Tabor Baptist Church

Intro

• A wonderful Psalm, very positive
• A man who loved God fell into adultery, another denied The Lord, another doubted that Jesus has been risen from the dead, a missionary got cold feet, two great men had a dispute
• What does verse 3 mean?
• All of the above slipped, doubted, were moved
• Does it mean that God will protect His people from physical danger?
• Not a blanket promise for this
• God does not promise automatic protection for His people
• v7 - God says He will preserve our soul, our spiritual wellbeing
• Is it saying that God will not allow those who are His to fall away from salvation?
• This is a central truth of this Psalm
• If we are saved we will always be saved
• Could it be that this Psalm is speaking of the Messiah
• That His foot would not slip, that He would not sin
• The emphasis of this Psalm
• God will keep His people (v3, 4, 5, 7, 8)
• God will preserve His people
• God will lead you to heaven
• Sometimes we wonder if we will make it to the heavenly city
• We are full of doubts and worries
• If God has saved us He will keep us to the end
• This Psalm was sung on the way to the great feasts
• There were 3 great feasts each year
• Perhaps this was a young man going up to feast
• He was worried, where would he look for help
• The answer comes to him in v3-8
• There is a change in tense [from 'I' to 'you'
• There is a progression from fear to trust

He will help you (v1-2)

• 15 Psalms of Ascents (pilgrim songs on the way to Jerusalem) from Psalm 120 - 134
• People have fears
• Exams
• Leaving home
• Making friends
• Being accepted
• Dying
• Not having enough in life
• Of losing our faith
• Where does our help come from when we have these fears - The Lord who made heaven and earth
• Perhaps the hills represented:
• Difficulty: hilly terrain to transverse
• Idols: see Jeremiah
• The greatness and grandeur of God's creation: deliberate will to look up to the hills, I am looking to the Lord
• He will help us as He is a mighty and powerful God who made the heaven and the earth

He will hold you (v3-4)

• Have you walked with a child and held onto them so they won't fall
• Have you ever held onto to someone when climbing down a slope
• God has a firm hold upon us
• Even though Simon Peter denied The Lord, He still had a hold on Him
• He prayed for Him
• He drew him back to Himself
• Psalm 73:1-4
• His faith almost faltered as he saw the wicked around him prospering
• These people would be judged by God and go to hell
• God will right every wrong
• Ps 66:9
• God watches over every single child
• 24 hours a day
• God never sleeps
• God is working to preserve you
• Isa 40:28-29
• God neither faints nor is weary
• He increases the strength of the weak
• He will hold us because He is an active God

He will protect you (v5-6)

• This pilgrim would have been fearful of attack
• Maybe fearful of the intensity of the sun
• Maybe fearful of the cold weather at night
• This is an Old Testament picture of a spiritual reality
• We face strong temptations and trials
• We come under spiritual attack in all sorts of ways
• The Cambodian Church faced it's worse time in 1975
• The church was growing vastly, almost 4000 and 100 being saved weekly
• The Khmer Rouge slaughtered 3 million people
• 90% of the church was wiped out
• Some of the church survived
• God did protect some of His people in amazing ways but others were taken to glory
• We hear of similar stories in the Bible
• He will protect His people in that He will not try them beyond what they are able to bear

He will preserve you (v7-8)

• Was Job preserved from evil?
• He lost of all his children
• He lost of all his possessions
• He lost his health
• He wife urged him to curse God
• He never lost his faith or salvation
• God carries His people when they have no strength to carry on
• Our God is a Good Shepherd and tends to each member of the flock
• "The Lord will deliver me from every evil work" - the Apostle Paul
• He was not saved from shipwreck or prison
• He was saved from the evil works against him
• The Prayer of Jesus for His disciples
• Do not take them out of the world but preserve them
• Jesus prays for His disciples, this is encouraging
• Let your loving kindness and tender mercies preserve me

God is a God of wrath but we must never forget his love and mercy