A song for pilgrims ascending to Jerusalem.
1 Those who trust in the Lord are as secure as Mount Zion;
they will not be defeated but will endure forever.
2 Just as the mountains surround Jerusalem,
so the Lord surrounds his people, both now and forever.
3 The wicked will not rule the land of the godly,
for then the godly might be tempted to do wrong.
4 O Lord, do good to those who are good,
whose hearts are in tune with you.
5 But banish those who turn to crooked ways, O Lord.
Take them away with those who do evil.
May Israel have peace!
Secures v1
Surrounds v2
Sovereigns v3
Sanctifies v4
Separates v5
MAIN POINT: Our Sovereign King the Lord Jesus Christ saves His people who serve Him.
If you haven’t noticed, I decided to try and alliterate for today’s Psalm. And I’ll try to show why I choose these words and how I see Jesus in Psalm 125.
It is no leap of logic to look and learn; language lovers listen to the lilt of lines in lyric. So I saw a couple of S’s in relation to what God does, then wrote an outline of the chapter that focuses on what our King Jesus does in the Psalm, and started all the words summarising each verse and point with a word beginning with the letter “S”. Sometimes using mnemonics (the sound of words) to remember truth is a good method of helping someone meditate on truths. Read the list above (5 words beginning with s) aloud and see if you can see them in the text and draw out the meaning of each in relation to Jesus.
Trusting the Saviour is seeking shelter and safety in the security and surrounding stronghold that strengthens, supplying stillness, solace, and serenity. And this isn’t just a superficial, short-term situation. Sovereign, secure, shepherd Jesus is like the summits surrounding the city.
Verse four of Psalm 125 uses a contrasting method to tell us that God’s rule through His King is not wicked, and He will not tempt His people to do wrong. So of course we can say His rule is right and it motivates us to do good. Jesus said this about our responsibility and opportunity:
Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.
Twice Psalm 125 (vv 1&2) reminds us that it is the eternality of God that establishes His ultimate authority and sovereignty over all matters of justice and security with the word “forever” which is so translated across most translations. And that is in contrast to the now in verse two.
“How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? Your life is like the morning fog—it’s here a little while, then it’s gone. What you ought to say is, “If the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that.”
We are reminded that it is the eternal sovereignty of God that makes us secure and works out all the supposed injustices, disturbances of the peace, inequalities and temporary setbacks to resolve in ultimate justice, peace, security and eternal praise.
And Jesus does this by making us holy and separating us from evil.
“And all who have this eager expectation will keep themselves pure,
just as he (Jesus) is pure.”
“And so, dear friends, while you are waiting for these things to happen, make every effort to be found living peaceful lives that are pure and blameless in his sight.”
“For God’s will was for us to be made holy by the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ, once for all time.”
And lastly we see that this holiness brings a sword of separation spoken of as banishment in verse 5 of Psalm 125. And I hope you are familiar with the teaching of Jesus about the separation of the sheep and the goats in Matthew 25. Because a day is coming when only those who love the King (Psalm 2) will be allowed to stay in the presence of the King.
Conclusion:
Sovereign Saviour sanctifying, securing salvation separates sinners so saints are secure.
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| Handwritten Psalm 125 |
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