Psalms of Ascent: Posture

What have you learned about yourself in these first few weeks of the quarantine?

As you think about that question, recognize a simple truth that we are all servants of something. We allow our passions, desires, commitment, etc. to rule our lives. When we go about our everyday life when things are normal, we may not even realize what is ruling our life, until those things are stripped away.

As we face the realities of social distancing due to a pandemic, our lives are disrupted and our attitude reveals what we are in service to. Is it our friends that we cannot get together with? Is it our academic pursuits? Is it praise from our teachers, bosses, and teammates? Is it sports? Is it money? The list goes on and on. Some of the things are good, but even good things become idols when we let the rule our lives.

We are currently pilgrims traveling a new and unprecedented time with the changes being made for us due to the coronavirus. As we travel these roads, we can find a lot in common with the Israelites who were far from their home land and traveling toward Jerusalem, singing the Psalms of Ascent.

Last week we were reminded that we have to prepare to travel. We live in a land that leaves us wanting and need to move toward peace (Psalm 120). We have promises of help along the way from our God (Psalm 121). We are heading to a city of peace to be together again in worship of our God (Psalm 122).

This week we will continue on this journey in Psalms 123, 124, and 125.

What we will see from these psalms is that as we are pilgrims on the journey of life, we will find hope when our posture is one of being servants (123) to a benevolent and merciful God, who knows our desperate need of help (124) in the everyday ordinary life, and promises we can rest in knowing He has our back (125). God is for us!

Psalm 123 – I am a servant of God

When adversity hits, who do you look to for help? I can think of several people I call on in times of need. I’m looking for advice, reassurance and encouragement. This psalm opens up with the importance of looking to the God of heaven for help. The illustration is one of a servant looking expectantly to their master for with expectations of help, and the help offered here is mercy.

Over the years I have watched a lot of sports, and I often find myself observing the coach and their relationship with his/her players. My observations have led me to my own philosophy of coaching, seeing what I want to emulate and what I want to avoid.

As a coach, I value relationship and positive reinforcement. I want my players to be confident and empowered to play at their highest potential. When adversity hits us in the middle of the game and my player looks at me for help, I don’t want to yell at her and tell her how horrible she is playing. No I want to be merciful and encouraging. I reminder her of what we have practiced and that I am confident in her abilities. My goal is to instill hope.

This is the picture I get from Psalm 123, in the game of life, I look to God for help and what He gives me is Christ. What I mean by that is that faith in Jesus means we are on His team, He is our Coach. When we look to Him, He is not the angry demanding coach, He is merciful and benevolent. He speaks life into our situation knowing that we encounter enough contempt and scorn from this world.

Paul put in this way in Romans 12:1–2

[1] I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. [2] Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Some translations render “spiritual worship” as “reasonable service” or “spiritual act of worship.” It continues the emphasis that we are servants of God and we serve Him by getting on the alter in our everyday life. That means that we surrender ourselves to Him daily. It means that we look to Him and serve Him in our everyday ordinary life.

The act of looking to Him reminds us that He is above us, He is in Heaven, He is God and we are not. The act of looking to Him reminds us that we serve Him, He doesn’t serve us. When we look to Him, we place ourselves in the proper posture to receive mercy and hope from a benevolent God.

“A servant Christian is the freest person on earth.” – Eugene Peterson

Psalm 124 – Help in the Everyday Ordinary Life

“Psalm 124 is a song of hazard—and of help. Among the Songs of Ascents, sung by the people of God on the way of faith, this is one that better than any other describes the hazardous work of all discipleship and declares the help that is always experienced at the hand of God.” – Eugene Peterson

As we read through Psalm 124 we see the reality of troubles in this life. If we pause for a moment we can make a list of countless struggles we face each day, and somedays more than others. The posture the psalmist takes in reminding us is that these terrible things could have over taken us IF God wasn’t for us.

Psalm 124:1

If it had not been the LORD who was on our side—

A provocative opening statement captures our attention. God is on our side! God is for us and will help us!

Do you believe God is for you? Why or why not?

In a few short lines, he writes an acknowledgement of the daily struggles and hazards along life’s journey. This means that God knows our struggles, He knows our pains, He knows the difficulties we face, and He knows more about our situation then we could ever imagine.

He knows that life can be overwhelming and could have consumed you, but God is on your side! He knows that life can be treacherous and hazardous, but God is on your side! He knows that relationships are hard, that school is difficult, that the coronavirus is extremely contagious, but God is on your side!

Psalm 124:8

Our help is in the name of the LORD, who made heaven and earth.

God has our back, THE God who made heaven and earth. We have to remember the immensity of our God, that He is bigger than any problem we face and He promises to deliver us from our biggest struggles.

Nothing could be clearer than the truth that He delivered us from our ultimate enemy: sin. As we approach Good Friday and Easter Sunday, remember that in our everyday ordinary life, we are sinners and deserve judgment. But our God, who is on our side, sent His only Son into this world to be the perfect sacrifice and demonstration of love by going to the cross for our sins. In Christ we are delivered from the bondage to sin! In Christ we have escaped God’s wrath! In Christ we have all of our needs met, and can have confidence in His willingness to help us in our time of need.

Psalm 125 – Rest in God

Psalm 125 is a source of confidence for those who trust in God. It pictures the city of Jerusalem as well fortified and surrounded by mountains, giving even more fortification. The psalmist’s goal is to give you confidence that God has your back, that He is protecting you and you can rest in Him.

He is not denying the difficulties of life, but reminding us that God is a mighty fortress of protection that we can take refuge in Him.

Paul says it this way in 2 Corinthians 4:7–9:

[7] But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. [8] We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; [9] persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed;

There is an acknowledgement of the difficulties of life, the struggles we will face and the times we will stumble, but we have this hope that God is the one in control. As Christians, we have the opportunity to display God’s power when we learn to live in dependence upon Him. The power we have to overcome, does not come from within us, it comes from Jesus Christ.

Look to Jesus, He is a strong tower and we can run to Him and be safe! When we do we will experience the mercy and hope He has promised to us.

When we look to the God of heaven, we will find hope when our posture is one of being servants (123) to a benevolent and merciful God, who knows our desperate need of help (124) in the everyday ordinary life, and promises we can rest in knowing He has our back (125). God is for us!