Psalms of Ascent – Psalm 125
Jun 03 in Steps of Ascent
Today we begin the climb of our sixth step, the climb so necessary to our spiritual journey because we need to come up higher to see things from God’s perspective, to keep our eyes on God and His promises and not on man, which is why we lift our eyes to the hill… “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done…”
In verse one we see that those who put their trust and confidence in the Lord are like Mount Zion. Representative of the Kingdom of God, a mountain as we have already seen, speaks of strength, unchangeableness, security, constancy, safety. Nothing can shake it for it is established, it cannot be moved. “… the Lord is faithful, He will strengthen you and establish you (set you on a firm foundation) and guard you from the evil one.” 2 Thess. 3:3. He is our source of strength and stability, unshakeable, we shall not be moved. (see ‘flourish like a palm tree’) He is our Sabbath rest where as we abide we are kept safe, in the eye of the storm, in the palm of His hand. Reminds me of the expression: ‘to get to her/him you will first have to go through me!’ in this case HIM! Unafraid, I can rest.
I have a picture of a friend standing in front of a huge statue of a lion, when I saw it I thought, ‘that is exactly how we look to anything that may try to bring us down, we may feel small, but the Lion of Judah stands behind us and nothing dare touch us’ “as the hills enfold Jerusalem, so the Lord enfolds His people” God’s presence and strength surrounds us, we are safe, protected, He is our confidence for ever.
He is Sovereign, a covenant keeping God and will not allow the sceptre (which speaks of authority) of wickedness to find a place to dwell in the land allotted to the righteous. He sets the boundaries and places limitations on the activities of the wicked. He keeps a jealous eye over His people. “…no weapon that is formed against you shall prosper, and every tongue that shall rise against you in judgment you shall show to be in the wrong. This [peace, righteousness, security, triumph over opposition] is the heritage of the servants of the Lord ; this is the righteousness or the vindication which they obtain from Me [this is that which I impart to them as their justification], says the Lord” Isaiah 54:17 (amplified). He has the final word, He is a God of Justice and uprightness. His Name speaks of perfect justice and perfect mercy in perfect balance. “…consider the kindness and severity of God” “The LORD is gracious and merciful; Slow to anger and great in lovingkindness.” and “will judge each one according to their own ways”.