Psalm 125
September 8, 2024 A Song of Ascents.
1 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! (ESV)
This is the word of the Lord. Let’s join our hearts in prayer.
Praise be to you, Lord, for the gift of stability you give to us through trusting in
you—stability like a mountain, protection like being surrounded by mountains. Thank
you for these life-giving blessings.
Thank you for your promise that we your people will not be abandoned by you to wicked
rulers, to enemies, to persons, influences, and forces that would ultimately destroy us.
Praise be to you for giving to your people one who holds the ultimate scepter, the one
who gives everlasting protection—your Son, Jesus the Messiah, crucified for our sins,
raised from the dead, and seated at your right hand. He is our King, our protector, our
provider, the one in whom we trust, the one who is the firm foundation of an abiding
stability. His is a scepter of love, grace, wisdom, justice, goodness, and dependability.
Thank you for bringing to us, through him, a profound peace—a peace that we can
apply and enjoy now as we await its fulness in the age to come.
In this election year, heavenly Father, we realize that this psalm confronts us with a
growth curve. For on the level of American politics—a much less important level of
governance than that which Jesus Christ occupies—we do find ourselves tempted, and
sometimes yielding to the temptation, to stretch out our hands to do evil in reaction to,
or following the example of, this or that candidate for office. You see in our hearts, Lord,
the fear, insecurity, anger, cynicism, contempt, and ultimately unbelief, which can
prompt our attitudes, our words, our posts, our texts to turn aside from your ways to
crooked ways. We forget that trusting you is like a mountain and that you surround your
people like mountains and that Jesus is risen from the dead, victorious and supreme
over Satan, sin, death, and all human political structures and persons.
Forgive us, Lord. Renew us, in uprightness at heart level. Do good to your people by
causing this psalm to characterize our lives in an ever-deeper way. Bless us, amid the
inevitable spiritual warfare of this age, with a growing experience of your peace, both
internally and relationally. May this peace that can only come through the gospel come
also to our nation, to modern day Israel, to Israel’s neighbors, and to all the peoples of
the world. May we ourselves be channels to those around us of the good news of this
psalm
Father, on this Rally Sunday, as the school year has begun and we return to its patterns
of daily and weekly life, we pray for the corresponding patterns of our church life. We lift
up to you the Explorers and Edge ministries—their teams of leaders and the young
ones and students involved. We lift up the Living Room ministry and the Life Group
ministry. In all these aspects of our life together, give your protection, direction, and
fruitfulness through the fulness of your Spirit.
And we pray for the school year now under way. We intercede for the students among
us, younger and older; for the teachers among us; for parents and grandparents of
schoolchildren; for homeschoolers and private-schoolers; for our local school districts,
their many schools, their administrators, faculties, and staffs. We ask for your guarding,
guiding, and overall blessing. May believing students and teachers and administrators
reflect in their day-to-day lives and labors the unique and desirable scepter of King
Jesus. May their confidence in him increase; may their words about him have free
course and bear rich fruit.
And now, Lord, whatever our current individual and particular circumstances may be,
may we walk forward this week trusting your protection, rejoicing in your rule, following
your ways, and embracing your peace.
We pray in the name of our matchless King, Jesus the Lord. And all God’s people said,
“Amen!”