Movin' Out
Psalm 120-122 ·October 19, 2025· Joel Passmore
Part of: Psalms, Pilgrim Playlist
Pastor Joel Passmore is starting a new sermon series titled, "Pilgrim Playlist". Our pilgrimage begins by being reminded that when the world lets us down, we must look to God and move towards Him.
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So we're in a new sermon series today, starting today. I really enjoy traveling. I've probably mentioned this before. I really, really like to travel. Honestly, I wish I could do it more. There probably is a limit somewhere, but I haven't found it yet. And I don't just like to travel for the sake of the destination, for getting where we're going to go. I also enjoy the journey of itself, not all the time. Travel headaches and nightmares are awful, right?
But a lot of the time, I really enjoy the journey. I even enjoy road trips. I really enjoy trips by car. Road trips are a lot of fun, especially with other people. And one thing that makes a road trip even better is good music. Some people want to drive. Some people want to navigate. Other people just want to sleep, wake me up when we get there. I want to make the playlist and then run the stereo for the trip. I married well because my wife appreciates that.
So, we're starting a new sermon series today and it's on 15 psalms. Psalm 120 through 134. It's 15 psalms over seven weeks. And here's why I'm talking about road trips and about psalms. Because these 15 psalms, they were written at different times, for different purposes, for different occasions. But in time, they came to be used together for a common purpose. They were sung as God's people traveled to Jerusalem. They were sung on the road. As these pilgrims were going to Jerusalem three times a year, from all over, for the three big feasts, the Feast of Passover, the Feast of Firstfruits, the Feast of Booths, they would sing these songs.
And so, these 15 psalms were collected together in that part of the psalter. They were each one given a title, a song of ascents. If you open up your Bible, you'll see it there. A song of ascents. That's not the editors adding it in there. That was original scripture there. Right? This is not something that the ESV translators added in. That's original. A song of ascents. The people were ascending. They were going up in elevation to Jerusalem. Jerusalem is on a mountain.
And so, no matter where you came from, you were going up to Jerusalem. But they were also going up toward the special presence of God in the city of God, at the temple of the Lord. They were going up to God Himself. And on the way, they would sing. So these songs, these 15 psalms, this was their pilgrim playlist. Songs for the journey of faith, which culminated in fellowship with their covenant Lord. These songs were means by which they expressed their longing.
They reminded each other of God's promises. And they got ready for their arrival. All of the same things that you do in your car. You know, when you put on music that's themed out to your road trip and to the place that you're going. And we need these songs, too. We need them. They're for us, too, people of God. Because we, too, are on a journey of faith. Together. And we need sing-alongs to rally each other. To encourage each other. We need songs that are honest, but songs that are also hopeful.
We need songs that teach us how to live looking forward to the destination to where we're going. Songs clarify. These songs encourage. These songs fortify. And they do it all together. Because we sing them together. They were going up together as pilgrims. Not isolated individuals, but going up in communities to their Lord. So, let's turn on these songs. Let's turn it up a little bit. It's so loud that we can sing with all of our hearts. And without anyone hearing if we're embarrassed about it.
Okay, let's go to Psalm 120. This is the word of the Lord for us. It's without error. It's without mistake. It is completely reliable. And we should come to it listening to God and building our life on it. So, come with me, pilgrims. Hear the word of the Lord. In my distress, I called to the Lord. And he answered me. Deliver me, O Lord, from lying lips, from a deceitful tongue. What shall be given to you and what more shall be done to you, you deceitful tongue?
A warrior's sharp arrows with glowing coals of the broom tree. Woe to me that I sojourn in Meshach, that I dwell among the tents of Kadar. Too long have I had my dwelling among those who hate peace. I am for peace. But when I speak, they are for war.
I lift my eyes up to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth. He will not let your foot be moved. He who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord is your keeper. The Lord is your shade on your right hand. The sun shall not strike you by day nor the moon by night. The Lord will keep you from all evil. He will keep your life. The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore.
I was glad when they said to me, let us go to the house of the Lord. Our feet have been standing within your gates, O Jerusalem. Jerusalem built as a city that is bound firmly together to which the tribes go up, the tribes of the Lord, as was decreed for Israel to give thanks to the name of the Lord. Their thrones for judgment were set, the thrones of the house of David. Pray for the peace of Jerusalem. May they be secure who love you. Peace be within your walls and security within your towers.
For my brothers and my companions' sake, I will say, peace be within you. For the sake of the house of the Lord our God, I will seek your good. Pray with me.
Lord, we come to your word as people who are eager and longing for good news, for a reminder of where hope is found, for where life is found. Lord, if you have a correction for us, speak it to us. Make us not afraid. Make us bold to listen to you, even when there's correction. But Lord, also give us encouragement in Christ, in whom we have eternal hope and security. Lord Jesus, be glorified among us as your word goes forth with power. For our good and for your glory.
In your name, amen. Okay, the pilgrimage begins. When the world lets you down, look to God and move towards Him. Sometimes a road trip happens just because you want to change the scenery. You get the itch to get out of town. That's what's going on here, but it's not because of just boredom. It's more serious than that. The psalmist in Psalm 120 is fed up with where he's been. Psalm 120 is a call to recognize the problem.
In 1996, Sheryl Crow sang, I think a change would do you good. And this psalmist agrees. He is in distress. All around him are lies and deception. Deliver me, O Lord, from lying lips, from a deceitful tongue. He can't get away from the swindling, the dishonesty, the corruption.
This psalm is a psalm of lament. He's lamenting. He's saying, God, look at where I live. Look at the state of things around me. There is opposition to you everywhere. Woe to me, he says, that I sojourn in Meshach, that I dwell among the tents of Kadar. Meshach is far north, up in Asia Minor by the Black Sea. Kadar is far south in the Arabian desert. It's impossible to actually be in both of these two places. This is a Hebrew poet's way of saying, God, it feels like I'm living in a foreign land.
These people care nothing for you and for your ways. They lie and they are violent. Too long have I had my dwelling among those who hate peace. I am for peace. Literally, that means I am a man of peace. But when I speak, they are for war.
Now, we don't know many of the details, most of the details, any of the details, about why this psalmist wrote Psalm 120. But even without those details, I think we can relate to this lament, can't we? We are living in a post-truth world, a culture where public opinion isn't based and shaped by objective facts, but by subjective feelings. Misinformation, disinformation, carelessness with reporting, outright manipulation. It's no wonder we don't trust institutions.
Trust in the media at an all-time low. Trust in the government at an all-time low. Trust in so-called experts like doctors, all-time low. It's exhausting, isn't it, people, to wade through everything all the time. Even the most basic information, even when things seem to appear obvious.
Conspiracy theories that claim to have the real answers, they spread faster than California wildfires. But they end up muddying the waters even more. And it's no surprise that in a post-truth world, there is no peace to be found. Because you can't have peace when you embrace lies. It's never going to happen. People say they love peace, right? Everybody out there says they love peace. That they're for peace. But what is their strategy for getting there?
Create your own identity? Live your own truth? Write your own story? And then the crucial one, affirm everyone's choices. These are all relative truth statements. Relative truth gives us nothing firm to stand on. No basis for evaluating right and wrong. And therefore, no peace.
All of this leaves us feeling like the psalmist in 120. We are tired. We're fed up. And maybe the best word to describe it is disillusioned. We're disillusioned.
It's the recognition that the world has let you down. It has not delivered on its promises. For fulfillment, for utopia, for peace, all of those big promises that have been made for a hundred years, where are they? Where are the flying cars?
It's not just the flying cars and the moving sidewalks that I was promised when I was a kid. Where is the peace and harmony that people have been talking about and saying that this is the generation they say that we're going to get it right.
The world has not delivered and we want our money back. And yet, people listen, we also need to recognize that the problem is not just out there but it's in here.
We too have lying lips and dissensions. We choose to twist the truth whenever it suits our goals. We stir up strife and dissension when we think that we can get our way. We too are part of the problem.
If this resonates with you, if you recognize the lies and the war around you and inside you, then don't ignore it. Admit it. People of God, call a spade a spade. Name your disappointment and your disillusionment with what the world is offering you. Make it plain. Say something about it. Don't settle for half-truths. Don't be content with just hiding from hostility. Raise up your voice and say enough is enough. That's what this psalmist is doing in Psalm 120.
Enough is enough. Are you the kind of person who's willing to send food back at a restaurant if they get something wrong? I'm not talking about ticky-tack stuff, you know? You didn't quite put the parsley where I wanted it. I'm talking about like I wanted the steak medium well and it's still bloody or something like that. Are you the kind of person that will send food back and say this is not what I ordered, right? I know some of you are and some of you aren't.
The world is serving you something? Are you willing to say no? No. This is not going to cut it. And here's a deeper question. Are you willing to look in the mirror? Are you the kind of person that can look in the mirror and say out loud I've got a problem and I'm crying out to you God for help.
Don't be content with the problems of this world and the problems that are inside you. Cry out for something more. Something better. Join with this psalmist in 120. It's good to admit friends that we are not okay on our own. That the world is not giving us what we need. It's right and it's good to speak up about dishonesty and strife. To say that we want something better for ourselves for other people.
Recognizing you don't want to stay where you are is the first step of the pilgrimage. Recognizing that you don't want to stay where you are is the first step of the pilgrimage.
Now this lament in Psalm 120 it leads us right into the next psalm. And in that psalm we're told this look to God. Psalm 121 is a psalm of longing of contemplation. The psalmist lifts up his eyes and he asks from where does my help come? This is a good question to ask from time to time. So consider it now people. Where does your help come from?
When things go wrong what do you look to for reassurance? To say it's going to be okay. Do you look to your job? Your bank account? Your 401k? Your resume? Do you look to your spouse? Your kids? Your friends? Here's another way to get at this. I want you each to finish this sentence in your mind. Life may get terrible but it'll be okay as long as I have.
Whatever just filled in that blank is your center. The center of your life. Your security. And if your security comes from anything or anyone on earth including yourself then you will always be unstable.
But Psalm 121 points us in a different direction because here the question is rhetorical. The psalmist already knows the answer to the question. My help come from you and he's inviting us join me in looking to the Lord for help.
The Lord made heaven and earth. He was there from the beginning. He's the first cause the unmoved mover. If he is the creator and the sustainer of all things surely he can handle the distress that you and I are in.
He who keeps you will not slumber. He doesn't take time off. No vacation. Not even a coffee break. He doesn't take shifts. He's always there. During the day he shades you from the heat. And when the night has come and the land is dark and the moon is the only light you see then you don't have to be afraid because God will stand by you.
I don't know who you were thinking of but God will stand by you. If you belong to him by faith and no matter what happens he will not let your foot be moved. When Cadence and Bree were little they loved to go down to Belle Isle the James River in Richmond and hop on the rocks.
I liked to take them I really did but it was stressful. It didn't matter how many times I told them they would forget that any rock that is under the water could be as slippery as a bar of soap. And you can't tell by looking at it. I couldn't tell just by looking at it. So I would be walking near them watching every single step that they took. I would hold their hand or sometimes I would have to hold one of their hands and call the other one back from where she wanted to go.
They wanted adventure I wanted to keep them from drowning. That's the parent dynamic in a nutshell. Your father knows which rocks are slippery and he guides each step you take and holds your foot in place. He will not let you fall away from him.
Think of how much fun Cadence and Bree could have had if I had that power. Right? If I could have made every step land on solid footing. Every single step. They could have jumped and explored everywhere down at the river. Right? Without fear, without intimidation, without inhibition. They would have been completely free to enjoy the area as they rested secure in my power. But I don't have that power. But God does. That's what it's like to trust in him.
It's to know that every step that you are going to take every move that you make. He's not just watching you, he's keeping you. Verse 5 says the Lord is your keeper.
Four other places in Psalm 121 we see the verb keep. He will keep your life. This is more than watching. And how you understand this, how you read this about the Lord keeping you, how you read it reveals a whole lot about your relationship with God. Because you could take it negatively. He's keeping me down. He's keeping me captive. He's keeping me from being myself. From experiencing life.
The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore. Well I'm not sure I like that. That sounds controlling. Restrictive. If that's how you feel, I hate to tell you this, but you may not really know him.
Because if you do know him, I mean really know him, then him keeping you is the best thing you could hear. It is both comforting and emboldening to know that he keeps you. It makes you courageous because you know he bless you.
His purpose is to free you, not to embrace you. So yes, it is good to be kept by him. This is what we need. This is what we were made for. Now that we've been reminded of this, we're ready for the last song. Psalm 122. This psalm is a call to join the journey.
When you're disillusioned with the world, when you see that the only help comes from God, then the next step is clear. The next step is to get moving.
You're ready for the road trip. It seems such a waste of time, but it's all about. Mama, if that's moving up, then I'm moving out. The prophet Billy Paul sang.
Psalm 122 is a psalm of invitation, a psalm of rejoicing. I was glad when they said to me, let us go to the house of the Lord. You don't have to tell him twice. He's already packed. He's ready. Let's go. This invitation is a relief. It's like being handed a glass of cold water on a summer day. Like being offered a seat after standing for hours. Friends, let's make this invitation to each other often. In difficult times, it's your best friends who say to you, you know what?
Let's worship. Let's go to the house of the Lord. Together. We are wise when we rejoice at that invitation and we say yes. The psalmist says, our feet have been standing within your gates, O Jerusalem. He's thinking of past times of worship in the city of God with God's people. He's been invited to homecoming. It's homecoming season at high schools. Bree just went last night. It used to be that alumni would come back for their homecoming. That's why it was called homecoming.
I remember homecoming football games, looking up in the stands and seeing people that had graduated 2, 3, 5, 10 years earlier. Does that still happen? Do people still go to homecoming? Brian would know. So what is the word homecoming?
Every Jerusalem feast was a homecoming for God's people in the Old Testament. And every worship service is a homecoming for the people of the New Testament. Every worship service is a homecoming.
Jerusalem means city of peace. It's really hard for us to imagine it that way because few times in history has it ever been peaceful. But Psalm 122 depicts it that way and the psalmist prays for more. Peace be within your Lord only comes when that throne is occupied by a righteous king from the house of David.
That righteous king as you know is Jesus of Nazareth. The Son of God revealed to us in these last days in a world of lying lips and deceiving tongues he is the truth the pure truth for a people set on war he became our peace he made peace through his death in the place of sinners he made peace by the blood of his cross and through faith he is our keeper he is the shade on our right hand him our foot will never slip the sun will not strike us by day nor the moon by night and Jesus said something really that confused people he said destroy the people and in three days I will raise it up people were confused but he was talking about his body verse three and verse four celebrate the unity of all the tribes of Israel coming to Jerusalem to give thanks to the name of the Lord but when Jesus was lifted up people from all over the earth were drawn to him he accomplishes a unity like never before because he is the ultimate and the final temple of God and every Sunday when we gather it is a foreshadowing of our true and final homecoming when we enter the city of God the new as Revelation calls it it's the promised city better country that every Abraham has looked forward to and Revelation John speaks to us and he says I saw no temple in the city for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb our pilgrimage friends is not towards a physical place it's not towards a building our pilgrimage is towards a person it's Jesus that we are seeking that we are following with every step if
your faith is in Christ your pilgrimage it's begun pick up your feet oh people of God let's keep walking let's keep going after him increase your longing for truth your longing for peace look up to the hills and remember that it is the Lord alone who helps you and who keeps you and rejoice when you're invited to go to him