Psalms of Ascents - Program 4
Psalm 125
We look now at the sixth of the Psalms of Ascents, Psalm125:
“Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion, which cannot be shaken but endures forever. As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds his people both now and for evermore. The sceptre of the wicked will not remain over the land allotted to the righteous, for then the righteous might use their hands to do evil. Do good, O Lord, to those who are good, to those who are upright in heart. But those who turn to crooked ways the Lord will banish with the evildoers. Peace be upon Israel”.
Is it right, do you think, that wickedness should go unpunished and that good people should suffer at the hands of the bad? This psalm writer is sure that it is not right. He is a realist. He knows that there are people in this world who “turn to crooked ways,” (see verse 5) and they cause a lot of misery. He is sure that, in the end, evildoers will be banished, sent away from the holy city. Who are “evil-doers” and what are “crooked ways”? They are people who put themselves first in what they do, they refuse to consider the law of God and his love, they hurt the innocent and use them for their own ends. Note that this Psalm shows us that such evil people can sometimes take control of a society; look at verse 3; this has happened many times in history. When it does happen, even good people can be influenced to do wrong. We must watch out constantly to see this does not happen to us. One day all evildoers will be banished from society but until that day “those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion” (verse erse1). Zion was one of the hills on which Jerusalem was built and became a symbol for the Lord’s presence among his people, sure, solid and everlasting, verse 2. So those who trust in the Lord (the Eternal One, for that is what that word means in the Hebrew), cannot be shaken, cannot be overthrown. If we are trusting in the Lord to save us and keep us in the way of righteousness, then we should rest assured that, although earthquakes may come into our lives, tragedies, disappointments, bereavements and sorrows, they cannot cause us to collapse.
This Psalm writer thinks that the mountains which surround Jerusalem are like a fortress and says that God is surrounding his people like that. The Lord surrounded his people in the Old Testament days and in our own days, too. He lovingly surrounds those who call on him in faith and humility to protect them.
It is wonderful to think that we can be part of his people today. The Bible says Jesus died to bring many sons to glory. All people in all nations of the earth can now become part of his people, breaking down racial and social and gender barriers because of Jesus’ death on the Cross. Paul points out that before Jesus died, it was the Jews who had God’s special blessings, but now these can be shared by all people: “At that time you were apart from Christ. You were foreigners and did not belong to God’s chosen people. You had no part in the covenants, which were based on God’s promises to his people, and you lived in this world without hope and without God. But now, in union with Christ Jesus, you who used to be far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ”. (Ephesians chapter 2 verses 12 and 13 GNB).
So this Psalm ends with: “Peace be upon Israel”. The word peace is “shalom” which means God’s blessing, joy and presence. Christ came into the world to bring us God’s shalom. “Shalom” means-all is well because I am resting in the strength of the Lord my God”. Shalom upon you, my friends.
Psalm 126
In the Song of Ascents for pilgrims journeying to God’s holy city of Jerusalem, which we are looking at, we have come to Psalm 126. In this Song the writer sings joyfully about the time when his people Israel returned from their captivity in Babylon, a seventy year exile, and once again stood in the holy city on Mount Zion.
Let us read the Psalm together:
“When the Lord brought back the captives to Zion, we were like men who dreamed. Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy. Then it was said among the nations, “The Lord has done great things for them”. The Lord has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy. Restore our fortunes, O Lord, like streams in the Negev. Those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy. He who goes out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with him.”
The nearest rejoicing I can think of for my own country is what happened on VE (Victory in Europe) Day in May, 1945, when people went wild for joy and the streets of London were filled with dancing people waving flags and celebrating victory over the greatest evil that had ever come on Europe. On that day even the Queen of England, then a young princess, with her sister, left Buckingham Palace to mingle with the rejoicing crowds.
Why was the return to Jerusalem such a joyful event for the Jews? God’s presence was in the Temple there, symbolised in a small dark room by a gold-covered box containing the Ten Commandments given by Moses. Now, once again, after seventy years, in which they had been cut off from this holy room during their exile in Babylon, the people of God could rebuild the destroyed Temple and their High Priest could enter this room once a year with the blood of a goat, a symbol of the covering of the people’s sins. All of that was a picture of what was to come when Jesus, our great High Priest offered his life for the sins of the whole world in his death on a Cross just outside Jerusalem. So, today, Christians can enter even more fully into the rejoicing of the people of this Psalm as they approach Jerusalem. We can sing as in verse 2 in this Psalm “Our mouths are filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy”. Can you say, with this Psalm writer, in verse 3, “The Lord has done great things for us and we are filled with joy”?
Our Enemy, the Devil, delights to see God’s people lose their joy. The Jews lost their joy when, because of their sins, they were taken captive into Babylon about 600 years before Jesus was born, but because they repented of their sins, God brought them back to Jerusalem and back to joy. Can you imagine how the pilgrims felt in the Psalm we are now considering as they went up to Jerusalem, they were sure, once again, that God was with them.
One of the men who returned from Babylon to rebuild the city of Jerusalem was Nehemiah and as he saw his people gathered together to listen to God’s Law in Jerusalem, he said to them: “Don’t be sad, the joy of the Lord is your strength”. Joy brings us health and peace, but the deepest and most lasting joy is the joy we find in being God’s children. Even for the children of God there will be times of sorrow, particularly if we stray from God when we will have to come back to him with tears of repentance, but, as we walk with God day by day, we will have “songs of Joy”.
Please note how joy comes to a believer in God according to this Psalm. Verses 4 and 5 show that it can come “like streams in the Negev”. The Negev is that part of the Holy Land which lies to the south towards the desert of Sinai- it was a dry and barren area. Suddenly, refreshing winter storms of rain would come upon it and it would blossom and be fruitful. God can bring us joy like that rain as we wait for him to bless us. God can turn our dry experiences into a time of sowing seed because the refreshing rain of his blessing has come upon us. So, go on seeking God’s blessing in your life. But also, verse 6, shows us that it is up to us to carry seed, to co-operate with God, to work hard for God, to do his will. This will cause us to sing songs of joy. If we are not doing his will, if we will not repent of our sins, confess them and forsake them, there will be no harvest, no sowing and reaping and so no sheaves to carry home, no rejoicing.
Many people today are seeking joy and happiness in the wrong places, in things, in wealth, in sensations, but there is only one experience that brings real, lasting joy. It is when we return to our roots, back to the heart of God who made us and loves us, back, so to speak, to Jerusalem, the holy city where God dwells. When we come to Christ we come back to the very heart of God. We return home and, like the pilgrims in this Psalm, we realise just what God has done for us and we are glad. “The Lord has done great things for us and we are filled with joy”, verse 3.