Climb!

This post is based on a message from Pastor Todd Cosenza, given at Hope Church on Sunday, February 11, 2024. Click the link at the bottom of the page to watch the entire message.

Psalm 121 is a “psalm of ascents.” It was written to help God’s people get to a higher place, a greater level of understanding God and His reality. This is a timely message for the Body of Christ, as God is calling us to move forward this year into greater/higher places in Him. 

We all have mountains — some are meant to be moved; some are meant to be climbed.

“I lift up my eyes to the mountains — where does my help come from?”  (Psalms 121:1 NIV)

The psalmist is seeing mountains before him, obstacles that he needs help with. Jesus said that there are some mountains that need to be spoken to because they need to be removed (see Matthew 17:20). There are also some mountains that God wants us to climb. We need discernment to know which is which.

How do we know which mountains to climb and which ones to speak to? Jesus gives us the answer in John 10:10.

“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”  (John 10:10 NIV)

• If you look at the top of a mountain (an obstacle) and all you see is death, destruction, depression and sadness — that is not a mountain you are to climb. That is a mountain you are speak to because it is not from God. 
• If you look at a mountain (an obstacle) and at the top of it there is more revelation, more of Jesus’ presence, more authority and peace — even though it presents a challenge, it’s time to put your boots on and climb that mountain. 

Consider Moses and Elijah. God separately called them to climb Mount Sinai because that’s where He would meet with them (see Exodus 19:20 and 1 Kings 19:11). He could have met with them in their tents on the plains, but He chose to call them up to the place where He was, even though it took effort on their part. In the Kingdom of God, easier is not always better. Peter, James, and John climbed to the top of a high mountain to be with Jesus (see Matthew 17). There they experienced a greater level of Jesus’ glory as He revealed more of Himself to them and He was transfigured before them. 

If God never put mountains in front of us, we would have lazy faith. We all like it easy; this is part of our nature and it’s reinforced by our culture. If everything was just laid out in front of us, our faith would never get stronger. Walking a level path uses only a certain set of muscles, but climbing uses a completely different set! God wants to teach us to climb mountains so he can stretch and strengthen our faith in different areas.

Many things God calls us to are not easy. Here are just a few examples: 

• Planting a church
• Raising a family
• Fighting for your marriage
• Confronting a particular fear
• Coming to church on a regular basis

God gives us the victory, but that’s not just a nice saying for us to quote. He gives us a tactical victory by moving us to higher ground where He is. Having the high ground gives you the victory in the battle. Fix your eyes on Jesus where He is. This gives you the tactical advantage. We are not at a disadvantage; the enemy is. But living from a place of victory requires us going to a higher place. 

Our help comes from the Lord.

“Where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.”  (Psalms 121:1b-2 NIV)

After asking the question, “Where does my help come from?” the psalmist answers with confidence, “My help comes from the Lord.” David knew his help to climb the mountains of life that were before him could only come from the Lord. God will put challenging mountains in our life to teach us the valuable lesson that He alone is our help. Then when the issues of life present themselves, we will be able to say along with David, “Our help comes from the Lord!”

Climbing a mountain happens one step at a time — God promises to watch over each step.

“He will not let your foot slip — He who watches over you will not slumber.”  (Psalms 121:3 NIV)

The psalmist moves from giving a testimony to reminding us of a promise. The psalmist says to us, “My help comes from the Lord; now it’s your turn to experience this.” Climbing a mountain is a slow process, you can’t run up a mountain. It takes time and you have to go at the pace God gives you. The promise is that God is with you during every single step. He is encouraging you with every step, and He will not let your foot slip. As you take one step at a time, keeping in step with Him, you feel His presence and hear His voice and you are encouraged to keep taking the steps He shows you until you reach the summit. 

God is not limited by human weakness.

“Indeed, He who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.”  (Psalms 121:4 NIV)

During David’s time, worshipers of false gods would make excuses for their gods by attributing human weaknesses to them when the gods seemed silent. For example, Elijah mimicked the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel when Baal didn’t answer them — “Your god must be sleeping or using the bathroom; maybe he went on a trip.” (See 1 Kings 18.) God doesn’t need us to make excuses for him. As we wait for answers to prayer, we should never try to make excuses for the Lord by thinking things like, “Maybe he’s mad at me. Maybe I’ve offended him. Maybe he’s not listening.” If God is delaying the answer to our prayer then we need to know it’s for our good! He knows there’s something powerful at the top of the mountain. He’s training us to climb a mountain and develop faith and steadfastness, strengthening our confidence in Him. He’s developing the right foundation in us so we don’t spoil His blessing when we receive it. 

One thing that will cause us to lose our footing is envy.

What could cause us to lose our footing as we’re climbing the mountain in front of us? This nearly happened to the psalmist in Psalm 73. 

“But as for me, my feet had almost slipped; I had nearly lost my foothold.”  (Psalms 73:2 NIV)

This is a time when the psalmist said he almost slipped while he was climbing. He almost fell off the mountain. How could this happen? He looked over at someone else who had it easier than him; they weren’t climbing that same mountain and he envied them. 

“For I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.”  (Psalms 73:3 NIV)

It looked to him like some people he knew had an easier life. But remember, easier is not better! Most of us are climbing a tough mountain. We are going to get to the top; God has promised to see us through! But if we look at someone else who looks like they have it easier than us, and we start to compare ourselves with them, we will feel our feet slipping. Keep in mind — it could be that in this season God hasn’t called them to a higher place like He’s called you. Or maybe they’ve reached a high point in their journey with God, and God simply has them in a different season than you. Envy can grab hold of any of us if we take our eyes off Jesus and off the mountain He has placed before us. Envy will cause us to slip.

Let’s review . . .

• When you have a mountain in front of you, think about it differently than the world does.
• As the Body of Christ, we are here to do damage to the kingdom of darkness. We have to be at a higher place to do so.
• No matter the difficulties, our help comes from the Lord to climb every mountain before us.
• If we stay focused, we have the promise that the Lord will help us and keep us from slipping. 

Learn to hold onto the Lord’s promises no matter the size of the mountain you’re facing!

“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. 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.”  (Psalms 121:5–8 NIV)