WADING RIVER CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH

SERMONS IN PRINT

Peter Vibert 8/13/06

Psalm 121:1-8 “God’s Watch ”

Those of you who have ever served in the military know what it means to stand watch. For a number of hours, you are responsible for the security of others; you have to be alert to procedures, to dangers and to difficulties. Some of you have perhaps worked in security and also know what this means.

But almost everyone has had the experience of watching over a restless baby, a sick child, a teenager way beyond their curfew, a loved one who is seriously ill or injured. You sit and wait and pray and “keep watch” – there may be little you can do, but you are certain that it is your responsibility to be there; you want to be there, to do this if you can do nothing else.

Although to most of us “keeping watch” is a passive activity, there are situations where it is much more; moments when it is our responsibility to actively guard and keep and protect. The news from Psalm 121 is that this is “God’s watch.” The LORD is the one who is watching and guarding and protecting our lives, and because of that we are secure.

1) Maker of Heaven and Earth

The Psalmist is a pilgrim, making his way in the company of other pilgrims to Jerusalem for one of the great festivals; a time of thanking God and seeking his blessing, a time of sharing in gratitude and petition with others who are also called to be pilgrims. Their journey may be long; it is mostly on foot. It takes time to get to the city of God – maybe weeks from some parts of the country.

And the journey is hazardous. Fatigue, hunger, thirst are everyday companions. People sleep beside the roads, the luckier ones in tents. The heat of the day and the burning sun of the Middle East are dangerous, and the nights are cold and are times to fear animals and brigands. The mountains present special problems, and around Jerusalem there are many of them. Within the city are four peaks around 2500 feet above sea level. Coming up from the below-sea-level Jordan valley means a climb of 3300 feet in 25 miles.

But nobody said it would be easy. Worthwhile pilgrimages never are. If you are going to get to the mountain of God, it’s going to be uphill from wherever you start. But this is the good news: the LORD is watching over your journey! And the first reason that is good news is that he is “the Maker of heaven and earth.” That is a phrase that has become famous because it is used in what we call The Apostles’ Creed. We say it here on Communion Sundays: “I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of Heaven and Earth...”

The Psalmist has been looking around at the hills and the mountains – perhaps he is near enough to Jerusalem to see Mt. Moriah (Temple Mount); Mt. Zion, the Mt. of Olives – and asks “where will I find help?” Is he thinking God is enthroned on the mountains, is he taken with the solidity and the scale of Creation, or is he looking at hills that hide bandits and wild beasts? Whether his thoughts of the hills are positive (as in the KJV translation) or negative (as in all modern ones), the pilgrim knows that the answer to his question “Where does my help come from?’ is that “My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth.”

Never mind the simultaneous beauty and terror of the mountains: God made them, he made everything that is, and it is better to be helped by him than by anyone or anything in this world! He is greater than anything he has made, and he is not defeated by any created thing – no matter how far from its original design or purpose it has gone. All things are still under his control – however great, however scary, however evil – and he has set himself to guard and guide his pilgrims through “this barren land” until they reach the city of God.

2) He Never Sleeps

There are other reasons to trust God as your guide, protector, watchman and keeper. He has been Israel’s protector down through the centuries, and if he can keep her from destruction, he can keep any one of her children from harm. Six times in this Psalm he is said to “watch over” his people.

What is more, this watchman never sleeps! “The LORD who watches over Israel neither slumbers or sleeps”! He does not get tired, he does not get bored, his attention does not wander. His care and protection are constant, minute by minute, day and night, year after year. He does not need to sleep – and why he made animals and humans that do, we are barely beginning to figure out; though it’s clear that sleep has many positive purposes, and cannot just be done without, despite what some people imagine!

But God does not sleep. His eyes are on his pilgrims day and night, and he never loses sight of them. He does not suddenly say “Uh-Oh, whatever happened to what’s-his-name?” With The LORD there is none of the “Has anyone seen the dog lately? Does anyone know where the baby is?” He knows his world and his people so well that not a sparrow falls to the ground without his knowledge, and he can even number the hairs on his pilgrims’ heads. If you are going to have someone watch over you, it’s impossible to beat someone who has a track record of caring for his own, who knows every detail of their lives, and who never sleeps! A baby-sitter who could do one hundredth of one percent of this would be worth a fortune!

So the Maker of all things, who has all power, is also the caring Father who has committed himself to seeing his pilgrim children safe through their journey to the holy city of God.

3) From All Evil, Everywhere, Always

What does all this mean to the pilgrim? That he or she or all of them together can travel in confidence. They do not need to be afraid of anything along the journey. They will encounter obstacles, they will get tired, they may wander off the path, they may get hurt or sick or run into danger – but the LORD has promised that he will get them safely to the end of their journey. They may come to slippery places, rocky places, sheer drops on one side or another, but he will not their feet slip; he will not let them slide into the abyss.

They can – as David said in Psalm 23 – expect to go through some dark valleys, and to walk in the shadow of death, but they need not be afraid because the LORD will walk with them and support them. They need not fear the enemies who are against them – and there will be some – because even in their presence, the LORD will spread a feast, and while the enemies lurk in the rocks and caves and grind their teeth, the pilgrims will sit and feast and make merry with wine and oil that the LORD has provided for their journey!

God will protect his pilgrims from “all evil” – not simply, as the NIV translation implies, keep us “from harm,” which could mean nothing will ever hurt us – but he will protect us from real and lasting evil that could destroy us. He will protect us against the heat of the sun and the seductions of the moon – in other words, he will be there with us at all times and in all places. He will protect “our going out and our coming in”. Perhaps to the Psalmist, that meant protection on his journey to Jerusalem and on his return home again. To many readers, it has come to mean “at our coming into and going out of this life.” The LORD will watch over our births, our deaths, and everything in between: he will “watch over our lives.”

And finally – if that is the right word – the LORD will be with his people “from now until forever.” No times are out of his reach or concern; we are never too young and never too old for him to care for us and guide us. He knows us and loves us and protects us from before we are born until we have passed out of this life into his presence, and then beyond that into eternity. He starts caring for us “now” – we do not have to wait until we reach a certain point in the journey, we do not have to enter the city before he starts protecting us. “From now until forever” is his watch. He does not clock in and clock out, and he never sleeps! Now and forever he cares for and he protects you and me!

4) Our Journey

What should we say to this? How’s your spiritual journey? How far have you reached on your pilgrimage towards the “city of God?” Is the path tough on the feet, some days? Too steep, too hot? Is it taking you all your time running off the road to find your children who are hiding in the rocks – the little ones thinking it’s all a game, the older ones up to who knows what..? Has someone in your family tripped over a rock and broken a bone, and you will have to carry them for a while until they heal?

Or you are wondering why you brought so much baggage on the journey, and who has the energy to push it up the next hill? Or where enough food and drink will come from for all of your party in the next few days? Has someone you set out with turned back? Has someone died along the way? How’s your pilgrimage?

Remember who is guarding you, who is leading you, who guarantees the success of your journey. The LORD is with you, he goes before you and he comes after you; he has been this way many times before; and even the stragglers and the people who are no longer journeying, he takes care of in his own way and time. (It’s as though he operates a hidden air-lift for those who fall along the way, and they in fact get to the celestial city first!).

When you are on rough ground, and you know you are in danger of falling, call out to your guide and watchman. When you are being burned up by the heat, ask him for shade. When you wonder what’s out there in the dark, ask him to protect you and your family. When you are concerned about what’s around the bend, or over the next hill, and how you will have the strength to get over the mountain pass you see up ahead, call on your protector and keeper. When you are afraid to stop and draw breath for fear of falling back down the hill, or rolling off the side of the track, remember who is keeping watch over you.

So relax a little, find some shade, take a rest. You will be fine, and you will get there - because God is on watch, and he promises to keep you safe until your journey is over.

Let us pray...