The Place to look for help when in trouble

I want you to turn this morning in your Bibles to Psalms 121.

And boy, I've been enjoying.

How many of you, you know, every morning I in Bible reading other than my study preparation, I try to read us anywhere from one to three, five Psalms, and then a chapter of Proverbs.

And let me encourage you every day to read a Proverb.

If you don't read anything else, read a Proverb.

There's 31 Proverbs.

So you can go through the book of Proverbs once a month.

Takes you no, if you just read it, you can read it in a chapter in five minutes.

But hopefully you'll meditate on it.

Have you a little pen to highlight it, or even more, a little pen to write down, get you a little bitty.

I have a little, I don't know what you call that little book, but it's just a little flip.

But the non-indexed cards, it's a little paper.

But anyway, I write.

When a God gives me a direction, or he gives me a promise, or gives me a warning, or if he gives me a blessing.

I just write it down.

Now I don't write a book, because that's quick, because I got to get to studying, but I just, and then I keep it.

And every morning, you know, after I have that little quiet time again with my devotional, I just go back there and read what he's taught me this week in my little book.

And boy, is that not a blessing.

Proverbs, listen to me, will tell you what to do, how to do it.

It'll tell you what not to do and not to do it.

So do that.

It'll change your day.

It'll make your day, I guarantee it.

But it's been good now to go back and study the Psalms that I love so much to preach from.

And today we're going to be looking at Psalms 121.

One of my favorites, because it deals with the place to look for help when you're in trouble.

In fact, if you have not found out already, you'll find out pretty soon, but I'm looking at most of us.

Now, the younger folk, the teenagers, younger children, have probably not found this out right yet because we buffer them from the ups and downs and the valleys and the hilltops.

But you've realized by now, at least at the age of 65, that the path of our lives are rarely straight.

Can I get an amen or an O me?

Rarely straight.

In fact, they're rarely smooth, they're rarely level.

In fact, it tends to be bumpy.

There's tall hills that we must climb or try to get over.

There's valleys in our lives.

I meant somebody told me the other day, he said, man, life's tough.

I said, yes, it's tough.

Because there's good days, there's bad days, and then there's sad days, there's happy days, and then there's blah days.

You know what the definition of blah means, don't you?

I don't know.

No, you know what it means?

You just don't want to see anybody that day.

I'm having a bad day.

Just leave me alone.

Anybody ever been there?

You're there now?

Some of us.

Just leave me alone.

How many of, especially with children?

I've had it up in here for one more cry.

I'm gonna kill them.

We've been there.

We've done that.

I thought the twilight though.

I don't want to do a lot of the twilight though.

Smart.

Generous.

Sounds good.

All those sound familiar?

Those are the feelings I've gone through over my life.

And I thought to myself, wow.

We just flow up and down in all these areas each day, do we not?

Think about that.

Emotions do many things to us.

So, how do we get some sense of stability in our life?

That's the question.

How do we get to the point where we are not overwhelmed by the obstacles we face each day?

Well, that's good.

How does a person look higher than the heels for help?

That's really what Psalms 121 is all about.

In fact, this has been referred to the traveler's psalm.

Because the Hebrews, the Jews, would sing this song as they were going up to the temple in Jerusalem four times a year for all their feast.

And many of them had to travel many, many miles, some even over a hundred miles.

Now, that meant it could take up to about a month's journey because they're walking.

And they were in the hills, and when they'd get close to Jerusalem, Jerusalem was completely surrounded by the mountains and 2,500 plus feet.

So they would face all kinds of problems.

They would slip and they'd slide as they're climbing the mountains and the rocky mountains.

They'd have major storms.

They'd have robbers.

I mean, it was not an easy journey for them to do four times a year.

I thought to myself, sounds like us, doesn't it?

They were just pilgrims passing through.

Amen.

And that's what we are.

Life's the same way with us.

We slip, we slide, you know, we have storms in our lives.

We have all kinds of opposition in our life and circumstances in our life, children's circumstances in our life, all kinds of things.

We have sickness in our life.

We have all these ailments in our lives as we are passing through.

And boy, we're experiencing that right now.

And many of you are watching.

I know all everybody's told me they'd be watching.

So today I want to be an encouragement to you.

David Livingston, the missionary, as he made his way being to Africa in likeness in 1840.

This was his favorite encouraging psalm to sing when life was difficult or the future did not look so bright.

In fact, that's what the Jews and the Hebrews would do is they were marching to Zion.

That's where that song came from, by the way.

Marching to Zion.

They'd be singing.

They'd be happy, even though they were going through all these different situations.

In fact, Psalms 121 is an Old Testament commentary of a New Testament truth found in what's this?

1 Peter chapter 1, verse 5, and it's on the screen.

1 Peter 1:5

And notice what it says.

We are kept by the power of God, folks.

Now that ought to right there be enough to say, Amen.

We're kept by the power of God.

So the next time you face a situation, just look up and say, God, I'm kept by your power, and I'm casting all my care upon you because you care for me, 1 Peter 1 5.

And right now, Lord, this is your problem.

Amen.

And it is his problem.

And he knows the answer.

So let's look at it.

Point number one the search for help.

As a traveler approached Jerusalem, again, they were faced with all these difficulties.

And here we find the thoughts of the psalmist upon the Lord as he approaches the city.

It was not the hills he was focusing upon, however, it was the God who created the hills that he was focusing on.

Think about that.

He wasn't looking at those mountains of problems and troubles.

He was thinking about the creator of those mountains.

And if God can create those mountains, he can take care of your problems.

Can I get an amen?

Amen.

Is that not good?

Absolutely.

And he's looking way beyond the mountains to the one who made them.

And then notice he asks himself a question.

Here's your question.

Where does my, look at verse one, where does my help come from?

Where does it come from?

This is not odd for how many of us have asked that same thing when we get in those tight situations?

We say, Lord, where's my help coming from when you can't pay the bill?

Where's my money coming?

Where's, hey, this coming?

Where's that coming?

What am I gonna do?

Lord, I need help.

We ask ourselves questions all the time in our mind.

Do you do that?

Am I the only one that does that?

I always ask myself questions.

Why I'm gonna I'm asking myself, not talking out loud, but I am.

Now, sometimes if you pass me and I'll be talking to myself.

I'm pretty good at that.

Actually, I was asking the Lord some questions coming to church this morning.

I really was.

I said, Lord, I got a few questions this morning.

And I just started asking him a couple of questions, two or three questions, things on my heart and on my mind.

And I said, now I'd love for you to just tell me audibly what I need to do.

You know what he said?

I already have.

Just read the book.

Read the book.

He said, I got the answer for you.

Just keep doing what you're doing.

And then I said, Yeah, but he said, Whoa, whoa, whoa, there's no butt.

There's no butt.

No billy goat Christians.

Always going around button.

So, I love what he says here.

And he does.

He does it.

He says, Have you ever been?

The psalmist is asking himself, where does my help come from?

I can sense the urgency.

So where does his help come from?

Look at it.

It is definitely not from the mountains.

It is not found in so-called mother nature.

God help us with all that.

It's amazing how we get caught up in stuff that God's already got in control.

Listen, nobody's going to destroy this earth.

I'm going to help you.

You can go to bed tonight and not worry.

This earth is not going to be destroyed until God gets ready to destroy it.

And I can tell you exactly how it's going to be destroyed.

It's going to be destroyed by fire.

But nobody, I don't care what you do, is going to destroy this earth until God says it's time.

So you can go to bed and don't worry about the stuff going up in the air.

Now we need to try to not do it on purpose, but just trust me, God's got it in the hey, under control.

I got a lot more problems than to worry about that.

Amen.

And by the way, let me help you.

Don't worry about things you can't control.

That'll give you a lot of relief.

Most of us worry about 80% of our worry is something that we can't do anything about.

God help us.

Hey, worry about what you know to do if you're not doing it.

Amen?

But you don't sin to worry, so don't worry.

Put your trust in him.

And watch what he says.

God wants us to look higher than our heels, and here's what he said.

Even the outlook of your present circumstances may seem dark, but the uplook, I love this, of your present circumstances can be changed immediately.

When you put your trust in him.

That's why he says in Psalms 141, verse 8.

Psalms 141:8

He says, I will lift up my eyes unto the hills.

My eyes are fixed on thee, O God, and Thee is my trust.

Psalms 141, verse 8.

Psalms 141:8

Oh, it's awesome.

And look at what he says in Micah.

It's up there, it's in your outline.

Look at what he says in Micah 7:7.

Micah 7:7

Therefore, I will look unto the Lord.

I will wait for the God of my salvation.

My God will hear me.

Woo! My God will hear me.

Your God will hear you.

Say that with me, church.

Your God will hear you.

That's a powerful, powerful, unbelievable promise right there.

God's gonna hear you.

And then Hebrews 12, 2, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of my faith.

He's the author, he's the one that created me.

He knows when, hey, hey, I'm gonna be completed.

He knows when I was born, he knows when I'm gonna die.

And he has the power to see it all to the end.

Being confident of this very thing that he which begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.

Philippians 1, 6.

Wow, that's good.

Man, that's good.

You will find as we go through life that Satan will try to keep us upon our.

You know where Satan wants to make us focus our attention?

Think, think for a minute.

On the bad things, on the circumstances that are not good.

The news, I hate to even use it as an example.

That's everybody says, oh, you know who's behind that negative news?

Satan himself.

Satan knows if he can keep you thinking on the negative and on the bad, that hey, he's got you right where you are because if your eyes aren't fixed on God, there'll be no praise, there'll be no worship, there'll be no honor, and there'll be no witness for God Almighty.

And I'm just not gonna do it.

I'm not gonna do it.

I'm not gonna allow Satan to do that.

So, where does our help come from?

It comes from the Lord who made the heavens and the earth.

If he created the earth, he can take care of any problems you got.

Can I get an amen?

Look at the second thing in this psalm.

The source of our strength.

The source of our strength is recognized.

Look at verse 2.

After asking his own question, now watch.

The psalmist answers.

He says, Where does my help come from?

Then notice what he says.

My help comes from the Creator, from the Lord who made heaven and earth.

If you want to look higher than your heels and recognize the source of your strength.

Philippians 4.13, I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me.

All things.

What does all things mean?

All things.

All things.

I love what he says.

He says, God is my refuge in strength.

A very help in time of trouble.

Psalms 46.1.

2 Corinthians 3.5.

We're not sufficient in ourselves, but our sufficiencies in God.

So this is important because people tend to look to other things for strength, only to find it is not there.

I was reading a survey this week talking about where people place their confidence and supposedly their happiness.

And here's what it said.

A lot of people find their happiness or try to find their happiness in their own abilities, their popularity, their plans, their possessions, people, power, and then they turn to drugs, alcohol, or whatever to meet their needs.

And what they find out after they turn to all these things, that they're still empty.

He says, In thy presence is the fullness of joy.

At his hands are pleasure forevermore.

Psalm 16.

Amen.

He satisfies the longering soul.

He fills the hungry soul with goodness.

It's the Lord Jesus Christ.

Oh man.

A little boy was spending his Saturday morning and playing in a big, huge sandbox.

He was building tunnels.

He was running his little cars through tunnels and all sand.

I'm talking about a big sandbox, not a little bitty sandbox, a huge sandbox for the whole community.

He was big.

And so all of a sudden he runs into this big rock that's right there.

Right there in the middle of the sandbox where he's trying to make his tunnels.

So he starts, little boy's pretty smart.

He digs around the rock.

Then he lays down and he starts pushing with his feet.

And he's rolling that rock and he finally gets it over to the side.

And then that little fellow gets under the rock and tries to lift it up.

And each time he'd about get it to the top, it'd fall back down.

And he'd get it back up two or three times, and on that last time, he got it back up, and you could just see him straining.

And next thing you know, it fell on his fingers and he started weeping and crying.

Because it really hurt.

At the moment that he dropped it that last time, his father was watching out the window.

And next thing that little boy knows, there's a shadow over him.

And he looks up and he sees his father.

And he says, father in a gentle voice said, son, you didn't use all the strength that you have.

And the little boy looked up and he said, Oh, Daddy, I did.

I used every strength I had, everything I had.

I couldn't push it, I couldn't lift it.

He said, No, son, I'm sorry you didn't use all of the strength you had.

He said, What do you mean?

He said, You didn't use me.

And then he reached down and pulled the boulder out.

Oh, is that not like we are?

We try and we push and we struggle and we do everything we can.

And all we have to do is look up and there's that shadow.

And his name is of the Father, God Almighty.

Ready to take our boulder and lift it off of us.

What?

What a dead we serve.

He's our helper.

Beloved God is our helper.

He's our helper.

He's a helper for the hopeless.

He's a helper for the homeless.

He's a helper for the hurting, for the harassed, and for the heckled.

He's our help in time of trouble.

In time of trouble.

He knows what we need emotionally.

He knows what we need mentally.

He knows what we need socially, physically, spiritually, and he knows what we need financially.

Wow.

We are wise if we will tap into his strength to face our mountains and hills.

He will provide every need, every need.

You know what?

One of my favorite verses, I was reading this week in one of my Psalms, Psalms 37, 25.

Listen to this.

You know what in Psalmist says?

I have never seen the righteous begging for bread.

Woohoo!

Woohoo!

I have never seen the righteous begging for bread.

Is that not awesome?

No.

For your fear, he provides firmness and a fierce resolve.

He's not given a spirit of fear, but of peace and of power and of a sound mind.

For our loneliness, he provides love.

But God commended his love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

I have people tell me nobody loves me.

Yes, they do.

God loves you more than anything.

And by the way, when you grow up and you don't have a good home life, I did not.

But one thing I do know, are you listening to me?

My God loved me.

And I learned that from my grandparents.

And it didn't matter.

And then I learned the second thing that I was fearfully and wonderfully made.

Psalms 139, verse 14.

Psalms 139:14

Can I tell you something?

God doesn't make junk.

Now for me it came pretty close, but God doesn't make junk.

And remember that.

For your doubt, he provides determination and discernment.

I can do all things through Christ, which strengthens me, for God gives me wisdom.

Proverbs 2.6, Philippians 4.13.

Oh my goodness, that's good.

For your insecurity, he provides the security and the stability that you need and seek.

You have boldness and confidence by faith in Christ.

Ephesians 3.12.

Oh, I love the word.

For the single person, hey, living alone, realize your help comes from the Lord.

From the retired grandpa and grandmas.

Remember, your help comes from the Lord.

For you teenagers that are wondering where in the world I'm going, your emotions are running here and there and going every which way.

Your help comes from the Lord.

Remember that.

Remember that.

It's so powerful.

For you that are heartbroken and abandoned or even rejected by someone you loved, your help cometh from the Lord.

And for those of us that are afflicted and for health problems and all, your help comes from the Lord.

That's what I've been telling all our folks that are going through these troubles right now.

Hey, don't let Satan get you depressed and down and out.

That's what he wants.

Your help comes from the Lord.

It's not, it's not, hey, it's not the situation that matters.

It's how you respond to the situation that matters.

And we all have hills, we all have valleys.

I love what he says.

He knows your need before you do and can adequately meet that need, and he is the great satisfier.

Can I show you this?

Look at Isaiah 65, 24.

I found this one as I was doing a searching.

I don't know if I just missed it.

I know I've read the verse, but it didn't hit me like it hit me this week with all our people going through what we they're going through.

And you're wanting to ask why instead of what, all the things we've been teaching and preaching, and all these things.

And God already knows and he's gonna meet your need.

He already cares and he's gonna meet your needs.

He's gonna see you through.

Look at what he says in Isaiah 65, 24.

And it shall come to pass.

Listen, when God says it's gonna come to pass, it's coming to pass.

When God says, get in the boat, we're going to the other side.

I don't care how many storms you go through, you're going to the other side.

It's going to come to pass.

And listen to what he says.

It is going to come to pass that before they call, before you even cry out.

Now watch.

Before you even cry out, I will answer.

And then notice what he says.

And while they are yet speaking, I will hear.

In other words, as they're in the process, you're in the process of crying out, God already hears.

Whoa! Somebody say that's good, preacher.

He already hears.

And that's what he told me this morning.

A couple questions I was asking him driving.

He said, I got it.

As you young people would say.

I got your back.

Okay?

I'm not gonna worry about it.

I'm gonna just keep on keeping on.

I'm gonna just keep doing what I do every day.

I'm gonna get up, get in the book, walk out the door, and tell everybody I see.

Jesus, that's awesome.

That's all I'm gonna do.

Just keep doing it.

Just keep doing it, preacher.

And then you notice what he says.

Are you ready?

I thought about Paul.

Remember what Paul said when he was in prison?

Roman prison.

How, Paul, could you tell me, no matter what state or condition you were in, you learn to be content.

Paul, if anybody could tell us, hey, the stench of that prison cell, the bugs, the rats, the lack of food, the moans of the other prisoners and the cold nights must have been absolutely awful.

But notice what Paul said.

Paul, how did you face these mountains in your life?

How did you look behind the hills?

Where did you go for help?

And here's his reply.

Philippians 4.19.

My God shall supply all your needs according to his riches in glory through Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4.19.

Brings me to number three.

The search, the source of our strength now.

Look at the step, the stabilization of your steps.

Oh, this is good.

One of the big reasons we may have difficulty walking with God or standing for Christ is because life is like an ice skating ring.

Now I grew up on skates.

I came from a little place called Sylvester, Georgia.

We had no place to go.

We had two places for teenagers to go, skating ring and biggins, a little hamburger joint.

And biggins was right next to the skating ring.

And skating ring was open Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

And I'm not bragging, but I could skate.

Asked my wife.

When we met, first place I took her was to the skating ring.

And I said, honey, you just hold on.

She said, What are you talking about?

I said, just trust me.

Just give me your hands and just go straight.

I got you.

So I started going around doing all this.

Is that not true?

Scary.

We had skate teams.

We'd win the skate teams, those races.

We'd I can't do it now, but I used to could literally lay down on a pair of skates with my leg through my knee and do my head like this.

Level like this and pick up handkerchiefs with my mouth going around.

And she saw me do it.

I only did it one time and didn't do it anymore.

I used to be right skating and just do a complete flip in the air.

But my back started hurting more.

So I don't do all that stuff anymore.

I'm a little too old.

That's why I went to pickleball.

It's the old man's game.

Not really, the young people.

But but what I'm saying, what I'm saying, when we would skate, you'd just be having a fun, and next thing you know, bam! You're on your back, on your backside, and you're looking up saying, What in the world happened?

Anybody else skates or been skating?

Have you ever had that happen?

That's why you see a bunch of people in the skating ring holding onto the rail going around like this.

Because they don't want that to happen.

I got to thinking, is that not life?

Boy, we're just going back first, just having such a good time.

BAM! And you're laying flat on your back, looking up, saying, What in the world happened?

Now somebody said, well, that hadn't happened to me yet.

Well, hang on.

Because you're going to keep going around that ring.

It's going to happen.

It's going to happen.

And sometimes, especially if somebody had left some bubble gum on the floor and your skate hits that bubblegum when you're about to turn your like that.

About three or four stitches back there.

I learned my lesson to be before I go out and show out and check the floor for chewing gum.

Amen.

So what are you saying, Pastor?

Here it is.

Our feet.

They gotta, how do we stabilize?

How do we stand firm and keep from slipping and falling flat on our backside?

Look at what he said.

Now you thought I used all that illustration.

Was not, I just made it up.

Our foot is not moved.

That's what it says.

Our foot's not moved.

As Assembly states, we get hurt, we get embarrassed by our falls and our failure.

When we are feeling low, our failures look like huge mountains and we can't seem to see above them.

Beloved, life is full of failures.

You know what?

It's nothing but our pride.

When we fall, you know what?

The first thing you want to do is look around and see who was watching.

You could have broken your back, but you don't care.

You're going to try to get up immediately because your pride.

I hope nobody saw that.

Though they saw it.

They couldn't help but see it.

Only pride brings a man down.

But by humility, he's lifted.

Amen.

So we see right here what Paul's talking about.

It's not that life is full of failures, but it's how we respond to those failures.

Proverbs 24, 16 says the righteous fall seven times, but they get back up again.

Can I get an amen?

You got to get back up, folks.

Satan wants to keep you down.

And see what he tries to do.

He brings the fear, he brings the embarrassment, he brings the shame, he brings all those feelings that cause us to keep a defeated attitude and keeps us from not wanting to do it again.

Do you know the greatest thing you can do?

What's the greatest thing if you've ever ridden a horse or even a motorcycle and you fall?

What's the first thing somebody that's really knows what to talk about tells you to do?

Get up and get back on the horse right now.

Really?

Or if you're riding a motorcycle, the most embarrassing thing you can do, you come up to a stop and turn, just fall over.

And everybody's riding with you, and you know everybody behind you is looking at you laughing.

No.

See, you think they're laughing.

Satan tells you they're laughing, and you're embarrassed, and you and they're not laughing.

You know what they're saying?

Oh my goodness.

You know what they're thinking?

They're thinking the same time they did that.

Because everybody's going to hit that front brake and turn the thing, and when you do, you're going over.

There's nothing you can do about it.

I helped Susan pick hers up several times.

Gas station.

And it does help when you stop to put the geeks in there.

I'm gonna get gas disc and all.

Don't laugh, I did it too.

When you fall, and you will, as a Christian.

When it goes, it's going to get tough, and it will.

Don't hey, it's okay to go down.

Just don't stay down.

Amen.

It's okay to go down, but don't stay down for the ten count.

Get back up.

Get back up.

Why is our foot moved and why do we fall and why do we fail?

See, I was gonna leave this because this really could be another message.

But this is so important.

I want you to hear.

I I thought to myself, okay, so what causes us to fall and stumble?

Real quick.

And I got this after I'd already turned in my outline.

So just, but I think I put some verses for you.

Detestable reasoning and living.

Hey, detestable reasoning and living will cause you to stumble.

In other words, sinful living will cause you to stumble.

Amen?

It'll cause you to stumble.

You cannot live in sin and not fall.

Can I get an amen?

Can't do it.

Proverbs 11, 5 says, but the wicked shall fall by his own wickedness.

Number two, a deceitful mouth will lead to falling.

If you set out to deceive people, you eventually, and I believe this with all my heart, are going to get caught yourself.

Listen to what it says.

Proverbs 17, 20, and he that hath a perverse tongue falleth into mischief.

Perverseness means deceitfulness.

Destroying the reputation and lives of others will lead to a hard fall.

When you start gossiping about people, start talking about people, listen to what he says.

And I really, and by the way, you know why people do that?

It comes from the root of bitterness, it comes from jealousy, it comes from hate.

Such attitudes are cancers in our minds and our hearts that's going to affect, yes, the body of Christ, yes, other people, yes.

But you know who it affects the most?

You?

Ourselves.

It really does.

It really does.

Notice what he says.

Remember Haman?

Remember Haman?

Some of you may not.

He had it in to destroy Matecai.

Mordecai.

Mordecai.

Excuse me.

To destroy Mordecai.

His plans backfired, and what happened?

He had built, in fact, he had already gotten so far that with his plans to destroy Mordecai that he had already built to hang the gallows, to hang him.

Guess what happened?

Backfired.

Guess who got hung?

Aman.

Be not deceived.

God is not mocked.

Listen.

Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he reap.

Galatians 6, 7.

It's there.

And then the depravity and destructiveness of sexual sins lead to swift hard falls every time.

Oh yes.

Listen to what he says in Proverbs 7.26.

For she has cast down many wounded.

Yea, many strong men have been slain by her.

Sexual sins are the worst.

You know why they're the worst?

People don't forget them.

People don't forget them.

Keep that mind, keep that heart pure.

Keep it pure.

And then the depletion of counsel and guidance can cause you to stumble.

You know why I pray every week for our people to be in the word and to be in church and to be in Sunday school, be in Wednesday night?

Oh, so that they can hear counsel from God's Word and from godly people.

Can I say something?

Anytime you get in a tough situation, go to the Word first, but also go to godly men and women that you know that are in the Word that can give you good, godly counsel.

Amen.

People that you trust.

I've got a few that I call when I really have to have.

Most of the time it's my wife.

There's not anybody more godly than her.

She's my second Holy Spirit.

But but there's a few people.

One of my mentors, Dr.

Ron Hawkins, who was a provost at Liberty all these years, he was in our cabin here last weekend.

We had to, we went up and had spent the day with him and had lunch.

And just the wisdom that I that he always gives me or gave me when in my early years of at liberty and working and pastoring, I could turn to Ron any time.

And he would never tell me what to do.

He would just give me wisdom about the situation.

And you know what he always said at the end?

Instead of saying, this is what you ought to do, here's what he said.

When it's all said and done, Pastor, Danny, you've got to do what God tells you to do.

But everything he told me, I could go right to the word and find it and back it up, and it made sense.

And God would give me peace.

I never move.

Listen, no peace, no move.

You better listen to me.

No peace, no move.

Can I get an amen?

I've done it a couple of times and I've regretted both of them.

Say that with me, church.

No peace, no move.

You with me?

Somebody say that's good.

Wherefore, let him that thinketh he stand, take heed lest he falls.

Where no counsel, listen to Proverbs 11, 14, where no counsel is, the people fall.

But in the multitude of counselors there is safety.

Boy, that's good.

Why do you come to church?

Why do we come to church together to get counsel from God's word?

Eyes to see, ears to hear, and hearts to receive.

One thing I can promise you every Sunday morning in the Sunday school classes and right here, you're going to get nothing but the truth, so help me God.

And you see it.

It's not what I think.

There it is.

And then number six, a dependence on money and things is a stumbling block.

Proverbs 11, 28, he that trust in his riches shall fall, but the righteous shall flourish as a branch.

And by the way, there's you gotta read 1 Timothy 6, 9, and 10 are two verses that you gotta memorize.

You've got to hold to.

But I found this interesting story.

I'd never seen it, but when I'm researching and look for illustrations, I want something that just opens our eyes so plainly.

And and I didn't I the this painter, y'all know him.

Is it Picasso?

I think it wasn't his first name, Pablo.

Pablo, I think.

Pablo Picasso, right?

Well, listen to this.

In his tenure of painting and all the sculptures he did, he produced about 13,500 paintings or designs, a hundred thousand prints or engravings, thirty-four thousand book illustrations, and thirty sculptures or ceramics.

Thanks to casino owner Steve Wynne, however, one oil painting will enjoy a greater level of infamy than all these other works.

The painting is titled, you can look this up, The Dream.

And Picasso completed it in 1932 and in 1997 at an art auction in uh Christie's auction at Christie's in New York City.

Steve Wynne purchased the painting.

Are you ready for this?

For$47 million.

His purchase actually, though, turned out to be quite an investment because in less than a day, decade, watch this, Wynne completed the deal to sell the painting for$139 million, tripling its value.

This transaction would have set a record for the sale of a price of art.

It would have, um it would have, but just after completing the deal, are you ready for this?

Wynne, who was standing close to the painting, turned inadvertently with his elbow, bam, and hit the painting and caused a six-inch tear.

That$139 million painting.

That would have been the world's record for an art collection piece.

Gone.

Getting ready to get a take for a hundred and thirty nine million dollars.

Hello.

Dollar thirty-nine cent now.

What are you saying?

First Timothy six, nine and ten.

Watch this.

But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perd.

And then verse 10 the love of money is the root of all evil.

Not money's evil, but the love of it.

So, we've seen so far.

How do we look higher than the hills?

We saw the search for help, the source of our strength is recognized, the stabilization of your steps.

Now let's look at two more things and we're through.

First of all, number four, our slumberness Savior watches over us.

We're weak, we struggle, we fall, we stumble, but aren't you glad to know that our God never sleeps and he never stumbles and he never falls?

Now that who, that is who is watching over you and me.

Folks, that right there is powerful and awesome.

He never sleeps.

Never, never.

In fact, Psalms 34, 15, the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry.

We can sleep because God never sleeps.

We can have peace because God's going to be there to keep us safe.

Two or three Psalms talk about how you can lay down at peace at night and sleep because God's watching over you.

Say this with me, church.

God's watching over me.

Is that not sweet to know?

God's watching over me.

Sweet.

Sweet.

He never.

God does not get exhausted.

Though we may get exasperated, he never gets exhausted.

Can you imagine that?

Hey, listen, what else?

He never slumbers.

Even though we may be scared or stressed, he doesn't.

The Lord is never worn out, though we may be worried.

Hey, he's never drowsy when we are desperate, defeated, or discouraged.

God's presence in our lives is a pearl to be.

I thought about this and I found this in a devotional, and I said, I'm going to use that.

Here's what it says: His presence is like a pearl to be treasured, a gem that gives joy, a diamond that brings delight, and a satire that gives strength and stability.

Wow.

Never take for granted the treasure and value of the presence of God working in our life.

Can I get an amen?

That's what he's talking about.

Hey, he is with us always.

The Lord is with us when we are forsaken by the world.

I love what he says.

These things have a spoken unto you that in me you might, hey, you might have peace, but in the world you should have tribulation.

Can I say something?

What we're seeing going on right now, don't get overburdened by it or, oh, I'm worried what's happening.

Hey, hey, it's always been there.

Tribulation's gonna be there, but let me remind you who created the world.

Hey, not Fox News, not CNN news, not all the liberal news.

God created it.

God created it.

And he's in control of it.

God's presence gives us a calm in calamity.

Listen to what he says.

He said, My presence shall go with you and I'll give you rest.

Woo-hoo! I said, he'll give you a calm in calmity.

He'll give you a calm in trouble.

He'll give you a calm in that situation.

I was thinking about Tracy.

When she first got her diagnosis with cancer.

I hope you don't mind me using you.

If you do, I'm sorry, but I'm gonna use it anyway.

It's nothing better than an actual live illustration.

When she found out she had cancer.

I went immediately and visited with her.

She's more calm than I was.

We got this.

God's got this.

God's got this.

That's it.

Now, how did she have that?

Right here, because she knew that God's in her presence.

Amen.

Amen.

That's it.

Calm in the storm.

Hey, God's presence gives us courage when faced with problems and enemies and whatever.

Deuteronomy 21.

Let me give you another illustration I found.

How many of you remember 9-11?

After 9-11, after both towers had come down, it was literally 10 stories of debris.

Ten stories.

There was a lady that had fallen from floor 64 in Tower 1, and her name was Janelle Guzman MacMillan.

And she was being held in the strong arms of God that she couldn't see.

But it was now.

Just after 12.30 p.m.

on September the 12th, 2001, the towers had fallen 27 hours earlier, and amazingly, Janelle was still alive.

Although the 30-year-old Port Authority clerk had fallen from the 64th floor of the North Tower of the World Trade Center, she had survived.

But what were her chances of being rescued from the 10 stories of smoke and rubble in which she was entombed?

Very slim.

Her head was squeezed between chunks of concrete while her legs were sandwiched between pieces of stairway.

Because her right hand was pinned under her leg, only her left hand was free.

With that free hand, she reached in the darkness, hoping to find someone to hold on to physically as well as emotionally, but Janelle could not grasp anything.

In the depths of her despair and smoking debris, she began to pray.

I kept my hand out there praying to God, she recalls.

Show me a sign, show me a miracle, show me that you're out there, show me that you're listening to me.

Like many who feel overwhelmed, many of us when we're we're in a situation like with nowhere else to turn, Janelle called out for help to the God she had rejected earlier in her life, but not longer after someone standing there looked down and saw the hand and grabbed her hand.

His name was Paul.

How about that?

Although Janelle tried to open her eyes, she could not.

Paul assured her that she would be fine.

He encouraged her to hold on to his hand.

Janelle Guzman Macmillan was the last person pulled out alive from the collapsed towers in New York City.

Wow.

Wow.

When in trouble.

No.

We lift our hands to the Lord.

From whence our help's coming.

And you know what?

He'll reach down and take that.

God's presence gives us comfort and care.

God's presence, hey, gives us peace and is continual for eternity.

God's presence is characterized by celebration, and God's presence is in us.

Through the power and the person of the Holy Spirit of God.

Wow! Man, that's good.

That brings me to number five.

The shadow of God's care.

Look at verse 5 and 6.

The Lord is thy keeper, the Lord is the shade upon thy right hand.

The sun shall not smite thee by day nor moon by night.

Isn't it funny to know?

Have you ever wondered about that moon?

Well, the word there is lunar tick.

Do you realize people back in that day thought that you could be moonstruck just as sunstruck?

Really?

Yeah.

And in fact, I was doing a word study because when I first thought about that, I said, I don't know about that.

But the word lunar means moon.

The name that was given to disordered people for centuries was lunatic.

From the Latin word luna, a person who was a lunatic was an individual that was believed to be influenced by the destructive effects of the moon.

In that day, moonstroke was believed to be harmful.

Interesting to note that the Greek language, the word epileptic, comes from a Greek word that means moonstruck.

Isn't that something?

So it was common belief that the effects of the moon could harm your health.

In fact, the psalmist proclaims that nothing in the day or night can harm us if God is keeping guard over us.

He is our protector in the day and night.

This is and this is also confirmed in the New Testament.

Nothing shall separate us from the love of God.

Nothing.

And it gives you a whole list in Romans 8, 35 through 38.

Isn't that something though?

You don't have to worry about the day, you don't have to worry about the night.

Because God is our protector.

Psalm 16, 8 says, I will set the Lord always before me because he's at my right hand, I shall not be moved.

And then the last thing: our soul and steps are protected.

Look at verse 7 and 8.

The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil.

The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from the time forth and even forevermore.

Woo, woo, woo!

Let me tell you how I interpret that.

God's gonna take care of us from the moment we're born to the moment we die.

He's our protector, he's our preserver, he's our captain.

And nothing can harm us with the Lord being our protector.

God gives us, and I'm through, but you gotta, don't you love word studies?

Job, Job 23, 14 says, For he performeth the thing that is appointed for me, and many such things are with me.

Now, and I'm through, I promise.

Watch.

The word performeth in the Hebrew language yields a great truth.

It is the word shalom.

What does that mean?

Some of you know.

Peace.

Peace be with you, which means to give peace.

The word appointed can also be translated.

Now watch, prescribed.

God gives us peace in that which He has appointed or prescribed for us.

Woo! God gives us peace in that which He has appointed or prescribed to us.

In other words, everything that happens, God has appointed it or prescribed it for us and has promised He'll give us peace through it.

Now that's good.

You right now, God is my help that's going through storms.

God is my help.

God is my help.

God is my help.

God is my source.

God is my help.

God is my source.

And he has prescribed peace in the midst of the storm.

Just remember, when the disciples were in the midst of the storm and it was raging, they thought they were going to drown.

It was in the worst time of the storm.

The boat was filling with water.

And all of a sudden, Peter said, Wake him up!

And when he awoke and he arose, he said, Peace.

Be still.

But I do know this.

I will lift up my eyes unto the hills from whence my help cometh, my help cometh from the Lord.

And he is the only one that in the midst of your storm can arise and come, step up and say, peace be still.

And there's a peace that passes all understanding that should keep our hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

Just like Miss Goosman.

My hands were lifted high.

Lord, help me.

That's all she said.

Show me a miracle.

Show me you're real.

Folks, he's real.

He's real.