Psalm of Ascents: Week 1
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A song of ascents. 1 I call on the Lord in my distress, and he answers me. 2 Save me, Lord, from lying lips and from deceitful tongues. 3 What will he do to you, and what more besides, you deceitful tongue? 4 He will punish you with a warrior’s sharp arrows, with burning coals of the broom bush. 5 Woe to me that I dwell in Meshek, that I live among the tents of Kedar! 6 Too long have I lived among those who hate peace. 7 I am for peace; but when I speak, they are for war.
The old songbook is called, in Hebrew, shiray hammaloth—Songs of Ascents. The songs are the psalms numbered 120 through 134 in the book of Psalms. These fifteen psalms were likely sung, possibly in sequence, by Hebrew pilgrims as they went up to Jerusalem to the great worship festivals. Topographically Jerusalem was the highest city in Palestine, and so all who traveled there spent much of their time ascending.5 But the ascent was not only literal, it was also a metaphor: the trip to Jerusalem acted out a life lived upward toward God, an existence that advanced from one level to another in developing maturity—what Paul described as “the goal, where God is beckoning us onward—to Jesus” (Phil 3:14).
Peterson, Eugene H.. A Long Obedience in the Same Direction: Discipleship in an Instant Society (The IVP Signature Collection) (p. 12). InterVarsity Press. Kindle Edition.
These Psalms were quite literally pilgrim songs. They were songs that would have been sung on the physical and spiritual ascent the people would take on their journey to Jerusalum.
Some also belive that these 15 Psalms of Ascents (Degrees or Steps) also represented the 15 steps within the temple. This would again point to the spiritual journey upward the people would take on thier way home.
These psalms were no doubt used in such ways by the multitudes Isaiah described as saying, “Come, let’s climb God’s mountain, go to the House of the God of Jacob. He’ll show us the way he works so we can live the way we’re made” (Is 2:3). They are also evidence of what Isaiah promised when he said, “You will sing! sing through an all-night holy feast; your hearts will burst with song, make music like the sounds of flutes on parade, en route to the mountain of God, on their way to the Rock of Israel” (Is 30:29).
Peterson, Eugene H.. A Long Obedience in the Same Direction: Discipleship in an Instant Society (The IVP Signature Collection) (p. 15). InterVarsity Press. Kindle Edition.
Psalm 120, however, is the first and appropriate place to begin.
Psalm 120 is a call to a spiritual awakening, a sincere respentance, and flows from an unsatisfied heart.
The Psalm begins with this:
1 I call on the Lord in my distress, and he answers me. 2 Save me, Lord, from lying lips and from deceitful tongues.
The Psalmist says that he has cried out to the Lord. Why has he cried out to God? Why is he distressed? Verse two says that the cause of this distress is lies, and deceitful tongues.
The Psalmist, who some believe to be David, says I am in distress because I have come to the realization that I am being lied to. That the things people have told me are not true…and not just lies, but deceitful lies.
People have lied to the Psalmist with an intent to trick him. Fool him.
Heres what the psalmist says..I have been tricked! I have been decieved! They have pulled the rug underneath my feet! And so what does he do? He cries out to the Lord in distress!
You see, the spiritual journey does not begin with comfort, but with distress. It begins when you are throughly disatisfied wihtt he world. It begins when you come to your senses and see the truth for what it is!
This is why the first thing Jesus says when Jesus begins his ministry in Mark 1:14-15 is this
14 After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. 15 “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!”
He says repent!
Now this word repent means more than just feel bad.
In the Greek, the word that we translate as repent is metanoia.
If you haven’t heard this word before, it is much richer than our traditional understanding of the word repent.
Metanoi- Has the root word (Noos)- which means mind
And (Meta) which means after or beyond
The word Metanoi means step into a new mind. To change your mind. To come to your senses.
To come into a new mind through the pwoer of the holy Spirit.
So it is more than feeling bad about your sin, it is about putting on a new mind!
To wake up. To come to your senses!
So this Psalm begins with an awakening! A coming to your senses!
This spiritual journey begins with a spiritual awakening! To see clearly!
Truth 1: You have been lied to, so wake up and open your eyes!
Truth 1: You have been lied to, so wake up and open your eyes!
The psalmist says deliver me from these lies!
What lies has the world convinced you are true? What things do you belive that you need to be shaken from?
One of the lies you must wake up to is this: You are in spiritual distress and you need God to rescue you!
No matter how comfortable the world around you feels. NO matter how much money you make. No matter how comfortable your life is…spiritually you are dead apart from him, and you need to be given life! It is time to wake up and call out to God!
11 And do this, understanding the present time: The hour has already come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.
The first think you need to be woken up to is that you need a savior. And you are in spiritual darkness and distress!
The thing about a sleeping person is this..they don’t know that they are in danger.
I know you guys experienced some flooding over the past year, and saw water rise in homes and wind pull down trees and roofs. What would happen if the storm was coming, waters were raging…but you were sleeping!
You are in distress and you don’t know it! You would be in danger and not know it.
You need to know today that our pray for you this week is this..for you to be awaken.
For God to give you spiritual eyes to see that you need Him, and to help you see the lies you have belived?
What other lies may we believe?
Maybe you believe that as long as you go to church you’re good. You don’t have to really trust in Jesus?
Maybe you believe that being a good person saves you.
Maybe you believe that you don’t need God.
Maybe you belive that if you get enough money, or marry the right person, or big enough house…you’ll be good.
Hear me, you’ve been lied to! So pray that God could help you to see.
5 Woe to me that I dwell in Meshek, that I live among the tents of Kedar! 6 Too long have I lived among those who hate peace.
Meshek and Kedar were places far from Jerusalem. No one could really live in both of these places, they were very far from eachother. So the psalmist isn’t talking specifically about a physical place, but using the physical places to point to a spiritual truth. You see Meshek and Kedar were far from the people and presence of God. It was filled with people who didn’t worship or serve God. Pagan worship and people hostile to God.
And the psalmist says I have lived her for too long!
Truth 2: You have far from God for too long, so get up and come home!
Truth 2: You have far from God for too long, so get up and come home!
He says I have been away from God for too long. I have lived in a place far from God and his people.
Why would he stay somewhere so far away from God. Because he thought he was safe..and he had forgotten that this was not his home.
Let me tell you a secret: The Philippines in not your home. It is a temporary home..but your true home is with God!
And it doesn’t matter if you are with your parents, in Maria, Dilasog, Baler, Manilla, or America..your home is not there. Your home is with God!
Its time to come home!
You see once God wakes you up to the lies, he calls you home!
Our prayer during this camp is this, that God could wake you up to the lies, and help you find your true home!
With Him!
6 Too long have I lived among those who hate peace. 7 I am for peace; but when I speak, they are for war.
Then the psalmist says this: I thought I was safe, I thought I could find peace..but when I speak they are for war.
Truth 3: You are in a spiritual war, so speak up and call on Jesus!
Truth 3: You are in a spiritual war, so speak up and call on Jesus!
Heres the truth…you don’t realize the darkness around you, or the wickedness around you untill you start speaking and following Jesus!
The psalmist says, they are at peace with me when untill I speak!
In other words…the devil will tell you this: obey me, do what you want..and you will have peace, but whatever you do, don’t talk about Jesus! What the devil wants you to do is stat quiet! To keep your mouth shut! To not share about the goodness of God!
Jesus is the only one that gives true peace!
You see its time to wake up!
You are in danger, wake up to the lies!
You are far from home, get up and come back!
You are at war, speak up about the goodness of Jesus!
Wake up!
Get up!
Speak up!
its time!
Prodigal Son: comes to his senses, wakes up and comes home!
