Skip to content

The River ChurchSermons

Chuck Lindsey · 5 Jul 2026

Chuck Lindsey · Sunday, 5 July 2026 · 42:12 · 6,546 words

There is no public page for this message yet — the transcript below is the whole of it.

Psalm 121 is used to ask whether we live mainly for the horizontal world or for the vertical, eternal kingdom. The sermon shows that trouble bends our heads down, but the psalmist decides to lift his eyes to the Lord, who alone can help because he created everything. God promises protection, refreshment and eternal preservation of the soul, even when circumstances are hardest. Listeners are challenged to stop looking sideways or downward and to look up to God first, trusting him as their true help and salvation.

What this sermon is about

Ranked by keyness against every other sermon in the corpus. Each one is a word this sermon actually said — nothing here was written by a model.

grip 15 help 48 keep 31 horizontal 9 shade 9 existence 11 rest 19 vacation 10 refreshment 6 stable 8 preserve 7 plane 7

Topics

Salvation 4 Prayer 2 Faith 2 Israel 1 Baptism 1 Hope 1

Scripture referenced 7

Verified against the transcript. A reference the recording does not support is never listed here.

Psalms 121 1:17 Psalms 121 1:22 Hebrews 1 16:05 John 10 29:58 John 10:3 30:27 John 10:4 30:54 Genesis 50 37:54

Transcript

Every word, as spoken, with the second it was said. Each word links to its own entry in the index.

Pre-service announcement — 7 lines, 0:35. Excluded from every count and search on this site, kept here so nothing is hidden.

Hi everyone, my name is Jules, and thanks for checking out one of our sermons today.

We are so glad that you're here, and we want to connect with you and your family.

The easiest way to do that is to text THERIVERCHURCH to 97000.

There you can ask questions, submit prayer requests, and even support The River Church financially.

At the end of the day, we just want to connect with you and be a blessing in any way that we can.

You can also visit our website at theriverchurch.cc to learn more about us and what we have going on as a church.

Thanks again for joining us, and we hope that you are blessed by today's message.

Alright, well good morning. Good to see you this morning.

Good to be together with you.

Just want to re-emphasize, you come here next week,

you're going to have to have church right there on the steps or in the parking lot by yourself, okay?

We're going to be at the fairgrounds, alright?

So we'd love to have you out there with us.

It is a wonderful time together, a wonderful time to celebrate together.

It's one time a year we do it, and so we'd love to have you be there, okay?

Well, this morning, we've been making our way through the Psalms,

You've been enjoying the Psalms?

I certainly have been loving the Psalms.

Today, we come to another one of my favorites, Psalm 121.

So if you've got a Bible, Psalm 121.

It's where we're going to be this morning.

And I have read this Psalm so many times in my life.

Maybe you have, maybe you haven't.

It is a tremendous blessing, the words that are here.

So let's prepare our hearts.

Let's go to the Lord, the writer of the Psalms.

Humble ourselves before him, and let's quiet our hearts.

Let's ask him to speak to us today, okay?

Lord, we come to you this morning.

We thank you for your word.

We thank you for the truth of your word.

Lord, in a world full of so many lies, your word is truth, and truth sets us free.

Help us, Lord, this morning to hear your heart.

Help us to hear your word.

Help us, Lord, to see you and to know what you want.

We pray you would speak.

Thank you, Lord.

It's in Jesus' name we pray.

Would you describe your life as mostly horizontal or vertical?

What do I mean?

Well, by horizontal, I mean, do you live life mostly focused on the horizontal plane of existence?

Right?

The earth.

What's on it?

What's in it?

What's happening here?

Or would you explain, would you, would your life sort of be,

you know, a picture of what it means to live life vertically, right?

Mostly focused, right?

Nobody's perfect in this, but mostly focused on the Lord, on his kingdom, on his words,

on eternity, heaven as your real home.

Are you earthly or are you eternally minded as a person?

It changes the way that you live here, right?

We were just, Dave and Cindy and I, we were just talking a few moments ago about, you know,

work and business and different things and, and being in a, in a, in a corporation and

not living for money and not living for a title and not living for the horizontal, but

living for the eternal.

It changes the way you go into everything.

Let's ask it this way.

What would God say about your existence?

Would he say that you are primarily focused in the horizontal or in the vertical?

You know, one of the things that separates.

Human beings from the animal world is our ability to look up the plane of existence

for an animal is entirely horizontal.

I know all dogs go to heaven.

I know, right?

But the plane of existence for any animal is truly as horizontal as it really can be,

right?

That's the plane of existence.

The Bible says is for the unsaved man or woman.

It was the plane of existence for me as an unsaved man, but as people made in his image,

we have the ability to look up.

We have the ability to commune with God, to fellowship with God.

So our plane of existence can be vertical.

It can be eternal.

And so the,

The born again person begins to be at the moment that they receive Christ.

They begin to their life begins to orient from just this horizontal thing to now this vertical communion with God.

First words of the psalm ask us to evaluate where we're actually living, what the plane of our existence is.

It asks us to evaluate our lives.

Look at verse one, I will lift up my eyes to the hills from whence comes my help.

By the way, you need to sneak in the word whence anywhere today in conversation, okay?

You get extra points if you sneak whence into a conversation.

All right, the first words of the psalm, a decision has been made by the psalmist, right?

Something has been decided.

Something has been thought through and a conclusion has been arrived at.

The psalmist has been going through trouble, has been going through difficulty, has been going through hard things, fearful things, trouble.

Is this you?

You're currently facing trouble, fearful things, frustrating things, disappointing things, hurtful things.

A decision has been made in the psalmist's life.

A conclusion has been reached.

It has come out of testing everything.

And maybe you've already done this.

You've already tested.

You've already come to this same conclusion.

It's come out of testing everything and anything around him that could give him real hope.

The conclusion is really, really simple.

It's this.

I will look up.

Instead of looking down, instead of looking side to side, I will now look up for my help, for what I need.

He says, I will lift my eyes.

The decision there is to no longer look here.

For help, but to look there primarily to him for help.

The hills that the psalmist is referring to is refers to Jerusalem, which was set on the highest hill in the land.

And for a person to lift up their eyes to the hills that Jerusalem sits on was another way of saying, I'm going to lift my eyes to the Lord.

Right.

It was a symbol.

I'm going to look now from everything else.

I'm going to look to.

It wasn't to the city of Jerusalem.

It wasn't to the stones.

It was to the Lord God who said he would inhabit that place.

And so it was a synonymous thing.

And so, you know, the thing about trouble in life is it has a way of bending your head down.

It's the weight of it.

It's the heaviness.

And it sort of pushes your head down.

And if you're not careful, right, you end up we've all been here.

You end up staring into the trouble for long, long periods of time, long seasons.

And when it becomes too much.

We often then try to turn our heads side to side in the picture, right?

We start to say, who can help me?

We start to look at the people around us.

Help me.

We look to people.

We look to places.

We look to things.

And we start.

Right.

We need people to comfort.

I just need to get away.

I need to get on vacation or something or this thing.

This thing will make me feel better.

It's all very horizontal.

It's all very temporary.

Please hear this.

The solution is always up.

The answer in whatever we go through, whatever you're going through today.

The solution is not to keep staring down into it, not to keep going over what was said,

not to keep going over what has happened, not to keep thinking of what could happen.

The solution is not to continue to analyze.

It is not even to look side to side.

It's not to try to find help from people or from places or from things.

The solution is to look side to side.

It's not to lift your head up.

It's to look up from the problem in need to God for help.

It's to look to him expectantly for God to provide what is needed.

I would ask you right now between you and the Lord.

Is this your posture today in your heart, in your mind?

You are in need.

Is your head up or down side to side for help or looking up?

Know this.

The longer we stay looking down.

down or even side to side for our help, the longer we will go without the real help that we need,

without real lasting help. Once we look up, Lord, you are my help. Lord, you are my hope. Now you

have begun a process that results in real lasting help. The question the psalmist asks is really a

very raw question that every person really who has tried to look for help elsewhere finally asked,

where can I actually go to get what is needed? Have you ever thought about that? When you've

tried people and they're well-meaning, but it doesn't work. And when you've tried things and

it just doesn't work. And when you've tried places and it just doesn't work. When you've

tried all this, who can I really go to? Who is actually going to help me in my real need?

In my marriage, in my relationships, in my heart, in my lack of joy or hope, right? The answer is

given in verse two. As we said, it's a tested answer. He's tested this. You don't have to.

You can just take it. I like this. Like learn from somebody who went through it, right? Instead of

having to go through it and figuring it out. Let's learn from what he says. Here's the truth. Verse two,

my help comes from the Lord who is made.

And in earth, my help, my real help comes from the Lord. Do you know this to actually be true?

Can you say it? You found that, Hey, as, as well-meaning as people can be, your help comes

from the Lord. You found that as much as you wanted to try to make it happen yourself, your

help comes from the Lord. You've given up on that. You found that vacation doesn't fill the soul.

Like it promises, by the way, if you're ever taking your kids on vacation, you can't call it

vacation. It's not vacation. It's a trip. It's letting you know. That's why you're tired when

you come home. Okay. I'm just telling you like, we're going to go on vacation. I'm like, are you

taking your kids? And I'm like, I'll pray for you, right? You're taking your kids. Oh, vacation. It's

going to fill the soul. Nope, nope, nope. Won't do that by itself. You've proven that buying things

doesn't bring happiness. That entertainment doesn't fix the problems that substances don't

change anything for the better. Can you honestly say this statement today? The Lord is my actual

help in whatever I need, because here's the truth. That is actually true. Whether we recognize it or

not, it is actually true. Our ultimate help can only ever really come from the Lord. Think about

it this way, right? When someone helps me in some way, is it really only that it is the person who

is helping me? Or is it not also God who is working and moving in and through that person to

help me? Who's behind the scenes? Is it not true that he works behind the scenes, all things

together for good to those who love him and are called according to his will?

And so you help me, but is it not ultimately he is helping me through you? Is he not our help,

right? If the doctor helps to heal, was it the doctor who healed? Is there healing in doctor's

hands? No. Let me just answer that for you. No, the healing is in the Lord's hands. Was it the Lord

who guided, provided, worked, and brought healing? We know it is. Is your money from your job or does

it come from the one who provides? Is it ultimately

him when every good, every perfect gift we know comes down from the father of lights?

James chapter one, verse 17. Where does your help come from? Where do you look? Well, the last part

of verse two tells us why we as people should turn to the Lord first before anything else.

Why? Ready? Look what it says. The end of verse two, he made heaven and earth. None of us did.

You, you can come to me, but I can't do anything. You can go to your spouse. They can't do

anything. He made heaven and earth. Many times we go to the Lord as the last resort. When nothing

else has worked, when I have not been able to do it, when others have not been able to help me,

when nothing has worked out, finally, I go to the Lord. We tell someone in our life,

you know, I think I'm going to start praying and they go, oh my gosh, has it gotten that

that point? Has it gotten that bad? Right? It's like, has it come to that? Surely there's something

else you can do before you have to go to the Lord, you know? But when you think about it, that's

insane. Going to the Lord as the last result is the dumbest thing we could do. Why? Read the end

of verse two again. He made heaven and earth. He made everything from absolutely nothing. The Hebrew

words in Genesis one are beautiful. It's a beautiful study. And it literally says that

there are two Hebrew words for made or created. One means you create something from existing

material, right? So that's how you create. You go to Home Depot, right? And then you create.

He created from nothing. These things did not exist. It literally means to create

from nothing. He brought things into existence, right? That is how he creates,

right?

And so that's the words of Genesis chapter one in Hebrews, excuse me, in Hebrew, he brought things

that did not exist as though they existed, right? Into their existence. And this means he can do

anything that you need him to. So maybe in you, there are things that have never existed.

Patience has never existed in you. You need God to create that from nothing. You can't,

but this is what he does. You've never had selflessness. You've never had hope. You've never

had joy. You don't even know what that is. You need God to create that in you. There's nothing

for him to work with. He's going to have to make it. He can do this. This is what he does. He made

heaven and earth. Again, it's attached to his help. Where do I look for my help? I need help

being godly. I need help trusting in the Lord. I've never had that. Yeah. He creates these things

from nothing. I've never had forgiveness. I've never been able to find it yet. The Lord can

create this in you. You got to go to him for your help. I've never had self-control. Boys exploded

in anger. I need godliness. I need self-control. I've never had it. I can't find it. I can't put

it together. I can't make it. Yeah. God's got to make it in you. You got to go to him in your need.

And so you're like, what I need does not exist in me. Well, he made heaven and earth from nothing.

He brought things that do not exist into existence. He can do it in you. This is why you

should lift up your eyes to him first for your help. Why would I go first to anyone or anything

else when he is creator, when he is all powerful, when he is all knowing, when he sees all, when he

always does what is best? I mean, why would I go to another person first? Why would I go to something

else first? Now, please hear me. This is not to make you cynical of people. It's not to turn us

into a bunch of Eeyores.

You know, well, nobody's going to help me. So nobody loves me. It's not to turn you into a

cynical person. Nobody, nobody cares about me. So I, nobody's going to help me anyway. Don't,

don't do that. Right? Don't do that. This is meant to remind you. It's meant to convince you

of where to turn first, where to turn primarily, not to look to your spouse or to a friend or,

or to anything else to primarily do what only God,

you know, you're not going to be able to do. You're not going to be able to do what only God can do.

Look to him before anyone and anything else. Well, verse three tells us that what he does,

people cannot do for you. They cannot do for me. Look what verse three says. He, what will he do?

He will not allow your foot to be moved. He who keeps you will not slumber. He's not going to

sleep. So as you look to the Lord for help, what will he do? He will do what nothing else can do.

What no one else can do. There's a whole list here. The rest of the chapter is really,

uh, you know, an expose of what God does in our lives and, uh, the very real things. These aren't

just things in your, you know, theory. This is real stuff he does in your life. And,

and each one of these cannot be given to you by another person, even those with the best

intentions, your spouse cannot keep you, cannot keep you, cannot hold, your children cannot hold

you in the place you need to be held. People are not anchors. Places are not anchors. Things are

not anchors. The Lord alone is the anchor. So first, look what it says, verse three, he will

not allow your foot to be moved. So the idea here is, right, to be moved means that you are not

stable, right? So it's the opposite of being planted and stable in a position, right? So

it means you're moved from your place by what has happened. And so it's a picture

of life's troubles. Sometimes things are so intense, they're so hard that they move us,

they shake us, you know, from our stability into instability, right? We're moved, we're shaken,

we're knocked down, we're moved from our hope, we're moved from our trust, we're moved from any

peace, right? We're moved from our certainty. Promise here, watch this, as you look to him,

as you lift up your eyes to him, instead of to you, instead of to others, as you look to him

for your help, he will make you stable. Now you can't just know that, you've got to actually do

that. As you look to him, he makes you stable. The classic picture that always comes to mind for me

in this regard is Peter walking on water to Jesus. And I love this story because I try to think,

would I have ever asked Jesus to get out of the

boat and walk to him? I don't think so. I am way too cautious for that. I'd be like, Peter,

you're a lunatic. You're about to drown, you know? But Peter's like, Lord, I've got an idea. Permit

me to get out of the boat and walk to you on this water. I'd be like, Peter's lost it. He's gone.

That's it. It's over. Peter has lost it, right? But he gets out of the boat and he's walking

on water. Waves are crashing. Peter is stable as he looks at Jesus. He keeps his eyes on Jesus.

Waves are crashing. Peter is stable as he looks at Jesus. He keeps his eyes on Jesus. Waves are

crashing around him. The sea is deep. It's dark. There's a storm like all of this. Every danger is

under him, right? Everything he could be afraid of is there. He's on top. He's stable. He's walking.

Well, while Peter's eyes were on Jesus looking to him for what was needed, he was above the water.

He had stability. But the passage says there came a point when Peter looked away from Jesus,

maybe just over Jesus's shoulder.

He didn't necessarily go, where am I? He knew where he was. Maybe just over Jesus's shoulder,

he sees waves beginning to crash. And all of a sudden, the fear, all of a sudden, the worry,

he takes his eyes off of Jesus. And we know what happens. He immediately sinks. And he shouts,

Lord, essentially, save me, catch me. And the Lord grabs him. But this is such a powerful picture

of what it means to look to the Lord's stability, look away from him,

complete instability. And whatever we go through, if we look to him, we keep our eyes on him.

He makes us stable. And practically, this is going to look like, instead of being afraid,

somehow you are sure. Not because you have a guarantee of it being fixed, but because of him.

Instead of being stressed, you're resting. Instead of being hurt, you are forgiving. Instead of being

weak and powerless, we have his strength for what is needed. Instead of being confused and not knowing which way to go,

somehow we have wisdom and we know what to do. We go on and on, right? But the way that he does this

is really, really special. I love this. He keeps hold of us. Look at the end of verse three.

He who keeps you will not slumber. He will not sleep. Do you know the keeping power of our Lord?

What a picture. Can you see it? The reason the storm doesn't knock you down is because he's got

his hand on you, around you. You're in his hand. You're being kept safe by him. You're being kept

safe by him. His power, his strength is what keeps you from failing. It's what keeps you from

falling. It's not your strength. It's his strength. I have rejoiced in these verses for many, many

years. I read it the first time. I distinctly remember I read it the first time in Bible college when I

was really struggling with a particular idea. You see, early on as a Christian, I thought that it

was my grip on Jesus that kept me in him. I wonder what you believe. Is it your grip on Jesus that

keeps you in him? And you're trying, you're like, I'm trying to hang on to Jesus. I'm going to hang

on the best I possibly can to Jesus. I'm going to get it right. And here was my problem, right? I

wanted to, I wanted so desperately to hang on to Jesus and that it was my grip that would keep me

in him, that would keep me saved. I had such a hard time, though I was desperate to be in Jesus.

I had such a hard time being faithful. My grip failed constantly. I felt like I held and let go

a thousand times and I was exhausted, frustrated all the time, feeling like I lost my salvation.

Every time my pastor would give an altar call, I was up there

really, Chuck, you're here again. Yeah. Can I get baptized? You were baptized an hour ago.

We probably shouldn't baptize you again. You know, I mean, I'm like, I want to be saved. I want to be

saved. I'm like over and over and over. It was my grip. I thought on Jesus constantly giving my life

to the Lord, begging him to take me back. Just total failure. This went on for the first year of my life

in my walk with the Lord. And it continued, as I said, into the first semester of Bible college.

It was there that I read,

this verse and a few others, and everything changed. Everything. I came to understand what

the scriptures teach. It is not my grip that holds me to him. It is his grip that holds me to him.

It is not my faithfulness to him that keeps me in him. It is his faithfulness to me that keeps me

in him. I love it. I was reminded of this truth this past week in my morning devotions.

Charles Spurgeon wrote this. Bear with me. It's just,

it's beautiful. Here's what Spurgeon said. He said, it is ever the Holy Spirit's work to turn our eyes

away from self to Jesus. But Satan's work is just the opposite of this, for he is constantly trying

to make us regard ourselves instead of Christ. He insinuates, your sins are too great for pardon.

You have no faith. You do not repent enough. You will never be able to continue to the end. You

have not the joy of his children. You have such a wavering hold on Jesus. He said, all

these are thoughts about self, and we shall never find comfort or assurance by looking within.

But the Holy Spirit turns our eyes entirely away from self. He tells us that we are nothing,

but that Christ is all in all. Remember, therefore, love. I love this. It is not your

hold of Christ that saves you. It is Christ. It is not your joy that saves, not your joy in Christ

that saves you. It is Christ. It is not even faith in Christ, though that be the instrument. It is

Christ's blood.

It is Christ's blood and merits. Therefore, look not so much to your hand with which you are

grasping Christ as to Christ himself. Look not to your hope, but to Jesus, the source of your hope.

Look not to your faith, but to Jesus, the author and finisher of your faith. We shall never find

happiness by looking at our prayers, our doings, our feelings. It is what Jesus is, not what we

are, that gives rest to the soul. The truth of that needs to be understood, read, shouted,

prayed, talked about constantly. Here's what I know. If it had been my grip, the strength of my

grip, I would have lost it all a long time ago. I would have never met any of you. I'd have been

gone a long time ago. And when I thought it was my grip, my faithfulness, my ability to stay away

from sin and unrighteousness and all of that to become righteous, I lived in continual,

miserable failure. But his grip, his powerful grip does not fail. It

cannot fail. What life this gave to my soul. I have rejoiced in his grip ever since.

Jude 24, now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you faultless before

the presence of his glory with exceeding joy. What keeping power. If you are in his hand,

you got to be in his hand. You got to know the Lord. You got to be his. But if you are in his

hand, you can rest in his hand. He is not going to lose you. This is what,

Jesus said in John 10.

what did he say? And I give them, not they worked for, and I give them eternal life and they shall

never perish. Neither shall anyone snatch them out of my hand. Can you rejoice in that this morning?

You cannot be snatched out of his hand. Beautiful. You are safe in his hand. He will keep you.

Now notice in verse three, that not only does he keep us, but he does not get distracted. He who

keeps you will not slumber or sleep. There isn't a moment when he stops keeping you, which I would

be worried about if I weren't told this Lord, is there a moment where you stopped keeping me

where I have to, where I have to grab ahold of you again? Is that what has to happen? Right?

There's not a moment when he gets distracted. There's not a moment when he takes his attention

off of you. Verse four, reiterates it. Behold, he who keeps Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.

So here, Israel was just a designation for his people. Meaning what he says here applied

to the original people that knew and loved him to you and I today who know and love him.

He does not sleep. He does not slumber. It's telling us that his grip does not even lessen.

It does not even lighten. If you go to sleep, holding onto something tightly, what are the odds

that you are going to continue to hold onto it tightly all night? Probably not, right? Something

during the night, right? Your grip is going to loosen on that thing. Here's what we're told.

Loosen so that you are not dropped. You are not lost. You are not forgotten. What a beautiful

thing to tell us as people. He doesn't have to tell us stuff like this, but he tells us he wants

you to know this, not just know it. He wants you to, he wants it to change who you are. He wants

it to change the way you live. Verse five, the Lord is your keeper. The Lord is your shade at your

right hand. Do you believe that, that the Lord is your keeper or do you still think that it is you

who keeps you?

It's a really important question. Every, every believer must answer this question. Well,

the next question you have to wrestle with is where do you go for rest? Where do you go for

refreshment? Can I ask you that when you're actually stressed, when you're actually hurt,

when you're actually afraid or tired or whatever it is, where do you go? What do you look to for

rest and for refreshment in corporate America, right? There's the weekend warriors, right? It's

like, we're just going to put our head down and do everything we possibly can just to get to the

finally to the weekend. Weekend is going to be the greatest thing ever.

Every weekend, you know, where do you go for rest refreshment here? The psalmist has tested

something else. He tells us what he has tested and knows to be true. Verse five, the Lord is your

shade and your right hand shade is relief in the hot sun this past week. I didn't want to be in

the direct sun, right? I wanted shade. I wanted relief. The hottest I've ever been in my life.

Eric, you can testify the black top of a prison yard in the middle of Ohio in,

August. There are no trees. I don't know why. Maybe they think they'll pull them out and kill

each other with them. I don't know, but there's no trees. There's no shade. There's nothing. You're

just like, you know, if I hadn't been saved, I would get saved because I would know what hell

felt like, right? I'd be like, it's like this, right? The black top. I'm sorry. Just strike

that from your memory. All right. But just melting, right? No shade, no trees. Shade is

synonymous with relief. It's synonymous with rest. The Lord is our rest. He himself is,

our rest. Can I ask you, are you good at rest? How many of you say you're really good at rest

when you need to rest and you go do whatever it is? How many of you you're good at doing that?

Get all the hands. There's so many. So you're terrible at rest. Okay. All right. Yeah. I'm

going to, I'm going to just relax. I'm going to watch something super restful. I'm going to scroll

on my phone. I'm going to come out of it more stressed and frustrated and angry than when I

went in. I need some rest. Where's Facebook? I'm going to go on vacation, do this and that and this

and that. And you come back, you're like, I am exhausted. I need to go to work. I need to get

some rest. You know, listen, the Lord is not might be the Lord is our shade. He is our rest. He is

our refreshment as people. Do you understand something?

This is how you were designed.

You were designed by God to not be able to find rest and refreshment apart from him.

You were designed by God this way to not be able to find it apart from him.

He designed us as people to need him, to only be able to live connected to him,

to only become full through relationship with him,

to only be able to refresh by interaction with him.

Look anywhere else first and you will be disappointed.

Now, let me clarify, right?

A vacation can be restful, but not by itself.

It's not going to fill the soul by itself.

You can't, a vacation from work and responsibility,

when you couple that with time with the Lord, that can refresh.

But on its own, it cannot do this.

Most beautiful place on earth and no meaningful connection with the Lord

will never refresh your soul.

Now, another aspect of this picture of sun and shade,

something other than refreshment is also protection.

That's why verse six says,

the sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night.

In a very real way, the Lord is promising our protection.

The picture here is of the sun beating down on you.

It's so hot, you need shelter from it.

You need protection.

This is a promise from the Lord that if you look to him,

if you are his, he will protect you in the midst of,

catch this, the most intense moments in life.

The Lord will be your shelter in the most intense moments.

The sun might still be beating down,

the circumstance still going on,

but the Lord is the shelter in it.

And he promises safety from the damage that it can do.

Even the moon by night,

which refers to the fears that might be hiding in the dark.

I don't know what's coming.

And even there, the Lord is your protection

from the crippling fear, right?

That could happen.

So verse seven,

the Lord shall preserve you from all evil.

He shall preserve your soul.

Now, does this mean that nothing bad will ever happen to us?

No, please hear this.

It's such an important,

important point.

What it means is that whatever happens to you

will always be used to help you.

The word evil used there in Hebrew,

it describes something happening to us

that just produces nothing good.

You realize the Lord will never allow this to happen

in your life.

He'll never allow this to happen.

To say it differently,

he will never let what happens to you

be simply useless evil.

He won't let it happen.

Everything even intended for you,

for evil,

he will use it for your good.

Think about Joseph in Genesis chapter 50,

all that his brothers did.

And in the end, what does Joseph say?

You, you meant evil against me.

You wanted to hurt me,

but God meant it for good.

He changed it in order to bring it about

as it is to this day,

to save many people alive.

God worked in it.

He will never allow simply useless,

evil to happen in your life.

So hear that today.

If you are his, you cannot lose.

William McDonald said it this way.

It is a solid fact that nothing can come

into the life of a believer

apart from God's permissive will.

There are no random circumstances,

no purposeless accidents,

no fatalistic tragedies.

Though he is not the author,

please hear that,

he is not the author of sickness,

suffering, or death.

He overrules and harnesses

them for the accomplishment

of his purposes.

In the meantime,

his trusting child can know

that God is working all things together

for good to those who love him,

who are called according to his purpose.

You can't lose if you're his.

This means that even if,

bad happens to us in our lives,

he will use it for our good

and for his glory

and for the blessing of other people.

And all of this means that you and I

as his people are protected

from useless evil.

look at verse seven and eight here.

It says,

he shall preserve your soul.

The word preserve means to watch over.

So we're back to the fact

that he doesn't sleep.

He doesn't take his eyes off of you.

He watches over your soul

even when you are not.

He is watching over your soul,

not just your body,

your soul.

He is protecting you for all eternity.

And so verse eight says,

the Lord shall preserve your going out

and your coming in from this time forth

and even,

watch this,

The summary is that he will keep you not only right now

in this life, he will preserve,

he will keep watch over you for all eternity.

The idea, right?

All eternity, he will preserve you.

He will protect you so that you are not lost

even in eternity.

What an incredible song.

What an encouragement.

Listen, if you leave here in a bad mood,

it's your own fault, okay?

I'm just saying, you leave here grumpy,

you didn't read the Bible, okay?

Like, wow, let the words of the Lord encourage you.

Sit in them, consider what's being said to you.

What a blessing.

If you don't know the Lord,

if you've not given your life to him

and you know that, you're aware of it,

now is the moment to turn to him.

Now is the moment to just be real and admit that.

Turn to the Lord, admit your need.

Let's pray together.

Lord, we love you and thank you for your mercy

and your goodness and your kindness towards us as people.

We don't deserve it, but Lord, you have been so good.

I pray, Lord, that you would encourage

the people of this world to be like you.

I pray, Lord, that you would encourage

the people of this world to be like you.

I pray, Lord, that you would encourage

your people, you'd help us to rest in your promises

and what you've said to us,

that, Lord, we would rejoice in these things,

not just know them, but rejoice in them.

And, Lord, I pray for anybody who is hearing this now

or maybe hearing this in the future that does not know you,

they would turn to you right now and humble themselves

and admit their need to be saved

and turn to you to look up, to lift their eyes up

to the one who made them be saved.

If that's you, look to the Lord now

for what you've done for them.

If that's what you need, he will provide, only he can.

We love you, Lord, and we thank you for being so good.

We give you this morning in our hearts, in Jesus' name, amen.