the curse but God promises none of that none of that will cause you to lose your soul Matthew Henry says even that which kills you can't uh won't won't hurt you because he will preserve your soul because he has made that path he has he has blazed the trail into the presence of God he came down that mountain our Lord he walked he walked through the valley of the shadow of death he died for our sin but he was raised back up and then he ascended into the presence of his father he made the way he blazed the trail and that's the confidence that we can have that that we will be kept we will be preserved to that day those who are in Christ those who believe in him you will you will be brought to Glory because because our Lord rose from the dead he had conquered that curse he had overcome it paid for it in full crushed the head of the serpent overcome the curse power over it he has the keys of death and Hades now in his hand he will he will bring us to Glory the outcome is certain and why is that he says he is going to he will preserve us from all evil literally in the Hebrew he will preserve us from all Calamity or judgment is perhaps a better understanding of that he will preserve us from judgment the Judgment that we deserve for our sins the Judgment the Calamity coming upon mankind who has who who has for their Rebellion against their creator you sin against Yahweh this one who made Heaven and Earth you're that means all things there in that means you're sinning against your Creator and you deserve Calamity judgment because of that sin you you can't break the law of your creator the one whose existence you depend upon and expect to get away with it sin must be punished judgment must be me it out but he says he will preserve your soul see because he has provided a shade for for you he's your shade at your right hand he's provided a shade for you for that be from that judgment he's he he will preserve us from that because he's protected us from that and that shade that protection is Christ Christ took the the the heat of the wrath of of God for us in our place condemned he stood we sing that song I'm sure you still you sang it last week probably at the after communion in our place condemned he stood he took the wrath of God he Shields us from the wrath of God so that our soul may be preserved and so that our soul so that we may be brought to Glory so for for the believer here if you're if you're struggling if you're going your life is is hard it's difficult and nothing and and again nothing is nothing is too small for the Lord to care about but remember this if you're feeling weary and struggling you've been shielded from the wrath of God that you deserved for violating his laws because you're no different than that first Adam in the garden who didn't listen to God who didn't obey God's command and chose the LIE of the devil instead of to believe and trust in the goodness of God he thought the devil's way seemed so much better that fruit looked so tasty and maybe it was for a second as he swallowed it as he ate it it might have tasted good but it immediately he was abandoned and immediately he realized when I say abandoned I say by abandoned by by the devil who who had no interest did not have his best interest in mind Adams Even though he said he did but we're no different we have all sin we all thought sin was the better option and it looked good and maybe for for a moment it tasted good when we engage in sin and violated his law but it leaves us all in the same place as Adam out from God cut off exiled in in bondage but God came down the mountain Christ came to rescue us and he did so by shielding us from the Wrath by dying in our place bearing the wrath of God for us so that we can be forgiven that's one of the greatest greatest encouragements for the Christian to press on and and and and to keep running that race to keep to put another foot in front of the other no matter how ired you may feel he promises to give you the strength and all and he promises to be with you but he but he's forgiven your sin we say was it one that we sang uh the Bliss of this glorious thought my sin not in part but the whole is nailed to the cross and I bear it no more praise the Lord It's amazing when we think about that full atonement As we sing in in in uh Man of Sorrows full atonement can it be like can it really be full atonement every one of our sins forgiven and it can be and it is because we've been shielded because because of our savior and therefore we've been forgiven forgiven by Yahweh The Great I Am our creator the creator of Heaven and Earth has forgiven us because of Christ and we are his and we belong to him what an encouragement that is and that's our conclusion the final encouragement and conclusion to this Psalm here in verse 8 the Lord shall preserve you're going out and you're coming in from this time forth and forever more this is what we need weak in and weak out to hear from from our God to be reminded of our Christ of what he has done for us and that gives us the strength to go out again another week think of David and the Israelites in this context here they ascended just like I said in the beginning Adam he was given every day he got to before the task was done but he would get one day where he could where he could he was to go back up that mountain and go back into the garden with him with his children he would get to rest for a day and he would get to enjoy God's presence for a day day but it was just a day and it was just a taste of what was to come when he finished that task and for Israel they had the same thing every every Sabbath day every seven days they would come in out of their fields where they had been living their lives and doing their thing and in their working in their fields and hoing the ve the the the the thistles and pulling out thorns and thistles and and and laboring but every Sabbath they would get to come back singing these songs and they would get to come into Jerusalem and they would get to to meet with God in the temple but then the next day the first day or the next day then they would descend they would go out back out of the city back into those Plains again and they would continue their work fighting enemies fighting thorns and thistles in their Garden and in Christ when we are in Christ we again are offered a weekly taste of what is to come and that Weekly taste is what keeps us pressing on every every Sunday every Lord's day is a is a Sabbath day where we get to we get to stream in you get to stream in from the four corners of the Fraser Valley and stream into this place here and meet with God in his presence remember what I said earlier the greatest gift that God could have offered man as a reward for his work was eternal rest in his presence there's nothing better than that to be in the immediate presence of God with our savior in glor Glory forever the best gift God could have ever offered man and I would argue then the second best gift is a weekly taste of that in his presence on the Lord's day don't undervalue that Brethren take the Lord's Day seriously you get to come in and and learn and hear from this God as he as he speaks to you through the preaching of the word and he reveals himself to you through his word by the power of His spirit and you get a taste just a small taste of what is to come I know that's not the point of the sermon so much the Sabbath day concept but yet we can't miss that we can't miss that reality that every Lord's day we get to come into His presence we get to come we sing We Rejoice We Gather with his people in this small local local expression of of that greater church we come and we meet with him we hear from him and then on Monday tomorrow we go back out back out down the mountain so to speak back into our into the fields of our life where we work and we do our our callings and our duties and our responsibilities and we are contending with the thorns and the thistles of life in this lower world but God promises here he will preserve your you're going out and you're coming in from this time forth now as each week goes by each week week after week but then one day that Journey will be done one day we'll reach the top and when we pass into his presence and now that happens in a sense when we die but in the the the fullest sense at that last when our Lord returns and he and his kingdom is complete and he presents us to the father and as Hebrews says he he quotes um or he says there here am I and the children you have given me and Christ presents us to his father Christ that faithful Adam the faithful man who who did the father's d uh desires and obeyed his will and he presents us to God and says look father I've I've rescued them all every single one of those children you gave me I've rescued them and here they are and then we hear we'll hear the father say to him well done good and faithful servant you've done you've done the W my will you've done the will of your father enter into the joy of your lord you and and all of those children whom you have brought here that's what we have in our future for those who are God's people those who believe on Christ in in the Lord Jesus as their savior we have Glory awaiting us and be encouraged by this this Psalm was written by a man in the thick of it so to speak a man a man dealing with the the the cares of life it's written by a man in the thick of it for us in the thick of it the busyness the cares the trials the overwhelm struggles disappointments he knows what you're going through he's not too weary he never gets tired he knows he's never too busy he's bringing you to Glory he guarantees that he guarantees that that protection over you you've nothing to fear in this life looked his eye on behold your God you have nothing to fear he promises to preserve you till that day to bring you to glory to be with him forever more there's nothing greater than that and if you're here this evening this afternoon and and you are not a believer in this one this morning we looked at first Thessalonians the freeness 1 Thessalonians 2 the freeness of the Gospel it costs nothing it costs nothing to believe in this one you have nothing to lose nothing to lose you have everything to gain to be in his presence to enjoy his goodness abundance life eternal with him so believe on him trust in him repent acknowledge you sinned against the Creator who made Heaven and Earth that you deserve the Calamity of verse 7 you deserve the Judgment for your sin but God is offering you this now free to believe on him and he will right now picture yourself as as though to to use the imagery we've seen here as though you're Tangled in Thorns you're you're caught in the thicket you can't get out judgment's coming but if you look to him he releases you you from that your chains what does the HW writer say My Chains fell off my heart was free I Rose went forth and follow thee When You Believe on him that's what happens you're freed from that punishment you're free and you follow him and you you're on that Journey now up the mountain to where he is in glory there's nothing better so believe on him and you'll be saved I hope we are encouraged by this uh by this Psalm here may we as we go out into our weeks tomorrow the Lord will preserve you week after week until he brings you home to Glory with him let's close there in prayer Our Father I do pray that you would take your word bring it to Bear upon the hearts of your people Lord may this the Sheep of this flock be greatly encouraged today Lord may you use this word however you have orain gain it to be used for your glory we pray in Jesus name amen all right are we uh