Devo 06: Psalm 125
The Lord Surrounds His People
A Song of Ascents.
125 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!
Devotional Thought:
So far looking at the Psalms of Ascent, we’ve been shown a number of different pictures of God and how He saves and protects us in our journey back Home to Mt. Zion. He’s our tireless Keeper that watches over our every step (Ps. 121). That saves us from the raging waters and predators that would devour us like prey (Ps. 124). Today in Ps. 125, we have the imagery of God being a whole range of strong towering mountains that surround us, and those that trust in this God will find themselves unshakable just like Mount Zion.
There are lots of things that do threaten to shake us and our faith and the writer of this psalm doesn’t try to hide them. We can be tempted to be led astray by our own sins (“lest the righteous stretch out their hands to do wrong” v.3), or face things in this world that are no friend to our desires to follow Christ (“scepter of wickedness” v.3). But the psalmist does two things when surrounded by enemies and difficulties, he remembers his security in God (v.1-2), and that leads him into prayer (v.4-5). And though he is surrounded by his enemies, he now experiences being surrounded by God, walled up and protected behind endless mountains, finding himself in the surest and strongest arms in the Universe, in the loving embrace of his Father in heaven, the Lord God Almighty. The chorus of a recent worship song describes this perfectly, “It may look like I’m surrounded, but I’m surrounded by You.” (Elyssa Smith, “Surrounded (Fight My Battles”)
Prayer:
Heavenly Father, I feel weak, tossed around by the wind, surrounded and overwhelmed, and doubt whether my faith can stand. And yet with my small faith, I believe in your Word that I can be like this unshakable mountain. Not because I’m strong, but because You are and your love will not let me go. Help my unbelief! Help me to cling to your promise that all who trust in you will not be put to shame (Rom. 10:11) and that it’s never a waste to put all my hope in Christ.
