Immovable People

Psalm 125

A song of ascents

Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion,

which cannot be moved, but abides forever.

As the mountains surround Jerusalem,

so the Lord surrounds His people,

from this time forth and forevermore.

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.

Do good, O Lord, to those who are good,

and to those who are upright in their hearts.

But those who turn aside to their crooked ways,

the Lord will lead away with evildoers.

Peace be upon Israel.

So, the main point of this psalm is that

those who trust in the Lord will be immovable,

even under the pressure of wickedness.

And it begins in verses 1-2 this way,

Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion,

which cannot be moved, but abides forever.

As the mountains surround Jerusalem,

so the Lord surrounds His people from this time forth and forevermore.

Mountains are a great image and symbol of stability, right?

And a kind of unchanging presence.

If you guys know of,

if you had mountains in your area, hometown where you grew up,

you know that whenever you go back home,

mountains are still there, right?

The shops change, houses change,

things get broken down and rebuilt,

but the mountains are always there.

So, that's the kind of idea it's getting at.

The Mount Zion abides forever.

And then it says that,

not just the Mount Zion,

but it also mentions mountains that surround Mount Zion.

Jerusalem sits on Mount Zion,

which is actually one of the smaller mountains in the area.

So, there's another mountain,

the Mount of Olives that you guys know of.

It was 66 meters taller than Mount Zion.

Mount Scopus was 76 meters taller.

Ras al-Mekabir was 53 meters taller.

So, it really is like Mount Zion.

This is this little mountain

out in which Jerusalem, the city sits.

And then around it,

it really is surrounded by taller mountains.

So, it has a visual effect of like a wall

or a fortress that surrounds a castle.

It's quite a powerful image.

And so, for people of faith,

then that became a lasting symbol of God's protection,

that God surrounds his people like these mountains.

He envelops them,

he protects them.

And this is really helpful in light of,

helpful truth,

spiritual truth to remember

in light of all that's going on.

I read New England Journal of Medicine's article,

which was not encouraging.

And I think this was published last week.

So, so far the guidance we have received

about the COVID-19 or the SARS-CoVirus

is that it travels six feet

in respiratory droplets.

But then they,

according to their study,

it's,

it contradicts CDC, WHO's guidance,

but it's,

it could live in the air

for up to three hours or more.

If that's the case,

then you really can't get away from it.

It's like literally in the air

everywhere you go,

everywhere there's people

that's affected by it.

So like,

I mean,

that's like still to be,

to be,

you know,

determined whether or not

official guidance will change

because of that or not.

But,

so like,

think about that,

right?

And now,

and now,

like I know,

people can actually fear

and respond to things,

threats that they can't see

because that's what people are doing,

right?

So it's,

it's a lie when we'd say that,

well,

if you,

people are never going to believe in the devil

or you'd be afraid of what he can do

or sin or whatnot.

But it's a,

this is literally in the air,

it's everywhere

and it's almost unavoidable

and this strikes fear

into people's hearts.

But the,

the truth that we have to remember

is that the virus

is not the only thing

we can't see with our eyes,

right?

We can't see the Lord

with our eyes.

But his word tells us

that as the mountains

surround Jerusalem,

so the Lord surrounds his people.

We are surrounded

by the presence of the Lord,

by the protection of our Lord.

He's all around us.

He envelops us in his love.

His protection over us

is like an immovable mountain range.

And,

and so that's the,

that's the promise for us.

And,

and,

and the reason why

we can hope in this,

even in a wicked world,

it says in verse three,

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.

So,

people debate,

you know,

in what context

this psalm was written.

Some people think that

this psalm was written

at the time of,

maybe one of the wicked kings

of Israel.

So,

it's speaking of their scepter,

the scepter of wickedness.

And,

basically,

this is expressing faith

that,

that kind of wicked rule

will not rest

for long

on this land

which was given,

allotted to the righteous.

It was supposed to belong

to God's people.

Some other people think it's,

it was written in the context

of exile,

basically,

when there's a foreign ruler.

And,

and over,

with authority over Jerusalem,

saying that this scepter of wickedness

shall not rest

on the land allotted

to the righteous,

lest the righteous

stretch out their hands

to do wrong.

If that state of,

of wicked's,

wicked's rule continues,

even the righteous

might stretch out their hands

and do wrong.

And so,

they,

and so the psalmist

is expressing

his trust in the Lord

and saying that that situation

will not last.

And then,

verses four to five

transitions to a prayer.

It says,

do good,

O Lord,

to those who are good

and to those who are upright

in their hearts.

But those who turn aside

to their crooked ways,

the Lord will lead away

with evildoers.

Peace be upon Israel.

And so he's saying,

may those who continue

to be faithful to you

and seek you,

do good to them,

keep them in the land,

but judge those who turn aside

from you,

lead them away with evildoers

among God's people.

And this promise

is fulfilled

like all

love scripture,

ultimately in Jesus.

I don't know if you guys

remember the

Jacob's blessing

of his sons.

This is a famous prophecy

when he says

in Genesis 49,

9 to 10,

when he is blessing

his son Judah,

he says,

Judah is a lion's cub.

From the prey,

my son,

you have gone up.

He stooped down,

he crouched as a lion

and as a lioness

who dares rouse him.

The scepter

shall not depart

from Judah,

nor the ruler's staff

from between his feet

until tribute comes to him

and to him

shall be the obedience

of the peoples.

So he speaks

of the scepter

not departing from Judah.

So he's prophesying

that a ruler

will come from Judah

and that there will be,

the reign will continue

from a king

from the line of Judah.

And so that's the,

that's fulfilled in Jesus.

And so here it talks

about the scepter

of wickedness

shall not rest.

So there will be

a scepter of righteousness

established

and it's established

with the coming of Jesus

who we know

is from the tribe of Judah

as it says

in numerous places

in the New Testament.

He was the one

that was prophesied

of Judah's descendants

and he's described

as the lion of Judah

in Revelation chapter 5,

Revelation 5:5

verse 5

where he says,

weep no more.

Behold,

the lion of the tribe

of Judah,

the root of David

has conquered

so that he can open

the scroll

and its seven seals.

And we ask,

how did he conquer?

How did this mighty lion

conquer wickedness,

wicked rulers?

How did he conquer evil?

How did he conquer sin?

And then it continues

in Revelation 5,

Revelation 5:9–10

verses 9 to 10.

Worthy are you

to take the scroll

and to open its seals

for you were slain

and by your blood

you ransomed people

for God

from every tribe

and language

and people

and nation

and you have made them

a kingdom and priests

to our God

and they shall reign

on the earth.

The lion of Judah

conquered by becoming

the slain lamb of God

who died on the cross

for the sins

of his people

and by his death

he killed death,

he defeated death

and it's by his resurrection

that he bestows

that new life

on all those

who put their trust in him,

repent of their sins

and believe in him

for salvation.

And as people

who are living

in the era

of fulfillment

of that promise,

we can live

with even greater assurance

that we will remain,

that we can be immovable

like a mountain range,

like Mount Zion,

because the Lord

surrounds us,

he is with us,

he has established us

as his people,

we are the new Jerusalem,

as the Bible calls us elsewhere.

And so because of that,

as we live in light

of what Christ has shown us,

it's ironic, right,

that the slain lamb of God

is the lion of Judah.

In the same way,

we are the victors

but we are called

to be like sheep

among wolves.

We are called

to be suffering servants.

And as we continue

to live in the pattern

of Jesus Christ,

we will find

that we too

are immovable

and that we will endure

even under the duress

of wickedness

and sin in this world

and bring glory to God.

in the other 말

among us who

can you

is the home

hill

until we temperature

is the home

of whatever

the ice

is appealable.

This way,

you can see

what you really

took

during the Passion