WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.320 So over the last few weeks, well not the last two weeks, but over the last couple 00:00:05.320 --> 00:00:10.019 of months we've been looking at what are called the songs of ascent, these 00:00:10.019 --> 00:00:16.460 Psalms towards the end of the Psalter, Psalm 120 through 134. They're songs that 00:00:16.460 --> 00:00:20.580 God's people would sing as they traveled to Jerusalem for the different 00:00:20.580 --> 00:00:26.120 festivals as they celebrated God's salvation. But as we've been thinking 00:00:26.120 --> 00:00:30.520 about in the series, they're also our songs. They're our songs as God's people 00:00:30.520 --> 00:00:36.200 today, as God's people who are on a journey. They're songs that speak 00:00:36.200 --> 00:00:41.880 powerfully and deeply into our own lives and our own experiences. The Bible 00:00:41.880 --> 00:00:49.400 often puts the Christian life into the language of a journey. They were pilgrims, 00:00:49.400 --> 00:00:55.400 were travelers. And as we've seen in this series, the Christian traveler needs 00:00:55.399 --> 00:01:01.039 these songs to sing on the way to help us. They're like our road trip playlist 00:01:01.039 --> 00:01:08.159 for the Christian life. Now tonight we're in Psalm 125. If you have a Bible, you 00:01:08.159 --> 00:01:12.920 might find it helpful to have it open there. Page 517 of the church Bibles. 00:01:12.920 --> 00:01:19.519 And Psalm 125 says, those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion, which cannot 00:01:19.519 --> 00:01:24.599 be moved but abides forever. As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the 00:01:24.599 --> 00:01:30.759 Lord surrounds his people from this time forth and forevermore. And if you want an 00:01:30.759 --> 00:01:33.839 outline for how we're going to look at this Psalm, we're going to think about it 00:01:33.839 --> 00:01:37.879 like this. First of all, what does it look like to trust in the Lord? And then 00:01:37.879 --> 00:01:42.399 three things that the Psalm tells us, three results of that trust. First, that 00:01:42.399 --> 00:01:46.639 trusting God leads to stability. Second, that trusting God leads to 00:01:46.639 --> 00:01:53.239 surrounding. And thirdly, that trusting God leads to security. So what does it mean 00:01:53.239 --> 00:01:58.319 to trust? Well, according to a recent survey that I found online, there is a 00:01:58.319 --> 00:02:02.519 growing lack of cynicism, there's a growing lack of trust across the United 00:02:02.519 --> 00:02:08.519 Kingdom. Some examples of that would be in politicians. Apparently across the 00:02:08.519 --> 00:02:14.000 board in general, only 18% of people today would say that they trust political 00:02:14.000 --> 00:02:19.240 parties to do what is right. Apparently people find it hard to trust bankers, 00:02:19.240 --> 00:02:24.920 executives. Apparently only one in four people in the United Kingdom trust what 00:02:24.920 --> 00:02:29.879 they read on social media. We live in a world of sound bites, a world of fake 00:02:29.879 --> 00:02:35.280 news. And the point is trust is declining across the board, across the UK, and 00:02:35.280 --> 00:02:40.200 there is a growing cynicism. And apparently, Scotland is where that 00:02:40.200 --> 00:02:45.760 growing cynicism, where that distrust is at its worst. Apparently we are 00:02:45.759 --> 00:02:51.639 statistically the most cynical part of the United Kingdom. Champions. The point 00:02:51.639 --> 00:02:56.599 is for lots of reasons, people find it hard to trust. And the number one 00:02:56.599 --> 00:03:00.359 reason people felt that trust was difficult was because of the actions of 00:03:00.359 --> 00:03:05.840 the people around them. Friends, family, loved ones, neighbors, colleagues. But 00:03:05.840 --> 00:03:11.439 tonight in Sam125, we have a picture of someone who is completely worthy of 00:03:11.439 --> 00:03:17.560 trust. Someone who is entirely dependable. Someone who will never fail us or 00:03:17.560 --> 00:03:24.120 let us down. So first of all, what does it mean to trust? Well, in a general sense, 00:03:24.120 --> 00:03:29.280 to trust someone means to have absolute confidence in them. It means to rely on 00:03:29.280 --> 00:03:33.199 them. It means to think that they are utterly dependable, that they will 00:03:33.199 --> 00:03:38.680 deliver, that they will do what they say. And when it's used in the Bible about 00:03:38.680 --> 00:03:44.840 God, it means to take God at His word. To truly believe in your heart that God 00:03:44.840 --> 00:03:52.280 will do what God says. And to live in complete dependence on Him. And God is 00:03:52.280 --> 00:03:57.640 absolutely dependable. God is absolutely worthy of that trust. The Bible says God 00:03:57.640 --> 00:04:04.080 cannot lie. God keeps every single one of His promises. There is no fake news with 00:04:04.080 --> 00:04:11.600 God. There is no ulterior motive to what God says. The Bible also says to trust 00:04:11.600 --> 00:04:17.199 God means more than simply agreeing intellectually to something. It means more 00:04:17.199 --> 00:04:21.840 than having head knowledge about God. The Apostle James in his letter says, oh, so 00:04:21.840 --> 00:04:27.759 you believe that God is one. That's great. Even demons believe that. Trust has to 00:04:27.759 --> 00:04:32.000 mean more than head knowledge. Trust is a response of faith, a response of the 00:04:32.000 --> 00:04:38.399 heart to God's promises. It is a firm belief and expectation that God will do 00:04:38.399 --> 00:04:44.720 what He promises. Okay, so Psalm 125. I want to suggest that the first thing that 00:04:44.720 --> 00:04:49.519 we learn in Psalm 125 about trusting in God is that it leads to a life of 00:04:49.519 --> 00:04:55.959 stability. Read verse one. Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion, which 00:04:55.959 --> 00:05:02.279 cannot be moved but abides forever. There's something incredible about 00:05:02.279 --> 00:05:06.879 mountains. There's something grand and majestic about the idea of a mountain. 00:05:06.879 --> 00:05:13.199 Mountains are big. Mountains dominate the horizon. And the Bible often uses mountains 00:05:13.199 --> 00:05:21.319 as a picture, a metaphor or a simile of stability. Mountains endure. They stand 00:05:21.319 --> 00:05:26.839 strong. And God tells us here in Psalm 125 that those who trust in Him have that 00:05:26.839 --> 00:05:33.839 kind of unshakable stability. Maybe some of you have been to Ben Nevis. Ben Nevis 00:05:33.839 --> 00:05:37.719 is located just outside Fort William. And for a year, I lived and worked in Fort 00:05:37.719 --> 00:05:41.800 William. And I lived like half a mile from Ben Nevis. So every day when I go 00:05:41.800 --> 00:05:46.360 outside, it dominates the skyline. And if you've seen Ben Nevis or if you've been 00:05:46.360 --> 00:05:51.680 to Ben Nevis, you'll know that it is an impressive, impressive beast of a hill. 00:05:51.680 --> 00:05:56.199 It's the highest mountain in the United Kingdom. And it's, I think, around four 00:05:56.199 --> 00:06:01.319 and a half thousand feet. No idea what that is in mirrors. It's big. Ben Nevis 00:06:01.319 --> 00:06:05.680 is big. And apparently over a hundred thousand people go up Ben Nevis every 00:06:05.680 --> 00:06:10.840 year. People go walking, climbing, skiing, abseiling, all different kinds of 00:06:10.840 --> 00:06:15.920 things. And Ben Nevis experiences all kinds of weather. It's battered by 00:06:15.920 --> 00:06:21.000 storms in the winter, by snow and hail and ice. But Ben Nevis isn't going anywhere 00:06:21.000 --> 00:06:26.520 anytime soon. People will come and people will go. But Ben Nevis will always be on 00:06:26.520 --> 00:06:31.520 the horizon. See, a mountain is a picture of something that endures, a picture of 00:06:31.520 --> 00:06:36.400 something that lasts, a picture of something that holds firm. And you can 00:06:36.400 --> 00:06:40.040 imagine as God's people make their way to Jerusalem. They're doing this three 00:06:40.040 --> 00:06:43.560 times a year. They're celebrating these great feasts. And they see in front of 00:06:43.560 --> 00:06:48.639 them the sheer vastness of Mount Zion. Mount Zion is this hill that Jerusalem 00:06:48.639 --> 00:06:55.480 is built on. And they see in front of them. And they're singing in the Psalm. 00:06:55.480 --> 00:07:01.720 This is what God's people are like. This is what we are like. Unshakable, stable, 00:07:01.720 --> 00:07:08.759 firm. And so they're singing this simile. Those who trust in the Lord are like 00:07:08.759 --> 00:07:12.840 Mount Zion. I have to confess, I had to google the difference between a metaphor 00:07:12.839 --> 00:07:20.319 and a simile. A simile is like as. It's a comparative thing. And the point is 00:07:20.319 --> 00:07:25.399 that mountain stand firm, God's people are like a mountain. We live in a world 00:07:25.399 --> 00:07:30.439 that is constantly changing. We're always going through changes in our lives, in 00:07:30.439 --> 00:07:34.199 different forms, in different shapes, whether we're a Christian or not. I think 00:07:34.199 --> 00:07:40.679 everyone has a deeply rooted desire for some form of stability. Some form of 00:07:40.680 --> 00:07:46.120 security. Some people look for that stability in their career or in their 00:07:46.120 --> 00:07:51.079 finances. Other people will look for that stability in people, in family or 00:07:51.079 --> 00:07:58.600 friends. Many people find stability in material possessions. But the problem is 00:07:58.600 --> 00:08:02.160 none of these things, even the people around us, none of these things stay 00:08:02.160 --> 00:08:08.879 the same forever. Circumstances change. People move. I gather one of the toughest 00:08:08.879 --> 00:08:13.000 things about St. Columbus is the regularity of people leaving. People 00:08:13.000 --> 00:08:17.800 come for a few years, people become part of the place and then they move on. And 00:08:17.800 --> 00:08:25.120 that's tough. Change is tough. Change is hard. But change is a part of life. Sam 00:08:25.120 --> 00:08:29.920 125 is a great reminder that there is a source of stability that never changes. 00:08:29.920 --> 00:08:34.639 Trusting God means grounding ourselves in the one who never changes. The one who 00:08:34.639 --> 00:08:40.319 in himself is the same yesterday, today and forever. The one who endures. Those 00:08:40.319 --> 00:08:44.080 who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion which cannot be shaken but 00:08:44.080 --> 00:08:50.720 endures forever. Jesus told a parable in the New Testament about foundations and 00:08:50.720 --> 00:08:55.240 how important your foundations are. He tells us that two men were each building 00:08:55.240 --> 00:09:00.039 a house. A wise man built his house on the rock. The rain fell and the floods 00:09:00.039 --> 00:09:04.360 came and the winds blew and beat on that house. But it did not fall because it had 00:09:04.360 --> 00:09:09.720 been founded on the rock. And a foolish man built his house on the sand. The rain 00:09:09.720 --> 00:09:13.519 fell, the floods came, the winds blew and beat against that house and it fell. And 00:09:13.519 --> 00:09:20.919 great was its fall. And you see that in both stories, in both images here, the 00:09:20.919 --> 00:09:27.720 rains fall and the floods come. The wind battered both houses. Jesus doesn't say 00:09:27.720 --> 00:09:31.200 that building your house on the right foundations means the storms won't come. 00:09:31.200 --> 00:09:36.120 He doesn't say that your life won't be full of trials and difficulties. What he 00:09:36.120 --> 00:09:41.240 does say is that you will endure. You will stand firm. And in the same way, Sam 00:09:41.240 --> 00:09:44.600 1-5 is not saying to us that if we trust God enough that we won't have any 00:09:44.600 --> 00:09:49.200 problems. It's not saying that if we trust God enough we won't experience any 00:09:49.200 --> 00:09:56.200 storms, any difficulties, any trials. What Sam 1-5 is saying that those who trust in 00:09:56.200 --> 00:10:00.800 the Lord will have a mountain-like stability. Those who trust in the Lord 00:10:00.799 --> 00:10:07.959 will be able to face the worst things in life and endure. So trust in the Lord 00:10:07.959 --> 00:10:12.559 leads to stability. Secondly, I want to suggest that Sam 1-2-5 is teaching us 00:10:12.559 --> 00:10:17.439 that trust in the Lord leads to surrounding. Read verse 2. As the 00:10:17.439 --> 00:10:21.839 mountains surround Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds his people from this time 00:10:21.839 --> 00:10:28.039 forth and forevermore. Maybe tonight we're here and we're worshiping God and we 00:10:28.039 --> 00:10:32.159 don't feel like an immovable mountain. Maybe we don't feel this kind of 00:10:32.159 --> 00:10:40.039 stability in our lives. Sometimes we can be so overwhelmed, so battered by the 00:10:40.039 --> 00:10:44.759 winds, battered by all the things that are coming our way, that it's hard to trust 00:10:44.759 --> 00:10:51.439 God. It's hard to take God at His word. It's hard to believe His promises. Maybe 00:10:51.439 --> 00:10:55.759 you're going to do a tough spell at work. Maybe there's problems you can think of 00:10:55.759 --> 00:10:59.519 in the week ahead that are weighing you down. Maybe some of us are struggling 00:10:59.519 --> 00:11:06.039 with ill health or maybe we've had a bad diagnosis in the family. Maybe we've had 00:11:06.039 --> 00:11:10.559 a broken or strained relationship. There's all a host of different things 00:11:10.559 --> 00:11:15.840 that we can go through that can batter our faith, that can make us feel like 00:11:15.840 --> 00:11:23.080 we're being attacked and our peace is shattered. The point is God knows there 00:11:23.080 --> 00:11:26.480 are times like this. God knows He says to His people in the Bible, there are times 00:11:26.480 --> 00:11:31.000 when your faith feels weak and your trust is shaky. So we have this 00:11:31.000 --> 00:11:35.759 wonderful picture painted here in verse 2, as the mountains surround Jerusalem, 00:11:35.759 --> 00:11:41.520 so the Lord surrounds His people. So a little bit of sketching the geography of 00:11:41.520 --> 00:11:46.240 Jerusalem. It's a city that's founded on a mountain roughly 2,500 feet, but it's 00:11:46.240 --> 00:11:49.879 actually not the biggest mountain in the range. Jerusalem is actually surrounded 00:11:49.879 --> 00:11:56.120 by other higher mountains and in terms of a defensive position, that's the dream. 00:11:56.120 --> 00:12:01.879 You have a city on a hill surrounded by other hills. You imagine Enborough Castle 00:12:01.879 --> 00:12:07.639 as a pretty hard location to attack, to occupy and history has shown us that 00:12:07.639 --> 00:12:14.440 settlement cities built on hills are notoriously hard to capture. If you see 00:12:14.440 --> 00:12:19.679 Lord of the Rings, there's a fortress Helms Deep, never been taken. It's built 00:12:19.679 --> 00:12:25.839 into the hills. It's surrounded by a ring, by protection. Apologies if you thought 00:12:25.839 --> 00:12:32.039 you were done with Lord of the Rings illustrations. So the image being painted 00:12:32.039 --> 00:12:36.239 for us is this idea of God surrounding His people with His protection, like the 00:12:36.239 --> 00:12:39.120 mountains that surround Jerusalem. And again, you can imagine God's people 00:12:39.120 --> 00:12:45.679 coming up to Jerusalem and seeing these hills and saying, that's us. God surrounds 00:12:45.679 --> 00:12:51.799 us in this way. We are absolutely surrounded by His presence. So the point 00:12:51.799 --> 00:12:54.919 is whatever storms you might be going through in your life, however you might 00:12:54.919 --> 00:13:00.199 be feeling, however far from God, however distant, God promises His people, He 00:13:00.199 --> 00:13:05.079 surrounds them in the midst. And we read in the Bible that God's people go through 00:13:05.079 --> 00:13:08.799 some terrible experiences. They go through times where it maybe feels like 00:13:08.799 --> 00:13:14.199 God's presence is absent, where God is far away. They go through slavery in Egypt, 00:13:14.200 --> 00:13:17.480 they go through the wilderness wanderings. There's times where they have 00:13:17.480 --> 00:13:23.920 evil kings and foreign rulers and they exile into Babylon. There are times in 00:13:23.920 --> 00:13:28.720 our lives where it can feel like God is absent. And God doesn't tell us that 00:13:28.720 --> 00:13:35.480 trusting Him takes all these difficult experiences away. Even in our Christian 00:13:35.480 --> 00:13:43.120 lives, we can feel spiritually unstable. So we come to Psalm 125 and God says, He 00:13:43.120 --> 00:13:49.720 surrounds His people in the face of all the storms of life. The message of the 00:13:49.720 --> 00:13:54.159 prosperity gospel, trust God and everything will be great. Trust God and 00:13:54.159 --> 00:13:59.399 you'll experience health and wealth. Trust God and good things are in store for 00:13:59.399 --> 00:14:03.960 you. If your trust is strong enough, you won't be ill, you won't be poor. God will 00:14:03.960 --> 00:14:09.000 bless you and you'll prosper. But I want to think about what Paul says in 2 00:14:09.000 --> 00:14:13.639 Corinthians chapter 11. We might have it on the screen. Verse 24, this is Paul's 00:14:13.639 --> 00:14:16.919 experience of the Christian life. Five times I received at the hands of the Jews 00:14:16.919 --> 00:14:22.399 the 40 lashes less one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. 00:14:22.399 --> 00:14:27.600 Three times I was shipwrecked. At night and a day I was adrift at sea. On 00:14:27.600 --> 00:14:32.639 frequent journeys in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own 00:14:32.639 --> 00:14:38.200 people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger 00:14:38.200 --> 00:14:44.840 at sea, danger from false brothers. Paul experienced danger in toil and hardship 00:14:44.840 --> 00:14:49.280 through many sleepless nights in hunger and thirst often without food in cold 00:14:49.280 --> 00:14:54.920 and exposure. So it's clear from God's people in the Old Testament, from Paul's 00:14:54.920 --> 00:14:58.440 experience in the New Testament, from our own experiences as Christians that our 00:14:58.440 --> 00:15:03.759 lives are not always going to be smooth sailing. We know that. So whatever our 00:15:03.759 --> 00:15:08.720 circumstances are, God says to you in the gospel, you are not alone. You're 00:15:08.720 --> 00:15:13.319 surrounded by my presence like the mountains that surround Jerusalem. So 00:15:13.319 --> 00:15:18.120 the Lord surrounds his people. So trusting in God leads to stability. 00:15:18.120 --> 00:15:22.360 Trusting in God leads to surrounding by his presence. And thirdly and finally I 00:15:22.360 --> 00:15:27.639 want to suggest that trusting God leads to security. If you read verse 3 in 00:15:27.639 --> 00:15:32.000 Psalm 125 you'll see the Psalm goes on to speak about the reality of opposition. 00:15:32.000 --> 00:15:37.639 It says, for the scepter of wickedness shall not rest on the land allotted to 00:15:37.639 --> 00:15:44.440 the righteous. And what does that mean? It's a bizarre expression. Well the 00:15:44.440 --> 00:15:49.600 scepter really is just referring to rule. It's referring to power. It's referring 00:15:49.600 --> 00:15:54.720 to who's in control. And I think the point of this part of the Psalm is that 00:15:54.720 --> 00:15:59.120 sometimes it can seem like the world is out of control. Sometimes we can look at 00:15:59.120 --> 00:16:04.080 the world and we can think God cannot be in control here. God's rule is nowhere 00:16:04.080 --> 00:16:11.360 to be seen. The reality is that there are enemies in the Christian life. We see 00:16:11.360 --> 00:16:14.600 that in the Bible. We see that in the experience of God's people in the Old 00:16:14.600 --> 00:16:18.360 Testament. They had many enemies, external enemies, internal enemies. 00:16:18.360 --> 00:16:22.639 Sometimes they're under the rule of a foreign superpower whether it's a Syria 00:16:22.639 --> 00:16:27.360 or Babylon or Egypt. Sometimes they're under the rule of an internal enemy, a 00:16:27.360 --> 00:16:32.639 king who's evil and wicked. That's what you read in most of the Book of Second 00:16:32.639 --> 00:16:38.159 Kings. And today for us as Christians, God's kingdom exists in a world of other 00:16:38.159 --> 00:16:43.159 kingdoms. Kingdoms that are in opposition to God's rule. We can see this when we 00:16:43.159 --> 00:16:49.440 look at our own nation, the values of our country. And God's promise here in Psalm 00:16:49.440 --> 00:16:54.879 125 is the scepter of wickedness shall not remain, shall not rest, shall not 00:16:54.879 --> 00:17:02.080 endure. God's promise is ultimately He is the one in control. God's people sang 00:17:02.080 --> 00:17:06.440 that. How do they know? They trusted in God to do something about it. They 00:17:06.440 --> 00:17:11.400 trusted that God ultimately overcome all opposition. He will overcome all evil, 00:17:11.400 --> 00:17:18.519 all wickedness. We're told that one day every knee will bow before Jesus Christ. 00:17:18.519 --> 00:17:23.160 But verse 3 also contains a warning for us I think. There's a danger that when 00:17:23.160 --> 00:17:26.519 we're living under the scepter of wickedness, there's the danger of God's 00:17:26.519 --> 00:17:31.840 people falling into temptation. For the scepter of wickedness shall not rest and 00:17:31.840 --> 00:17:35.160 land allotted to the righteous, lest the righteous stretch out their hands to do 00:17:35.160 --> 00:17:41.840 wrong. Lest, good word, not word we use very often, lest the righteous stretch 00:17:41.840 --> 00:17:47.800 out their hands to do wrong. And I think really this verse is painting a picture 00:17:47.799 --> 00:17:53.480 of the dangers of temptation and compromise in a world that has rejected 00:17:53.480 --> 00:17:58.399 God. God's people are called to be different. We're called to be those who 00:17:58.399 --> 00:18:04.519 follow God, who live for God. And the reality is we live in a land that has 00:18:04.519 --> 00:18:09.240 rejected Him. Maybe there are moments in our own lives and our own experiences 00:18:09.240 --> 00:18:14.200 where we felt temptation to conform, to be just like the world, to be just like 00:18:14.200 --> 00:18:19.759 those around us. I think Psalm 125 is a good reminder that we need to get back 00:18:19.759 --> 00:18:24.120 on track, that there's a danger of turning aside on this great journey. 00:18:24.120 --> 00:18:28.120 Maybe we know people who have followed Christ for a time and who've been drawn 00:18:28.120 --> 00:18:32.759 away by various temptations. Maybe some of us ourselves have felt like we're 00:18:32.759 --> 00:18:38.680 slipping. God is always calling His people back to Himself, to trust Him, to 00:18:38.680 --> 00:18:44.360 give ourselves over to Him. The true King of this world, whatever it might look 00:18:44.360 --> 00:18:49.920 like, is Jesus Christ and He is seated on His throne. So we have this certainty 00:18:49.920 --> 00:18:53.759 here in Psalm 125. The scepter of wickedness shall not rest on the land 00:18:53.759 --> 00:18:58.519 allotted to the righteous. And there's a great security here. The land allotted 00:18:58.519 --> 00:19:02.160 to the righteous. We know from the New Testament this is the true home for God's 00:19:02.160 --> 00:19:07.080 people. It's the place where we truly belong. The new heavens and the new earth, 00:19:07.079 --> 00:19:13.839 a place where there is no evil, no wickedness, no sin, no temptation. And in 00:19:13.839 --> 00:19:18.759 the meantime, the Bible says we are pilgrims. We are those who are journeying. 00:19:18.759 --> 00:19:24.359 And Psalm 125 is a great song and great help, a great encouragement for us as we 00:19:24.359 --> 00:19:30.319 journey. It's a song of complete confidence and trust in God. It's a 00:19:30.319 --> 00:19:35.879 confidence and trust in the face of challenge, of opposition. It's a firm 00:19:35.880 --> 00:19:42.000 belief that God will do what He says, that God will make things right. So we 00:19:42.000 --> 00:19:46.920 have to ask ourselves, do we believe Him? Do we believe in our hearts that God is 00:19:46.920 --> 00:19:55.360 going to make all things new? Do we look to Him for our ultimate security? Today in 00:19:55.360 --> 00:19:59.640 Edinburgh, in our own experience, most of our enemies are spiritual. Remember, we 00:19:59.640 --> 00:20:03.560 were thinking a few sermons ago in the series about the world, the flesh, and the 00:20:03.559 --> 00:20:08.440 devil, the three great enemies in the Christian life. And trust in the Lord is 00:20:08.440 --> 00:20:13.000 our great security against all of these things. We might be attacked in all 00:20:13.000 --> 00:20:18.679 different kinds of ways. Corey said a few weeks ago before he left that the 00:20:18.679 --> 00:20:23.240 songs of the journey aren't here to stop the danger. They're not here to remove 00:20:23.240 --> 00:20:28.559 the opposition. Therefore, when you're in an unsafe place, they're for finding 00:20:28.559 --> 00:20:35.879 safety and security in the heart. The reality is that the Christian life is a 00:20:35.879 --> 00:20:41.919 battle. And it's naive, I think. It's dangerous to ignore that. It's dangerous to 00:20:41.919 --> 00:20:47.359 live our lives not recognizing that we are in a battle each and every day. Last 00:20:47.359 --> 00:20:51.679 time we looked at a couple weeks ago, Derek was looking at Psalm 124, and it's 00:20:51.679 --> 00:20:56.879 such a powerful reminder of this fact. It says in verse 1, if it had not been the 00:20:56.880 --> 00:21:00.800 Lord who was on our side, when people rose up against us, then they would have 00:21:00.800 --> 00:21:07.360 swallowed us alive. The flood would have swept us away. But Psalm 1-5, we have 00:21:07.360 --> 00:21:14.240 this firmness, this endurance for those who trust in God. And as we come to the 00:21:14.240 --> 00:21:17.680 end of the Psalm, we see in verse 4 that this trust, this confidence leads to 00:21:17.680 --> 00:21:22.480 prayer. It says, do good, O Lord, to those who are good and to those who are 00:21:22.480 --> 00:21:29.799 upright in their hearts. Commentators say that those who are good, that the Psalm 00:21:29.799 --> 00:21:34.160 refers to, is really referring to those who trust in the Lord. It's not the idea 00:21:34.160 --> 00:21:40.160 of those who are perfect, those who are somehow sinless. Verse 4 isn't asking 00:21:40.160 --> 00:21:45.400 God to be good to us because we've been good to Him. Really, it's saying those who 00:21:45.400 --> 00:21:48.519 are good, those who are upright in heart, is generally used to refer to those who 00:21:48.519 --> 00:21:54.039 trust the Lord, who love the Lord and who have a relationship with the Lord. So 00:21:54.039 --> 00:21:57.720 the Psalm is asking God to be good to those who follow Him in a world that has 00:21:57.720 --> 00:22:02.680 rejected and turned away from Him. So this kind of trust, this confidence leads 00:22:02.680 --> 00:22:06.839 to prayer. We need to be people who pray. We come to God with our battles, with our 00:22:06.839 --> 00:22:12.779 struggles, even when our faith seems weak and fragile. Jesus says to us in John 00:22:12.779 --> 00:22:18.279 chapter 10, if your faith and trust are in Him, then your security, your safety, 00:22:18.279 --> 00:22:23.839 is not determined by your hold of Him, but His hold of you. Verse 27 says, my 00:22:23.839 --> 00:22:29.359 sheep listen to my voice. I know them. They follow me. I give them eternal life 00:22:29.359 --> 00:22:34.799 and they shall never perish, and no one shall snatch them out of my hand. My 00:22:34.799 --> 00:22:40.039 Father who has given them to me is greater than all. No one can snatch 00:22:40.039 --> 00:22:46.279 them out of my Father's hand. So just to wrap things up and bring it to a close, 00:22:46.279 --> 00:22:50.480 Psalm 125 is a Psalm that speaks about an unshakable stability that we have in 00:22:50.480 --> 00:22:55.759 God, a deep sense of surrounding in the midst of the storms of this life, and the 00:22:55.759 --> 00:22:59.839 eternal security we have through trusting Jesus. I just want to conclude with 00:22:59.839 --> 00:23:03.960 this from Tim Keller. He says, trusting God means connecting yourself to the one 00:23:03.960 --> 00:23:10.039 person who will endure forever, and that means you will endure as well in a world 00:23:10.039 --> 00:23:15.759 in which seemingly everything changes and nothing lasts. Fix your mind on that 00:23:15.759 --> 00:23:20.599 promise. As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds His 00:23:20.599 --> 00:23:29.359 people from this time forth and forever. Let's pray. Lord God, we thank You and we 00:23:29.359 --> 00:23:34.440 praise You for what You've done for us through Jesus Christ. We thank You that 00:23:34.440 --> 00:23:38.920 we can come to You, Lord, with our burdens and our difficulties. Lord, help us 00:23:38.920 --> 00:23:42.879 this week in all that we do to know the surrounding of You through the Holy 00:23:42.880 --> 00:23:48.480 Spirit. Help us, Lord, to live in light of Your promises. And Father, we pray for 00:23:48.480 --> 00:23:51.920 those here this evening who might be going through a storm. Lord, we pray that 00:23:51.920 --> 00:23:56.600 they would know Your presence, that they would know Your surrounding. Lord God, we 00:23:56.600 --> 00:24:00.880 recognize that we are in a battle each and every day, and Lord, we recognize how 00:24:00.880 --> 00:24:07.000 much we need You, how much we need You to equip us and protect us. Father, we pray 00:24:07.000 --> 00:24:10.600 that we would know the security and the safety and the comfort of knowing Jesus 00:24:10.599 --> 00:24:16.679 Christ each and every day. In Jesus' name, amen.