“I lift up my eyes to the mountains. Where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth. He will not let your foot stumble. He who watches over you will not slumber. The Lord will watch to keep you from all harm. He will watch over your life. The Lord will watch over your going and your coming from now to eternity.”  – Psalm 121:1-3,7-8

On the Road Again

With great apologies to your family, go ahead and sign along with Willie Nelson….“On the road again, Goin’ places that I’ve never been, I’m seein’ things that I may never see again, And I can’t wait to get on the road again.” As I sit down to write this month’s newsletter I can’t help but notice how empty the church and the school currently seem. No more moments of excitement echoing from the classrooms, no more handbell practices ringing out in the church, and no more buzzing hive of copy machine copies next to my office. Our faculty and our families are on summer vacation, and many of you are currently somewhere out there, traveling on the road again.

Psalm 121 is for you.  It is a travelers’ psalm entitled a “psalm of ascents”.  It may have been sung upon the steps of the temple in worship, or perhaps while the people literally traveled on the road again up to Jerusalem for one the main festivals celebrated in the Old Testament. We still, as modern believers today, carry on our minds and in our hearts and on our lips, our favorite songs from God’s house as we exit worship and continue home. You may carry God’s praise with you even if your travels are taking you far away from Eastside, as we catch ourselves humming our favorite hymn tune or incorporating our favorite hymns of praise around the family campfire.

Why sing such songs of praise in church and abroad?  We can’t help but rejoice over the great works attributed to our God.  As travelers through the hills and valleys of life we know that there is danger in the mountains in what is seen and unseen. We know that not all of life will involve a light and carefree downhill stride. The environment’s conditions are not always pleasant, the devil is lurking, and our sinful flesh often objects to God’s guiding direction. And yet, in those trying moments of traveling through life, we can look up. There we find in the Bible a God who created the snowclad heights and is stronger than even the magnificent mountains.  We find security and safety in his eternal promises to help, defend, guide, and provide for us in a very personal way, all while we are on the road again in life’s walk of faith.

Here in Psalm 121, we find God’s guarantee that he remains on the alert and able to help with his 24/7 roadside assistance.  In Christ Jesus, we find God actively fixing the greatest issue we had: being born into and plagued daily by our sin, which leads us only away from God and off an eternal cliff to destruction.  In Jesus, full and free payment was made at his cross.  He walked through the jaws of death to life for us.  And now the ascended Lord continues to oversee and keep secure our salvation in him.  Following the Father’s plan, the Holy Spirit has helped us recognize the perils of our former pathway, turned us from the sin that so easily entangles and endangers, and directs us to walk alongside the footsteps of our Savior.  Better than a tight fitting pair of hiking boots, Jesus promises to secure our footing until home in heaven.

Knowing this we can “come and go”, or as the original Hebrew language phrases it, “go out and come in” with our God.  This picture involves the traveler finding a home with the Lord. There at the temple in Jerusalem, a believer would hear the living God of creation speak his saving truth and find peace and joy for their souls.  They would then travel back to their cities, to their families, and to their homeland with a renewed spirit.  They could then live in the joy of knowing that their salvation was secure in the promise of a Messiah.  And then, when it was time to travel once again, they would “come back in” and journey to God’s house.

Whether you are on the road again this summer or not, your spiritual home is here with your Lord.  Return regularly to his house as he graciously forgives and builds up your faith in word and sacrament.  Let the gospel promises Jesus gives to you be your joy and your delight.  And know with confidence that your life is kept secure with him, until Jesus calls you to “come in” from this fallen world to his eternal kingdom forevermore.  We just can’t wait to be on that road again!