Pilgrim's Problem

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"I lift up my eyes to the mountains—

where does my help come from?

My help comes from the Lord,

    the Maker of heaven and earth."

Psalm 121:1-2

Main Readings: Psalm 121-121 & Daniel 6

Supporting Readings: 1 Peter 2 & Hebrews 11

If you are a Christian who is weary in this world, or if you are unbeliever who is weary of this world, then this message offers you real and special hope this morning.

That’s my aim – to deliver the hope of these two Psalms to the weary soul who is weighed down in this world.

And my desire is that, by making God the source of that hope, I can honour Him with this message too.

We’re embarking today on a journey with the Psalmist from the weariness of exile amidst a hostile world to the glory and presence of God himself.

It’s a journey that every Christian has already embarked upon, and one they are longing to see completed. Our souls are not at rest until they find their rest in thee – Augustine said. What he had in mind was the rest of coming and trusting wholeheartedly in Jesus. But then there’s a fuller sense, that we are still restless until we exit this world and arrive in the presence of God – and his son Jesus Christ. For the Christian, there is a now and not yet aspect to rest. Yes, we have it now – really now! And no, it is not fully consummated yet.

That’s why Abraham was looking for a heavenly city. And we are too.

This Christian journey is a journey that is only possible because THEgreat Pilgrim who has gone before us.

He is our Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. Think about his journey he came into the world from heaven. And the world was hostile to him. He came to his own and his own did not receive him, John says. Isaiah says he was rejected and despised – a man acquainted with suffering; one from whom people hide their faces.

But he entrusted himself to his Father. And he made the pilgrimage from this world to the right hand of the Father via the cross and via the grave.

Every Christian, then, follows in the steps of their pilgrim-saviour Jesus Christ!

And it’s a journey that millions of unbelievers feel the ache of in their hearts. They don’t that’s what the ache is, but it’s there. And they needthe Lord Jesus Christ to transform them into pilgrims.

So, this summer we’ve got 8 weeks earmarked to travel through the Songs of Ascent. 15 Psalms that some have suggested, were especially currated to commemorate the return of the Jews from exile in Babylon to Jerusalem, the city of their God.

And that’s how we’re going to take them.

And so let me, by way of background, remind you that God had covenanted with Israel but their unfaithfulness was rife.

And in the end God brought the covenant judgements to bear on them. For 70 years the people of Judah languished in exile in Babylon. ButGod in his grace did not forget his covenant with his people – he’s such a faithful God you see.

Amazingly, God worked in the heart of Cyrus, king of Persia to return the people to their homeland.

And that’s where I’m suggesting these Psalms fit. There is no temple. There is no covenant experience. There is not much to hope in, to be quite frank!

Or is there?

We’ll see that God – who is the same, yesterday, today, and forever, is always worthy of hoping in.

We’re going to see how the flow of these Psalms, parallel the journey of our Christian pilgrimage from saving faith in Jesus to the throne room of God himself.

It’s a beautiful journey. And one, that I think, will mightily encourage and bless us.

This morning we’re at the start of the journey – we’re exiled and under attack.

And in that sense, this summer series and these Psalms, very much pick up where we left off in 1 Peter.

1 Peter also had us as aliens and exiles in this world.

And Peter’s tool, to help us through, was so often the promise of the glory to be revealed at the close of this pilgrimage.

And so, I think this summer series in the Psalms of Ascent will reinforce some of the same themes we’ve encountered recently in 1 Peter.

Well, you can see for yourself in verse 1 of Psalm 120 how needy the Pilgrim really is. He belongs to God but he’s in ‘great distress’, by his own admission.

And I think we can see quite clearly, from verse 2, why he’s in such great distress. It seems like there are people who are making it their aim to bring trouble on the pilgrim by lying about him.

‘Lying lips and deceitful tongues’ are the cause of his distress he says.

We might think to ourselves: ‘that’s not so bad. Sticks and stones and all that – right?’ Wrong!

In the ancient world where there was no court of appeal. Where there was no means of verifying the truth, the lying tongue was a very potent weapon against another person.

You could bring the claim before the supreme power of the land and place your enemy at the mercy of a king who had to justify himself to no one.

Just think of being in that position. Exiled in a land where the king wasn’t exactly an ally but your enemy!

What chance did the pilgrim have of exonerating himself? Virtually none!

It should put us in mind of the Jews in the day of Esther when one particular individual, Haman, could bend the ear of the king to establish a genocidal edict against the Jews of that day.

So, this is not sticks and stones type stuff! This is real peril for the pilgrim at the hands of powerful adversaries who are prepared to lie, manipulate and trick their way to their desired ends.

This is the life of the pilgrim – in constant peril; peril that is causinghim distress.

Let’s establish clearly that the source of the distress is foreign powersand that the situation is really that of exile. Let’s see that and not take it for granted.

Verse 5. The pilgrim says, ‘Woe to me that I dwell in the Meshek, that I live in the tents of Kedar!’

The woe he pronounces upon himself is a woe that chimes with the distress of verse 1. But it is also a woe that results from the whereabouts of the pilgrim.

If he were not dwelling in Meshek; if he were not living amongst the tents of Kedar, he would not pronounce this woe; he would not feelthis distress.

So where are Meshek and Kedar? Well, they are a long way from each other. And they are long way from home for this Pilgrim.

And it’s the fact that they are a long way from Home, that they show us that he is a long way from home. In actual fact, Meshek is way way west of his home. And Kedar is way way east of his home.

And so clearly, he couldn’t dwell in both these places simultaneously. Instead, these places figuratively stand for the reality that he is isolated, away from God, in a foreign land, and at the mercy of enemies.

His homeland is Israel. His home city is Jerusalem. His God is located in Zion – city of God. But he’s miles away and under the cosh in exile.

How long has he lived there? ‘Too long’ he says in verse 6. ‘Too long have I lived among those who hate peace’.

If only he were in Zion – city of God and city of peace! But he’s been living amongst a people who are waging war against him, and against his people.

When he speaks, he is for peace – like God’s pilgrims always should be. But that doesn’t matter – the people of that land, where he is, are for war, verse 7.

So, you’ve got the exiled pilgrim.

You’ve got aggressors on every side, intent to kill. Deceit is in their main weapon to make that happen. Every day is a new day of maneuvering, scheming, outwitting, and conniving, with a view to eliminating this pilgrim.

And when you see the background and build the picture, you can feelhis angst palpably.

This is not a restful position to be in. It gets him on edge. It makes him wonder – surely - how he will survive. He’s looking over his shoulder constantly. It’s not at all, a pleasant place to be.

Let’s not beat about the bush this morning. For the Christian, an exile is what we are too. And what we absolutely will be from the moment we come to faith in Jesus, until the moment we die – or Jesus returns.

The exilic life is the life we’ve been called to for the time being. We do, figuratively-speaking dwell in Meshek. We do figuratively-speaking, liveamongst the tents of Kedar. And we will for the rest of our earthly lives.

That period could be short, or it could be long, but it is the call on the believer. It’s the road Jesus walked; it’s the road we’ll walk too.

Why is it like that?

Well, it’s like that because it serves God’s eternal purposes to have us exiled in the world.

It serves his purposes for us - his people. It serves his purposes for reaching all his people. And it serves his ultimate purpose: that his glory and honour be enjoyed forever.

So, if you’re not a Christian this morning, you should know that becoming a Christian means that you will be called by God to live a radically God-centred life – what the Psalmist calls being ‘for peace’ in a world that is at hostility with the God you will come to call your Lord and master, and friend and saviour, and hope and joy.

This world and it’s master will hate us for belonging to God.

1 John says, ‘Do not be surprised brothers and sisters, if the world hates you’. And Jesus said, ‘if the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first’.

Don’t be surprised, children, if you feel like you would be ridiculedat school for standing up as a Christian.

Don’t be surprised employee if you get some heat at work for being the honest fair-minded peaceable Christian you should be.

Don’t be surprised when you get press-ganged by unbelieving family to conform to the pattern of this world instead of maintaining the impression you got from Christ Jesus, when you came to faith in him.

‘Don’t be surprised at these fiery ordeals’, Peter said.

But if surprise isn’t the right response – and distress is a naturalresponse – then what can we do?

And that is very much the question the exiled pilgrim is faced with here.

But he tells us what he does in verse 1. It is what we all must do.

And I want to advocate this morning for a very practical, deliberateapplication of this approach in our own lives.

Because I think we can hear the idea – like we are about to this morning – and then when the moment comes to implement it, simply forget to do it altogether.

And I don’t want that for you. I want you to triumph in this approach - as I think we’ll see the Pilgrim does.

Look at verse 1 with me and see what he does. He says, ‘I’. So, this is what he does. ‘I call on the Lord in my distress’. He calls on the Lord. Simple!

So, what is the content of his call? To whom is he calling? And what is the result of his call?

The content of his call is simple. Verse 2: ‘Save me, Lord’.

Notice how short it is. Notice how direct it is. Notice how dependent it is.

It’s just three words. There’s no beating around the bush. There’s no fancy words, or long introductions.

And it’s addressed in total dependency on the one who, alone, can answer the prayer. That is to God.

There is no doubt in this prayer, but there is a whole heap of desperation and dependency.

And we can pray this prayer. A heart-felt ‘Save me Lord’ will not miss the mark from any of God’s blood-bought pilgrims. Never.

If you ask for bread will he give you a stone – no! If you ask for fish will he give you a snake – no! He knows how to rescue his pilgrim.

Verse 1, ‘He answers me’. What is the result of the prayer? Verse 3, ‘What will he do to you?’

The pilgrim is now speaking to his enemy. ‘And what more besides’. That’s his way of telling us that what God will do to his enemy is sureand it is comprehensive.

Verse 4, ‘He will punish you with a warrior’s sharp arrows’. God will be a warrior on behalf of this pilgrim against these enemies of his. God will pierce them through with his deadly arrows in defense of his pilgrim. They sought to get the pilgrim with the arrows of their tongues, but God gets them with his own arrows.

More than that! He will also punish those enemies with the red hot, glowing charcoal, that comes from the most effective charcoal-making bush of all.

Extra hot coals are reserved for the enemies of God’s pilgrims.

They sought to get the pilgrim with the fire of their tongues, but God has his own coals for them.

It is certain and it is effective! God is not weak as some regard weakness. He hears and he answers. What he wills for his enemies, he will accomplish - and no one can stay his hand.

Now how does this work for us – Christian pilgrims in a land where we are not persecuted for Christ like this pilgrim was – physically.

But where we feel the pressure of the world to press us into its own shape.

Where identifying as a Christian can be costly in different ways.

Where temptation to leave off Christ is always present.

Where the devil prowls around like a roaring lion seeking to devour our faith in Jesus.

What does this prayer look like? And what does it accomplish. Because you can be sure of this: the God of the exiled pilgrim is the same God of the Christian pilgrim. So, no difference in the God who we’re praying to.

Will our God slay our enemies? Will he answer when we call out ‘save me Lord’? And what am I asking him to save me from, anyway?

Well, you can be certain, God will deal with our enemies.

If they be human enemies like the pilgrim had, then he will either, deal with them with eternal red-hot coals - in hell forever. Or he will save them by his own dear son’s death on the cross. And the punishment that should have fallen on them, will have fallen on him. That’s the gospel. And we should long for this outcome for our enemies, not the red-hot coals of hell. Jesus taught us to pray for our enemies!

If, though, they be spiritual enemies – not human ones. If the devilgets under your skin and whispers in your ear that the cost of being a pilgrim for Jesus is going to cost you too dearly…

And you shoot out this prayer: ‘save me Lord’. He will protect you from the fiery darts of the evil one – right there and then. He willbolster your faith so you can stand firm in it.

And this is one of the reasons, we are so easily undone when we come under temptation to count the cost of being a pilgrim. We don’t pray!

Get into the habit of; make it your practice from today onwards, that in the moment when I feel like Jesus is going to cost me too much – to cry out ‘save me Lord!’

In my experience, he will give you the strength you need to stand firmin faith and own Jesus as your Lord.

What does that mean for my distress now?

If the source is human, it means God will comfort you not with the immediate eradication of your enemies but with the knowledge that you will be vindicated in the end.

In that case, the answer is obtained by faith. Looking forward to a future vindication.

If, on the other hand, the source is supernatural, it means God will comfort you now with faith to fight the tempter’s power. But you can’t see that enemy. So that’s a matter of faith too.

What this means is that God is the source of help to all who by faithcall on him for aid.

And that takes us sweetly into Psalm 121. Because Psalm 121 is going to give us tools for faith.

In this Psalm we find the pilgrim looking upwards to the mountains. And the question on his lips is, ‘where does my help come from?’ Answer: ‘My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth’.

I love this Psalm! How can you not!

If you needed a reminder of how big this helper of pilgrims is – hereyou have it. He is only the maker of all of the heavens – the cosmos! And all of the earth. What scientists puzzle over now – in the 21^stcentury – our personal helper made. Remember that!

And for the exiled pilgrim, the dwelling place of God was in the mountains – that’s why he looks to the mountains.

And when Jesus ascended into heaven he was on the mount of olives.

The exiled pilgrim fixes his gaze from the land of his exile upon the mount of his God.

And we must join him in fixing the eyes of our hearts, by faith, on the ascended Lord Jesus from whence comes all our help.

Let us say, ‘our help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth’. What confidence that should give us!

There are three realms that peril comes from so far as the exiled pilgrim is concerned. There’s the world of the incidental. An accident on the mountains. A foot slipping on the edge of the precipice. Verses 3 & 4.

There’s also the world of the natural. The elements of nature – snow, wind, rain; tornado, rip tide, earthquake. Day and night; sun and moon – the threat doesn’t go away – it’s always present. Verses 5 & 6.

And then there’s the human sphere. Those whose design is to cause the pilgrim harm.

Who keep their eye on the pilgrim as he ‘comes and goes’ to spot an opportunity to finish him off. Verses 7 & 8.

From every angle, it would seem, there is peril for the pilgrim.

But look how hopeful the reality behind all of that peril is. Behind it, and over it, and bigger than it!

Verse 3 – he who watches over you. Verse 4 – he watches over Israel. Verse 5 – the Lord watches over you. Verse 7 – he will watch over your life. Verse 8 – the Lord will watch over your coming and going!

The Lord God of heaven has his eye fixed on you - his pilgrim - every single second of every single day of your life.

You are literally never beyond his gaze.

When you sleep, he doesn’t. Verse 3, ‘he never slumbers nor sleeps’. His gaze is on you, whether you are awake or asleep.

He intervenes, verse 3, to stop your foot from slipping. To prevent your death at the hands of the incidental.

He is actively the shade at your right hand, verse 5. Shade indicates protection. ‘At your right hand’ means at your constant service.

He never stops because he’s too busy. He never stops because he’s tired. He’s always there to preserve you. Therefore, no harm can overtake you.

He is keeping you, verse 7, from all harm. It’s a comprehensiveprotection policy that he has adopted for his pilgrim people. And onlyfor them. You are his precious possession.

And he will never stop either.

Verse 8 says, ‘both now and for evermore’. He will have this protective eye on you and his protective intervention for you for ever.

So again, you have to ask, what of the Christian pilgrim?

Afterall, don’t Christians die from incidents on mountain passes? They do.

Don’t Christians die in floods and earthquakes? They do.

Don’t Christians die at the hands of highway bandits? They do.

So, God doesn’t watch over them then? Does he?

He does watch over them. And he does keep them from all harm.

For the Christian pilgrim, the exiled pilgrim is shadow and example. But the Christian pilgrim lives in the fulness of the light of Christ Jesus which the exiled pilgrim never had.

That fulness takes the form of the spiritual and not the physical.

And so, the physical realms of incidental, and natural, and human have, by and large, given way to the realms of sin, the ideas of the world, and the operations of the devil – spiritual realms. And they are perilous for the Christian.

The foot slipping and the resulting fall into the precipice for the Christian pilgrim is the prospect of slipping into willful and patterned sin.

The sun beating down upon the Chirstian pilgrim is the sun of this world which, day and night, presents its ideas as appealing and normal and right.

And, let’s be in no doubt, Satan is absolutely on the lookout for an opportunity to catch us out as we come and go in this life.

And so, the message here is: God has got all three of these spiritual spheres of peril covered.

He will not let any harm come to his pilgrims from any of these spheres.

He will not let your foot slip into willful and protracted patterns of sin that would lead to your eternal demise.

He will be the shade at your right hand from the dazzling ideas of this world.

He will keep you from the marauding schemes of the devil who would catch you in his craftiness.

How does he have all these bases covered? Two things.

His power, verse 2. He’s the maker of everything; therefore, he is sovereign over everything.

And second, his watchfulness. He never takes his eye off us. He watches over our coming and going both now and forevermore.

Psalm 121 is therefore, powerfully comforting and hope-giving. It is packed with assurance for the pilgrim.

Nowhere in it, does the Pilgrim do anything. He just reflects, throughout, on who God is for him.

And we would add, who God is for us because of Jesus.

Jesus is our great intercessor. What we have from God, we have because Jesus has made us to be God’s pilgrims.

Psalm 120, on the other hand, has the pilgrim: praying; depending; being a certain way.

So, do they cancel each other out?

Which should we be?

The psalm 121 type or the psalm 120 type? And the answer is: yes.

We need to be both.

All the things that God is for us Psalm 121 are so good, and they are all gifts to us.

All his pilgrims get those gifts on account of their Lord Jesus Christ.

They will all be kept from ultimate faith-destroying sin. They will be shaded from the faith-destroying effects of the world and its ideas.

They will be shielded from the fatal faith-destroying darts of the evil one.

From God’s perspective that’s a done deal and not one single pilgrimwill be lost from all those God has drawn to himself and granted faith in Jesus.

But God uses means to make sure we access the watchful care and protective interventions he makes on our behalf.

One of those means is the prayer of Psalm 120. ‘Where does my help come from’ the pilgrim says in Psalm 121. Anwer: ‘It comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth’ Psalm 121.

How is that help obtained? ‘I call on the Lord is my distress, and he answers me’, Psalm 120.

What assurance Psalm 121 imparts to our beleaguered souls - that the Lord will keep us, his Pilgrims, to the very end.

What urgency Psalm 120 imparts to our beleaguered souls that the Lord will have us pray for the help he promises in Psalm 121 and depend upon him for the protection he will supply.

So, it’s not an either/or situation. It’s both. And these Psalms together teach us how to proceed.

So, let’s do that.

As weary pilgrims let’s hope in his promises and let’s lean on him for the fruit of those promises, in prayer.