Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

Opening lines: “I know we all have a friend we can count on to help us when in need.

And some of us may have a waiter or a waitress at our favorite restaurant that we know will serve us well.

Whatever relationship it may be, we like to surround ourselves with people we know we can trust and take care of us well.

However, I would like to pose a question to you.

“Is it possible to find perfect assistance?” Hold on to that question, for a moment let me digress, but we will get back to it.

Talk about the excitement of fatherhood, and then end with the excitement of someday having my children being assistants.

Explain how they must be trained and we all know they will not be perfect.

Also talk about limitations they and others have in helping.

Emphasize that no one is the perfect assistant and use the words of William Tecumseh Sherman to emphasize.

Important quote to remember:

The soldier’s first article of faith is summed up nowhere more eloquently than in an 1865 letter from William Tecumseh Sherman to U.S. Grant: “I knew wherever I was that you thought of me, and if I got in a tight place you would come--if alive.”

We must conclude we cannot find perfect assistance on earth; therefore, we must look up.

Advance to opening slide and say “With one resounding, exalting, and cheerful voice we need to say, “My help come from you maker of heaven.”

Turn with me to Psalm 121, a psalm that expresses trust in God’s loyal love.

In it we will find the themes of stability, protection, and preservation that God’s provides as our help.

By studying this together it will remind us to place our confidence in God.

Read Psalm 121 (on v. 2 advance slide) and explain this is a pilgrimage psalm for safe travel from Jerusalem back home after a religious festival.

As a Jew would travel back to their homeland they know they could possibly meet dangers along the way—accidents, wild animals, robbers, heat stroke.

Apply this to our return home, the spiritual journey to heaven.

Catch phrase: “Let us look up, and kneel down.”

Look up signifies we should follow God’s wisdom on our journey and seek him out for strength, and kneel down signifies we should use prayer as our place of protection when life gets tough.

God Gives the Perfect Assistance

The Psalmist eloquently reminds us that God is a guardian and a place of refuge, both emblems of protection.

Advance slide.

Guardian.

God as a guardian does “not allow your foot to be moved.”

The movement of foot here is talking about a fall that stops you from making your journey home safely.

Therefore, it represents calamity.

God guarded the ancient Israelites from both physical and spiritual calamity, today God guarantees Christians he will guard them from spiritual calamity.

Advance slide.

Refuge.

God as a refuge is pictured as the shade of a tree.

When travelers journeyed in the harsh climate of the ANE, shade from the sweltering heat could be the difference between life and death.

This truth is used to portray that God provides total protection, both day and night.

The assistance that God provides us on our journey is not only perfect in its quality, but also its quantity.

He will protect from the beginning of one’s journey to the end, because he does not “slumber nor sleep.”

The duration of his protection is also represented by the phrase “your going out and your coming in.”

God’s protection in this Psalm is shown to be all times and in all places.

God provides 24/7 assistance.

Advance slide.

However, we must understand God does not continue to protect us when our faith is weakened or we lose it.

The Psalmist teaches us this when he writes, “The LORD is your shade at our right hand.” “Right hand” denotes a place of honor and influence in ones life.

God is “at your right hand” when you honor him and you allow his mighty power and holy word to influence the choices that you make in life.

God Provides 24/7 Security and Stability

Advance slide.

Remember our mantra for the lesson, “Look up, and kneel down?” Look up signifies we should follow God’s wisdom on our journey and seek him out for strength, and kneel down signifies we should use prayer as our place of protection when life gets tough.

If every morning you wake up, and by faith you first look up, and kneel down, you will be secure.

And as the day goes on, when you begin to feel vulnerable, you can become secure again when you by faith look up, and knee down.

So remember...

When you are tempted to sin, “Look up, and kneel down.”

When someone sins against you, “Look up, and kneel down,” so you do not sin against them or others.

When you are worried about tomorrow, “Look up, and kneel down.”

When you fear for your life, “Look up, and kneel down.”

When you are confronted with controversy, “Look up, and kneel down.”

When you face discouragement, “Look up, and kneel down.”

When you are depressed, “Look up, and kneel down.”

When you feel like giving up on God, “Look up, and kneel down.”

When you feel like giving up on life itself, “Look up, and kneel down.”

Even when life is what you want it to be, “Look up, and kneel down.”

Advance slide.

Not only does God keep us spiritually secure, he also provides us spiritual stability.

Think of security as protection from sin and all the harm that it causes, and stability as strength found in the supreme goal of serving God.

What is fascinating about this, is the Bible teaches that faith in God’s ultimate promise provides both security and stability.

I believe it is certain that “Looking up, and kneeling down” alone will not protect us from the evil.

We must also be putting our hope in the ultimate goal of serving him above anything else we can hope to achieve, have, or keep in this life (Hebrews 6:17-20; 1 Corinthians 15:54-58).

Explain that Christians are weak spiritually because they put their hope in things that disappoint, but putting our hope in heaven never will!

Conclusion

Advance slide.

Do you “look up, and kneel down” when you are seeking to find perfect assistance?

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And if you “look up, and kneel down...”

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...are you also putting your hope in the eternal reward of heaven above all else?

If not, expect disappointment.

Let us remember what the Psalmist said, “My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth.”

If you believe God provides perfect assistance, then let him help you.

He will clean up your life and give you a goal worth living for—heaven.

Advance slide to blank slide.