Psalm 121 I to the hills... Fintry, 9/3/2003, pm ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Introduction ----------------------------------------------------------------------- - Do you ever get to wondering whether anything in life is dependable? - Do you look back over the things that have happened to you and wonder that nothing seems to last forever? - during my childhood we lived in Tranent, but my parents are from Glasgow - we would go through to visit relatives, and on every trip as we passed through mum & dad would almost inevitably comment on something or other that had changed since their childhood! - notably the whole area round Charing Cross that now has a huge great motorway through the middle of it!! - Even in the few months I've been here in Dundee I'm conscious of that: - aerial shots of Fintry as it was being built in the vestry drawer!! - Jenny Farquharson, Fintry Mains, remembering picking tatties in the field where her house now stands!! - Linlathen High School - big flats in Whitfield behind Longhaugh School are being cleared ready for demolition... - Not just places that change, either: - friends you knew have moved on, moved away; (when I went to University no-one from my school came to Edinburgh, and I basically lost touch with all my school friends) - relatives who have died, perhaps grand-parents or parents, or even siblings... - Even our own lives, we come to realise, are limited and unreliable. - health, energy, fitness, mobility... - Can anything be relied upon? Is anyone worth leaning on? Is anyone worth trusting or committing oneself to? - The Psalmist says "YES!" - but only God is worth dependable, not anything of this earth! God is: Dependable ----------------------------------------------------------------------- - Psalmist uses three pictures to get his message about God's reliability across... - The first image is tied up with the solidity of the created order: - there is some ambiguity as to whether the hills are potentially a source of shelter or of threat! - is the thought that the Psalmist might be thinking of fleeing to the hills as a place of safety, hiding there amongst the rocks? - or is the thought that from the hills might come danger...? - Hard to be sure, but where he is sure to get help from is clear! - from the Lord, the maker of the hills, the maker of the whole earth! - There is something about hills that puts humanity in its place: - whether its scaling a peak out in the wilds and looking down on the world around, getting a sense of the scale and majesty of the world; - or whether its the glimpse of hill from closer at hand - Arthur's Seat in Edinburgh, Ochils from our bedroom window in Motherwell, Sidlaws at the back of Dundee... - To the ancient mind, someone like the Psalmist, the hills stood for all that was dependable, solid, immovable. - they had no concept of geology, plate tectonics, erosion! - only that towns, nations, kings, civilisations come and go, but the hills around are solid and reliable. - God is the same: - doesn't change - get up this morning & feel grumpy! - so can be relied upon! God is: Alert ----------------------------------------------------------------------- - Second picture Psalmist uses is of God as a watchman. - a while back I was disturbed to hear that lighthouse keepers have been largely replaced by computers - for all I'm a computer geek, I don't find this a comforting thought!! - Alert watchmen who looked out for danger and warned shipping. - God is a watchman who never sleeps, never misses anything. - nothing can happen to us without God being there, watching over us! God is: Protector ----------------------------------------------------------------------- - Final picture Psalmist uses is of God as a shade and protection. - Palestine is hot in the day, but can be cold at night. - Sun beats down, can't stay out in it... need a shade to protect you. - At night, temperature plummets - need something to keep you warm. - pictured as the moon being an evil force. - God is like that - exactly protecting us from that which threatens us. - Not maybe meaning we don't have any troubles: - just need to come to the prayer meeting and hear the needs that are shared to know that! - but protecting the most important thing, our life in him. Conclusion ----------------------------------------------------------------------- - So, the Psalmist concludes - lift your eyes up to God. - Rely on him, always, for he is reliable. - dependable; - alert; - protector. - That's one thing that stands behind our ability to approach God in worship: - we come to a God who is not fickle - indeed, we come to a God who is dependable, but not obdurate like a rock - rather we come to a God who is reliable like the best of best friends - And praise him!