Anticipating Worship: The Rekindling of Hope
Psalms 125
May 15, 2022
Tonight we return to this segment of Psalms
Which were sung by the pilgrims as they traveled to Jerusalem.
Psalms 120-134 are all given the distinction “A Song of Ascents”
And we enjoy studying them because
In a day when corporate worship seems to have slipped down the list of many people’s priorities
These songs remind us again what a blessing it is for the saints to be able to gather together in worship.
• We’ve been reminded that corporate worship can be a sanctuary from evil.
• We’ve been reminded that corporate worship is a place of joy in redemption.
• We’ve been reminded that corporate worship is a place where we fellowship even in our suffering.
• We’ve been reminded that corporate worship is a physical manifestation of God’s favor.
Corporate worship is more than a command,
It is a blessing to us that we can participate in it.
And TONIGHT in this study we look to the 125th Psalm.
Having read the Psalm to open the sermon, we immediately are able to pick up on THE SETTING that must have inspired this particular song.
We find out for instance that
Currently the land was under what the Psalmist called (3) “the scepter of wickedness”
• A “scepter” is that ornate staff that was carried by a ruler.
• It was meant to be a symbol of sovereignty.
So “the scepter of wickedness” then is an indication that
The land currently languished under an evil ruler.
Israel certainly had plenty that would have grieved them.
• We think of Rehoboam whose arrogance split the kingdom.
• We think of Ahaz who actually imported an Assyrian pagan altar into Israel.
• We think of Manasseh and his idolatry and shedding of innocent blood.
Any of those kings could certainly be described in Jerusalem as
“the scepter of wickedness”
A time in which righteousness is discouraged and evil is rewarded.
We know from the book of Romans that the civil government does have a legitimate function and mandate from God.
Romans 13:4b “…for it is a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath on the one who practices evil.”
The civil government is to be the sword of God
To bring swift and physical punishment on those who violate God’s Laws.
That is why God instituted them.
That is why they have authority.
And just like it is when anyone neglects their God-given role,
When the government abdicates that role
It brings hardship and suffering to those who are under them.
It was not a day in which the king ruled in righteousness,
But rather a day in which the king was wicked.
I’ll let you just go ahead and make the present day application as you will.
Certainly the church today understands the grief associated
With living in a land where wicked men and women are in power.
It is a grief to a nation and especially to the righteous.
But that is THE SETTING of Psalms 125.
In addition to that,
It is also clear that some (5) “turn aside to their crooked ways”
It is an added grief when you see the corrupting influence
That the wicked government seems to have.
• Through their wicked rule…
• Through their ability to reward evil and punish good…
• This wicked administration has even succeeded in pulling men and women into their wickedness.
They are producing deserters and apostates.
• How many in Judah began to participate in Baal worship because of Ahaz?
• How many in Judah offered their children to Molech because of Manasseh?
And again we understand the scene.
When wicked men come and threaten punishment to the righteous,
It is to our grief that many will fall away from the truth
And participate in what is evil merely to escape their hatred.
How many descent minded Germans stood by for Hitler?
How many even followed his orders out of fear of his repercussion?
TODAY we have an entire generation that is willing to actually embrace absolute folly just because they don’t want to be ostracized.
Romans 1:22 “Professing to be wise, they became fools,”
I am intrigued at times by these videos where people will street witness or go on college campuses and ask basic questions to students to sort of challenge their acceptance of the lunacy of our world.
I saw one recently where a man was witnessing on a beach
In what appeared to be California.
He would ask simple questions like:
• Is there a difference between a man and a woman?
• What would you say if I told you that “I am a woman”? (he was a man)
• What would you say if I told you that “I am a black woman”?
And you watch these people look at these white man and say, “Well, I’m not going to say otherwise. If that’s what you say, then you are entitled to that.”
Why would an otherwise intelligent person look at a white man and not be willing to say, “You are clearly not a black woman”?
It is because they have been intimidated into compliance.
They are afraid of the social repercussions of simply using their brain.
Satan must laugh hysterically as they admit to such nonsense.
And yet he is far too successful.
Jeremiah 5:30-31 “An appalling and horrible thing Has happened in the land: The prophets prophesy falsely, And the priests rule on their own authority; And My people love it so! But what will you do at the end of it?”
And our Psalmist, like us, lived in such a culture.
The governing authorities were evil and their evil was influencing people
To fall away from the truth and to embrace wickedness.
We understand the grief and THE PRESSURES of such a day.
There is the temptation to adopt their wicked ideology.
• That temptation is real or else no one would do it and people across our land are doing it.
There is the fatigue of resisting it.
• It is exhausting to stand against and to debate with people who have yielded up the faculty of logic and common sense.
• There are no more rational discussions anymore, it’s all name calling and offense and tears…
• It’s exhausting to try and be a voice of truth in a culture that has abandoned truth.
There is certainly a concern for the future.
• The Psalmist must have wondered what was coming for Judah.
I would imagine that watching the nightly news
Produced great despair in our Psalmist.
And perhaps it threatened to overtake him…UNTIL
HE WENT TO CHURCH.
Arriving in Jerusalem, as you will see,
Completely changed his outlook and rekindled his hope.
Now, he’s not the only one who experienced such a rekindling of hope by going to church.
You’ll remember this one:
TURN TO: PSALMS 73
(READ 1-16)
• You see a similar despair there from Asaph.
• And he was totally broken by what he saw.
(READ 17-20)
• He entered God’s sanctuary and he was allowed to see the reality of what is
coming and his entire demeanor changed.
His hope was restored and his resolve was strengthened.
I will tell you from the outset here that
This is what we learn tonight from Psalms 125
As one of the blessings of simply going to church.
It is a time when we get to see that
Everything that appears to be reality in the world
Is not actually the reality at all.
• The world and the media would have you believe that EVERYONE is on board with gender confusion…
• The world and the media would have you believe that EVERYONE agrees with critical race theory…
• Perhaps the media in the Psalmists day had people believe that EVERYONE now thinks Baal worship is the way to go…
And if you stay isolated, the odds are good you might believe that.
But when you step into the sanctuary of God
And you attend the fellowship if the saints
It could be that you might learn that
What is portrayed as reality isn’t reality at all.
So let’s look at this 125th Psalm
And see how attending worship can rekindle our hope.
4 points tonight
#1 HIS EPIPHANY
Psalms 125:1-2
Here we find what it was that sort of strengthened our Psalmist’s resolve.
Oddly enough it was actually the landscape surrounding Jerusalem.
And yet God used that landscape to settle him and remind him.
When he traveled to Jerusalem and saw the mountains surrounding the city
His heart was immediately encouraged
As God used those mountains to remind him of what is true.
1) GOD’S PEOPLE ARE LIKE MOUNTAINS
2) GOD IS LIKE THE MOUNTAINS
(1) “Those who trust in the LORD Are as Mount Zion, which cannot be moved but abides forever.”
What happened here?
This man lived in a nation of wickedness where wickedness was on the rise and people were falling away left and right to join the evil.
• He must have felt like he was alone in the world.
• He must have felt like the last man standing.
But as he approached the city guess what he saw:
THE CITY WAS STILL THERE
AND PEOPLE WERE STILL WORSHIPING GOD.
He wasn’t alone.
Worship of God endured.
Truth endured.
It may indeed be a time of wickedness,
But the wickedness wasn’t as dominate
As perhaps he had been led to believe.
And the Psalmist immediately likened God’s people,
“Those who trust in the LORD”
To the mountains of Jerusalem.
The idea is that of steadfastness.
That “which cannot be moved but abides forever.”
Mountains are pictures of strength and endurance.
There is a steadfastness about them.
And the Psalmist said, that is also true of God’s people.
No matter how evil and wicked this world gets, God’s people remain.
THERE IS ALWAYS A REMNANT!
We remember the book of Isaiah
• How he preached to people who were blind and deaf and hard-hearted.
• We remember how he was to preach until basically everyone was dead and judged.
However:
Isaiah 6:11-13 “Then I said, “Lord, how long?” And He answered, “Until cities are devastated and without inhabitant, Houses are without people And the land is utterly desolate, “The LORD has removed men far away, And the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land. “Yet there will be a tenth portion in it, And it will again be subject to burning, Like a terebinth or an oak Whose stump remains when it is felled. The holy seed is its stump.”
God would leave a remnant.
We remember Elijah
• His despair as he saw a land overrun by Ahab and Jezebel.
• It was a time when Baal worship was out of control
• The prophets of God had been slaughtered.
Elijah ran to the mountain of God and moaned that he was all alone in the world.
1 Kings 19:14-18 “Then he said, “I have been very zealous for the LORD, the God of hosts; for the sons of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars and killed Your prophets with the sword. And I alone am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.” The LORD said to him, “Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus, and when you have arrived, you shall anoint Hazael king over Aram; and Jehu the son of Nimshi you shall anoint king over Israel; and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah you shall anoint as prophet in your place. “It shall come about, the one who escapes from the sword of Hazael, Jehu shall put to death, and the one who escapes from the sword of Jehu, Elisha shall put to death. “Yet I will leave 7,000 in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal and every mouth that has not kissed him.”
Elijah was not alone, it only felt that way.
God’s people endured.
God always has a remnant.
Paul rested upon that story for encouragement in his day.
Romans 11:2-5 “God has not rejected His people whom He foreknew. Or do you not know what the Scripture says in the passage about Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel? “Lord, THEY HAVE KILLED YOUR PROPHETS, THEY HAVE TORN DOWN YOUR ALTARS, AND I ALONE AM LEFT, AND THEY ARE SEEKING MY LIFE.” But what is the divine response to him? “I HAVE KEPT for Myself SEVEN THOUSAND MEN WHO HAVE NOT BOWED THE KNEE TO BAAL.” In the same way then, there has also come to be at the present time a remnant according to God’s gracious choice.”
God’s people are like mountains, they endure!
We think of all the hard times which have plagued the church throughout history and yet here she is.
• The Jews tried extremely hard to eradicate the church and were unsuccessful.
• Catholicism and people like Bloody Mary tried to eradicate the church and failed.
• Islam has tried…
There may be days of wickedness
But the church endures forever.
And when our Psalmist attended this time of corporate worship
HE WAS REMINDED OF THAT.
God’s people “Are as Mount Zion, which cannot be moved but abides forever.”
Matthew 16:18 “I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.”
Romans 8:36-37 “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.”
2 Corinthians 2:14 “But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place.”
“The church shall never perish!
Her dear Lord, to defend,
to guide, sustain, and cherish,
is with her to the end;
tho’ there be those that hate her
and false sons in her pale,
against the foe or traitor
she ever shall prevail.”
https://www.godtube.com/popular-hymns/the-church-s-one-foundation/
Do you understand that encouragement?
• How great is it to pull up to church and just see other cars in the parking lot?
• How great is it to hear the congregation sing beside you?
• How great is it to hear the “Amen” across the room?
“I’m not alone!”
• I’m not the only one who thinks the wisdom of this world is foolishness!
• I’m not the only who stands for truth and righteousness!
How encouraging to know that the church has not been overrun!
She stands strong!
“Those who trust in the LORD Are as Mount Zion, which cannot be moved but abides forever.”
But that’s not all God showed our Psalmist.
He also saw the reason the church is like a mountain.
The church is like a mountain because GOD IS LIKE THE MOUNTAINS
(2) “As the mountains surround Jerusalem, So the LORD surrounds His people From this time forth and forever.”
The church endures because God wills for her to endure.
She is protected.
She resides behind that hedge or bubble we spoke of this morning.
Though the world would love to eradicate us, they will never succeed.
We remember that WARNING that was given by Gamaliel to the Sanhedrin who wanted nothing more than to squash the early church.
Acts 5:35-39 “And he said to them, “Men of Israel, take care what you propose to do with these men. “For some time ago Theudas rose up, claiming to be somebody, and a group of about four hundred men joined up with him. But he was killed, and all who followed him were dispersed and came to nothing. “After this man, Judas of Galilee rose up in the days of the census and drew away some people after him; he too perished, and all those who followed him were scattered. “So in the present case, I say to you, stay away from these men and let them alone, for if this plan or action is of men, it will be overthrown; but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them; or else you may even be found fighting against God.”
It is because God protects His people.
The church exists because God wills for her to exist.
What great encouragement our Psalmist experienced
Simply by seeing the Jerusalem endures!
• Had he stayed home…
• Had he neglected the journey…
He would have been left with nothing but the world’s propaganda
Which told him he was all alone and all the world believes as they do.
BUT THAT WASN’T TRUE.
And simply seeing the city and the worship which occurred there
Lifted his spirits and rekindled his hope.
What a blessing!
• Go to church.
• Assemble with the saints.
• Have your hope rekindled simply in seeing that God’s people endure!
His Epiphany
#2 HIS ENLIGHTENMENT
Psalms 125:3
Because the church endured…
Because God willed for it to be so…
Now the Psalmist was also keenly aware of something else.
“For the scepter of wickedness shall not rest upon the land of the righteous, So that the righteous will not put forth their hands to do wrong.”
The “scepter of wickedness” might invade for a time,
But it will never find “rest upon the land of the righteous”
And don’t you love that the land is called “the land of the righteous”!
It belongs to them!
Jesus said:
Matthew 5:5 “Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth.”
The righteous are not the invaders here, the wicked are.
And though the wicked might invade, they never get to rest.
They don’t get to stay forever.
The Psalmist was reminded of that.
Wicked scepters come, but they also go!
Isaiah 40:21-24 “Do you not know? Have you not heard? Has it not been declared to you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? It is He who sits above the circle of the earth, And its inhabitants are like grasshoppers, Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain And spreads them out like a tent to dwell in. He it is who reduces rulers to nothing, Who makes the judges of the earth meaningless. Scarcely have they been planted, Scarcely have they been sown, Scarcely has their stock taken root in the earth, But He merely blows on them, and they wither, And the storm carries them away like stubble.”
They are not the church.
They have no staying power.
Psalms 49:20 “Man in his pomp, yet without understanding, Is like the beasts that perish.”
Psalms 73:18-20 “Surely You set them in slippery places; You cast them down to destruction. How they are destroyed in a moment! They are utterly swept away by sudden terrors! Like a dream when one awakes, O Lord, when aroused, You will despise their form.”
God will not let the wicked endure.
I’ve been contacted several times over the past few months
From a pastor in Tanzania who wants some help learning.
I’ve been corresponding with him some back and forth.
He emailed me 2 weeks ago frustrated because the number of Mosques continue to grow in his area but church buildings do not.
He sees the scepter or wickedness on the rise.
But I reminded him of what the Psalmist sees here.
• They may enter…
• They may build…
• But they will not get to stay!
Revelation 11:15 “Then the seventh angel sounded; and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ; and He will reign forever and ever.”
Psalms 2 “Why are the nations in an uproar And the peoples devising a vain thing? The kings of the earth take their stand And the rulers take counsel together Against the LORD and against His Anointed, saying, “Let us tear their fetters apart And cast away their cords from us!” He who sits in the heavens laughs, The Lord scoffs at them. Then He will speak to them in His anger And terrify them in His fury, saying, “But as for Me, I have installed My King Upon Zion, My holy mountain.” “I will surely tell of the decree of the LORD: He said to Me, ‘You are My Son, Today I have begotten You. ‘Ask of Me, and I will surely give the nations as Your inheritance, And the very ends of the earth as Your possession. ‘You shall break them with a rod of iron, You shall shatter them like earthenware.’ ” Now therefore, O kings, show discernment; Take warning, O judges of the earth. Worship the LORD with reverence And rejoice with trembling. Do homage to the Son, that He not become angry, and you perish in the way, For His wrath may soon be kindled. How blessed are all who take refuge in Him!”
Our Psalmist realized that here too.
AND THERE IS A REASON
Why God won’t let those squatters rest in the land.
(3b) “So that the righteous will not put forth their hands to do wrong.”
Paul reminded that God will “not let you be tempted beyond what you are able”.
And this is also a reason why
The wicked don’t get the land indefinitely.
Even in the tribulation we read:
Matthew 24:21-22 “For then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will. “Unless those days had been cut short, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short.”
God protects His own.
He has determined that the church shall endure,
And therefore He has determined that the wicked will not.
What encouragement our Psalmist received by attending Jerusalem!
It is the rekindled hope which is received from corporate worship.
He was encouraged!
His Epiphany, His Enlightenment
#3 HIS ENTREATY
Psalms 125:4
Do you see his excitement?
He knows what is coming, but in anticipation he can hardly wait!
He wants it now!
“Do good, O LORD, to those who are good And to those who are upright in their hearts.”
His encouragement spills over into a prayer request.
It is the excitement of John upon receiving the Revelation and seeing the sure and ultimate victory of Christ.
Revelation 22:20 “He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming quickly.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.”
It is even what our Lord taught us to pray:
Matthew 6:10-13 “‘Your kingdom come. Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven. ‘Give us this day our daily bread. ‘And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. ‘And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.’”
A man who is defeated might give up on prayer altogether.
Jesus taught us through that widow and the unrighteous judge that we “ought to pray at all times and not lose heart”.
Well how encouraged now is our Psalmist’s prayer life
When his hope is restored and he remembers again
That one day the wicked will be removed!
THIS IS HOPE REALIZED.
I am a firm believer that corporate worship strengthens hope
And hope strengthens one’s prayer life.
He knows that God is for His people and he easily prays that
God will carry them and do them good.
#4 HIS EXPECTATION
Psalms 125:5
The Psalmist ends with a chant of victory.
• For all those who caved to the social pressures…
• For the woke mob who chose social acceptance…
• For those who abandoned for the sake of comfort…
“But as for those who turn aside to their crooked ways, The LORD will lead them away with the doers of iniquity.”
Some day God will not only rid our land of its evil influence
But also of all those who fell prey to it.
God will totally purify our land…
God will totally remove the wicked from it.
It doesn’t matter if they pretended righteousness.
It doesn’t matter if they tried to play both sides of the fence.
SOME DAY THE WICKED MUST LEAVE.
Matthew 7:23 “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.’”
Matthew 13:40-43 “So just as the tares are gathered up and burned with fire, so shall it be at the end of the age. “The Son of Man will send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all stumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness, and will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. “Then THE RIGHTEOUS WILL SHINE FORTH AS THE SUN in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.”
One day they area all being plucked
And the earth will be restored to the glory which God intended.
Isaiah 66:22-24 “For just as the new heavens and the new earth Which I make will endure before Me,” declares the LORD, “So your offspring and your name will endure. “And it shall be from new moon to new moon And from sabbath to sabbath, All mankind will come to bow down before Me,” says the LORD. “Then they will go forth and look On the corpses of the men Who have transgressed against Me. For their worm will not die And their fire will not be quenched; And they will be an abhorrence to all mankind.”
In short, it won’t always be this way!
• God’s church endures.
• God makes sure she endures.
• The wicked don’t get to stay.
• God will remove them.
And in that final day: “Peace be upon Israel”
You can see the encouragement of our Psalmist.
It is his new anticipation
Now that he has joined the fellowship of the saints.
Imagine the despair if he had stayed home.
The news is so depressing.
Psalms 73:17 “Until I came into the sanctuary of God; Then I perceived their end.”
And not only their end, but our endurance.
It is a blessing to gather with the saints
And be reminded of the victory we enjoy through Christ.
