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INTRODUCTION

This psalm is the next in the psalms of ascent (120-134)—a psalm that would be sung as pilgrims made their way up to Jerusalem. This is a psalm of true assurance . . . for true men.

THE TEXT

“A Song of degrees. They that trust in the Lord shall be as mount Zion, which cannot be removed, but abideth for ever. As the mountains are round about Jerusalem, so the Lord is round about his people from henceforth even forever. For the rod of the wicked shall not rest upon the lot of the righteous; Lest the righteous put forth their hands unto iniquity. Do good, O Lord, unto those that be good, and to them that are upright in their hearts. As for such as turn aside unto their crooked ways, the Lord shall lead them forth with the workers of iniquity: But peace shall be upon Israel” (Psalm 125:1-5).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion (v. 1). They cannot be moved or removed, but abide forever. Like mountains surrounding Jerusalem, the Lord surrounds His people (v. 2). He will surround them forever. The oppression of the wicked will not long remain upon the righteous (v. 3), in order to protect the righteous from veering off into iniquity (v. 3). Then comes the prayer—do good, oh Lord, to those who are good (v. 4). Those who are good are those who are upright in heart (v. 4). For those who fall away into crooked ways, their lot is thrown together with that of the workers of iniquity (v. 5). But peace is upon Israel (v. 5).

PERSEVERANCE OF THE SAINTS

Some accuse Reformed theology of offering believers an empty tautological comfort. We say that no saint can be removed from the hand of God, and then, when someone is removed, we say that they were not really a saint.

The criticism claims that this is a version of the “no true Scotsman” fallacy. “No Scotsman would dream of pronouncing Edinburgh the way you do.” “But my Uncle Angus McDougall pronounces it exactly that way.” “Well, he is clearly not a true Scotsman then.”

We do have the initial appearance of this informal fallacy in this psalm. We are told in the first verse that the one who trusts in the Lord “cannot be removed,” and then in the fifth verse we find out what happens to those who are removed—“such as turn aside unto their crooked ways.” But what good is it to be told that those who trust in the Lord cannot be removed when the way you get removed is by ceasing to trust in the Lord? But consider:

“They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us” (1 John 2:19).

It is not fallacious to say that genuine trust can never be abused or abandoned by the Lord, while at the same time to acknowledging that such trust can be mimicked or counterfeited by the unregenerate. For a time.

THE ROD OF THE WICKED

We see a curious expression in the third verse. The rod of the wicked does not appear to be laid on the backs of the righteous, but rather as a measuring rod on the estates of the righteous. Think of Jezebel seizing Naboth’s vineyard for her husband, and Ahab going down to take possession of it—“the rod of the wicked shall not rest upon the lot of the righteous.” Think of confiscations, eminent domain, or predatory taxation. Those who received the letter to the Hebrews had experienced this sad reality (Heb 10:34).

And remember that in our time, those who rob and steal will do it in the name of human rights. But property rights are human rights.

GOOD FOR THOSE WHO ARE GOOD

We find a prayer in the midst of this psalm. We began with confidence (vv. 1-2). We then heard a promise (v. 3). Then there is this prayer in verse 4. The psalm concludes with a warning (v. 5). So what is the prayer? The prayer is this: “Do good, O Lord, unto those that be good, and to them that are upright in their hearts.”

We know that when and if we are good, it is only by the grace of God. He saved us apart from a consideration of our good works (Eph. 2:8-9), but He saved us with the intention of having us walk in good works (Eph. 2:10). We were created for those good works just as those good works were created for us. We were saved for them, but not because of them.

We also know that when we are good, there is always an admixture of self in it. We know that if God were to mark iniquities, no one could stand (Ps. 130:3). Our goodness is not ultimate or perfect.

But it is real. With these things acknowledged, and fully acknowledged, there is such a thing as Christians walking worthy of their calling (Eph. 4:1; 1 Thess. 2:12, Rev. 3:4). “That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God” (Col. 1:10).

So take a look at those things you would love for God to bless. Your business? Your family? Now take a look at those things in your life that are yelling at God to do the exact opposite—your browser history? Your catty tongue? Your envious looks? Are you willing to pray this prayer? “Do good, oh, Lord, to those who aregood.” And not just externally good either. Upright in heart.

THE MOUNTAINS OF YOUR SALVATION

The reason God’s people are like mountains which cannot be moved is that they are surrounded by the mountains of God, which cannot be moved. When you are saved by Christ, you are as secure as He is.

Some men are like the sand beneath their beautiful house (Matt. 7:26), and it looks very fine until the storm comes. Some men are like the sea, restless and choppy, casting up mire and dirt (Is. 57:20-21; Jas. 1:6). Some men are like the wind, blowing first this way and then that (Eph. 4:14). But believers are mountains.

And believers are like mountains because they have come to Christ, who is themountain. Christ is the Rock, and His work is perfect, and all His ways are righteous (Dt. 32:4). Becoming like Him includes becoming like this—immoveable.

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INTRODUCTION

When you consider the peril our nation is currently in, and you reflect on the fact that this psalm came up as the text for this Lord’s Day purely by happenstance, your conclusion needs to be that it is almost as though a higher power were at work.

In 1582, in Edinburgh, an imprisoned minister named John Durie was released from prison. He was welcomed on the edge of town by several hundred of his friends, and as they walked along, that number soon swelled to several thousand. Someone began to sing—Psalm 124—and they all, much moved, sang it together in four parts, much as we will be singing it later in the service. “Let Israel now say in thankfulness . . .” One of the chief persecutors was said to have been more alarmed by this spectacle than anything else he had seen in Scotland, which is very likely saying something.

THE TEXT

“A Song of degrees of David. If it had not been the Lord who was on our side, now may Israel say; If it had not been the Lord who was on our side, when men rose up against us: Then they had swallowed us up quick, when their wrath was kindled against us: Then the waters had overwhelmed us, the stream had gone over our soul: Then the proud waters had gone over our soul. Blessed be the Lord, who hath not given us as a prey to their teeth. Our soul is escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowlers: The snare is broken, and we are escaped. Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth” (Psalm 124).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

This psalm of gratitude for deliverance begins with a fragmented joy (vv. 1-2). Instead of trying to smooth it out, try reading it this way:

“Had it not been Jehovah! He was for us, oh let Israel say!
Had it not been Jehovah! He who was for us when men rose against us.”

If Jehovah had not been our deliverance, we would have been gulped down quick (v. 3). The wrath of man would have burned us up right now (v. 3). The flood waters would have overwhelmed us, and the stream would have drowned our soul (v. 4) when those proud waters went over our soul (v. 5). Notice that the water is proud water, haughty water. Blessed the name of Jehovah, who took us away from their ravening jaws (v. 6). We escaped the way a bird would dart away from a broken snare (v. 7).

Had it not been for Yahweh, we would have been swallowed, burned, drowned, eaten, and captured. But our help is in the name of the Lord, who made Heaven and earth (v. 8).

WHEN MEN RISE AGAINST US

The key to understanding the long war that is human history is found in the first chapters of Genesis. In Gen. 3:15, as God is pronouncing the curse on the serpent, He declares a necessary and permanent antipathy between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent. This is the key—this is the antithesisbetween up and down, white and black, righteousness and unrighteousness. It is why the Lord clashed with the brood of vipers when He found them running the Temple.

So what God promised to do through the seed of the woman (Christ), He also promises to do through us who are in Christ. “And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen” (Rom. 16:20). So remember this antithesis. The fact of a necessary conflict here is a fact of life. It is not an indicator that something has gone wrong. In fact, the indication goes the other way (Luke 6:26).

And remember that the waters that would drown you are proud waters. This means that they believe that you are the proud one, that you are the fanatic clinging to your obstinate ignorance. Why don’t you believe in science? Why don’t you submit to all the current authorities, who require us to say that a boy can become a girl? But if this is science, why didn’t all of this start in the vet schools, with them turning bulls into cows, thus augmenting our dairy production?

SING LIKE A BIRD IN THE BRACKEN

As I have reminded you before, you must remember also how much God loves cliffhangers. God delights in last minute deliverance because there is no joy like the joy that follows a last-minute deliverance. Chesterton put it marvelously: “The one perfectly divine thing, the one glimpse of God’s paradise given on earth, is to fight a losing battle—and not lose it.”

Imagine a bird in a snare, and how it flutters in the net in a desperate panic. And then imagine that snare broken, and if you blink you will not see the bird darting back into the bracken. But you will hear us back there in moment, singing our hearts out. And you haven’t lived until you hear birds singing Psalm 124.

A UNIVERSAL PSALM

We are not given a particular circumstance that occasioned the composition of this psalm. But because the antithesis is a constant reality in this fallen world, there have been many occasions where God’s people wanted to sing it—and there will be many more. This is a universal psalm, suitable for every age. We would be hard pressed to find a river in the world that did not at some point have the saints of God gathered on the bank, singing about their deliverance in this way. Whether we are talking about the Ohio, or the Ganges, or the Tiber, or the Jordan, or the Tigris, or the Nile, we can see that the proud waters were tamed and humbled. Wherever God’s people have gone, they have eventually had to deal with the fact that their soul was among the lions. And when God delivers, as He loves to do, He delivers us like we were Daniel. Let us trust Him like we were Daniel.

As Alfred Edersheim once noted, this psalm contains sweet doctrine concerning the past, present, and future (1, 2, 8). The Lord was on our side, which is past. The snare is broken, which is the present. Our help is in the name of the Lord, which is going to be true out to the end of the world, meaning that it applies to every possible future.

SO LOOK TO CHRIST

If you are alive and here with us now, that means you were born for this time. And because Christ is constantly at the right hand of the Father, set your minds on the things which are above (Col. 3:2), where He is. Set your minds on Christ, and He will bestow on you exactly what you need for this moment. And unless I miss the mark, that gift will be the triadic outpouring of faith, courage, and joy.

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