Lenten Midweek 3 -- 2024

Psalm 123-125

My Brothers and Sisters in Christ we now continue with the Scriptures as the ascent to the Holy City Jerusalem continues. For it is not just Jerusalem the city, or the temple that the people seek to approach, rather their hearts, their minds, and their eyes turn and focus to the Lord in the heavens above for that is where we are to look to find all of our hope. As we look at each Psalm, we too shall lift up our hearts, and our eyes to see the Lord, our Savior as He goes to the Cross for us.

In Psalm 123, our eyes are lifted up beyond the Holy City to the heavens themselves as the pilgrims prepare to approach the Lord during these holidays and receive His blessings given forth from the temple. For the people of God had learned time and time again that they were to expect all good from God. For the Lord above is the master and God over all of Israel and its protector and its provider. So they like servants looked to their Lord above for help in their hour of need.

This was the cry of Israel and the cry of Jesus as He looks to His Father. For those who looked down on him and showed him contempt were those who were proud, and puffed up, and thought themselves greater than the Word of God. It was into their hands that Jesus would be delivered. Jesus was not relying on the mercy or the grace that was found in the hearts of men, but rather in the grace and mercy found in the heart of His Father.

For the wrath of God against sin was satisfied upon Christ’s head, but the Father did not abandon his only-begotten Son, who had been rejected and despised by men, a man of sorrows and acquantied with grief. God did not allow His Holy One to see corruption, but raised him up for our sake.

It is for the sake of Jesus, that we are able to approach the throne of God in all confidence and lift up our eyes to the heavens as well. For the children of God have borne the scorn and rejection of the world as Christ has. For the world does not value what God has given us in Christ and thinks of it as a cheap or not of much value. This is shown when they expect us to break with our beliefs and go along with them in the world. It is when we decline to join them that the truth is made known, that the evil in their hearts is revealed. That is fine, for we have Jesus.

In Psalm 124, the Israel remembers who is their helper and in whom they ought to put their trust in every hour of need. They learned this not only in their time in the wilderness and in taking the promised land. Even in the days of the judges and kings, it was the Lord who kept them safe and fought on their behalf. It was the Lord who was their shelter and their strength and whenever they turned their back from Him. Perhaps most dramatically is when the Lord secured the city of Jerusalem from an evading army and sent 1 angel to slay 185,000 assyrians in a single night.

The Lord is a mighty protector and defender of the city. Later on in the psalms, we will hear how unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchman stay awake in vain. There is no purpose, no point, if the Lord is not on your side, then your city will fall. Israel witnessed the power and majesty of God time and time again as He defended them against their enemies, and delivered them from the hands of those who hate them.

What happens when you find out that the anger and wrath we are facing is not the anger of man, nor a multitude of armies assembled against us, but the wrath of God against sin. Who then could save us? What can the created do, if the creator comes against us? For if the Lord were to bring that wrath to bear fully upon our heads, there is not a one of us who could have withstood its full fury.

That is why Jesus goes before us bearing the cross we might find shelter in His shadow. For the wrath of the Father was satisfied there at Cross, and all of our sins were atoned for by the precious blood of Christ. For the Father sent Jesus for your sake, so that you would not be swept away in the raging waters. So we can joyfully say, Our help is in the name of the Lord, for Jesus Christ has saved us.

Finally for tonight, we have Psalm 125, which praises and lifts up the greatness of the Lord, and why it is that we can confidently rely upon Him. For faith is a matter of trust, but you can’t just tell someone to have faith, you have to ask faith in what?? What am I to trust? Many people put their trust in government, in money, in family, friends, sports teams, health and when faith is placed in them, we create idols and become covetous thinking that without them all is lost. Faith is meant to pointed to God and especially His promises.

For trusting in the Lord to work and accomplish His purpose is what has kept God’s people safe throughout the years. From when Jacob was sold into slavery, and God used it for good, or when God told the people, that He would fight Pharaoh’s army for them, and they need do nothing. Even in the darkest valleys, the Lord shelters and wraps His arms around His people to keep them safe.

In the Kingdom that Christ establishes for us, there is no scepter of wickedness. No one who commits evil, or who a tyrant who will forsake the Lord. For Jesus Himself is seated upon the throne as King of Kings in that land. That is the Kingdom that we long to be in, and that Christ goes to Golgotha to secure for us. For the scepter shall not depart from Him and His reign.

The final verses give warning, and remind us that those who remain in this faith, who are upright in heart, and trust in the Lord’s Promises, and are walking according to His ways, the Lord will bless them. But if a person turns away and begins to walk in wickedness, then they have forsaken God and made a shipwreck of their faith and will perish. So dear Christian do not turn away from the Lord but cling to Him in every hour of trouble. For even though there will be times that are scary, those who trust in Him abide forever, and receive the peace which surpasses all understanding.

Now anyone who has been in affliction knows that is easy to say when things are calm and easy, but when things go wrong, it is tempting to latch on to something, anything especially if it appears that the Lord is asleep. Remember the disciples who feared that they were perishing in the storm. Jesus first calmed the storm that raged in their hearts and chided them for their weak faith, and then stilled the storm. Trust God’s promises.