Sermon: The Lord Is Your Keeper
God is your keeper • Sermon • Submitted
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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.
Opening
Opening
Recall the love that was shown and given to us at a young age.
When we were very young in age, how many of us can recall the love our fathers and mothers, our grandfathers and grandmothers? I many of us can recall the love our uncles and aunties, our guardians and providers?
Now we may not have heard the actual words “I love you” from their mouth, but their actions spoke volumes whether we know it or not. When we hurt ourselves, they cared for our wounds. When did wrong, they chastised us for it. When we did good, they rewarded us for it. When we felt threaten, they shielded us from it. When harm was present and we didn’t see, they kept watch over us. In a sense, they were our modern day protectors of a very true spiritual promise.
God is our keeper, even more so than our earthly love ones.
What I have found over the years is that God is the foundation, the root, the stability of my protection.
Divine Protection
Illustrations for Biblical Preaching Protection, Divine
The story has been told of a believer, Frederick Nolan, who was fleeing from his enemies during a time of persecution in North Africa. Pursued by them over hill and valley with no place to hide, he fell exhausted into a wayside cave, expecting his enemies to find him soon.
Awaiting his death, he saw a spider weaving a web. Within minutes, the little bug had woven a beautiful web across the mouth of the cave. The pursuers arrived and wondered if Nolan was hiding there, but on seeing the unbroken and unmangled piece of art, thought it impossible for him to have entered the cave without dismantling the web. And so they went on. Having escaped, Nolan burst out and exclaimed:
“Where God is, a spider’s web is like a wall,
Where God is not, a wall is like a spider’s web.”
Those that loved us
God Is Your Keeper
God Is Your Keeper
The Lord is the Keeper of the vineyard.
3 I, the Lord, keep it, I water it every moment; Lest any hurt it, I keep it night and day.
Is
The vineyard is the Church of God.
The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Sermons, Vol. XL The Keeper of the Vineyard (No. 2,391)
The Church of God is here compared to a vineyard. The vine is a tender plant, needing continual care; and if the vineyard is not well fenced, and guarded, the enemies of the vine are sure to get in, and destroy it.
What you delight in, you keep it.
God delights in what is His. God delights in the Church.
What Does It Mean To Be A Keeper (Greek word šāmar)?
What Does It Mean To Be A Keeper (Greek word šāmar)?
What does it mean to keep?
The Book of Psalms Psalm 121: The Lord Will Guard You
The verbal root šāmar means “protect, guard, watch over, take care of.”
When we understand God as our keeper, we can then see the significant picture that God is our protector, our guardian, the One who watches over, and the One that takes care of.
Remember the Church is the vineyard
God keeps the whole vineyard, but God also keeps each vine and every little branch and leaf that’s attached.
God Protects Day and Night
God Protects Day and Night
6 The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night.
God is keeping you from the seen and unseen dangers.
God is always standing guard to protect His children from all danger seen and unseen. He is the mighty protector.
God is always standing guard to protect His children from all danger seen and unseen. He is the mighty protector.
The sun represent dangers that you can see.
The moon represent the dangers you cannot see.
God Will Guard Your Feet
God Will Guard Your Feet
What does it mean that “God will guard your feet”?
9 “He will guard the feet of his faithful ones, but the wicked shall be cut off in darkness, for not by might shall a man prevail.
God will not allow for you get get trapped by your enemy.
26 for the Lord will be your confidence and will keep your foot from being caught.
God will watch over your steps and
11 For He shall give His angels charge over you, To keep you in all your ways.
Because God is our confidence and He has given His angles instructions to keep us, we can trust that God will do just that.
God is a safeguard to the faithful
A Handbook on the First Book of Samuel 4. The Song of Hannah (1 Sam 2:1–11)
“He safeguards the steps of his faithful.”
Those that trust in God, are continually kept by God. Not one faithful can be taken away from God because He is the Good Shepherd.
Jesus said
28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.
Christ will keep us if we remain faithful to Him.
God Will Be Your Hope & Confidence
God Will Be Your Hope & Confidence
21 My son, do not let wisdom and understanding out of your sight, preserve sound judgment and discretion; 22 they will be life for you, an ornament to grace your neck. 23 Then you will go on your way in safety, and your foot will not stumble. 24 When you lie down, you will not be afraid; when you lie down, your sleep will be sweet. 25 Have no fear of sudden disaster or of the ruin that overtakes the wicked, 26 for the Lord will be at your side and will keep your foot from being snared.
22 and they will be life for your soul and adornment for your neck. 23 Then you will walk on your way securely, and your foot will not stumble. 24 If you lie down, you will not be afraid; when you lie down, your sleep will be sweet. 25 Do not be afraid of sudden terror or of the ruin of the wicked, when it comes, 26 for the Lord will be your confidence and will keep your foot from being caught.
God Is Your Hope
God Is Your Hope
What is hope?
Hope. An expectation or belief in the fulfillment of something desired.
Living in this world, hope is needed
Worldwide poverty, hunger, disease, and human potential to generate terror and destruction create a longing for something better. Historically people have looked to the future with a mixture of longing and fear. Many have concluded that there is no reasonable basis for hope and therefore to hope is to live with an illusion. Scripture relates being without hope to being in the world without God:
A hopeless heart is sick
6 Righteousness guards him whose way is blameless, but sin overthrows the wicked.
12 Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life.
If we don’t have hope, our heart becomes sick. Imagine praying and hearing scriptures that should encourage the heart. Then you hear of peoples testimonies and how they were blessed and delivered from their agony. When you hear of their testimonies, you get encouraged because their situation sounds a lot like yours.
However, there is one significant difference between your situation and theirs. They have a testimony from their test, while you’re still in agony. Then we begin to get discouraged and hopeless.
Listen, God is not ignoring you, but rather we have to have hope in His promises because He is faithful that promised. In order for hope to abide, we need to abide in Him. Remind God about His word. Put Him in remembrance of His promises. Then as you pray the word of God in your prayers, you will begin to see your hopelessness turn to hopefulness. That is when you will see God become your hope. He has always been, but we were out of place. We were abiding in the wrong house, which is our state of mind.
A hopeless heart is sick, but when God is there, hope abides -
12 remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.
12 remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
The blood of Christ brings newness
Now because of Christ, we have a new future and a better tomorrow. We have hope! We are no longer uncovered and sin-guilty stained; but we are not washed clean and continually kept in the mercies and gracious love and compassion of the Father.
God Is Your Confidence
God Is Your Confidence
What is confidence?
con•fi•dence \ˈkän-fə-dən(t)s, -ˌden(t)s\ noun
14th century
1 a: a feeling or consciousness of one’s powers or of reliance on one’s circumstances 〈had perfect confidence in her ability to succeed〉 〈met the risk with brash confidence〉
b: faith or belief that one will act in a right, proper, or effective way 〈have confidence in a leader〉
To rest upon the assurance of God’s keeping power
7 “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or dismayed before the king of Assyria and all the horde that is with him, for there are more with us than with him. 8 With him is an arm of flesh, but with us is the Lord our God, to help us and to fight our battles.” And the people took confidence from the words of Hezekiah king of Judah.
8 With him is an arm of flesh, but with us is the Lord our God, to help us and to fight our battles.” And the people took confidence from the words of Hezekiah king of Judah.
To rest oneself in the keeping power of God.
The children of God rested upon the encouraging words of king Hezekiah.
We too must rest, that is have confidence that what God has promised, that He will do!
God promised to keep you
6 So we can confidently say, “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?”
1 The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?
The significance of “light” and “stronghold”
Light signifies understanding, joy, and life (cf. 18:28) and the stronghold (cf. 18:2) signifies defense. With these provisions from the Lord, whom shall a believer fear?
Because God is our keeper, we have a privilege to come in His presence
16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
Our confidence is that God hears our prayers.
14 And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us.
Staying Continually Kept By God
Staying Continually Kept By God
How do we stay kept by God?
There Is A Needed Connection
There Is A Needed Connection
If you desire to be kept by God continually, there must be a connection.
If you desire to be kept by God continually, there must be a connection. Think of it terms of this illustration. There is a water hydrant that sits at the street level. When turned on, water comes gushing out of it. Now the hydrant itself does not have the water in. The water comes from another source. There is a pipe connection beneath the surface of which we cannot see, but it’s there for sure. The only way for the water to come from the hydrant that we see on surface is to have a connection beneath the surface.
Think of it terms of this illustration. There is a water hydrant that sits at the street level. When turned on, water comes gushing out of it. Now the hydrant itself does not have the water in. The water comes from another source. There is a pipe connection beneath the surface of which we cannot see, but it’s there for sure. The only way for the water to come from the hydrant that we see on surface is to have a connection beneath the surface.
For us to stay in the keeping power of the Almighty, we have to stay connected to Him. Not only do we have to stay connected to Him, but we are instructed to stay connected beneath the surface.
Staying connected beneath the surface.
5 “And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 6 But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
16 “And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 17 But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, 18 that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
When we pray in secret - “beneath the surface” God rewards us.
We need a intimate relationship with the Father in order for His keeping power to gush out. Without the connection, there is no flow.
Required Fellowship With Each Other
Required Fellowship With Each Other
16 Then those who feared the Lord spoke with one another. The Lord paid attention and heard them, and a book of remembrance was written before him of those who feared the Lord and esteemed his name.
English Standard Version Chapter 3
Then those who feared the LORD spoke with one another.
Those that feared God “spoke with one another”
Christians need other Christians. Christians should not operate in silos, but rather they should operate together for the purpose of God and the glory of God. We need to confess our sins one to another and pray for each other according to .
16 Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.
I have discovered that there are no silos in Christ.
19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord.
15 Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.
Stay Separated From Sin
Stay Separated From Sin
1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
Those that are continually kept by God separate themselves from the sin, but that does not mean they are isolated from the real world. There is no “holier than thou” in their attitudes toward sinners.
The separated faithful believers in God simply have the courage to be different and desire to walk uprightly on the narrow road no matter what it may cost.
We are called to be consecrated before God
14 Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? 15 What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? 16 What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, “I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.