Psalms

11/19/19

Tom Lowe

 

Psalm 125: So the Lord Surrounds His People

(A Song of Degrees or Ascents, by David, that celebrates the security that only God can offer.)

 

Psalms 125:1-5 (KJV)

1. {A Song of degrees.} They that trust in the LORD shall beas mount Zion, which cannot be removed, but abideth for ever.
2. Asthe mountains are round about Jerusalem, so the LORD is round about his people from henceforth even for ever.
3. For the rod of the wicked shall not rest upon the lot of the righteous; lest the righteous put forth their hands unto iniquity.
4. Do good, O LORD, unto those that begood, and to them that are upright in their hearts.
5. As for such as turn aside unto their crooked ways, the LORD shall lead them forth with the workers of iniquity: butpeace shall be upon Israel.

 

Introduction:

This little psalm concerns the security of the believer. It is the kind of security that cannot be threatened by outward circumstance. It is what Paul wrote about in Romans 8:35-39

Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Just as it is written,
         “FOR YOUR SAKE WE ARE BEING PUT TO DEATH ALL DAY LONG;
         WE WERE CONSIDERED AS SHEEP TO BE SLAUGHTERED.”

But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

This psalm is a prayer liturgy [a rite or body of rites prescribed for public worship] which was sung in Zion in connection with the annually reoccurring ceremonies of the Israelite New Year. There is in this psalm a unique note of trust in the Lord. It is one of a group of psalms (Pss. 120-134) which taken together are among the most tender and fervent in the entire Psalter. But its distinctive setting in worship is with those psalms that believe in and plead for a turn-around in the fortunes of Israel.

 

Commentary: Psalms 125:1-5 (KJV)

1. {A Song of degrees.} They that trust in the LORD shall beas mount Zion, which cannot be removed, but abideth for ever.

We come across the name Mount Zion again and again in the psalms. It is used in at least three different ways in the Scripture.

1. It is normally used as the name of the old Jebusite stronghold in Jerusalem (1 Chron. 11:4-9; 2 Sam. 5:6-10). The Jebusites considered it invincible and boasted that they could defend it with their blind and their lame. It was called by several names; Zion, the fort, the castle, or the city of David. It was situated on the southwest boundary of Jerusalem. The name Zion actually means “castle.”
2. Zion is used prophetically to depict the administrative center of the millennial kingdom (Psalm 2:6{1]; Isaiah 2:3). Isaiah says, “Out of Zion shall go forth the law.”
3. Zion is used poetically to describe Heaven and the hope of the New Testament believer (Heb. 12:22). It is contrasted with Mount Sinai. These two mountains, Zion and Sinai are contrasted to emphasize the difference between the hope of the Old Testament believer and the hope of the New Testament believer. The security of God’s Old Testament people hinged on the law; the security of His New Testament people hinges on the Lord.

In Psalm 125, as most frequently in the psalms, Zion is used normally to depict Jerusalem. “They that trust in the LORD shall be as mount Zion, which cannot be removed, but abideth for ever.” From the very beginning, God intended for Zion to be His ultimate seat of sovereign power on earth. It was designed to stand the test of time. “Those who trust in the Lord shall be like that,” says the writer. “Trust in the Lord” renders the soul as unshakable as Mount Zion―like Gibraltar for us―the symbol of stability and strength for the people of the Old Testament.

The psalmist differentiates between those who trust in the Lord and those who don’t. The former group is compared to Mount Zion on which Jerusalem was built and protected on all sides by mountains; God surrounds people to prevent them from being shaken by their circumstances.

Hezekiah had not trusted in his military might. He had done all he could to protect himself from the Assyrians, but it was not enough. He had safeguarded the city’s water supply, had made sure that the food supply was adequate to withstand a siege, and had the walls and gates checked to see that they were well-manned. When it came to the bottom line, however, his trust was in God alone.

2. Asthe mountains are round about Jerusalem, so the LORD is round about his people from henceforth even for ever.

Now that the Assyrian threat was removed, the way was open again for pilgrims to come to Jerusalem to keep the annual feasts. The first thing they would see as they approached the holy city would be the hills. These mountains [hills], of course, were not Jerusalem’s real defense. Any determined army could overcome the obstacles they represented. To get at Jerusalem an army had to get past the mountains. To get at God’s people, an enemy must first get past God. And that is more than any enemy can do, human or satanic.

“Forever.” The circle God drew around His people, not just the mountains and hills, but in love and power, made them untouchable to the foe as long as they rested in His arms, as Zion rested among the hills. God draws circles around all His saints. There is the circle God draws around the redeemed so that we will never perish. There is the circle of His perfect will, and the circle of His lenient will. So the psalmist, and we [our physical bodies], too, are safe.

But from where do they get such confidence that the Lord “from henceforth even for ever” will protect His people? The present situation gives no inkling of such hope, for now God’s righteous people are suffering under the heel of foreign occupation. That they are righteous is Judaism’s self-estimate of that for which they stand in contrast to the world. They are smarting under the oppressive scepter which lies heavily upon Palestine, that very land which the Lord gave to His people (Joshua 13-20). But the Lord has just come to Zion. This is the presumption of what the psalmist has just said and of what immediately follows. This is the meaning of “henceforth even for ever.” Now he [David] dwells as King in the Temple. Such confidence and expectancy, even in the darkest days of Israel are awakened by this festival which celebrates the Lord’s coming to His people in their need and his presence with them in power. However dark the hour, it arouses new hope and keeps faith alive.

It is our psalmist’s certain faith that such a state of affairs as that which exists in Palestine will not be permitted by the Lord to continue. But, in accordance with this confidence he adds a certain practical appeal to God for His immediate intervention. If relief from the harsh oppression of foreign occupation, does not come soon, so he argues, the Lord’s people will be provoked beyond endurance to overt resistance, they will lose their faith and resort to violence. So the psalmist expresses his faith that God will put an end to the foreign occupation of Palestine.

3. For the rod of the wicked shall not rest upon the lot of the righteous; lest the righteous put forth their hands unto iniquity.

“The rod [club, scepter] of the wicked shall not rest upon the lot of the righteous.”

The term scepter [rod. club] indicates foreign power

Note the sad truth that “the rod of the wicked” does come down on the “heritage of the “righteous.” We live in a wicked world where Satan holds sway. But that word rest literally means “continue forever.” God has drawn a line beyond which Satan cannot go. If God had not limited the foreign domination of Israel, in time even the righteous people might have been corrupted by their pervasive wickedness.

We have, too, the subtle temptation, “lest the righteous put forth their hands unto iniquity.” The word for iniquity suggests falling into a course of deceitful behavior. When we are ill-treated it is easy to react in kind. That is only natural, but God’s people are not to react naturally, but spiritually.

 4. Do good, O LORD, unto those that begood, and to them that are upright in their hearts.

Thoughts such as this will lead a person to pour out an eager, passionate petition to the Lord that He deal with His “upright people,” and his petition comes from the passionate wish that God will destroy those who now, in their “crooked ways’ are oppressing them.

Often in life it seems as though those who do good are the victims of those who do evil. The trouble is that our focus is too short and the image is blurred. We cannot see the end results, so we judge by immediate circumstances. God will always do good to those who are good and you can take that to the bank.

 

5. As for such as turn aside unto their crooked ways, the LORD shall lead them forth with the workers of iniquity: butpeace shall be upon Israel.

Here the psalm takes up a new theme―The Vanquished Sinner

125:5a The Evil Man’s Crooked ways

125:5b The Evil Man’s Coming Downfall

125:5c The Victorious Sigh

 

[a] As for such as turn aside unto their crooked ways

Do you remember a nursery rhyme you may have learned as a child?

There was a crooked man

And he walked a crooked mile,

And he found a crooked sixpence

Upon a crooked stile;

He bought a crooked cat

And he caught a crooked mouse,

And they all lived together

In a little crooked house.

 

There is definitely truth residing in this little nursery rhyme. A crooked man walks down many a crooked mile. His business dealings are crooked. The money he puts in the bank is crooked money. He likes crooked things and likes to see others as crooked as himself. Even his home life is crooked. He doesn’t know what it means to be honest. Devious ways suit him best. He will pull a fast one in business. He will buy deceitful pleasures for himself. He will cheat on his wife. We rightfully call such a man a crook. God says He knows all about the crooked man. He is not nearly as clever as he thinks he is.

[b] the LORD shall lead them forth with the workers of iniquity

The Word for “iniquity” is one generally connected with idolatry. God says the crooked man and the idolater are meant for each other [birds of a feather]. [Idolatry is religious crookedness, a twisting and distorting of the truth of God into a lie.] God says He will lead the pair of them forth―to judgment.

[c] but peace shall be upon Israel.

This is an audible sigh of relief. Peace means that the war is over. The Assyrians have gone home [that is, what’s left of them]. The land has rest at last. God has vindicated Himself among the nations.

For us, peace is the legacy of Calvary, the peace of God that passes knowledge, a peace that the world cannot give and cannot take away.

 

Special notes and Scripture

[1} In Psalm 2:6 the psalmist speaks of Zion where there was a strong fort which David called the city of David after he had taken it from the Canaanites (2 Sam. 7, 9), and he made it the headquarters of his kingdom, and chose it for the abode of the ark and the seat of God’s visible residence. But even more often, “Zion” is used for the city of Jerusalem (Ps. 48:12), and the temple of Jerusalem (Ps. 137:3; Isa. 18:7; Jer. 51.10), which was built upon the hill of Mariah, which was either a part of mount Zion, or another hill adjoining to it; and for the church of the Jews (Ps. 65:1); and for the Christian church (Heb. 12:22). And from all this recognition it is plain why Zion is called—God’s holy hill.