Departing the Old and Entering the New in Jesus’ Name
by Pastor Edwin Lehmann on December 30, 2024 in Psalm 121:1-8
I lift up my eyes to the hills – where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord. Psalm 90:1
Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church
4717 S. Farm Road 135 (Golden)
Springfield, Missouri 65810
417/887-0886
Meditations for New Year’s Eve – Psalm 121 December 31, 2024
Meditation 1: “I lift up my eyes to the mountains. Where does my help come from? My help comes from the LORD.” (Ps. 121:1)
I love the mountains. To me they have such a majestic presence – big, bold, beautiful. However, it is one thing to view their scenery; quite another to climb them.
Years ago my friend took me climbing in Colorado. He was a backpack and climbing instructor for a school called “Outward Bound.” We had backpacked many times before; also cycled cross country. That was fun. It took work, but it was not too difficult. However, to climb a sheer rock cliff with ropes and pitons, hugging the granite face, hunting for cracks and toeholds on which to cling – that requires a different strength, and even more, an instructor who knows what he is doing, understands the direction in which to go, and guide accurately to safety. One slip can have dire consequences. Thankfully, I had a friend who could show me the way.
We all climb other “mountains” in our lives. Some are easily traversed, others are steeper and more dangerous, having few toeholds. They require different strength and above all a Friend who can guide us safely, “teach us the ropes,” and hold us firmly in place when we need help. From where does such help come? The psalmist replies, “My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth.”
He has already climbed for us the biggest mountain of all. It’s called sin. Jesus overcame it for us on a hilltop called Golgotha. When I lift my eyes to that mountain, I see the beautiful scenery of completed forgiveness before God. If, in love, He gave Himself for us on that mountain, how will He not also graciously give us all things that we need (Rom.8:32). He will strengthen us in faith; He will guide us through His Word; He will cross those mountains with us and show us the way to navigate them safely. In all circumstances lift your eyes to Him.
Lord, help me confidently climb the mountains that confront me in the year that lies ahead. Knowing that You, as my Savior and Friend, have gone before me, I trust that You will guide me safely, and will help me conquer all obstacles in life until I reach heaven.
Meditation 2: “My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth.” (Psalm 121:2)
Do you remember the story of Eliezer? He was Abraham’s head servant. He had a great name with such significance to it. Eliezer means: “My God is help” or “God is my help.”
Abraham sent him to get a wife for his son, Isaac. This would be an important marriage. Together with all of God’s other promises to Abraham, the hope of a Savior rested upon it. You might even say that our future with God hung in the balance of the mission’s successful completion. Eliezer understood.
Had that been me, I might have thrown up my hands in panic wondering, “How in the world will I find the right person? I don’t even know where to start!” Eliezer knew a better way to go about it.
When he arrived at the place to which Abraham sent him, he sat down at a well, bowed his head, and prayed: “O LORD, the God of my master Abraham, please give me success this day, and show kindness to my master Abraham….Show me the one You have chosen for your servant Isaac.” (Gen.24:12f). Before he even finished praying, out came Rebekah, the girl who would marry Isaac. God was certainly Eliezer’s help that day. Eliezer knew it well as he put his trust in the Lord, the Maker of all things.
Surely, the One who has made everything in this wondrous creation and kept the line of the Savior going for us that we might be His people again — surely, He will be our help in every situation in life! So Paul writes: “If God is for us, who (or what) can be against us?”
The next time you become anxious or worried about how things will work out in the days ahead, think of God’s promises kept in the past, and do like the Psalmist who says: “I lift up my eyes to the mountains. Where does my help come from? My help comes from the LORD.”
Ask Eliezer. His name tells you the same: “My God is help.”
Help me hence-forth, O God of grace, Help me on each occasion,
Help me in each and ev’ry place, Help me thro’ Jesus’ Passion;
Help me in life and death, O God, Help me thro’ Jesus’ dying blood;
Help me as Thou hast helped me! (TLH 33:3)
Meditation 3: “He will not let your foot stumble. He who watches over you will not slumber. He will not sleep.” (Ps. 121:3-4)
I was 5 years old. We lived outside of Cleveland, OH. Our neighbors across the street owned an apple orchard. We loved to go there.
One day my older brothers and their pal, Arthur, snuck from the orchard. Little Eddie tagged along – to their annoyance. We came to a road running atop a ridge. A drainage ditch ran down the hill into rocks below. Arthur threw a stick at the water, but it landed on the dry concrete. They coaxed me into retrieving it. When I bent over, my foot stumbled, I slipped, and down the ditch I splashed on my back, headfirst into the jagged rocks below. Miraculously, my head went in between the rocks. The only harm that came to me that day was an embarrassed spirit and mud-drenched clothing.
Why did I slip? Doesn’t the psalmist say, God will not let your foot stumble? Yes. But in the Hebrew it literally says, “He will not give you to stumble.” It was not God’s fault I fell, but my own. I should have known better or at least been more careful. But I was only 5 and wanted to prove myself. Foolish? Yes.
Yet, when we are foolish, the LORD does not abandon us; neither is He a watchman asleep at His post. No harm came to me not because of me, but because of Him. He gives His angels command to guard us in our ways. They lift us up in their hands, so we do not strike our foot against a stone (Ps.91:11) – in my case, not strike a foot, but the head of a foolish boy.
How many foolish times have you had this past year, yet, no real harm transpired? That’s not by accident. The LORD is faithful, even when we are tempted. He provides a way out so that we can stand up again (1Cor.10:13). That faithfulness reached its height in giving His Son to “stumble” on the cross for our sakes, that we might be saved from our foolish and sinful ways. That’s no reason to be foolish, but it is reason to be grateful for the sleepless LORD who watches over you.
Dear Lord, thank You for keeping Your children safe from every type of danger in the past and keep watching over us in the years that lie ahead.
Meditation 4: “The LORD watches over you . The LORD is your shade at your right hand. The sun will not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. The LORD will watch over to keep you from all harm (or evil). He will watch over your life. The LORD will watch over your going and your coming from now to eternity.” (Psalm 121:5-8).
All you who know me, know that I carry on a family tradition, a heritage owned by the Lehmann men. The older we get, the less hair remains on top of our heads. Earlier in life I had little concerns about it. As a result, I did not take the precautions I should have.
The sun has done its damage. Every year I visit a dermatologist to check on signs of cancerous cells. Some “spots” have been frozen. But, by God’s grace, no serious trouble has resulted – at least not for the present. If only I had worn hats in the sun, not just to shade my eyes from the glare, but to shade my head from more serious harm.
The LORD is my “shade”; He is my protection; He is the source of my refreshment. Where would I be today if He had not sent His Son in the past to cover me in my sin? Satan would have burned me out long ago and eternal death would be my lot in the future.
Where would I be if He did not send His angels to watch over me day and night? With all the places I have been in my life, I would have perished long ago. But the LORD is my shade at my side. He keeps me from all harm. The Psalmist writes, “With His feathers He will cover you and under (the shadow of) His wings you will find refuge. If you make the Most High your shelter, evil will not overtake you. The LORD says, ‘I will protect him. I will be with him in distress. I will deliver him’” (Ps.91:4,9f).
If life in the days ahead should progress quickly from smooth and easy to trouble and fear-filled difficulty, how comforting to know that in Christ the LORD’S shade falls over you. So, don’t allow the mountains, moon, sun, viruses, downturns in the economy, or anything else in all creation to frighten you, for the untiring LORD who watches over you is your shade at your side, watching every minute as you come and go in your life under heaven.
Dear Lord, cover me under the shadow of Your wings. Protect me in time and for eternity.
New Year’s Eve December 31, 2024
O Lord, there remains just a short span of time separating us from the New Year. Mindful of Your mercies in the past, we kneel before You in worship this night. The past is filled with images of our mortality and weakness. But You are immortal and evidence of Your strength abounds. Therefore, in this quiet hour of the fading year, lead us to appreciate anew Your eternal love for us. Take hold of us and in Your grace grant us the fulfillment of all Your precious promises in Christ. As You have been our help in the past, be our hope for the year to come. Do not let us journey into the New Year without You, for with You at our side we shall stand secure. Grant it to us this night for Your name’s sake. Amen.
Departing the Old and Entering the New in Jesus’ Name
The Opening Hymn: “Across the Sky the Shades of Night” 367
The Order of Service: The Close of Day – Compline pp. 246-247
The Lessons
A series of devotional thoughts and prayers based on Psalm 121 will focus our attention on God’s sustained blessings to us in the past and His gracious promises of care for us in the future.
Psalm 121
Meditation and Prayer v.1: “I lift up my eyes…”
The Hymn: “Lift Up Your Heads You Mighty Gates” st.1,2,3 305
Meditation and Prayer v.2: “My help comes from the Lord…”
The Hymn: “The Lord Hath Helped Me Hitherto (TLH 33:1-3)
The Lord hath helped me hitherto
By His surpassing favor;
His mercies ev’ry morn were new,
His kindness did not waver.
God hitherto hath been my Guide,
Hath pleasures hitherto supplied,
And hitherto hath helped me.
I praise and thank Thee, Lord, my God
For Thine abundant blessings
Which here-to-fore Thou hast bestowed
And I am still possessing.
Inscribe this on my memory:
The Lord hath done great things for me
And graciously hath helped me.
Help me hence-forth, O God of grace,
Help me on each occasion,
Help me in each and ev’ry place,
Help me thro’ Jesus’ Passion;
Help me in life and death, O God,
Help me thro’ Jesus’ dying blood;
Help me as Thou hast helped me!
Meditation and Prayer vv.3-4: “He will not let you stumble…”
The Hymn: “How Firm a Foundation” st.1,2,3 800
Meditation and Prayer vv.5-8: “The Lord is your shade…”
The Hymn: “O God, Our Help in Ages Past” 820
(No offering will be taken during the service this evening so that we might focus on God’s caring gifts in our lives. The offering plates will be found in the narthex where you may leave your gift in appreciation of God’s past, present, and future blessings that we commemorate tonight.)
The Confession of Sins p.246
The Consecration and Distribution of Holy Communion
(We invite our communicant members to the Lord’s Table, believing that in the bread and wine, they receive the Savior’s true body and blood for forgiveness. Because Holy Communion implies a oneness of faith and confession, our practice is that of close communion. If you are a visitor, please speak with the Pastor before communing. Thank you.)
The Prayers p.247
The Blessings:
The Closing Hymn: “Lord, Bid Your Servant Go in Peace” 950
Silent Prayer
* * *
Psalm 121 – Help From the Lord
Heading: A song for the ascents.
Help From the Lord, Israel’s Watchman
1 I lift up my eyes to the mountains.
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 stumble.
He who watches over you will not slumber.
4 Yes, he who watches over Israel will not slumber.
He will not sleep.
5 The Lord watches over you.
The Lord is your shade at your right hand.
6 The sun will not strike you by day,
nor the moon by night.
7 The Lord will watch to keep you from all harm.
He will watch over your life.
8 The Lord will watch over your going and your coming from now to eternity.
