The Lord Surrounds His People (Psalm 125)

"Songs of Ascent" = ("Degrees") steps, stages, gradations, or ascending up a mountain, climbing"

The spiritual life is one of progress.

 This 6^th step in the progress of the spiritual life deals with the confidence we have in the Lord.

Psalm 125

A song of ascents.

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 forevermore.

The scepter 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.

Theme:  Trust

Key thought:  Trust in the Lord and abide forever  

Key verse:  “As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the LORD surrounds his people
   both now and forevermore.”

How is God revealed?  Protector of His people; banisher of evildoers.

As the mountains surround Jerusalem…

A note about the topography of Jerusalem:  

“Two peculiarities of its topographical position are both taken here as symbols of spiritual realities, for the singularity of the situation of the city is that it stands on a mountain and is girdled by mountains. There is a tongue of land or peninsula cut off from the surrounding country by deep ravines, on which are perched the buildings of the city, while across the valley on the eastern side is Olivet, and, on the south, another hill, the so-called ‘Hill of Evil Counsel’; but upon the west and north sides there are no conspicuous summits, though the ground rises. Thus, really, though not apparently, there lie all round the city encircling defences of mountains. Similarly, says the Psalmist, set and steadfast as on a mountain, and compassed about by a protection, like the bastions of the everlasting hills, are they whose trust is in the Lord. Faith, then, gives inward stability, and faith secures an encircling defence.”       http://www.ccel.org/ccel/maclaren/psalms.iii.xxxix.html

Shall be as mount Zion

"Some persons are like the sand—ever shifting and treacherous. See Mt 7:26. “But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand.”

Some are like the sea—restless and unsettled. See Isa 57:20 “But the wicked are like the tossing sea, which cannot rest, whose waves cast up mire and mud.”

 Jas 1:6 “But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.”

Some are like the wind—uncertain and inconstant. See Eph 4:14. “Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming.”

Believers are like a mountain—strong, stable, and secure. To every soul that trusts him the Lord says, "Thou art Peter."                           —W. Hr. J. Page, of Chelsea, 1883.

We can have great confidence in the Lord to keep up "now and forevermore" because He surrounds us like the mountains surrounding Jerusalem.  Talk about stability!  

But there is one key:  we must TRUST the Lord!

Do you trust Him?  He is trustworthy!