1 A Song of Ascents. “Many a time they have afflicted me from my youth,” Let Israel now say– 2 “Many a time they have afflicted me from my youth; Yet they have not prevailed against me. 3 The plowers plowed on my back; They made their furrows long.” 4 The LORD [is] righteous; He has cut in pieces the cords of the wicked. 5 Let all those who hate Zion Be put to shame and turned back. 6 Let them be as the grass [on] the housetops, Which withers before it grows up, 7 With which the reaper does not fill his hand, Nor he who binds sheaves, his arms. 8 Neither let those who pass by them say, “The blessing of the LORD [be] upon you; We bless you in the name of the LORD!”
PSALM 129:1-8
LOOK TO THE LORD FOR JUSTICE
I can’t imagine the world of pain that some people have endured. At some points in Israel’s history they were slaves to other people. They were struck, hit, whipped, and abused by cruel masters. They were forced into compliance to do things like bake bricks and plow fields (v 3). They didn’t experience freedom to do many things, including to worship the Lord.
The Psalmist cries out about the injustice served upon him and his people by oppressors. His prayer for them is that the injustice should cease and that those who have been persecuted by their hand will receive justice! This reminds me of the martyrs we see in the book of Revelation calling out to God for Justice
When He opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held. And they cried with a loud voice, saying, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?”
Revelation 6:9-10
This reminds me that we serve a God of justice. We should seek justice where it can be found. We should seek to right the wrongs done to other, but not the same way the world often does. We should seek for God to bring true and right judgment to each unjust situation (v.4).
We also look to Jesus for ultimate justice. When we suffer injustice we must know that he had his own back plowed by the whip and shred into red rows for the sake of God’s justice on our behalf.
[Isaiah 53:5] But He [was] wounded for our transgressions, [He was] bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace [was] upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed. [1Pe 2:24] who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness–by whose stripes you were healed.
PRAYER
Father, Thank you that you are a God of justice! I am grateful for your mercy poured out in my life. I am grateful that Jesus went to the cross for my sins. I am grateful for opportunities to seek justice and show mercy to others. I have been given so much grace, let me live in it and show others of your mercy and kindness today. Bring the world to justice and right every wrong. (Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven). In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
I’m reading and blogging the Psalms Through The Summer. I’d love for you to join me. You can find out a little more here.
A Song of Ascents. Blessed [is] every one who fears the LORD, Who walks in His ways. 2 When you eat the labor of your hands, You [shall be] happy, and [it shall be] well with you. 3 Your wife [shall be] like a fruitful vine In the very heart of your house, Your children like olive plants All around your table. 4 Behold, thus shall the man be blessed Who fears the LORD. 5 The LORD bless you out of Zion, And may you see the good of Jerusalem All the days of your life. 6 Yes, may you see your children’s children. Peace [be] upon Israel!
PSALM 128:1-6
BLESSED WHEN WE FOCUS ON THE LORD
We live in a culture that is enamored with health, beauty, and wealth. We are intrigued by articles that tell us about antioxidants, vitamins, probiotics, etc. that all seem to be the key to good health. We are told to do the crossword puzzles or play music to keep us from getting dementia (or at least keep it at bay). Magazines demonstrate what a better home and garden really look like or how we should organize our plate for health. They all seem to be aiming for a long and healthy life. But what if God has something better for us… What if we are intended to live a well ordered life.
What if the secret to fulfillment isn’t wealth, fitness, or beauty. What if the secret is really having everything in our lives in a right relationship to Go?
Happiness doesn’t come from wealth, health, or power, but comes from a spiritual perspective. I am most happy not by my work, but by Who I worship! We are blessed when we fear God. The word fear here is to indicate respect. We have to ask ourselves the question. Do I respect God?
When I was a kid and I used to go hunting with my dad there were folks who would let us hunt on their land, but they had a few rules. If for example, they had a log for us to sign in and out when we came on and off the property, we had to go sign the log even if it was inconvenient, because we respected them and were honored with the privilege of hunting there. It was there property.
If we respect God, we will walk in his ways. We will honor him by our thoughts and our deeds. If His way is to honor the wife of my youth. Then I should honor the wife of my youth. From that flows blessing to my children, described as olive shoots (who incidentally don’t grow on a vine, is this a nod to adoption? or I think perhaps something spiritual like being born again!)
Honoring God provides blessing not only in our homes but grows to other generations. What a blessing indeed it is when the blessing and favor of God rest on a family for generations.
PRAYER
I’m not sure the original context of this prayer, but I had it down as an illustration for how God takes the challenges of life and makes something good out of them. I think in the original illustration a deacon is praying. But I saw it today as I glanced back a file of notes I had for this Psalm and I thought it was a fresh way of praying and looking at things so I included it today in the prayer section. (It is not original with me and I don’t know where I got it from).
“Lord, I absolutely hate the taste of buttermilk. You know that about me. And I hate lard. You know that, too. And you also know that I don’t like the taste of raw, white flour. But Lord, when all of these bad-tasting things get mixed together and baked, they make for delicious biscuits, and You know that I do love my wife’s biscuits. So, help us all to understand, Lord, that when things happen that we don’t like and we don’t know why You aren’t rescuing us from them, we just need to let You finish Your mixing and baking. If we will do that, the biscuits You’ll have for us in the end will be absolutely delicious. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.”
I’m reading and blogging the Psalms Through The Summer. I’d love for you to join me. You can find out a little more here.
1 A Song of Ascents. Of Solomon. Unless the LORD builds the house, They labor in vain who build it; Unless the LORD guards the city, The watchman stays awake in vain. 2 [It is] vain for you to rise up early, To sit up late, To eat the bread of sorrows; [For] so He gives His beloved sleep. 3 Behold, children [are] a heritage from the LORD, The fruit of the womb [is] a reward. 4 Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, So [are] the children of one’s youth. 5 Happy [is] the man who has his quiver full of them; They shall not be ashamed, But shall speak with their enemies in the gate.
PSALM 127:1-5
RAISE YOUR KIDS TO LET THEM GO!
I first really came to this Psalm years ago before I was married. I was intentionally hanging out with another young man who was growing in the Lord. We were taking a shot at discipleship and accountability to grow in our relationship with God. We didn’t really know a lot about what we were doing, but we were fumbling our way through it. One of the things we decided to do was to memorize scripture. Somehow we came to this passage and we started to see who cold memorize it first. I was so saturated in these verses that by the time it came time for him to marry his sweetheart that these were the words of blessing I found for his family. Then when I got married they become words of blessing on mine. I said them when I first held each of my children and I held them up to the Lord and offered them to Him. (They are never really ours, we are just stewards you know).
Children are like arrows. I joke with my older kid in moments of tension between us that its supposed to be this way for now, because God is preparing her to go out from among us and into the world. But not to worry, I am doing my best to shape her and I won’t let her go until it’s time. Our kids were never meant to be kept but to be let go or released into the world, but not without purpose. They are to be aimed, sharpened, honed, and prepared for the task at hand.
What a big job it is to raise a child and what a blessing each child is. We are all shaping our kids for something. Whether we are intentional or not. Where they end up usually has something to do with how and when we let them go. Are they ready to face the world ahead? Do they know how to discern what is going on?
Another part about this passage that always seems to bless me is the part about how the Lord blesses us with sleep. It’s a blessing to close my eyes at night even when the world is full of anxiety and know that the Lord watches over his sheep. If I belong to Him, no matter what comes my way, I am confident that God watches over us. I wrote a little bit about anxiety and sleep before on this blog when I was going through Philippians. Can you imagine the peace Paul had even while chained next to a Roman guard awaiting your possible execution?
PRAYER
Father, Thank you for this short Psalm today. Children are a blessing! Whatever we put our hands to, if you are not in it, it is in vain. So let us seek after you. Let us follow you and we pray even now for your kingdom to come and your will to be done. Oh, what peace is ours when we pray that way, When we trust you with our anxieties and see your will. We aknowledge that children are a blessing and a responsibility. Let us be dilligent to shape the lives of our kids in ways that bring you honor and glory. Help us to balance the tension as children grow older and become ready to leave the home. Give us grace in knowing when to let go, when to hold on just a while longer. We thank you Lord for your incredible mercy and grace! In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
I’m reading and blogging the Psalms Through The Summer. I’d love for you to join me. You can find out a little more here.
A Song of Ascents. When the LORD brought back the captivity of Zion, We were like those who dream. 2 Then our mouth was filled with laughter, And our tongue with singing. Then they said among the nations, “The LORD has done great things for them.” 3 The LORD has done great things for us, [And] we are glad. 4 Bring back our captivity, O LORD, As the streams in the South. 5 Those who sow in tears Shall reap in joy. 6 He who continually goes forth weeping, Bearing seed for sowing, Shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, Bringing his sheaves [with him].
PSALM 126:1-6
OUR TEARS WATER THE LAND BETWEEN DREAMS
Imagine with me that Farmer Joe is out in the field. He inherited this place from his grandparents who had to abandon it 70 years ago. He’s heard the stories of the ‘good ole days on this farm’ all his life. The men who tell those stories were just boys back then. Uncles, cousins, and family friends who remember it well as a land that brought forth crops in abundance. They are all too old to push a plow, chop the wood, or be of much use in the way of hard labor. However, where their muscles are weak, their minds are sharp, and they remember just how easy it used to be to till the soil and how large the harvests were.
But 70 years of neglect have left this place a wilderness. The ground is hard and rocky. The soil hasn’t been busted loose in seventy years. The fields that once held grain are fallow and overrun by small trees and weeds. The orchards and vineyards that used to be the pride of this land have rotted with blight and vines have overgrown the artifacts that reveal that this place was ever once inhabited. The old barn has been eaten by termites and wild animals have made it their home. It is more than apparent that this place has seen better days. When old farmer Joe came back to this land, it was the worst condition it has ever been. It didn’t fall into disrepair by neglect, but from absence. His family has been gone for more than a generation!
But Joe isn’t there to wail and bemoan the better days, He has a vision. He’s heard the stories of the good ole days and he longs for even better, fuller days ahead, but it’s going to take a long time to get there. There are too many chores to do. And chores that used to be easy are difficult, painful, and time consuming these days. It’s not a matter of days before this place reaches its former glory, it’s a matter of years, maybe even decades.
So he goes out, hitches up the mule and gets to work. The ground is hard, it doesn’t move easy. He works each day in a matter of inches and yards not acres as his ancestors had. His progress on the rows comes with so much hurt and pain. He is frustrated, his muscles ache with an agony of toil and despair, his emotions boil into tears that pour hot and heavy down his face.
As his tear ducts release the tears as he prays. He prays for God to move. He prays for God to restore what was lost. He holds on to a hope of what the future holds. He dreams of a different time. A time that all of this sowing and crying will produce a harvest. These seeds that will bring forth joy are sown in the rain of his pain, agony, frustration, worry, and hope.
This Psalm resonated with me in many ways today. I often hear about the good ole days. All the dreams about the abundance of years past is often prone to a selective memory (which I understand, who wants to hold on to the bad memories?). Sometimes we unintentionally lump twenty successful years into one year and multiply it back by twenty to remember what life was like. We share stories that were 20 years in the making like it all just sort of happened.
For those brave enough to plow the fields of today, there is often a burden of labor that is doubly intense because the ground has changed and you have the dream given to you by people who have unintentionally been making apples to oranges comparisons. The fields have been fallow, not for neglect, but that the culture has changed. (While we are using agricultural analogies, the top soil of gospel in culture has eroded.) The average person in the community has less gospel knowledge and fluency than any generation before. In some sense it is harder to work the fields today than it used to be. (I’ve seen that in 20 years of ministry).
But the truth or myth of how things used to be doesn’t accomplish any of the actual work today. Hard ground or soft, the fields need plowing, the seed needs planting. If there will ever be a harvest again on this ground, the backbreaking work of sowing must take place. The new vision and dream arises about what will the Lord produce through the seeds that are going out today! Seeds sown in hard times watered by the tears of desperate, humble prayers. Those seed will yield fruit in due season and this is the dream we cling to! The dream we hope to be there to see. The dream of what might God do with just a few faithful believers living on vision for Him? A dream that pictures a brighter tomorrow for all the adversity we face today! A dream founded on the past but with real vision into the future. What keeps a tired farmer/pastor in the field broadcasting seed? The HOPE of and KNOWLEDGE that our best days are still ahead of us!
As I reflect on where we are in our cultural moment, I think it is easy for some of us to wonder why the Lord don’t move in our lives like he did back in the good ole days? We can often look back and see that He hasn’t changed, but somewhere along the way, we have. We stopped showing up to pray. We stopped being faithful in our attendance. We stopped reading our bibles. If indeed we stopped doing the things we did when He was working miracles among us, is it any wonder we see less of Him today?
The Apostle John tells us of a church who had lost their love for Jesus to repent and go back and do the things they did when they were first in love with Jesus: “Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place–unless you repent.” (Revelation 2:5).
PRAYER
Father, Thank you for opportunity to minister your word to others. Thank you for the easy opportunities and thank you for the opportunities that are not easy. I am reminded that you are the LORD of the Harvest. I am just a laborer that you have called to the task. I ask of you that I would be found faithful to the end in all that you have called me to do. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
I’m reading and blogging the Psalms Through The Summer. I’d love for you to join me. You can find out a little more here.
A Song of Ascents. 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 forever. 3 For the scepter of wickedness shall not rest On the land allotted to the righteous, Lest the righteous reach out their hands to iniquity. 4 Do good, O LORD, to [those who are] good, And to [those who are] upright in their hearts. 5 As for such as turn aside to their crooked ways, The LORD shall lead them away With the workers of iniquity. Peace [be] upon Israel!
PSALM 125:1-5
TRUST GOD
On a bend of the Marias River near where I grew up there is a steep bluff made of shale rock. In the rock you can find all sorts of fossils of leaves and sometimes critters. When I was a kid we would climb up the steep bank and look for fossils.
The only problem was that often the debris from the crumbling shale would pile up and it didn’t make a good foothold on a steep bank. We had a special way of walking across, but sometimes even if you did everything right, you would still slip down the bank.
Sometimes you would climb a few feet only to fall a few feet further. We’d call this back sliding. Instead of making forward and upward progress, you’d fall back. Of course the real danger was that you’d fall so far that you’d end up in the swift moving current of the river bend.
In the Christian life we also have something called back sliding. I have friends, people I know who were once so on fire for the Lord that have slid back in their relationship with God. For some it just seems as though things have cooled, for others it seems as though they never really knew the Lord.
I’ve got friends and family members who we would say have backslidden. They are wounded and hurt, maybe even because of their own foolishness, but for whatever reason they have fallen back or fallen out.
In theology we have all sorts of debates and denominations over the question, can you backslide so far that you lose your salvation? In today’s text we will see the Hand of the Lord on the Nation of Israel. The Song that is sung here is that of rejoicing that it’s not our hands that saves us or keeps us, but it is the hand of the Lord that has kept His people. Had we been trusting in our own strength surely we’d fail.
The image we get is of geography and politics. Back in those days they settled politics by the machines of war. If someone rolled in with a massive army, they would fight a battle and lay siege to a city. When they won the battle, they would be the new ruler.
Jerusalem was a particularly difficult city to capture this way. It was a hill surrounded by hills. The only way to get to Jerusalem was through a pass. It was an easily defensible place because of the mountains surrounding the city. The Psalmist reminds us that just like mountains surround and therefore protect Jerusalem, the Lord surrounds and protects those who belong to him!
Stability doesn’t mean that we don’t grieve or weep when we go through the trials of life. It means that as we face them we do so with an abiding hope and confidence in the Lord.
Throughout the history of the Nation of Israel, when they pressed into the Lord and trusted Him, He always came through, He never let them down. When they got full of themselves or hired foreign armies they would trust in false gods, or chariots, they became captive to their enemies.
Two things we should note: Jerusalem will stand forever more. God loves this city and it’s people that all throughout scripture his hand is all over it, protecting it, preserving it. There will be a time when my town, Flomaton, doesn’t exist anymore. There will never be a time when there is no Jerusalem, even when Jesus returns in all his glory in the book of Revelation, he is bringing a new Jerusalem! God will always surround his people.
The second thing we should note is that there were times that Jerusalem was taken captive by foreign kings. The people went into a 70 year captivity, but then the Lord brought them back. He never forsook them, even though they had forsaken Him.
I believe that if someone is genuinely saved they cannot lose their salvation. There may be times in their life when they backslide and forsake God even… but God hasn’t forsaken them. He may let them wander off into the far country until they come back to their senses but he hasn’t forsaken them. They will know they should return and repent. They may wander in sin for a season, but they will never truly comfortable with it. When they come to a place of repentance there is always a way back home.
PRAYER
Father, Thank you for your never stopping, never giving up, always and forever love. I don’t deserve your grace, but you have poured it out on me in abundance. I rejoice to know that I am surrounded by your love and your protection. Keep me from backsliding and trusting in false god’s and empty promises. Let me face whatever adversity comes my way with a real and secure hope in you. I pray today for those who I know who are living in sin and misery and are backslidden. Bring them back again to repentance and in the fold with your people. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
I’m reading and blogging the Psalms Through The Summer. I’d love for you to join me. You can find out a little more here.
A Song of Ascents. Of David. “If it had not been the LORD who was on our side,” Let Israel now say– 2 “If it had not been the LORD who was on our side, When men rose up against us, 3 Then they would have swallowed us alive, When their wrath was kindled against us; 4 Then the waters would have overwhelmed us, The stream would have gone over our soul; 5 Then the swollen waters Would have gone over our soul.” 6 Blessed [be] the LORD, Who has not given us [as] prey to their teeth. 7 Our soul has escaped as a bird from the snare of the fowlers; The snare is broken, and we have escaped. 8 Our help [is] in the name of the LORD, Who made heaven and earth.
PSALM 124:1-8
IF IT HAD NOT BEEN FOR THE LORD
Have you ever tried to convince your kid to do something that they didn’t want to do? Maybe it looks scary or dangerous like a roller coaster, but you knew if they go on it! You knew that they would have the time of their life! So maybe they get on it for the first time and then once they go for a ride they have the time of their life! Just when it looks like your going to crash into a wall the coaster turns and just when you can’t go any higher it spins you into a loop and at the end of it all the kid is jumping up and down saying… “I want to go again!” And they recount everything that happened. We saw this and then this happened. We saw that and then that happened!
Here the Psalmist are on a pilgrimage. They have been traveling and there are all sorts of dangers along the way. And with excitement they reflect on the journey and what it would have been like if God had not been on their side.
They play the what if game, but in a good way. They ask what if God hadn’t been there on my side how would it have all happened then?
The vivid imagery of things they have seen on their journey become a metaphor for what would have happened to them. It’s like when you are frustrated at the car moving too slow ahead of you only to realize that had you been going the speed limit (or a little faster) you would have been involved in a major wreck. In a sense you note that Lord had kept you from that.
Sometimes our problems come at us and threaten to swallow us whole. The troubles that we experience come from a source that is out to get us. They come from an enemy who seeks to devour us. Like a snake or a large fish that opens its mouth to swallow its prey whole while it is still alive. “If it hadn’t been for the Lord we would have been eaten alive by our enemies!”
Sometimes the problems we face in life come like a flood that is rising all around us. Our lives are threatened to be submerged in chaos. No matter which way we turn there doesn’t seem to be a way out of it. There is no dry ground to crawl to. The water is rising. It’s not over our head yet, but our problems soon will be. Is there anything so helpless as seeing things work against you and not having the ability to do anything about it? Maybe it’s a job loss, or it’s medical bills that pile up, or past mistakes that are catching up to you.
Sometimes our problems come on us all at once. Like a flash flood. It’s not just that we’ll be over our heads soon, but that the waters threaten to sweep us away.
In parts of Israel there would be dry places and when the summer rains would come the dry stream beds or wadis would fill up quickly causing a flash flood to happen. Jesus alludes to this in the sermon on the mount when he talks about the wise man building his house on the rock and the foolish man building his house on the sand. The rains would come and there would come with the rains a mighty torrent.
Sometimes in life it feels like all of our problems are rushing at us all at once. That they threaten to move us or shake us from our foundation. Maybe it’s an unfaithful spouse. Maybe someone is suing you. Maybe you just found out your child is facing addiction.
Praise God that he delivered us when he did! Rather than those hazards doing us in, they have made us more confident in the LORD.
Imagine how many skeletons and scattered bones of dead animals these pilgrims saw on their way to Jerusalem. Now they are praising God that their carcas wasn’t one of them. They may have been pursued but never caught and it wasn’t because of their speed, but because of the LORD.
Our testimony is that when the jaws of the jackals came after us that we were delivered. God didn’t abandon us to our enemies. He was there, He was always with us and He never left us.
This Psalm doesn’t mean that we won’t have problems in life. Indeed it is a testimony that we will face all sorts of problems in life, but it is a song of praise and remembrance of the one who has helped us through every instance of our lives. That even when the waves were crashing all around us. Even when the enemy had us in his clutches. Even when it looked like it was all over, it wasn’t, because the Lord was on our side.
PRAYER
Father, You watch over us! I can look back over my life and I see your hand with me through all the things I have faced. You have guided me through adversity and guarded me, even from my own foolishness at times! I am grateful that you look out over us. I can only imagine what calamities might have come my way in greater abundance or disasters might have been my undoing, if it weren’t for the fact that you were there for me. Thank you for you abundant grace and mercy poured out on my life! In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
I’m reading and blogging the Psalms Through The Summer. I’d love for you to join me. You can find out a little more here.
A Song of Ascents. Unto You I lift up my eyes, O You who dwell in the heavens. 2 Behold, as the eyes of servants [look] to the hand of their masters, As the eyes of a maid to the hand of her mistress, So our eyes [look] to the LORD our God, Until He has mercy on us. 3 Have mercy on us, O LORD, have mercy on us! For we are exceedingly filled with contempt. 4 Our soul is exceedingly filled With the scorn of those who are at ease, With the contempt of the proud.
PSALM 123:1-4
LOOK UP!
Where do we go when we are being persecuted? How do we handle the pressure of living a godly life in an ungodly world? What do we do when we have been singled out, made fun of, mocked, or ridiculed by those in power? What does faith look like when I am oppressed?
This psalm is a picture of a prayer, not necessarily a guide on how to pray. We can take some principles away from this psalm, but it wasn’t written as a guide to prayer, it’s a demonstration of prayer when I am being held in contempt by others.
We look up to God. Notice the posture. We don’t look down on him. We don’t look at him. We look UP to Him.
It is said that Michelangelo had such a habit of looking up at the ceilings of these marvelous buildings that he painted that it affected his posture. People would catch him about Rome as he was out and about and would find him looking up.
That needs to be our posture. We need to be so used to looking to God in the midst of the trials and tribulations of life, that even when it comes to the ordinary moments of life we just naturally look to God. We look to God.
To walk the Christian life you will be persecuted. 20 years ago I was sharing the gospel in downtown Mobile. I was talking with those who had gone to the bars. I was spit on for trying to plead with someone about their soul.
I have been told that I should never have kids. I’ve been called a hillbilly hick. I’ve been called a mouth breather. I’ve been called all sorts of names. I’ve been dismissed. Where should I look? LOOK TO UP TO GOD! LOOK UP TO GOD! LOOK UP TO GOD!
My Children need to hear it and see it in me. When adversity happens. When we encounter problems. When we face persecution… LOOK UP TO GOD! Like a servant looks to the master’s hand for directions we need to look to God for his will in our lives!
PRAYER
Father, How quickly I am reminded to humble myself in my posture to you. Too often I confess my eyes are on the headlines or on the news coming from this individual or that one that it is hard to see you unless I humble myself, get on my knees, and ask for your direction in my life. It is easy sometimes to imagine what should happen or how things should unfold. It is easy to be hurt when feeling persecuted, but I am grateful that I can look to you, the author and finisher of the faith. I look to you Lord, I look to you! In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
I’m reading and blogging the Psalms Through The Summer. I’d love for you to join me. You can find out a little more here.
A Song of Ascents. I will lift up my eyes to the hills–From whence comes my help? 2 My help [comes] from the LORD, Who made heaven and earth. 3 He will not allow your foot to be moved; He who keeps you will not slumber. 4 Behold, He who keeps Israel Shall neither slumber nor sleep. 5 The LORD [is] your keeper; The LORD [is] your shade at your right hand. 6 The sun shall not strike you by day, Nor the moon by night. 7 The LORD shall preserve you from all evil; He shall preserve your soul. 8 The LORD shall preserve your going out and your coming in From this time forth, and even forevermore.
PSALM 121:1-8
A TRAVELER’S SONG
David Livingstone, the famous missionary to the African Continent, chose to read Psalm 121 along with Psalm 135 with his father and sister before embarking on his missionary journey. His mother-in-law, Mrs. Moffat also wrote to him and said that Psalm 121 was always on her mind when she prayed for him.
In Psalm 121 the pilgrims were leaving behind pagan lands to come and to worship in the temple of God in Jerusalem. We took note that they were distinct from the people around them because they worshiped the LORD. There was a prayer that they wouldn’t believe all the lies around them. That they wouldn’t buy into the false god’s and pagan deities. We can pray that for us as well to pray with confidence that this place is not our home and to ask God for grace in the midst of everything.
Where does our help come from? Why were the travelers here looking at the hills? The hills and high places were places of false worship. There were a variety of false god’s that would be worshiped in a variety of wicked ways on the hills. Worshipers of these false god’s would offer children as a sacrifice to Moloch, Baal was a harvest god but was also in charge of the weather, Ashtoroth was fertility her altars were giant phallic symbols and she had a cult of prostitutes that would meet you up at the high places. There were also smaller regional deities. Demons that liked to cause mischief like a stone under your foot to twist your ankle, etc… unless they were appeased by some sort of offering. When these folks traveled they would see all of these places of worship to these false God’s on the hills. Even in Israel these places were set up at different times by kings. Solomon had erected a temple on the mount of olives that overlooked the temple mount! People going in to worship the one true God would see their king and his wives going to worship a false god!!!
Listen to some of these verses about worshiping on the hills, also called high places, and under green tree’s.
[Deu 12:1-5 NKJV] 1 “These [are] the statutes and judgments which you shall be careful to observe in the land which the LORD God of your fathers is giving you to possess, all the days that you live on the earth. 2 “You shall utterly destroy all the places where the nations which you shall dispossess served their gods, on the high mountains and on the hills and under every green tree. 3 “And you shall destroy their altars, break their [sacred] pillars, and burn their wooden images with fire; you shall cut down the carved images of their gods and destroy their names from that place. 4 “You shall not worship the LORD your God [with] such [things]. 5 “But you shall seek the place where the LORD your God chooses, out of all your tribes, to put His name for His dwelling place; and there you shall go.
[1Ki 3:3 NKJV] 3 And Solomon loved the LORD, walking in the statutes of his father David, except that he sacrificed and burned incense at the high places.
[Psa 78:58 NKJV] 58 For they provoked Him to anger with their high places, And moved Him to jealousy with their carved images.
[Isa 65:7 NKJV] 7 Your iniquities and the iniquities of your fathers together,” Says the LORD, “Who have burned incense on the mountains And blasphemed Me on the hills; Therefore I will measure their former work into their bosom.”
[Jer 3:22-23 NKJV] 22 “Return, you backsliding children, [And] I will heal your backslidings.” “Indeed we do come to You, For You are the LORD our God. 23 Truly, in vain [is salvation hoped for] from the hills, [And from] the multitude of mountains; Truly, in the LORD our God [Is] the salvation of Israel.
[Jer 7:31 NKJV] 31 “And they have built the high places of Tophet, which [is] in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire, which I did not command, nor did it come into My heart.
As we travel through this life we will face hazards. The question that the Psalmist raises is where will you look for your help to come from? Will you look to God the maker of heaven and earth? Or will you look somewhere else (the hills high places) for your solution?
The Psalmist declares he doesn’t trust in high places when his world falls apart or he is anxious about traveling. His hope is in the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth.
PRAYER
Father, You are the maker of heaven and earth! I will look to you for my help and salvation. I will not seek false gods and idols that do not satisfy. It’s you who guards my steps and it’s you in whom I trust. Watch over my steps today. Lead me in the way everlasting. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
I’m reading and blogging the Psalms Through The Summer. I’d love for you to join me. You can find out a little more here.
A Song of Ascents. In my distress I cried to the LORD, And He heard me. 2 Deliver my soul, O LORD, from lying lips [And] from a deceitful tongue. 3 What shall be given to you, Or what shall be done to you, You false tongue? 4 Sharp arrows of the warrior, With coals of the broom tree! 5 Woe is me, that I dwell in Meshech, [That] I dwell among the tents of Kedar! 6 My soul has dwelt too long With one who hates peace. 7 I [am for] peace; But when I speak, they [are] for war.
PSALM 120:1-7
I AM HOMESICK FOR A COUNTRY
This Psalm begins a run of 15 Psalms that are called the Psalms of Ascent. Jewish people had lived and settled outside of Israel for a variety of reasons. One of the key reasons was a forced relocation by invading armies. Over time these families lived in these far off places and would travel back to Jerusalem on three key holidays (Passover, Pentecost, and the Day of Atonement).
Along the way they would sing these particular songs. If you read through them they take you on a journey from the far country all the way back to the altar in the temple of God.
They were songs of celebration, hope, remembrance, and most importantly songs of confidence in God. They were discipleship oriented. To sing these songs were meant to instill the right ideas or thoughts into the minds of those who are traveling. Especially the children.
We live in a microwave society. We want things to happen our way, right away. It may be a good recipe for customer service when offering a burger, but it’s not great when it comes to developing a life long commitment to God.
Our society is filled with shallow Christians who haven’t put in the time to really experience the power of God in their lives. We used to have to work hard for our food. We used to have to keep the cow milked to get our milk. We had to plant our garden, wait for rain, get rid of the weeds, protect against bugs, be patient for it all to ripen and then harvest within a narrow window. This long process is what it took to produce fruit or for a plant to come to maturity. Similarly true, gospel discipleship takes time. It takes consistency in the same direction.
Often look for discipleship to happen in a matter of a few minutes. We give it one or two Sundays a month and hope that something turns up. We expect as all things to happen in a matter of a few minutes and we wonder when our children are heathens.
We live in a place filled with lies… Lies about who we are. Lies about God. Lies about what our purpose is. Lies about our humanity. Lies about our gender/ sexuality. Lies about what constitutes a life. Lies about marriage. Lies about creation. Lies about the seriousness of sin. Lies about how our sin impacts others.
God hears our prayers. Our prayers will be answered (v4), but patience is required.
As they march up to Zion they are claiming, “we are not like the people around us who live by lies. We live by the truth of God’s word. We are set apart not for destruction, but for the Lord. We are his people. We bear a responsibility to tell the truth even when we are surrounded by those who live by lies. We must share the good news with others. We want them to know! “
PRAYER
Father, Thank you for your word today! I am reminded that we live in a fallen world. A world filled with sin and lies. It is difficult to know who is telling the truth anymore and it is easy to become sinical. Keep me rooted in your truth. Refresh me again with the reminder that there will come a day and I will be in a place where there are no more lies. Where truth abounds and good news isn’t debated but loudly shouted everywhere. Give me grace to live as a foreigner in this world. Let me live as a citizen of that country in this country. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
I’m reading and blogging the Psalms Through The Summer. I’d love for you to join me. You can find out a little more here.
The voice of rejoicing and salvation [Is] in the tents of the righteous; The right hand of the LORD does valiantly. 16 The right hand of the LORD is exalted; The right hand of the LORD does valiantly. 17 I shall not die, but live, And declare the works of the LORD. 18 The LORD has chastened me severely, But He has not given me over to death. 19 Open to me the gates of righteousness; I will go through them, [And] I will praise the LORD. 20 This is the gate of the LORD, Through which the righteous shall enter. 21 I will praise You, For You have answered me, And have become my salvation. 22 The stone [which] the builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone. 23 This was the LORD’s doing; It [is] marvelous in our eyes. 24 This [is] the day the LORD has made; We will rejoice and be glad in it. 25 Save now, I pray, O LORD; O LORD, I pray, send now prosperity. 26 Blessed [is] he who comes in the name of the LORD! We have blessed you from the house of the LORD. 27 God [is] the LORD, And He has given us light; Bind the sacrifice with cords to the horns of the altar. 28 You [are] my God, and I will praise You; [You are] my God, I will exalt You. 29 Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for [He is] good! For His mercy [endures] forever.
PSALM 118:15-29
A SONG OF SALVATION
The voice of rejoicing here means that we need to be shouting loud! This is not a quiet simple melody. This has the boom of large bass drums and trumpets blaring! This is a joyful exuberance. The psalmist doesn’t want us to miss this!
I was watching my daughter the other day when she had to stay home from school. she was sitting in my lap talking to me and I was checking my messages on my phone, not paying as much attention to here as she deserved. What she has to say was really important to her and so she grabbed me by the cheeks and put her face in mine and in a dramatic way told me everything she had to say…
That is what the psalmist is saying and doing here! Pay attention. What he has to say is important!
The Psalmist says it three times here, but he wants us to know that he was saved by the Lord’s hand. This is personal. He wasn’t saved by his word or decree, but the Lord Himself intervened. He intervene with his right hand. His dominant hand. His stronger hand. His most skilled hand. His favored hand. Don’t miss this, the Psalmist says. This is how we know God loves us, because he has moved on our behalf!
Verse 17 really jumped out at me today as I read prayed over it. John Wycliff the bible translator was on his death bed and a few men who had persecuted him gathered to offer him a chance to recant his position. They prayed for his health, then they prayed for his soul as it looked like he was getting sicker and sicker… Then finally he sat upright in the bed and grabbed the nearest one and quoted this verse. “I shall not die, but live.” And a few days later he recovered and went about the work of bible translating!
Martin Luther was a German monk who had begun translating the bible into German and he had a lot of people who were looking to kill him. He was protected and kept in hiding by a wealthy prince who had befriended him. He was one who was familiar with persecution as he became perhaps the loudest voice of the protestant reformation. One of his biographers said that this verse 17 hung in his study.
Charles Spurgeon wrote in his commentary, “No bullet will find it’s billet in our hearts until we have finished our allotted period of activity.”
The song that came to mind today as I read over the second half of Psalm 118 is “Soverign Ruler of the Sky.” I’ve got it on a playlist of hymns that play over and over. Part of the song goes like this:
“Plagues and deaths around me fly,
Till he please I cannot die;
Not a single shaft can hit,
Till the God of love sees fit.”
PRAYER
Father, You are my salvation! There is no other name by which men are saved! I thank you for your grace in my life today! I praise you for you are worthy of praise! Thank you for grabbing my attention with your word today and causing me to focus on the marvelous benefits of trusting in you! You are a God who delights to save his people. I recognize in my own life how I have been through many valleys and faced various hardships, but it was your hand that delivered me from even my own sin. I celebrate your goodness and rejoice in your salvation and am blessed with a grateful heart this day. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
I’m reading and blogging the Psalms Through The Summer. I’d love for you to join me. You can find out a little more here.
The Hill House 