If you would please open with me to Psalm 125 for our public scripture reading this morning. Psalm 125. We are continuing to work through these Psalms of Ascent, which are the songs that God's people would sing in the Old Covenant as they made their pilgrimage to the holy city of Jerusalem to worship the Lord. And the themes of these particular psalms have been wide ranging, but a singular focus on the theme of peace does stand out if you look at all of these psalms of ascent. For example, the psalmist began in Psalm 120 by lamenting how long that he had had his dwelling place among those who hate peace. In Psalm 122, he celebrates Jerusalem as the city of peace. And here in Psalm 125, he confesses and contrasts the eternal peace experienced by God's people with the damnation awaiting those who are evildoers. And as we do with all of the Old Testament, we should read this Psalm using the light that's given to us in the New Testament. And in the New Testament, we see very clearly that the believing church of God, those who are circumcised, not in the flesh, but in the heart, it is these who constitute what the Bible calls the Israel of God. As Paul says in Romans 9, not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel. and his benediction to the largely Gentile churches of Galatia, Paul says this, peace and mercy be upon the Israel of God. So while there were certainly a temporal application of these truths in Psalm 125 to the nation state of Israel under the old covenant, we must recognize that there is spiritual application of these truths to the believing church of all time. And that would include all of us here this morning who are in Christ. With that said, I'd like to point out three truths that we see in this psalm about God, and then the implications of those truths upon mankind, both His believing children and unbelievers. Firstly, the Lord is immutable, He is unchangeable, and therefore His people cannot be moved. Look with me to verse 1. Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion, which cannot be moved, but abides forever. And notice that right away we see the defining marker of the true Israelite, the person who is circumcised in the heart and not only in the flesh, and that is trust in the Lord. The true Israelite is circumcised, once again, not in the flesh, but in the heart. The true Israelite is one who shares not the blood of Abraham, but the faith of Abraham. The true Israelite trusts in the Lord. And as a result, just as Mount Zion, which is a symbol of the New Jerusalem, a symbol of that place where the Lord dwells and lives with his people apart from all sin and misery, just as Mount Zion cannot be moved, God's people cannot be moved. And what this text is telling us is that the New Jerusalem would sooner be destroyed before even one of God's people would be moved off of their firm foundation in Christ. And as we look to verse two, we see why the church cannot be moved. As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds his people from this time forth and forevermore. The Lord surrounds his people. Now, we remember how Jesus explained this truth. He used a different analogy than mountains, but he explained this same truth. John captures that for us in chapter 10 of his gospel, where Jesus says this, My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me, and I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. not one will snatch them out of my hand." And then listen to this, my Father who has given them to me is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. So there's this double protection for the believer, if you will, where we are both in Christ and at the same time in the hand of the Father. And is there a time limit on this protection that God's people receive from the Lord? Is there a time when the church of Christ will be moved and shaken off of that firm foundation? And the answer is no. Notice the words at the end of verse one and two. forever, then verse two, forevermore. The church cannot be moved, but abides forever, verse one. Not even the gates of hell will prevail against the church of Christ because, verse two, the Lord surrounds his people from this time forth and forevermore. The church will remain until the end and her members will persevere until the end and all the way into eternity for that matter, because the Lord surrounds, he protects, he guards, he shields his people from all their enemies from this time forth and forevermore. So if you are in Christ here this morning, take comfort in knowing that God doesn't change like you and I do. And because our God does not change, you cannot be moved. Be thankful that your security is not based on you. Be thankful instead that it is based on the unchangeable character and strength of our God. And if God is for you, brothers and sisters, who can be against you? God is for you, what can separate you from the love of God in Christ? As we read in the scriptures, nothing can and nothing will, not tribulation, not distress, not persecution, not famine, not nakedness, not danger, not the sword, none of these things. can separate you from the love of God in Christ. And we sing sometimes that modern hymn, In Christ Alone. And there's a verse that puts this quite well. No power of hell, no scheme of man can ever pluck me from his hand. Till he returns or calls me home, here in the power of Christ I'll stand. The Lord is immutable, and therefore his people cannot be moved. Secondly, the Lord is merciful, and therefore his people are not tempted beyond what they can bear. Look with me to verse 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. And we see here the imminent threat facing the people of God at this time. Despite the sure promise that God's people will indeed remain forever, the wicked are still relentless in their persecutions. We read in Proverbs chapter four, for example, that the wicked cannot sleep unless they've done wrong. They're robbed of sleep unless they have made someone stumble, for they eat the bread of wickedness and they drink the wine of violence. And the scepter of wickedness was at work in Israel. And friends, the scepter of wickedness is at work today, seeking to destroy the church of Christ, seeking to take us off of that firm foundation. And the spiritual warfare that Paul describes in Ephesians chapter six, it's truly made manifest in the culture in which we live. And there's an author, David Hesselgrave, that said this regarding culture. He said, culture is the arena of continued divine and satanic intervention and penetration, God by his spirit, heavenly agents, and human representatives, and Satan by his demonic forces. And so when we consider the spiritual warfare that we all are engaged in, whether we see it or not, whether we recognize it or not, We must consider what is one of, not the only, one of Satan's methods in this war. Is he not the tempter? Does he not prowl around like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour? Is he not full of cunning and deceit? Think of how audacious he is as well. He attacked the Lord Jesus Christ and sought to tempt him to sin. How much more does he see you and me as vulnerable prey? How much more does he see the members of Christ's body as targets for his scepter of wickedness? But the Lord will not allow the scepter of wickedness to rest on his church. He will not allow it to remain on his church indefinitely, lest, as we read in the latter half of verse three, lest the righteous stretch out their hands to do wrong. God will not allow the scepter of wickedness to oppress the church relentlessly, lest we begin to participate in the same acts of wickedness as the enemies of God. And there's a promise parallel to this that we read of in 1 Corinthians 10. Paul explains to the church in Corinth and to us, no temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability. But with the temptation, he will also provide the way of escape that you may be able to endure it. And brothers and sisters, God knows our frame. He remembers that we are but dust. And he will not allow his church to be tempted beyond her ability to bear said temptation. And with the temptation to do evil will also come a way of escape, lest we stretch out our hands to do wrong. So when you're tempted and you are enticed to sin, what's your response? Do you give in without a second thought? Do you walk knowingly into sin, presuming upon God's grace and forgiveness and saying, well, I'll just do this now, but then I can repent and everything will be good? Or do you, as we read here, stretch out your hand to do wrong? Or converse, do you battle with sin? Do you look for that way of escape that the Lord promises to provide us in our time of temptation? And when you see that way of escape, when the Holy Spirit shows that to you, do you take it? Do you pull your car from going 90 miles an hour down the highway of sin and take the off ramp that the Lord shows you? So I would remind you, brothers and sisters, the Holy Spirit lives inside of you. And when he convicts you of sin, when he shows you that you are contemplating evil in your mind, that you were indulging the thought that required the Lord Jesus Christ to be crucified in order to wash that away, when he shows you this, remember that God is faithful and he's not letting any temptation come to you that is beyond your ability in Christ to bear. We have no excuse when we slip into temptation. It's not God's fault. It's our fault. He does not let any temptation come to us that is beyond our ability to withstand. So look for that way of escape and take it. And if you have to, plead with God for that way of escape. In fact, do that. plead for that way of escape, and plead for the strength to take it. The Lord is merciful, and therefore his people are not tempted beyond what they can bear. Well, third and finally, the Lord is just, and therefore all evildoers will be cast out. Look with me to verses four and five. Do good, O Lord, to those who are good, and to those who are upright in their hearts. But those who turn aside to their crooked ways, the Lord will lead away with the evildoers. Peace be upon Israel. And the psalmist says of those who turn aside to their crooked ways, that the Lord will lead them away with the evildoers. And this word lead away here in verse five, it means to banish or to do away with. Consider again the New Jerusalem, in that place where God dwells with his people forever and ever, there will be no evil. And because there's no evil, there will be no evil doers. They will be led away, they will be banished, they will be cast into the outer darkness where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth. Friends, there is a day coming when there will be a great separation. The Lord Jesus Christ will come again to judge the living and the dead as we confess, and in doing so, he will bring perfect peace upon the true Israel of God. Those who have turned from their sin and received Christ by faith, he will place on his right hand, and he will say to them, come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. But those who refuse to repent, Those who persist in stretching out their hand to do wrong, he will place on his left hand. And he will say to them, depart from me, you cursed. into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. If you are outside of Christ, I call upon you this morning to repent of your sin and evildoing. I call upon you, as we read in verse one, to trust in the Lord. Turn to Christ by faith. Find your secure dwelling place amongst God's people, surrounded, as it were, by the Lord himself, like the mountains surround Jerusalem. It is there and there alone where you cannot be moved and where you will find true safety in his hands forever. Turn to Christ and live because the Lord is just and therefore all evildoers will be cast out. If you're able, please stand for the reading of God's holy word. Psalm 125. Hear the word of God. a song of ascents. Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion, which cannot be moved, but abides forever. As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds his people from this time forth and forevermore. 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. Do good, O Lord, to those who are good and to those who are upright in their hearts. But those who turn aside to their crooked ways, the Lord will lead away with evildoers. Peace be upon Israel. May God bless the reading of his holy word. You may be seated.