Summer Steps: God's Promise to Prevent Our Falling

Psalm 121 raises tired eyes to the mountains and answers the heart’s question with the Lord who made heaven and earth. Verse 3 lands on one simple, massive promise: “He will not allow your foot to slip.” The Lord of hosts, Yahweh, Jehovah, the only God who is eternal, unchanging, and self existent, keeps his people from being ultimately defeated, removed, or separated from his power and protection.

The promise does not mean that sin has no consequences. Romans 6 refuses that dangerous math that says grace gives permission to keep on sinning. The blood of Christ is not a get out of jail free card for rebellion. Sin still carries weight, and it is foolishly dangerous to live as if consequences do not exist or do not matter.

The warning against consequence-free living presses hard because the human heart loves to make exceptions for itself. Consequences matter when they belong to someone else, but the heart often screams when its own consequences show up. The first effect of not believing in God is to believe in anything, and the first effect of not believing sin has consequences is to believe nothing will ever happen. That is a lie from hell, and if hell is rejected, it is still a lie against everything reasonable and rational.

Sin thrives in isolation. Sin’s slope is slippery. The longer the heart walks along the edge of the abyss, the more likely the foot will slip. The better way is not flirting with sin but fleeing from it, seeking the Lord daily, and believing that he is better than any fleeting pleasure that entices the heart.

The grace of Jesus gives new clothes. The old clothes of sin, rebellion, and foolishness do not fit anymore. The Christian is not promised perfection, but the Christian is not allowed to treat sin as no big deal. The heart changed by Christ becomes convinced that what God gives through Jesus is better.

Psalm 121:3 also speaks into discouragement, devastation, and the moments when God’s protection feels far away. Feelings may say that the soul is slipping, sliding, wavering, and wobbling, but the cross and the empty tomb say something greater. The believer may weeble and wobble, but the believer will not fall down finally. Disaster may lay a saint low, sorrow may bring the saint to the earth, and death may bring the saint to the grave, but lower the saint cannot sink.

Jude’s doxology names the only one who can protect from stumbling and present the redeemed blameless with great joy. Earthly fathers, even the best ones, cannot give that final keeping power. God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, receives glory, majesty, dominion, and authority before all time, now, and forever. He is better from this time and forever.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. Grace never cancels consequences. The promise that God will not let the believer’s foot slip cannot be twisted into permission to keep walking toward sin. Grace does not make rebellion safe, and the blood of Christ does not turn consequences into make-believe. The heart that treats sin as harmless has not become free, but numb to danger. [46:02]
• 2. Sin thrives in isolation. Hidden sin grows strongest where no honest questions are asked and no truthful answers are given. God’s gracious aid often comes through loving relationships that press past image management and into the real condition of the heart. Isolation feels protective, but it quietly removes the guardrails that mercy provides. [52:25]
• 3. Do not flirt with sin. Sin’s slope is slippery, and the edge of the abyss is not a safe place to admire the view. The heart that keeps stepping over guards should not be surprised when its footing gives way. Fleeing sin is not fear-driven weakness, but clear-eyed agreement that God is better than the fleeting pleasure calling from the edge. [53:04]
• 4. Grace will not keep down. Disaster may lay the saint low, and death may bring the body to the grave, but grace will not leave Christ’s people there. God has not promised health and wealth as the final shape of earthly life, but God has promised himself as the true health and wealth of his people. The lowest place cannot become the final place for the one joined to Christ. [60:06]
• 5. God alone presents blameless. The best earthly father can point toward safety, but only God can keep a soul from final stumbling. Jude’s praise turns the heart toward the only Savior who can make the redeemed stand before glory with great joy. True security rests not in family strength, personal resolve, or religious memory, but in God our Savior through Jesus Christ our Lord.
  
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Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [36:56] - Psalm 121 Read Aloud
• [38:15] - Prayer for Help and Praise
• [41:31] - Tripping, Slipping, and Gravity Checks
• [44:19] - Summer Steps in Psalm 121
• [44:39] - He Will Not Allow Your Foot to Slip
• [46:02] - Grace Is Not Permission to Sin
• [48:09] - Consequences Still Matter
• [50:44] - Moral Failure and Hidden Sin
• [52:25] - Sin Thrives in Isolation
• [53:04] - Flee Sin, Do Not Flirt
• [56:39] - God’s Keeping Power in Every Low
• [59:42] - Spurgeon on Not Being Kept Down
• [64:20] - Jude and the One Who Keeps
• [66:19] - Glory to God Our Savior

1. What specific promise does Psalm 121:3 make about God’s protection?
2. How does Romans 6:1 challenge the idea that grace permits ongoing sin?
3. What two actions does Jude 24-25 attribute to God regarding believers?
4. According to the sermon, why does sin grow strongest in isolation? [52:25]

1. Why does Paul address the question of continuing in sin "so that grace may increase" (Romans 6:1)? What misunderstanding is he correcting?
2. How does Jude’s doxology (Jude 24-25) connect to the promise in Psalm 121:3?
3. Why is isolation particularly dangerous for someone struggling with sin? [52:25]
4. How does the sermon reconcile the promise of God’s protection with the reality of suffering and consequences?

1. Who in your life has permission to ask you honest, penetrating questions about your spiritual health? If no one does, what step could you take this week to invite that kind of accountability? [52:25]
2. What is one area where you’ve been “flirting” with sin instead of fleeing it? What practical action could you take to create distance from that temptation? [53:04]
3. When have you felt like your "foot was slipping" emotionally or spiritually? How might the truth of Psalm 121:3 reshape your perspective in those moments?
4. How can you point others (family, friends, etc.) to the truth that God alone keeps us from final stumbling, rather than relying on human strength or resolve?
5. In times of discouragement, what tangible reminders (Scripture, worship, community) help you trust that “grace will not keep [you] down” even when life feels heavy? [01:00:06]