1. My help comes from God, the Creator

Today¡Çs lecturing part is Psalm 121. The song might be the most popular one among Songs of ascents, or Pilgrim songs of Psalms*1. The lyric in Hebrew is translated into Japanese by Betsho Umenosuke as one of Japanese Baptist hymns.

It is said that those Pilgrim songs were composed at the time when Jewish Diaspora obtained the permission to ascent to Jerusalem after the event of the Babylonian captivity. In that era, the Israelites were sorrowing for the lost country which had been conquered by Babylon. Gentiles mocked the Jewish by saying that Jahweh was powerless in front of Babylonian deity. Such a mockery sapped the faith of Israelites in God. Under those circumstances, the poet came to Jerusalem a long way from Babylonia and sang ; - I lift up my eyes to the hills— where does my help come from?(Psalm 121:1)

In contrast to mountains in Japan, which are not very steep and covered with sweet green vegetations, mountains in Israel are rockery and hard to climb up. The poet looked up them with sad feeling and anxiety because he could not be sure of God¡Çs love and mercy on the people. So much so, the poet wondered, ¡ÈWhere does my help come from?¡É But he gat the answer by himself ; - My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.(Psalm 121:2)

He knows that the help must come from God, not from any humans or occurrent circumstances. Because God rules over all his creatures which He created. Then the poet heard an apparently responding voice ; - He will not let your foot slip— he who watches over you will not slumber;(Psalm 121:3)

It might come from one of other pilgrims. The poet replys to the voice ; - indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.(Psalm 121:4)

Many of Psalms were written during the Babylonian captivity. Deported people expressed their sorrow through those poems in longing for Jerusalem, the house of God. For example, Psalm 137 sings ; - By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion. There on the poplars we hung our harps,¡Ä¡Ä How can we sing the songs of the Lord while in a foreign land? If I forget you, O Jerusalem, may my right hand forget its skill (Psalm 137:1-5)

However, while singing again and again those hymns, they arrived to recognize that God was also in Babylonia to watch over them. The recognition changed their notion of Jahweh who had been considered as the protector of the Jewish people. They understood then that Jahweh was the Creator of the universe, the supreme and unique God of all humans.
Therefore they compiled Torah, or five book of Moses, as the History of God. After the emancipation from Babylon, they brought back the Bible to Jerusalem and reconstructed the Temple. They continued writing Psalms to worship God in the new Temple. Indeed, the people definitely encountered God in the place of captivity, who was with them always and forever. Therefore the poet sings ; - indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.(Psalm 121:4)
Then he continues ; - The Lord watches over you— the Lord is your shade at your right hand; the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night.(Psalm 121:5-6)
The poet is praising the Lord who protects pilgrims. In the desert, the two great lights rule the day and the night, the sun and the Moon. During the day, sun lights should burn their skins. But God gives a shade as protection from painful heat and glaring light. And in the night, under the moon, the darkness and the very low temperature caused dangers to the pilgrims. But the Lord places them in comfort and safety.
Then the fellows respond to the praise ; - The Lord will keep you from all harm— he will watch over your life the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.(Psalm 121:7-8)
They believe in God who must watcher over their journey, in coming and going and forevermore.
In this short Psalm the words ¡Èwatch over¡É appears 6 times. It was translated from Hebrew words ¡Èלשמור- Keep¡É and ¡ÈGuard שׁוֹמֵר.¡É The repeating effect emphasizes that God works unceasingly to protect and preserve humans, His creatures. The poet confessed his strong faith in God that way.
*1 Songs of a cents / Pilgrim songs http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Song_of_Ascents

2. God, the eternal protecter

The poet is praising God for the protection over the Jewish people. However, at that time, the poet and the entire people were in very severe circumstances. Jerusalem had been destroyed by Babylonian armies and the country was ruled by the sovereign nation. Many of Israelites were scattered out form Judea and became Diaspora. Naturally, those persons out of the homeland had acute nostalgia for Jerusalem. We can imagine their strong longing and wistful affection for the Holy City through the lyric of Psalm 121.

The poet wrote, ¡È My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.¡É But, can we praise God in spite of painful life conditions? For example, if we were diagnosed with a cancer of the latest phase and said to live only another year, we must be horribly upset. Our faith must be strong enough in order to sing,¡È My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth¡É Can we do so really? That is the very theme of the day.

Last week, we read Psalm 103 written by a man who had been healed form a fatal disease. He sang a hymn to praise God, the healer. It is natural that those who recovered from a severe illness give thanks to God. But how about the patients who sentenced to death despite any treatments. The authentic faith is to show gratitude toward God regardless of given future. The death of those who fear God is not the real death. It must be the coming back to heaven. Death of believers in God is to receive the gentle calling of God. EVen though the relatives sorrow, it is the return back to Father¡Çs land for the deceased. When we understand the fact, our mind can be completely calmed in God regardless of any circumstances.

The issue is fundamental for the life, much more important than the matter of success in business or results of college studies. Because the death is the trial which all humans must pass through. Preparing this sermon address, I looked for articles concerning today¡Çs passage on internet. And I find a blog written by a person who recovered from depression which had caused him temporary retirement. He wrote, ¡Èafter the resignation, the remembrance of working days appeared repeatedly in nightmares. One morning, when I gat awake and had relief, I happened on Psalm 121. The lyric calmed me down even though my mental condition didn¡Çt yet stabilize completely.¡É
Thus, he became sure that he could live serenely if he trusted in God, despite any surrounding conditions. He decided then to live a new life, life in prayers.
It is said that Martin Luther commented on Psalm 121 : The faith is not a result of accumulation of theological knowledge but the blind trust in God and His promise.
The comment perfectly points up the essence of the Psalm.

3. Live by trusting in the Lord

Today¡Çs invocation verses are 1 John 3:19-20 ; - This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.

The verses are written on the epitaph of Jochen Klepper*1, a famous German poet. He committed suicide with his Jewish wife and daughter due to the persecution of Nazi government. This act was preceded by frantic negotiations with Swiss, Swedish, and German authorities to arrange for the emigration of his family for Great Britain in May 1939. But on 9 December, Klepper had received the final No from the German authorities. The gas chambers of some German concentration camp were the destination for Klepper¡Çs wife and her daughter. Klepper wrote on his diary that he could not let his wife and daughter be abused and killed in concentration camps.

He knew that Matin Luther wrote in the hymn (The Baptist hymnal ¡ÈLet goods and kindred go, this mortal life also; The body they may kill: God¡Çs truth abides still, His kingdom is forever.¡É However Klepper confessed his weakness of being unable to endure horrible days¡Ç and death of his family. And he decided on the suicide by gas in their home together. He believed that God was greater than humans¡Ç hearts which condemned our sinful conduct. And the last words of his diary, on 10 December 1942, read: ¡ÈWe now die – alas, this too is in God¡Çs hands – Tonight we go together into death. Over us stands in the last hours the image of the Blessing Christ,who struggles for us. In his sight, our life ends.¡É In fact, with the sculpture of the Blessing Christ standing on the kitchen table, the three were found the next day lying on blankets on the kitchen floor, packages of sleeping pills next to them, gas filling the room.

Klepper wrote several ¡ÈEvening hymns ¡É and the first one, ¡ÈIch liege, Herr, in deiner Hut¡É (I lie, O Lord, within your care), is based on Psalm 4:8*2. The lyric is a testimony of Christian resignation to the Lord¡Çs care at the end of the day that is also reflected in Luther¡Çs evening prayer: There is no need for fear and worries since the Lord¡Çs mighty arm protects and guides us by day and night.

Surely, interpretations on the act of Klepper should diverge. Some might say that, if his faith in God was strong enough, he could have trusted himself and his family entirely to God, without committing suicide. But his conscience of dignity considered it to be inadmissible that Nazi soldiers would abuse his wife and daughter. Though he knew perfectly that the act of suicide won¡Çt please God at all, he was ready to lay his soul down to prevent this family from horrible mistreatments. He dared to do so in praying that the incomparably merciful God would understand his choice. Because our God is the Lord who will watch over us, coming and going both now and forevermore. When we read Psalm 121 under very hard circumstances, we can see the brightest facet of the poem.

*1 Jochen Klepper http://www.lutheranwiki.org/Jochen_Klepper
*2 Evening hymns http://www.lutheranwiki.org/Jochen_Klepper#Hymns_for_the_Day