Funeral: "The Lord is your guardian" (Ps 121)

FUNERAL MEDITATION: "THE LORD IS YOUR GUARDIAN" (Ps 121)

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Dr. Paul Manuel—2009

Where below you read "the deceased" Pastor Manuel

inserted the name of the individual.

The deceased was aware that God was caring for him. Throughout his life here, the Lord was watching over him. That is the theme of his favorite biblical text, Ps 121. What stands out in this passage is the simple yet compelling way the author uses repetition to underscore his conviction that God keeps those who belong to Him.

 

The author is on a journey to Jerusalem to celebrate one of the festivals. He will traverse some difficult terrain and may encounter any number of dangers along the way. Therefore, he is understandably concerned about...

 

I. The Issue of Security (Ps 121:1-2)

 

...and he opens the poem with a question in v. 1:

A. Who will help me?

This is not unreasonable. The mountains lie between him and his destination, and he knows that much can go wrong as he travels over them. So he asks...

I shall lift up my eyes unto the mountains. From where does my help come? (v. 1)

The question, though, is not for his benefit but for that of other travelers. He already knows the answer, which he offers in v. 2, asserting...

B. The LORD will help me.

My help comes from the LORD, maker of heaven and earth. (v. 2)

The psalmist's experience has shown God to be a dependable protector—committed to His people, involved in their lives, and faithful to His promises. He is the "maker of heaven and earth," which is an important title, because a traveler faces many natural dangers, and it is comforting to know that these dangers are not outside the Lord's control.

 

The deceased was on a journey, the same journey every child of God is on, not to an earthly Jerusalem but to a heavenly one. This journey, too, is fraught with danger, and as we look at the mountains before us, we may ask: "Who will help me?" Like the psalmist, the deceased knew the answer to that question: "The LORD will help me?" The deceased spoke out of personal experience, but even if that journey from his time in Viet Nam to his recent collapse in the pond, and he would have recommended that answer to any who wondered about their own journey.

 

Can a traveler really depend on God's help, or will it fail just when he needs it most? Should he question...

 

II. The Certainty of Security (Ps 121:3-4)

 

The psalmist goes on to state,

He shall not allow your foot to stumble; your guardian shall not grow drowsy. (v. 3)

English has one word for "not"; Hebrew has two words, and the one here has a sense of immediacy: "not now." The psalmist is saying that God will take care of the traveler, will keep him, at this point in his journey, wherever that may be:

A. He shall not fail you now.

What about later, sometime down the road? Will God ever get tired of supporting, of providing, of encouraging? Will His vigilance grow lax as the journey wears on?

Behold, He never grows drowsy, and the guardian of Israel never sleeps. (v. 4)

Here the psalmist uses the other Hebrew word for "not," the one that has a sense of permanence: "not ever." God will keep the traveler throughout his journey:

B. He shall never fail you.

The author of this psalm is not saying that whoever obeys God will never suffer. He is rather using the physical dangers of travel to illustrate a spiritual point. Those who support God's purpose, God supports so that they will not stumble in accomplishing His will. No injury, illness, accident, or distress will be able to prevent the believer from completing what God lays before him. The Lord will not permit such interference and will guard against any threat to His purpose. What is most important is not the duration of the trip but the devotion of the traveler.

 

The deceased could look back on some pretty harrowing experiences.  His time in Viet Nam included at least one mission from which his superiors did not expect him to return. He did return, however, and that assignment helped shape his understanding of God's care for him. Just a few months ago, the deceased was standing in the pond at home, when paralysis immobilized one side of his body than the other, causing him to fall backward into the water. He lay there face up, thankfully able to breathe but still unable to move. After an extended period in the water, he regained some mobility and managed to crawl out, with the help of his very attentive Labrador, calling then for help. That experience also shaped his understanding of God's providential care for him. The deceased knew that God does not do the same thing for everyone but that what God does has a purpose that is especially important for those who know Him.

 

In...

 

III. The Description of Security (Ps 121:5-8)

 

...that follows, the psalmist mentions the kinds of dangers from which God will protect the traveler. Again, he uses the physical perils of the trip to Jerusalem to illustrate God's care.

The LORD is your guardian; the LORD is your shade upon your right hand. The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. The LORD shall guard you from all evil; He shall guard your soul. (vv. 5-7)

No matter what threatens the traveler, day or night, God will take care of him. In fact, God's protection is from all kinds of evil, not just natural calamity but also the wicked activity of others:

A. He shall guard you in all circumstances.

In the final verse of the psalm, the author describes yet another aspect of God's comprehensive care.

The LORD shall guard your going out and your coming in, from now and forever. (v. 8)

The phrase "going out and...coming in" signifies a person's general activities in life, from beginning to end. On this present journey, God will watch over the traveler from the time he leaves home for the trip to Jerusalem until he returns. For every endeavor, the Lord promises to guard the believer until he finishes his earthly journey:

B. He shall guard you at all times.

Over the past few months, the deceased expressed to me more than once his confidence in God's care as well as his assurance that God would work His good purpose in a way ultimately to be to the deceased's advantage, because the deceased belonged to God. He experienced the truth of this, his favorite psalm, and he would want us to know that the Lord does guard His people "from now and forever."

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