Day 20 - My Help For the Journey

The Psalms of Ascent were written because faithful Jews returned to Jerusalem for the various festivals every year, and as they journeyed, they had to "walk up" to Jerusalem...no matter what the direction they came from.  They "ascended" to the city where the Temple stood and made their pilgrimage in stages.

These Psalms marked their progress. Little by little as they walked along they prepared their hearts and souls for the reason they were going to Jerusalem. It was here that they would meet with God...offer their sacrifices...worship and pray...even though they did all of those things in their hometowns anyway. Jerusalem was the treasured city, the holy city, the city of David, the city of God.

Imagine the journey, the pilgrim walk and let’s walk along with them on our Lenten journey.  As they walked through the land, they saw the beauty of God’s creation and it created within them a realization:

One of the early Psalms, 121 says so beautifully:

Psalm 121:1-8

¹  I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come?
²  My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth.
³  He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber.
⁴  Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.
⁵  The LORD is your keeper; the LORD is your shade on your right hand.
⁶  The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night.
⁷  The LORD will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life.
⁸  The LORD will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore.

It sounds so beautiful, and yet it creates a question:  What does he mean when he says, “I lift my eyes to the hills.  From where does my help come?”  Mountains invoke grandeur, beauty, majesty, and awe.  Their immensity of size and loftiness can be a source of worshipful “Wow, God, look what you have done”, or it can be a source of “I worship nature.” 

The mountains in Israel became a stumbling block to many Jews. It was on the mountain tops that altars were set up in hopes of currying favor with one of the many pagan so-called gods - Baal, Ashtoreh, Ishtar, Molech, Rimmon, Ramman, to name a few. Most of these "gods" were worshiped for what they supposedly provided: rain, crops, sunlight, etc...but the temptation was always present for someone to "incorporate", “add to”,  a local god alongside as if to supplement that with their faith in Yahweh. 

This, biblically, is called apostasy because in the end within Israel, the "god" became more real to them than Yahweh himself.

To the Israelites God had spoken so clearly:

Exodus 20:2-4 ²  “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
³  “You shall have no other gods before me.
⁴  “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.

But, on mountain tops across all of Israel altars of incense, sacrifice and worship appeared. The Psalmist doesn't hide it, he acknowledges the fact:

Psalm 121:1

 I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come?

It was a question...one in which the faithful who refused the temptation of idolatry asked out loud.

"Is my help from the mountain...the gods...the gods who claimed to be God?"

Is my help in prosperity?

Is my help in politics?

Is my help in my addictions?

Is my help in what I can control?

The answer is always "NO". The Psalmist answers in vs 2:

Psalm 121:2  My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth.

It is a worshipful, good reminder to us, that God alone is what we need. There is no substitute in life...all other "gods" are not really God.

History is replete with “substitutions” for the real God.  The rise and fall of nations is a good reminder that there is only one true God, and our attempts at substitutes always create future problems. 

The Psalmist’s quiet voice keeps telling us there is a way to go, and all other ways are destined to fail.  Why do they fail? 

Walking along, we slip on the rocks, we tire in the journey, we become faint in the heat.

³  He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber.
⁴  Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.
⁵  The LORD is your keeper; the LORD is your shade on your right hand.
⁶  The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night

What does it mean?  It means that without warning, “stuff happens”.  The list of dangers to our self, in our society…the tragedies and pain-filled “what just happened” hit us everyday.

In Boston, during a Marathon

In a plane, flying towards China

One day all is well, and the next day, a diagnosis is made that changes everything.

An accident…on a machine, in a car, on a step ladder, or on the sports field, or court.  We never know.  We take precautions, read the instructions, learn the rules, fasten our seatbelts and wear our sun screen…but still “Stuff happens”.

How do we approach life then?  We’re walking along, and part of us is thinking about all that could happen, because of all that has happened…and then faith takes over:

Psalm 121:5  The LORD is your keeper; the LORD is your shade on your right hand.

Psalm 121:7-8 ⁷  The LORD will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life.
⁸  The LORD will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore.

We lift our eyes up…the hills with all their majesty and awe cannot protect us and keep us safe.  Our help comes from the Lord.  He is our confidence, He is our Hope.

Martin Luther who knew that well reminds us in this amazing Hymn:

A mighty fortress is our God, a bulwark never failing;

            Our helper he amid the flood of mortal ills prevaling. 

            For still our ancient foe doth seek to work us woe;

His craft and power are great, and armed with cruel hate,

on earth is not his equal.

          Did we in our own strength confide, our striving would be losing,

          Were not the right man on our side, 

           the man of God's own choosing.

          Dost ask who that may be?  

          Christ Jesus, it is he; Lord Sabaoth, his name,

          From age to age the same, and he must win the battle.

          And though this world, with devils filled,  

          should threaten to undo us,

          We will not fear,  

           for God hath willed his truth to triumph through us. 

          The Prince of Darkness grim, we tremble not for him;

          His rage we can endure, for lo, 

           his doom is sure; one little word shall fell him.

Peace