We welcome you to Stone's Hill today!

A typical Stone's Hill service has:

* music (so feel free to sing out);

* some announcements (things that are upcoming that you can be a part of);

* a message out of the Bible (God speaks to us through his Word);

* and an opportunity for you to respond to the message (either immediately in the case of a decision that needs to be made OR in the future as you live out the message in your daily life.)

So relax and enjoy your morning! We're so glad you are here!

MESSAGE TEXT
Psalm 120:1-7
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INTRODUCTION
Nostalgia- coined in 1688 by a Swiss doctoy who was searching for a word to explain the pain of leaving home. Today we use the word to mean a longing for a lost time - a kind of bitter-sweet melancholy. There is in every human heart a longing for home. One author even described life on earth as being “homesick at home.” You’re home and life is going pretty well, but there’s still an ache. Even when life is clicking along great: the bills are getting paid, the kids seem to be doing okay, the grandkids are growing, the job is stable, and a few goals are being achieved. But even in all this, there is something inside that keeps us a bit restless – reaching out and longing for home. Almost as if we’re at home, but something still feels like it’s missing. There’s an ache that we all feel deep inside, even when life is going well. It’s a longing, a craving for all things to be as they are supposed to be. It’s almost as if we have a homing device, a beacon inside us that pulls us toward this place where there’s no longer the ache – we’re fully and finally at home.
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Nothing is more often misdiagnosed than our homesickness for home. We think that what we want is sexual freedom, unlimited drugs, a daily supply of alcohol, a new job or company, a pay raise, another degree, a different spouse, a cabin in the woods, a condo in Hawaii. But what we really want is the Person we were made for – Jesus, and the place we were made for – Heaven and a New Earth (Alcorn).
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CONTEXTUALIZATION
Our Psalmist today is far from home in Meshek [MEE shek, about 400 miles from Jerusalem, from home], and Kedar [KEE duhr]. He’s dislocated and homesick. Immediately after Psalm 119, the longest chapter in the Bible, is found a series of 15 remarkable short psalms. These Psalms of Ascent are situated toward the end of the book of the Psalms; Psalms 120-134. They were a kind of ancient Spotify playlist for the journey back home to Jerusalem for festivals and feasts.
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There’s a movement or direction to them. The pattern formed by these songs is not perfect, but generally speaking the “dislocated” progress from a distant land (Meshech and Kedar – places that represented far away war-like tribes, Psalm 120), to the first sight of Jerusalem (Psalm 121), to standing within the city’s gates (Psalm 122), to various reflections on the grace, presence, and blessings of God on his people and their families (Psalms 123–32), to delight in the unity that prevails among God’s people (Psalm 133), to the perpetual and joyful worship of God by those who are appointed to serve him day and night in his temple (Psalm 134).
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This clustering of Psalms is like a guidebook and a map through your life-journey that wants to move in an upward direction, but that is often impeded by mud, poor signage, accidents, set-backs, and mishaps, or maybe even other tantalizing trails that lead far from the mountain of God. Peterson talks about “the tourist mind-set,” content to make occasional brief visits with the Lord that are leisurely and entertaining, all the while conforming to this world and enjoying it. That is, until we get the wake-up call. We’re not just “homesick at home”. Life gives us a rude awakening.
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Family feuds. Relationship betrayals. Legal setbacks. Unexpected death. Unfortunate events. Broken health. Money losses. A family member is arrested. A spouse wants out. A child comes out. A friend sells out. A parent clears out. A child freaks out. Author Mira Kirshenbaum would call these “dislocations.” “Behind lots of the smiling, confident faces you see every day, there’s an unsatisfied yearning for a sense of at-homeness… The life events that leave us hungry to discover their meanings are usually dislocations of some sort (50).” “They yank us out of our place in life and drag us into a new place where we don’t want to be.”
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According to Mira Kirshenbaum you’re about ready to be enrolled in “Cosmic Kindergarten.” It’s when life and ultimately God - teaches us something new that’s incredibly important. She said we never really graduate from “Cosmic Kindergarten” because we’re always learning something new - we surprisingly face what we never thought we’d face. God gives us these custom-built learning experiences. They’re meant to liberate us from something, so we can feel more fully at home. When people get “dislocated” and turned upside-down by life, they discover a whole new purpose for living – that’s the lesson we dare not miss. Some people are terminated from their jobs, but discover new abilities and create a brand-new career path. Some people have a close-call with death, so they learn to enjoy life more or live it with intentionality and purpose. Some venture out into the world, looking for some cool experience, and they get so stung by betrayal that they recognize the beauty of home and start longing for it. That’s Psalm 120. Psalm 120 sets the tone for the joyful upward journey reflected in the ascent psalms that follow. Life experience has created a nostalgia for home. The journey towards Zion has started.[2]
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PROPOSITION
Let’s read through the entire opening Psalm. Remember, this is a Psalm that lets us in on the private thoughts of the hiker. He’s not saying this out loud initially, but he’s thinking it and eventually writes it. I think we’ll see four ATTITUDES to begin your climb in Psalm 120 OR we could say four WAYS to cope with homesickness-at-home:
1 a sense of distress (1-2)
2 a clarity regarding the end (3-4)
3 a dislocated culture (5-6)
4 a vision of multiculturalism that surpasses the woke world (7)
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SUMMATION
Talking about ascent Psalms: It’s the dislocated becoming located again. Every journey will encounter some unexpected curves, dips, bumps or slick-places that seem to knock your life out of balance and cause you to lose direction and focus. It could be anything: the medical report you never expected; the accident you didn’t see coming; the job that is terminated; the loss of a longtime friendship; a rebellious child; an adulterous spouse; unexpected pregnancy; losing a baby; divorce; the death of someone you love without warning; being transferred to a new location; living in a community that is detrimental to your family; a car wreck; a crime against you; a miscarriage; moving. We cannot settle down in Meshech or be at home in Kedar. So if you are, stop trying to conform to this world’s ways of life. Put on your hiking shoes. Strap your pack to your back. Say goodbye to your sins, and start the journey home.
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CONCLUSION
Jesus would have sung this Psalm. The cross is God’s answer to a world of violence. A world that hates peace. The cross is God’s answer to a world where injustice seemingly reigns supreme. We see how seriously God takes justice at Calvary. For those who do not repent of the consistent shirking of shalom, for those who are enemies of the church, for those who promote violence and wrongdoing, there will be a day of judgment. But the cross teaches something else: that day of judgment won’t come for me, though I deserve it terribly. For the Christian, our final judgment was brought forward in time and Jesus experienced it all in our place. So that when our aim is off, when we find ourselves forgetting about our true home, when I find myself too comfortable here, when I succumb to sin, I am still safe. Jesus died the death that I deserve for those sins.

The Lord Jesus embodied this psalm. He surely knew it, and he definitely experienced it. He experienced great distress, most dramatically in Gethsemane (Mark 14:33) and at Golgotha (Mark 15:34). He was the object of evil words; his reputation was smeared; he was a stranger on earth. Through him, because of his atoning work in Jerusalem, we can have peace with God by the enablement of the Spirit, and we will one day live in a new creation filled with total shalom. Look to Jesus today. He understands your grief, and he grants grace to distressed pilgrims.