1 I look up to the mountains— does my help come from there? 2 My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth! 3 He will not let you stumble; the one who watches over you will not slumber. – Psalm 121 1-3 NLT
I’m on a team at our church that puts together the weekend message study guide that gets used for our small groups (or at least that’s the idea). Last week was my turn, so I got the privilege of knowing the topic, scripture, and normally even the sermon outline… however this time all I got were three fill in the blanks (for the slides) and the scripture – Psalm 121. I thought it was odd I didn’t receive the full sermon outline, but went ahead anyway with putting together the study guide. It was a fun journey, I hadn’t really gone deep into Psalm 121 in the past.
If you get a moment to read Psalm 121 in it’s entirety do it, it is only eight verses long, yet full of some of the most basic truths of our Christian walk. Sometimes it can be extreamly difficult to to realize that we are simply not in control, and that really, life is far more simple than we imagine, or make it out to be. However, in the midst of crazy times, and believe me I’m not short of crazy in my life, it is not easy to find the “simple truth”. The most significant theme in this Psalm is the fact that it declares God’s position in our lives, he is our King, and he is our God, and most of all he is our protector. Sometimes it may seem like a mind game to “lean on that truth” – nothing in scripture says it’s easy, or even anything like magic. It takes faith, and faith many times is not natural, it is, in fact, super-natural. Super – as in above, superior, and elevates the normal “situation”.
As long as I am in the right mindset to lean on these truths I find myself at peace, able to rest, and most importantly, able to process life. When I’m leaning on my own tools (worry, anger, fear, control) I lose hope, and many times cause damage to the relationships around me. Everyday I need to reboot, give up my control, and let God be in control.
May you know this in your heart with each moment of your day: Psalm 121:8 – The Lord keeps watch over you as you come and go,
both now and forever.