embrace hope and find peace

A Song of Ascents. Of David.
1 O Lord, my heart is not lifted up;
my eyes are not raised too high;
I do not occupy myself with things
too great and too marvelous for me.
2 But I have calmed and quieted my soul,
like a weaned child with its mother;
like a weaned child is my soul within me.

3 O Israel, hope in the Lord
from this time forth and forevermore.

- Psalm 131

What a simple and yet powerful challenge for us this morning! This psalm strikes at the tendency in all of us to be proud and arrogant in our thirst for knowledge of the Lord.  To love the knowledge we have obtained and strive to attain more so we can be built up. We are creatures that long for and strive after a knowledge of God and how He works in the world yet are often dissatisfied with the simplicity of resting in and enjoying His glorious presence.  It seems as though there is always more to pursue.  The psalmist uses the illustration of a child being weaned from it’s mother and draws our attention to how a calm and quited soul is like a child weaned of its dependence on its mother. 

The picture the psalmist paints is clear as day to me after the birth of my daughter.  My daughter is at the beginning stage of being weaned off of her mother. Slowly we are feeding her solid foods more, giving her a bottle on occasion, and having more times where it is just her and daddy in a room together. This can be difficult for her at times when she has been without mommy for a while.  She talks to slowly realize mommy is not there and begins become dissatisfied with the presence of daddy alone. And everytime mom walks into the room she immediately goes to her to be comforted by her.  Her dependence is on that nuturing care that mom has provided for her for months.  Yet, as she gets closer and closer to being weaned she becomes more and more content to rest and enjoy the time spent being in the presence of her daddy.

The psalmist compares this to our pursuit of things that are “too high.” Like a child that is not weaned so are we as we desire to know and understand the things of God.  We are not satisfied in merely sitting and enjoying His presence.  The knowledge is our mother and for us to find rest we need to be weaned of our dependence of it.  The challenge is simple, calm and quiet your soul and be satisfied in the presence of your ”Abba Father” (Romans 8:15).

The call of verse 3, to “hope in the Lord,” is a powerful refrain to be satisfied in the coming presence of our King.  Hope points to something that has not been revealed to us yet. Hope calls for us to fight our desire to understand everything and embrance the joy of pursuing the glorious presence of God. One day our hope will turn to sight!  One day we will be in the presence of our glorious King Jesus! For now let us calm and quiet our soul and hope in the Lord.

- one who is embracing hope

unspeakable Joy

A Song of Ascents.
1 Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord!
2 O Lord, hear my voice!
Let your ears be attentive
to the voice of my pleas for mercy!

3 If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities,
O Lord, who could stand?
4 But with you there is forgiveness,
that you may be feared.

5 I wait for the Lord, my soul waits,
and in his word I hope;
6 my soul waits for the Lord
more than watchmen for the morning,
more than watchmen for the morning.

7 O Israel, hope in the Lord!
For with the Lord there is steadfast love,
and with him is plentiful redemption.
8 And he will redeem Israel
from all his iniquities.

- Psalm 130

This rich Psalm begins with two verses of desperation to two verses of confession.  I believe we must get to the point that we see the desparation sin leaves in order to cling to the confession of our hearts.  In other words, we must fully understand what is at stake when we sin in order to agree with the sin in view of Scripture.  I’ve talked with several folks over the years that truly agonize over their sin.  They see their sin in view of God’s holiness and their simple response is confession.  This Psalm is beautiful, because it naturally goes to hope in verses 5-6.  The writer understands the sin (v.1-2), offers genuine confession (v.3-4), and clings to the sweet hope of the everlasting Lord (v.5-6).  Can you model that process in your own life?  Do you cry for mercy for your sins?  Do you confess daily to the ways you broke His commands?  Do you rejoice in the everlasting hope that He graciously provides?

The Psalm ends with a shout of rejoicing in hope.  I would change the wording to fit our context today by seeing the church in the light of Israel.  May the church hope in the Lord!  May the church be redeemed!  May the church rise up and cling to the hope that is found in the everlasting joy of our glorious Savior!

-From one who receives unspeakable joy in the hope of God’s everlasting mercy.

psalm 128

A Song of Ascents.
1 Blessed is everyone who fears the Lord,
who walks in his ways!
2 You shall eat the fruit of the labor of your hands;
you shall be blessed, and it shall be well with you.

3 Your wife will be like a fruitful vine
within your house;
your children will be like olive shoots
around your table.
4 Behold, thus shall the man be blessed
who fears the Lord.

5 The Lord bless you from Zion!
May you see the prosperity of Jerusalem
all the days of your life!
6 May you see your children’s children!
Peace be upon Israel!

- Psalm 128

psalm 127

A Song of Ascents. Of Solomon.
1 Unless the Lord builds the house,
those who build it labor in vain.
Unless the Lord watches over the city,
the watchman stays awake in vain.
2 It is in vain that you rise up early
and go late to rest,
eating the bread of anxious toil;
for he gives to his beloved sleep.

3 Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord,
the fruit of the womb a reward.
4 Like arrows in the hand of a warrior
are the children of one’s youth.
5 Blessed is the man
who fills his quiver with them!
He shall not be put to shame
when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.

- Psalm 127

psalm 126

A Song of Ascents.
1 When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion,
we were like those who dream.
2 Then our mouth was filled with laughter,
and our tongue with shouts of joy;
then they said among the nations,
“The Lord has done great things for them.”
3 The Lord has done great things for us;
we are glad.

4 Restore our fortunes, O Lord,
like streams in the Negeb!
5 Those who sow in tears
shall reap with shouts of joy!
6 He who goes out weeping,
bearing the seed for sowing,
shall come home with shouts of joy,
bringing his sheaves with him.

- Psalm 126

A firm Foundation

A Song of Ascents.
1 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 forevermore.
3 For the scepter of wickedness shall not rest
on the land allotted to the righteous,
lest the righteous stretch out
their hands to do wrong.
4 Do good, O Lord, to those who are good,
and to those who are upright in their hearts!
5 But those who turn aside to their crooked ways
the Lord will lead away with evildoers!
Peace be upon Israel!

- Psalm 125

I find it glorious that our Lord promises us a firm foundation as a result of our trust in Him.  He gives us that great assurance in Psalm 125.  Take a few minutes and read Psalm 125 a few times.  Since it is only 5 verses long, it shouldn’t take too much time.  My desire today is for His Word to be immersed in your soul.  After you’ve read this text a few times, I invite you continue with me as we examine it in our lives.
 
Mt. Zion in verse 1 is described as a foundation that, “cannot be shaken.”  The writer even goes to the great length to tell us that this foundation endures forever.  If we are given that promise, why would we place our trust in the things of this world or in fallen man?  I’ve placed my trust over the years in friendships that betrayed me.  I’ve placed my trust in situations and seasons that changed.  I’ve placed my trust in goals that failed.  However, looking at this verse, I’m drawn to the beauty of trusting in the Lord.  The result of that trust is a firm foundation that cannot be shaken…and endures forever!  Isn’t that glorious?!  The writer goes on to explain that the Lord surrounds us with His glory like the mountains surround Jerusalem (V.2).  The attacks from the adversary are only temporary (V.3), and will experience the wrath from the Mighty One (V.5).  We are to simply trust in His provision and care.  Our God is glorious.  He sent His Son to give us a REASON to trust in Him…for the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus has established in us all the eternal, enduring, perfect, and invincible foundation of God. 
 
Friend, trust in Him today.  Don’t get sucked into the trap of placing your trust in the things of this world that will eventually fade away (Isaiah 55).  I want to close this day by quoting one of my favorite hymns.  I invite you to sing it with me if you know the melody.  Enjoy the enduring foundation of God’s surrounding.
 
How Firm a Foundation, written in 1787 by John Keith.
 
How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord,
Is laid for your faith in His excellent word!
What more can He say than to you He hath said—
To you who for refuge to Jesus have fled?

“Fear not, I am with thee, oh, be not dismayed,
For I am thy God, and will still give thee aid;
I’ll strengthen thee, help thee, and cause thee to stand,
Upheld by My gracious, omnipotent hand.

“When through the deep waters I call thee to go,
The rivers of sorrow shall not overflow;
For I will be with thee thy trouble to bless,
And sanctify to thee thy deepest distress.

“When through fiery trials thy pathway shall lie,
My grace, all-sufficient, shall be thy supply;
The flame shall not harm thee; I only design
Thy dross to consume and thy gold to refine.

“The soul that on Jesus doth lean for repose,
I will not, I will not, desert to his foes;
That soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake,
I’ll never, no never, no never forsake

From one who leans on His firm foundation

our Help

Our Help Is in the Name of the Lord

A Song of Ascents. Of David.

124:1 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 people rose up against us,
3 then they would have swallowed us up alive,
when their anger was kindled against us;
4 then the flood would have swept us away,
the torrent would have gone over us;
5 then over us would have gone
the raging waters.

6 Blessed be the Lord,
who has not given us
as prey to their teeth!
7 We have escaped like 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

We have a tendency for self preservation.  God made us that way.  We will do whatever we have to do (most of the time) to make sure that we survive.  Unfortunately, we also have a tendency, not placed there by God, to rely upon ourselves to make sure that we fulfill that need for self preservation. Instead, He desires that we place our faith in Him for our survival.

As a parent, I so often see times when my own children feel they are more capable than I to make the decisions necessary to make sure they survive. They make these decisions because they believe they are capable, not because they know they are capable.  For, there is no way they could come to that conclusion, at least not yet. As the parent, I am capable, because I see the pitfalls of decisions that must be made, not because I am omniscient, but because I have been down the road before.

God, however, is omniscient.  He knows exactly what we need, and He is the only one who is capable of actually providing it.  The world will lead us astray, only to attack and “swallow us up alive.”  As we seek to provide for ourselves we have a tendency to follow the world, because we have not seen everything that can go wrong. We only know what we want, and will follow down unwise paths to get it.

The Father will give us everything we need.  He will protect us from the dangers of this world.  He will not give us over to the predators, who seek to devour us. He can because He is maker of heaven and earth. He can because only He has made a way through Christ. He can because He is God and we are not.

Mercy for the Climb

Psalm 123

Our Eyes Look to the LORD Our God

A Song of Ascents.

 ¹To you I lift up my eyes,
   O you who are enthroned in the heavens!
²Behold, as the eyes of servants
   look to the hand of their master,
as the eyes of a maidservant
   to the hand of her mistress,
so our eyes look to the LORD our God,
   till he has mercy upon us.

 ³ Have mercy upon us, O LORD, have mercy upon us,
   for we have had more than enough of contempt.
⁴Our soul has had more than enough
   of the scorn of those who are at ease,
   of the contempt of the proud.

Some think these “Psalms of Ascents” were actually sung in the order they’re presented in the Bible during the climb to Jerusalem for holy days and festivals. It’s not difficult to imagine the image of upturned eyes navigating a rocky uphill path singing, “To You I lift up my eyes, O You who are enthroned in the heavens!”

The remainder of the short psalm addresses God’s mercy. Biblical images of servant and master are often misunderstood. Here, the master lovingly provides for the servant just as our God provides for us. His mercy is needed when the attacks of the world wear us down, as in the closing two verses. The concept is subtle. When we have had “more than enough”, we might first think that we need God’s sympathy, or His compassion, or His consolation. We must, however, be ever-mindful of our status apart from God and recognize that before all else we need not His coddling but His mercy.

Standing in the Gates

A Song of Ascents. Of David.
1 I was glad when they said to me,
“Let us go to the house of the Lord!”
2 Our feet have been standing
within your gates, O Jerusalem!

3 Jerusalem—built as a city
that is bound firmly together,
4 to which the tribes go up,
the tribes of the Lord,
as was decreed for Israel,
to give thanks to the name of the Lord.
5 There thrones for judgment were set,
the thrones of the house of David.

6 Pray for the peace of Jerusalem!
“May they be secure who love you!
7 Peace be within your walls
and security within your towers!”
8 For my brothers and companions’ sake
I will say, “Peace be within you!”
9 For the sake of the house of the Lord our God,
I will seek your good.

- Psalm 122

Every year around the holidays I return to my father’s house and look forward to it very much. I think that all good children enjoy the prospect of returning to their home where they are loved. We can see in this psalm that David was glad merely at the invitation to go to the Lord’s house. We as brothers and sisters in Christ should rejoice when a sibling invites us to go where our desires already lie. But I must wonder how much greater our joy will be when we actually arrive there.

When I step into my father’s house, the joy that I had anticipated has been realized. No longer am I merely contemplating what it will be like; I am now fully realizing the joy that I had looked forward to. I wonder if we can say the same when we enter our worship halls today.

It is not a stretch to reckon Jerusalem to be the church today. We should be praying for peace within her walls. We should long for security within her walls and towers. We should be praying for and seeking the good for our brothers. However, that is not the main purpose of our return to our true home. No, it is to give thanks to the Lord.

There is a picture of unity in the first verse that I can not help but notice. Let us go to the house of the Lord. We have been longing to go and we are anxious to bring Him the praise. Perhaps if we remember this first we can better serve together with the unity of this psalm. Our feet may be standing within her gates but we are not fully there yet.

psalm 121

A Song of Ascents.
1 I lift up my eyes to the hills.
From where does my help come?
2 My help comes from the Lord,
who made heaven and earth.

3 He will not let your foot be moved;
he who keeps you will not slumber.
4 Behold, he who keeps Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.

5 The Lord is your keeper;
the Lord is your shade on your right hand.
6 The sun shall not strike you by day,
nor the moon by night.

7 The Lord will keep you from all evil;
he will keep your life.
8 The Lord will keep
your going out and your coming in
from this time forth and forevermore.

- Psalm 121

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