Trust for the Journey

“Trust for the Journey”

Psalm 121
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Second Sunday in Lent

Psalm 121 is one of the most familiar and loved psalms in the Psalter.

It even made its way into pop culture in the 1960’s movie, “The Sound of Music”…

At the end of the film, when the vonTrapp family is preparing to flee from the Nazis, the Mother Abbess reassures Maria with these words:
“I will lift up mine eyes to the hills from whence cometh my help!”

The psalmist also seems to consider this a song about trusting God for protection no matter where we go…

It might have been a prayer the ancients offered whenever they set off on a long journey.

It seeks and trusts God to provide for safe travel…
it is not unlike our prayers for travel mercies.

Beyond this obvious analysis of what Psalm 121 meant to its original audience, I wonder what it means for us…

What words of comfort do we hear?

What images of God’s care do we see?

How does this ancient song help us along our journey of faith?

Let us pray…

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be pleasing to you, Almighty God, In Jesus’ name…Amen

Psalm 121 has been a prayer for travelers for centuries…

It is said that David Livingstone prayed this psalm the morning he left England for his African missionary journey in 1840.

Even so, verses 7 and 8 move us to understand that the psalmist’s very life is the object of God’s care… [Verse 7-8]

This psalm is really about the journey of life…
from birth to death and beyond…

This is a song we can reach for whenever we need assurance…

·         When our life is in turmoil…

·         When the path seems treacherous…

·         When we begin to think we are ineffective or failing to accomplish anything…

The psalmist gives us a place to go for help…
“I lift up mine eyes unto the hills – toward God – from whence cometh my help!”

The idea of God’s activity in our world today seems problematic for us…

The ancient Israelites held an image of God who was present in their everyday lives…

They believed the stories of the Burning Bush, of God speaking to Moses,
and the Pillars of Fire and Cloud…

They took it for granted that God listened to their prayers and that God responded…

They saw signs of God’s power everywhere they looked…
Not as proof of God, but as affirmation of their faith.

For us, things aren’t so simple…

We are so enamored of our science and technology that we have forgotten to leave room for God’s power to care for us…

We rely so heavily on our own ability, our personal success,
our skills, our brains, our courage…

That we forget to ever think we might actually be getting a little help from God

Why look to the “hills” when we are so happily self-sufficient?

The psalmist reminds us of our humanity and our inherent need for God’s help…

He tells us of a God who doesn’t even need to sleep and who looks out for us when we don’t notice…

[Insert Herkimer story from “Strength for Service”]

In a way, this story shows how God works with us…

Like the clay in this story, God works on us even when we are asleep.

How many times have you gone to sleep with a problem or question only to wake the next morning with the answer, or at least a clearer head?

When big decisions are needed we often say, “Sleep on it.”

God keeps working on our problems 24/7…

God is never out to lunch or on vacation…

There is NO PLACE, NO TIME, and NO CIRCUMSTANCE that is outside God’s care

I think that is the point of Psalm 121…

God protects us along our life’s journey; we simply need to trust God.

Trust takes faith AND the willingness to let God be in charge.

I also think that it is important for us to connect this psalm to our life as disciples of Jesus Christ

Discipleship is a journey, not a destination.

It is a difficult journey with many challenges that call us to do things we would not ordinarily choose to do…

We must make unselfish choices…

We will be inconvenienced…

Our comfortable lives will be disrupted…

We will have to work with people we may not like very much;
we will have to give away stuff that belongs to us;
we will be asked to donate money that we could be spending on ourselves.

Discipleship is a call to follow the way of Jesus, the example of Jesus.

Jesus’ journey led Him finally to the cross…

The good news is that God was even there, caring for Jesus…

As we follow Jesus on that way, we can rest assured that God will be there with us every step of the way…

[Read verses 5-8]

This is such a perfect promise…

Promises like this are exactly what the ancients placed their trust in…

This is the kind of faith that enabled them to leave Egypt and eventually get to the Promised Land.

This is the kind of faith that sustained them through the Babylonian Exile.

This is the kind of faith that comforted during the Holocaust.

This is the kind of faith that trusts without proof, no matter how difficult the journey.

Where is our faith this morning?

Are your eyes looking to God or to something else?

Even as our world slips, stumbles, and falls, do you trust God to keep us safe?

Do you really believe that the Lord will keep you from this time on and forevermore?

Scripture says it; I believe it; and that settles it.

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit…Amen