Protection

Promise of protection (v1-3)

Background - A song of Ascents for those who maybe not been before…

is one of the 15 Psalms of ascents. These psalms were designed for pilgrimage processions to celebrate seasonal feasts in Jerusalem. The hymns contain numerous references to Jerusalem or Zion, the temple, Israel, peace and adversity.

The 15 songs may have been sung on the 15 steps leading up to the temple.

This gives up some background to the psalm. You get the sense of anticipation as the people moved closer up the steps, closer to the holy place, closer to God.

Distant – Deliver me, o Lord

Help – My Help comes from the Lord

Moving – Let us go to the House of the Lord

Mercy – Our eyes look to the lord our God

Saved – Our help is in the name of the Lord

– The Lord Surrounds His People

Purpose – to see God’s PROMISE OF PROTECTION in this Psalm

To know that he can protect us, will protect us and what he protects us from. This helps us to get to a place of praise. Through this we’ll see how we get from where we are, sure of our protection, taking comfort in that, security and rejoicing in that.

Psalms often ‘harder’ to study but this journey shows the pattern of life we go through.

Distant – needing his help- mercy- saved and now protection.

So this is for God’s people. Listening?

‘The Lord Surrounds His People’

Protection

Protection – surrounds, water surrounds, engulfs us, we feel protected, gather round, comfort

Write up on board v1 – underline

V1 ‘Those who trust in the lord are like Mount Zion, which cannot be moved, but abides forever.’

‘those who trust’…there’s a condition

TRUST Proverbs 3v 5

‘Trust in the Lord with ALL your heart – why does it say all? Because we often ‘lean on our own understanding’ that’s our default position.

In ALL your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.

With that in mind - those who trust (conditional, it’s a verb, a doing word), solid trust, properly are like Mount Zion.

Mount Zion – A promise from God, affirmation about those who trust, ‘as secure as’

For Israel – Zion represented the centre of the earth and the place where the Lord dwelt.

Mount Zion

- dwelling place of God

- a symbol of God’s people, symbol of Jerusalem, Judah, Israel

- Zion as the object of God’s attention, object of God’s love, God’s blessing and God’s judgement

- Zion as the focus of God’s presence and promises

- The security of Zion because of God’s presence.

What made Zion so secure was not because of the fortificaitons around the city but the presence of God within the city.

The security of those who trust in the lord is the presence of the lord himself in their lives. (powerful)

Mount Zion, walled city of Jerusalem demonstrates a sense of strength and security; unmoveable,

‘…which cannot be moved.’ – unshakeable. Like a mountain (have you climbed a mountain, more than a hill, it’s going nowhere! Solid.

Remember..if we put our trust in him – condition

Our trust in the Lord, Mount Zion refers to God’s people, redeemed, but we’re still to walk in obedience (Moses, plagues, ‘walk in obedience’)

BUT - What’s next?

‘…abides for ever’ lovely word, even sound of it comforting! Means..

Abide..takes us to verses in

V4 Abide in me and I in you

V7 if you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.

V10 if you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love. 3 promises for us

Abides for ever

1. Mountain – abides for ever

2. Those who trust – abide forever – promise of salvation, promise of heaven

V2 ‘As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the lord surrounds his people,

From this time forth and forevermore.’

Still on the lord’s protection..

This becomes explicit in the second image. Those who trust in the Lord are like Jerusalem in a second sense. Just as Jerusalem is surrounded by mountains, so, too, those who trust in the Lord are surrounded by the divine presence. Again, the picture is one of security. As the mountains surrounding Jerusalem were an aspect of the city’s natural defenses, so the Lord was the defense of his people. In 34:7, (‘ The angel of the lord encamps round those who fear him, and delivers them’) it was the angel of the Lord who surrounded God’s people to deliver them from hostile forces arrayed against them. ‘

While the Lord may use external means to protect and deliver us, this psalm teaches us to put our trust in the Lord himself and not the means he uses. It is his presence in our lives that is always the key factor.

‘From this time forth and forevermore’ – represents his faithfulness to us.

From now and forevermore

God’s security, his promise and faithfulness to us.

the lord surrounds his people, from this time forth and forevermore.’

Enjoy that thought, maybe you need reminded of that. HIS people, that’s you.

(personal example – My friend’s husband left 4 years ago, walked away from his faith, his wife and kids. Been tough road for her. About 2 years ago at a family prayer gathering she shared how the experience had led her to be completely dependant on the lord. She couldn’t trust her husband about anything everything was falling apart but her relationship with the lord got closer. She realised God was the only one to trust. She experienced the comforting, secure, protecting arms of Jesus in the most painful season of her life.

WHY?

He’s always there, she reached out to him, acknowledged him, hard for us to do at times, we’ve got to allow ourselves to trust him. The lord surrounds his people.

From this time – Janet to trust during this time, now, and future, even when these tough times pass.

While I was preparing this her dad told me she got more bad news..

She’s still having to rely on him.

Enjoy the thought, maybe you need reminded of that, HIS people, that’s you and me.

V3 ‘For the sceptre of wickedness shall not rest on the land allotted to the richeous,

Lest the richeous stretch out their hands to do wrong.’

Flip side of all we’ve just thought about – security, abide, trust, protection

Not pleasant consequence of going against v1 trusting in him.

Sceptre of wickedness – unusual expression

Sceptre is the official baton a king, part of the royal regalia, the sceptre would have been elaborately decorated with gold or precious stones, with ornate heads. They differed from kingdom to kingdom and would have been extended to a visitor or dignitary to signal approval of a visit or to allow the person to approach the throne.

So the ‘sceptre of wickedness shall NOT rest on the land allotted to the richeous’

Unusual expression refers to the authority of evildoers which would not continue to dominate the land of the richeous.

‘alloted to the richeous, that’s us, allotted, set out, set apart, put aside for us, place for the richeous.

Again showing God’s protection towards his people. He won’t allow wickedness a foothold on his territory. (rest on the land).

Those who lived in the land of their inheritance would conduct themselves as God’s people, avoiding evil and injustice.

‘…lest the richeous stretch out their hands to do wrong.’

1) Own choice – stretch out to do wrong

Condition – you trust, I trust on him. (If we don’t then we are being disobedient and remove ourselves from his protection).

Just like the land was under God’s protection while they walked in obedience, if they turned to follow idols and were disobedient, they removed themselves from God’s protection.

Same for us – if we reach out to do wrong, we know when we are stepping out of God’s will, being disobedient, we lose our peace, our security in him falters.

Stretch out – deliberate – just shouldn’t do it (personal) going against what we know to be right.

Warning against this.

2) Deliberate, own choice, God has made a way so we don’t need to chose. The lord protects us from doing wrong. We have the Holy Spirit to guide us, we have a way out. (song)

The lord protects us from doing wrong by preventing evil to so dominate our situation that the temptation to do wrong is so strong in us.

God will always make a way of escape.

1 Cor 10v13

‘No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide a way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.’

Can endure

Hard – could be temptation to give in to ‘big things’ lust, pornography, drinking etc but could also be tempted to give up, be selfish, do own thing, go own way, be angry, skip reading and prayer times. Ask yourself your weakness, what you’re tempted to do.

Stretch out to do wrong, not necessarily big thing like murder, just says to ‘do wrong’. The richeous, that’s us, stretch out to do wrong.

We do wrong, what wrong are you doing? What wrong are you tempted to do?

Pull your arm back in…and trust God to help you.

We don’t know what the ‘wicked’ were at that time. Were they oppressors, trouble makers?

But we know today that the lord ultimately rules our lives (if we let him, those who trust v1)

Even though sin is everywhere, prevalent, ruling our country, our world, the lord wil not let this go on forever. He has provided a way out for those in the world.

God will always make a way of escape. V13

This gives us, who trust him, security and we can pray with confidence to experience this security in this life.

Prayer for prosperity (v4)

(Gets better again, left wickedness behind for now, pulled back our arm…)

V4 ‘Do good, O Lord, to those who are good, and to those who are upright in their hearts.’

Good – means ‘

Solid word, often discouraged from using word ‘good’ to describe or explain how we are feeling (Example - teaching)

However we are told God is good in the bible and we often sing about it. Psalm 119v68 ‘You are good and do good: teach me your statutes’ Scripture affirms that God is good.

Once again – condition to ‘those who are good and those who are upright in their hearts.’

God’s desire is for goodness in us, righteous, walking with him, striving to put him first and live Godly lives.

Challenge to us – how do we do good and be upright in our hearts?

Prayer for peace (v5)

PRAYER FOR PEACE (V5)

‘But those who turn aside to their crooked ways the lord will lead away with evildoers!

Peace be upon Israel!’

But – final reminder NOT to turn aside – why? – the lord WILL lead you away with the evildoers. The bible says a lot about this, warnings against evil.

Then you take yourself away from the protection of the lord.

Contrast this to the previous – look what we’ve been saved from.

V2&3 ‘if it had not been the lord who was on our side when people rose up against us, then they would have swallowed us up alive, when their anger was kindled against us;

V6&7 ‘Blessed be the lord, who has not given us as prey to their teeth! We have escaped like a bird from the snare of the fowlers …’

The lord knows the evil and will deal with evil doers. He will banish them and literally lead them away. The bible says the ‘way of the wicked will perish’ …

But… the lord knows the way of the righteous. V6

‘those who’ – comes back to us, our choices, our decisions, guard your hearts.

Don’t turn aside, guard your hearts.

Finally ‘Peace be upon Israel’ – prayer for peace.

Trust, abide, allow yourself to be surrounded by him, do good, remain upright in heart.

Leads us to peace. We will have peace in God.

In sum, this Psalm shows us..

We have the promise of protection, prosperity and peace.

Let’s enjoy the thought of being surrounded by the lord, protected, whatever we’re going through in our lives, wherever we’re at just now, I pray that you find peace in the safe, surrounding, protective arms of Jesus.