KNOWING GOD – THE PROTECTOR
Lesson Two
Text: Psalm 121 – [The CEV gives the psalm the heading, “The LORD Will Protect His People”]
V.2 – My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth.
The Maker of heaven and earth – This “truth” has been established by the “Creation Hymn” (Genesis 1:1-2:3). See Job 38.
The “truth” was believed by: Melchizedek and Abraham – Genesis 14:18-24 – 18Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. He was priest of God Most High, 19and he blessed Abram, saying,
“Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth. 20And blessed be God Most High, who delivered your enemies into your hand.”
Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything.
21The king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give me the people and keep the goods for yourself.”
22But Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I have raised my hand to the LORD, God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth, and have taken an oath 23that I will accept nothing belonging to you, not even a thread or the thong of a sandal, so that you will never be able to say, ‘I made Abram rich.’ 24I will accept nothing but what my men have eaten and the share that belongs to the men who went with me–to Aner, Eshcol and Mamre. Let them have their share.”
Some Levites – Nehemiah 9:5-6 – 5And the Levites–Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah and Pethahiah–said: “Stand up and praise the LORD your God, who is from everlasting to everlasting.”
“Blessed be your glorious name, and may it be exalted above all blessing and praise. 6You alone are the LORD. You made the heavens, even the highest heavens, and all their starry host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. You give life to everything, and the multitudes of heaven worship you.
Isaiah – Isaiah 40:26, 28 – 26Lift your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one, and calls them each by name. Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing.
28Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom.
Amos – Amos 4:13 – He who forms the mountains, creates the wind, and reveals his thoughts to man, he who turns dawn to darkness, and treads the high places of the earth–the LORD God Almighty is his name.
Barnabas and Paul – Acts 14:14-15 – 14But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of this, they tore their clothes and rushed out into the crowd, shouting: 15“Men, why are you doing this? We too are only men, human like you. We are bringing you good news, telling you to turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made heaven and earth and sea and everything in them.
Acts 17:24-27 – 24“The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. 25And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else. 26From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. 27God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us.
The Writer of Hebrews – Hebrews 1:10 – He also says, “In the beginning, O Lord, you laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. [This is a quotation of Psalm 102:25. Note the title of the psalm: “A prayer of an afflicted man. When he is faint and pours out his lament before the LORD.” Even in his distress, he believed this “truth.”]
Hebrews 11:3 – By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.
What, then, shall we say in response to this? As: Jeremiah – Jeremiah 10:6-7 – 6No one is like you, O LORD; you are great, and your name is mighty in power. 7Who should not revere you, O King of the nations? This is your due. Among all the wise men of the nations and in all their kingdoms, there is no one like you.
The twenty-four elders – Revelation 4:11 – “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.”