SNBS Psalm 125
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A Song of Ascents.
1 Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion, which cannot be moved, but abides forever.
2 As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds his people, from this time forth and forevermore.
3 For the scepter of wickedness shall not rest on the land allotted to the righteous, lest the righteous stretch out their hands to do wrong.
4 Do good, O Lord, to those who are good, and to those who are upright in their hearts!
5 But those who turn aside to their crooked ways the Lord will lead away with evildoers! Peace be upon Israel!
Are there scriptures that give you confidence? Not hopeful. Not 99% full of faith.
Can we divide them into two categories?
Those about God:
9 And God gave Daniel favor and compassion in the sight of the chief of the eunuchs,
1 The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound;
2 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn;
3 to grant to those who mourn in Zion— to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit; that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified.
Those about God’s people: Which are really about God...
1 Samuel 15 in the story of David and Goliath. If David was a picture of Jesus and Goliath a picture of Sin and Death, David’s victory in killing and cutting off the head is half-way fulfilled. It has been killed but its head has not been cut off. Confident it will play out.
Green Bay Packers’ [now Seattle Seahawks] head coach Mike Holmgren looks back at a heartbreaking moment, when he was cut from the New York Jets as backup quarterback to Joe Namath, that directed him to a bigger plan.
"I had committed my life to Jesus Christ when I was 11, but in my pursuit to make a name for myself in football, I left God next to my dust-covered Bible.
But after getting cut from the Jets, I pulled out my Bible and found comfort in a verse I had memorized in Sunday school: ’Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths’ (Proverbs 3:5-6).
"I asked Jesus Christ to take control again. My priorities in life are faith, family, and football--in that order."
[Confidence in a Crisis, Citation: Men of Integrity, Vol. 1, no. 2.]
This psalm gives us great reason to be confident. Look at how the writer pens the opening stanza. The condition of the people of God is rooted in the character of the God of the people. When we trust in the one who cannot be shaken we cannot be shaken.
He then points to something very familiar to the Hebrew reader: the mountains around Jerusalem. They were a natural fortification for the city. As they encircle the city, so the Lord encircles His people. “You hem me in...” Psalm 139:5
Like the comparative ‘eternal’ mountains, God will endure so His people will endure. Jesus taught this in
28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.
as did Paul in
6 And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.
Do those two instill confidence?
The difficulty of the years of Babylonian captivity were likely ending at the writing of this psalm. Does your version us the word sceptre? Is there a common bible story that includes this item/word? Ruth!
If the king didnt hold out the golden sceptre, she could be killed for coming to the king’s presence uninvited. The conquering kings would rule with this ‘wand of power’ was wielded without regard to human life.
Humanity before Christianity was incredibly cruel. God’s law for the way people treat each other was the exception in the entire world. So Judaism was a contrasting view to the rest of the world, but it was a shadow in so many ways. Including sanctity of life.
The promise was God had set a limit to their rule. And it would be before it was too late. His timing is always perfect. He really is an on-time God!
The confidence of the people of God allows us to go boldly to the throne of grace! The psalmist asks the Lord to do good to those upright in heart. The good here refers to the promised ‘good’ of the covenant: I will be their God, they will be my people.
Finally, evildoers success is always short lived in the grand scheme. We are reminded God will banish them, along with sin and death btw.