Sermon Tone Analysis

There was a time in my career that I assisted others in my line of work.

One time I was in the wheelhouse of a yacht that my company was building, handing tools to the person I was working with.

In the midst of the job this particular day, while wiring the gauges and controls of the ship, I caught my co-coworkers hair on fire.

There was another time, at the same job, while helping my dad down in the engine room, I positioned a blower to cool us while working down in a hole.

The only problem was that I failed to secure the ROUND housing to something, so when I powered it up, it rolled onto another helpers head.

Another time, while working for myself cutting grass, I failed to realize that standing on the back of a utility trailer while it was not hooked to a vehicle could result in the trailer tipping backwards.

As I stood behind the tractor, the trailer tilted backward in slow motion.

The mower rolled back and pinned me against gate, and I called for Dana who somehow was able to stabilize the trailer and allow me to move myself out of danger.

There was one last time that we were driving on Central Avenue in Harahan in the midst of a torrential downpour.

The road was flooded and my father-in-law’s truck stalled in front of me, so I pulled my tiny Honda Civic into an apartment parking space nearby.

In the middle of this annoying experience, we were able to help the people in that apartment complex move their belongings out of water.

You see, there are times that help can be questioned, and times when help is beneficial.

Psalm 121  /1 I lift up my eyes to the hills — where does my help come from?  2 My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.

3 He will not let your foot slip— he who watches over you will not slumber; 4 indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.  5 The Lord watches over you— the Lord is your shade at your right hand; 6 the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night.

7 The Lord will keep you from all harm— he will watch over your life; 8 the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore./

Verses one and two seem to come from a personal meditation, which then turns into a teaching to others.

Let me ask you this morning, where does your help come from?

Don’t just answer that to yourself hastily, but think about your life.

So often, we make ourselves believe that we are self-sufficient.

We feel that we can make our own way and provide for our own means.

On the surface, this is true, but it is farther from the truth than the question of the reality of God.

But, that is a sermon in itself.

You can only answer that question truly of yourself.

And once you do answer that question, you can move on to the next phase of this psalm.

Verse 3 & 4….

Elijah, in 1 Kings 18:27, while in a test of their gods (Baal) with his God, taunted them by stating that maybe Baal was deep in thought, busy, traveling or asleep.

Psalm 127:1-2  /1 Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labor in vain.

Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchmen stand guard in vain. 2 In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat— for he grants sleep to those he loves./