Well, let's turn in God's word to another Psalm that is ahead of us tonight. Psalm 125. Psalm 125. And I don't know about you, but in the unstable times that we live in, with all of the unrest in our world, but it's easy to kind of point the finger out there. With the unrest that can be going on in our own hearts, how about that? With our own fears that we can have. This is a great psalm and a needed one for us tonight. And I titled the psalm, Security in Trusting the Lord. I hope it will be a benefit and a blessing to you. Much of my morning prayer times, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, is really occupied with praying through and kind of preaching to my own heart. And so this has been a great blessing to me and I hope it will be for you tonight as well. Psalm 125. It is a song of ascents. Those who trust in the Lord are as Mount Zion, which cannot be moved, but abides forever. As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds his people from the rising, from this time forth and forevermore. 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. Do good, O Lord, to those who are good and to those who are upright in their hearts. But as for those who turn aside to their crooked ways, the Lord will lead them away with the doers of iniquity. Peace be upon Israel. Father, now we come to the reading and teaching and preaching of the Word of God. And Lord, you have told Timothy, and through Timothy you tell every Minister of the Gospel, until I come, give attention to the public reading of Scripture, and to exhortation, and to teaching, to doctrine. Lord, that's why we're here. That's why we've gathered. We want to give our full attention to you, O Lord, from your Word. We know that you, the living God, are living, and you do speak to us only by and with your perfect written Word, the Bible. So we want to be changed and transformed and convicted and comforted tonight. So use your word for good in our lives and for your glory. In Jesus name. Amen. Jimmy feels very lonely. He feels and fears that everyone in his life has turned against him. Billy Billy feels overwhelmed with worry about the future. Susie was, she was let go from work, a work that she had for many, many years, and she now feels vulnerable and confused about the future. Allie, young girl who was mocked by her friends because of her witness at school, and she feels very discouraged. Jimmy. Jimmy came from a church of bad teaching and feels like demons and bad luck are everywhere surrounding him and haunting him. Ronnie sits down with his biblical counselor and he says, I don't feel like I love my wife anymore. Annie says, I discipline and teach and love my children, but I feel like it gets nowhere. I feel like it's just not working. Charlie. Charlie's a pastor of a Baptist church, and he suffers because his church is shrinking in size, but the seeker-friendly one down the road is growing, and he feels very discouraged. Ollie. Ollie looks at the news, the headlines, the economy, and it's overwhelming feelings of fear that assail him because he wonders, am I gonna die in a global world war? Stephanie looks at all the school and all the work and all the family projects and all the needs that are piling up in her life, and she feels totally overwhelmed. Have you ever met any of these people? Can you relate to any of them? What is the common factor with all of these scenarios? What is the one common factor in every single scenario that I mentioned? And it's this, it's the word feel. feel. They all feel a certain way. They might feel rejected. They might feel lonely. They might feel discouraged. They might feel abandoned. They might feel worthless. And in comes our song. Psalm 125, it's like it births through the storm clouds overhead, and our psalm is gonna teach that my security in life, get this, it comes not from how I feel, but my security comes from who God is. That will change your life. If you get that, know that, and believe that. My security comes not from how I feel, but from who God is. Now, in Psalm 125, we come to another one of the Psalms of ascent, and remember, it's the Jewish pilgrims, it's the worshipers that leave their home and they're traveling to Jerusalem, they're traveling to Mount Zion, and they're going to worship God with the congregation on the three pilgrimage festivals, as Deuteronomy calls the Jewish people to do. And as they are coming to Jerusalem, as they are ascending Jerusalem, as they are even mounting the steps that would lead up to the temple area, this psalm right here affirms our security comes in trusting in the Lord. trusting in the Lord. This psalm tonight, it's very brief, only five verses, but it is full, it is bubbling forth with hope and security and stability and comfort and assurance. Think about that for a minute as a child of God. Think about that today as a believer, Christian, here tonight as a believer in Jesus Christ. If you trust in Christ, you have an immovable Savior. Christian, here tonight, if you trust in this Savior who has died for you and he has been raised for you, God guarantees you will live forever. You will live forever. You trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. You know that God surrounds you on all sides. The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him. If you trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, you know that God has made you righteous positionally in Christ. So when God looks at you, he doesn't see all of your blemishes. He sees the perfect merit of Christ. If you trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, you know that God will work everything together for your good because you strive to walk in uprightness of heart. Trusting in the Lord. Trusting in the Lord. What a key lesson for me and you tonight. Now, trusting in the Lord. What is trusting in the Lord? You see it at the very bottom of your outline. So I want to say it now and then again at the end. What does it mean to trust in Yahweh? Simply put, it is a steady clinging to Christ. everything in the psalm builds on that. It is a steady clinging to Christ. The reason I put the word steady there is because the word in Hebrew for those who trust is an ongoing verbal action. It should be a way of life. It should be every day, every hour. It should be ongoing for the child of God. It is a steady A clinging, a holding onto, a holding onto, I won't let anything take my grip off of Christ. A steady clinging, and of course, you have to have the right object. You could have faith all day long in Allah, but he doesn't exist. You could have faith all day long in yourself, but that's not gonna save you. We have to have the right object of our faith, and Jesus Christ alone is the one that we must cling to. So tonight in this wonderful psalm, I hope to encourage you. I hope to bless you through the reading and preaching of the word that there is security in trusting in the Lord. Boys and girls and children, even those who are aging, you know, we all need to hear, as we live in a world that is growing increasingly foolish. According to the language of Jeremiah chapter 17, cursed is the man who trusts in mankind. Well, that's our world. Cursed is the man who trusts in man. But right after that, Jeremiah 17 verse 7, how blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord. Oh, that's what we want. We don't want to trust in mankind. We want to trust in the Lord. Oh, there is such hope that we have in relying in our God. So I want to tell you about the security tonight. You have your outline there in front of you. Number one, what do we learn about those who trust the Lord? Number one, They are planted. They are planted, planted deep, like immovable, sturdy, fixed, established. Verse one, those who trust in the Lord, those who are trusting in the Lord, they're like Mount Zion. It cannot be moved, but it abides forever. I think of things that are easily moved like sand, like sea waves, like the wind, shadows, clouds, the world. Everything changes. Everything changes. But yet our psalm teaches us that believers are like, they're like a mountain. Believers are like a mountain, strong, stable, secure, planted, firm. But actually, we're not really like a mountain. You can't go to Hidden Valley and say, wow, look at the hills here. We're like that. There's a particular mountain in verse one. Verse one tells us that we are like Mount Zion. Now, why would God, through the psalmist, tell us that a believer who trusts in the Lord is like Mount Zion? That's Jerusalem. Why are we like Jerusalem? What's that? Well, it's more than just another mountain. It's more than just another hill. It symbolized the help of God. The help of God in Psalm 121. Mount Zion symbolized the presence of God. According to Deuteronomy 12.5, God says, there I will put my name. Not only the help of God and the presence of God, it symbolized the protection of God. According to Psalm 132, that God will protect Mount Zion. And not only that, it also symbolized the privilege of covenant relationship with God. God had made a covenant with his people and even with those who would reside in Mount Zion, according to Isaiah 60 verse 14. Mount Zion even symbolizes divine love, divine election. According to Psalm 87, we are like a sturdy mountain of God's protection. of God's presence, of God's love, of God's election, all that will never be moved. I want you to hear this evening that we who are children of God, trusting in the Lord, God says, you know what you're like? You're like my great love that I set upon that mountain, Mount Zion. My presence is there. My love is there. My covenant is there. And the future hope of kingdom glory is all there. We cannot be moved. We are planted. We are secure. Remember that song that we sometimes do here? I will glory in my redeemer, my life he bought, my love he owns. I have no longings for another, I'm satisfied in him alone. I will glory in my redeemer, his faithfulness my standing place. Though foes are mighty and they rush upon me, my feet are firm. held by his grace. My feet are firm, held by his grace." Child of God, this psalm teaches, number one, that as you trust in the Lord, there is great security. Because, number one, you are planted. Number two, look in your outline. Not only are you planted, you're protected. You know, the promise of verse two builds on the condition of verse one. You have to trust the Lord in order to claim the promise of verse two. Look at verse two, as the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds his people from this time forth and forever. In my college days, I lived in Israel for about a year. I would go back in a heartbeat if I could. I'd love to take everybody with me. That'd be so fun to do that together. But one of the things that everybody acknowledges is whenever you go to Jerusalem, another name for that would be Mount Zion. Whenever you go there, you always go up. You go up. And Jerusalem is surrounded by mountains on all sides. Jerusalem is right in the middle of what's called the Judean hill country. It's about 2,500 feet above sea level. The city itself is built on hills within this range of the Judean hill country. It's surrounded by other peaks and it provided kind of a natural protection, a natural defense throughout the history of the city. And God says in verse two, you know, those who trust in the Lord, you are protected. You are surrounded, kind of like that city of God that had mountains on all sides. That's like you. You are surrounded by this God. He has surrounded his people from this time forth and forever. Ponder that for a sec tonight. God secures you. He protects you. He is with you. Let's elaborate for a moment. Number one, God is ahead of you. He is ahead of you. Wherever you will go in life, God is ahead of you and he surrounds you, behind you. God is behind you. Wherever you have been, God has always been with you as your rear guard. Third, God is above you. He is above you. Whatever may befall you, whatever may assail you, whatever may catch you off guard, God stands above you high and lifted up. below you. God is below you, not in his position. Of course, he is the sovereign one. But what I mean is wherever you walk, God will be there with you, guiding every step that you take. Within you, God is even within you, child of God. He's watching your heart. He is guarding and securing your heart. He's all around you on all sides. You know what I think of? Remember that great account in 2 Kings 6, when Elisha had been revealing all of the plans and plots of the king of Syria. So they go to the city of Dothan to try to trap and get Elisha. And the servant says, look, they've surrounded us. And Elisha says, there are more with us than there are with them. And then Elisha prayed, oh Lord, open my servant's eyes. And he did. Remember what happened? He saw all of the hills all around with the chariots of fire. Horses and chariots of fire all around. What's the point of that story in 2 Kings 6? God is protecting his people roundabout. Child of God, what do we need to be afraid of? With the Almighty God protecting us on all sides. So not only do those who trust in the Lord, are we recognized as those who are planted. Number two, we are protected. Look in your outline. Number three, we are persevering. We are persevering. And I love this truth found in verse three. 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 psalmist says, you know, here I am in Jerusalem. I'm in Mount Zion. I'm going to worship God. But I know that there, there's a history of enemies here. And there are enemies that could raid, they could attack, they can threaten, they can bully, they can oppress, they can persecute. But verse 3 tells us our hope. Our hope is steady, and our hope causes us to persevere in God. Look at verse 3, for the scepter of wickedness shall not rest upon the land or the lot of the righteous. What's that mean? That's kind of weird language. What do you mean the scepter of wickedness? I think the psalmist is saying a foreign power is not going to completely defeat us. Now, there will be battles, and there might be a battle lost here and there, the Philistines and the Ammonites and the Moabites and so on, but God is going to ultimately prevail. God is going to ultimately win, and we know that there will be no scepter of wickedness, no scepter of a foreign power that will utterly defeat the people of God. That's what they know. And because of that, look at the rest of the verse. Those who are upright, pardon me, end of verse three, so that the righteous will not put forth their hands to do wrong. I think the people of God are saying, you know what? I'm here to worship God. I will persevere because I know that there will be no earthly power that will prevail. God made a covenant with David and with Israel, and God will fulfill his word. He will be faithful. So therefore, we will persevere. We're not going to put forth our hands to do wrong. We want to do what is right. Because our God is a covenant faithful and a covenant keeping God. Child of God. As you trust in the Lord, there is security. And the security in God causes you to persevere so you don't put your hands forth to do what is evil. We persevere with hope. Well, that leads, that leads to verse four. Here's the fourth heading. What about those who trust in the Lord? They are secure, but what do we learn? Number four, they are pure in your outline. They are pure. Do good, O Lord. to those who are good and to those who are upright in their hearts." Have you thought lately that God is such an eager God to do good to his people? God is eager to do good to those who are upright in heart. And what I see in verse five, or what I see in verse four, do good, oh Lord, to those who are good and to those who are upright in heart, is I see a prayer to God that he will do good, not to the perfect, there are none who are perfect. It doesn't say God do good to the sinless, we're not sinless. God, I want you to do good to the upright in heart. It's a prayer for God to bless those who are good, to those who are upright. This can only be a believer, only a Christian. You and I know according to the Bible in Romans 3, there is none good, not even one. No non-believer is good in the eyes of God. But for the believer, but for the believer, we can do good. In fact, we're commanded to do good. Psalm 37, verse three, trust in the Lord and do good. Paul said in Romans 7, 21, I want to do good. Our Lord in the Sermon on the Mount, Luke 6, 35 said, love your enemies and do good. But the unbeliever can't do good. He can't. The unbeliever cannot do good who is accustomed to doing evil. According to Jeremiah 13, 23. That's why unbelievers should plead for the mercy of God and cry out for the grace of God. and ask the Lord to have mercy upon them. Because those who are forgiven are changed. Those who are forgiven are transformed. And you know what? We can do good. We can. I've been reading and really actually quite interested in a man. that I've been reading about. His name is Richard Rogers. He was born in 1551 in England. And I've been gripped by this guy for a number of reasons. But he was a 16th century Englishman and he would often confess his struggles of sin in his own heart and in his own life. And these are found in his journal entries. He would often confess his own battles and he would sought to resist his sin, but his heart was bent toward God. Even though he lamented his sins, even though he confessed his sin, his heart was bent toward God. That is a picture of a true believer. And that's a picture of someone who is upright and they're doing good before the eyes of God. Not because he's good in and of himself, but he's been transformed by grace. And when God saves a man, when God saves a woman, you can do good. And we can live as those who are upright in heart. So Richard Rogers, back to him, in one of the books that I've been reading, a little Puritan paperback, he was often called the Enoch of his times because he was just, he walked with God, he talked with God, he studied the word, he loved prayer. But he wanted to walk with God so closely, and he wanted to enjoy the purity of uprightness of heart. And I so respect him because he's honest about his sin, and he's honest about his struggles, but yet he comes back to the Lord again, and again, and again, holding fast to Christ. And child of God, that's what we have. We have the security in God. There is a security in trusting in the Lord. And what do we have? We have purity. We pursue purity. Very quickly, two more. Number five in your notes. What do we have as we trust in the Lord? We have perspective. If you trust in the Lord, you have perspective. And you know, we need that. I don't know all that goes on in your life, your family, what you see and hear and read and view, all the things in our changing world. There is just so much out there. We need the right perspective. We need the right worldview. Look at verse five. Look at what the psalmist does. But as for those who turn aside to their crooked ways, the Lord will lead them away with the doers of iniquity. We want to be pure in heart. We want to be good, but but the contrast in verse five, but those who turn aside to their, I have crooked ways. Oh, that Hebrew word. It is such, it is such a rare word in the Hebrew language. It means this, to bend and twist the truth. to bend and twist the truth. It's those who bend and twist the truth turning from God. It's kind of like, like Isaiah 53. We've all turned to his own way. What's the perspective? We are living in a world where there are those who turn aside to their own crooked ways. What do I need to know? What's the perspective that those who turn aside to these worthless, wicked ways, they will be led away by God to destruction, to punishment. They will be banished. They will be judged. They will be condemned. I can't help but think of Luke 13, verse 27, when Jesus says to those who will come knocking, but it'll be too late after they die, and he will say, I don't know where you are from. Depart from me, all you evildoers. What is the perspective that that gives to us? Make sure that you're trusting in Christ alone for salvation. Make sure that you are leaning upon him by faith alone in the crucified, in the atoning, in the risen, in the exalted Savior by faith alone so you're not led away to destruction. And that's exactly what the psalmist is saying, but as for those who turn aside to their crooked ways, the Lord will lead them away with the doers of iniquity. Oh, we need this perspective, just like Israel did back then. Child of God, there is great security in trusting in God. But you know what? The more that we trust in God, the more that we have confidence in God, there's one more P, one more point that I think this is inevitable for trusting in God. And that's that we are prayerful. The people who trust in God are prayerful. Look at how verse four begins. Do good, O Lord. It's a prayer. Look at the end of verse five. May peace be upon Israel. Shalom al Yisrael. It's all over the synagogues, mosaic floors that have been found in Jericho and Galilee. Peace be upon Israel. This is nothing new. This is nothing unique. This is all over the history of Israel. This is the confidence that it is only in God, the true God of Israel, the God who saves, the God who will work for his own glory, that we have peace. It's a prayer in verse 4, do good to those who are good. It's a prayer in verse 5, may peace be upon Israel. According to Galatians 6.16, there is a true and a real and a genuine peace that comes upon Jewish believers and their Messiah called the Israel of God. But I wanna tell you about this peace because look at the end of the psalm, may peace be upon Israel. That's a great prayer. Where do we get peace? How does Israel get peace? How do people get peace? What do we need to know? Well, number one, there is an eternal peace. There is eternal peace through faith alone in Jesus Christ. Yesterday at the abortion clinic in Illinois, It was said, there is no peace for the wicked. No peace for the wicked. How could there be? There's no peace with God. There's no peace in heart. There's no peace in life. There's no peace for the wicked. So if we're going to have this eternal peace, it must come only through faith in Jesus Christ and him alone. That's the ultimate way peace can be found. Then and only then, second, can there be internal peace, internal peace. Oh, we hear a lot about, oh, I just want peace. I want peace. I feel peace. Well, where do you get peace? And how do you get internal peace? Well, it is an inward trust and reliance in the Lord and the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension. will guard your heart and your mind in Christ Jesus. Well, that eternal peace will give you internal peace. And everybody wants external peace. Number three, external peace. Oh, we just want peace in the world. We want peace nation to nation, man to man. We want that peace. And you and I know that will only come when Messiah returns. when the Prince of Peace returns to bring kingdom rule. Child of God, what a psalm tonight. So much can be fleshed out from that little phrase, those who trust in the Lord. Here's the question. Are you and I trusting in the Lord? Not only initially to get saved, but today, Tomorrow at work, with money, with children. with parents and relationships, in your own struggles, your own fighting and battling with sin. Are you trusting in the Lord? Maybe a question that we could ponder is what difficulties are you facing right now in your life? A difficulty, a real disturbing circumstance in your life where you think, I need to trust in the Lord for that. What is it that's occupying your heart and mind and thoughts? And it just won't let you go. Trust in the Lord. Trust in the Lord. You know, the night before our Lord was crucified, John chapter 14, he was with the 11 after Judas left. And one of the most comforting sections in all of scripture, John 14, Jesus said, don't let your heart be troubled. Don't let your heart be troubled. Believe in God and believe also in me. Believe in me. So Christian, that's what we need to do. Believe in God and believe also. Christ what is it to trust in Yahweh bottom of your notes there? It is a steady Clinging to Christ. That's what we need is a steady clinging to Christ Steady because it's ongoing a Clinging because we're holding fast to and a clinging to Christ because he alone is the right object That we must trust in I'll close and then we'll pray here in a moment. If you've not read the book, and if you don't have, like me, a lot of other books that you want to read, a needed book to read would be by Jerry Bridges called Trusting God. In that book, Jerry Bridges says this, trust is not a passive state of mind. It's nothing passive. Rather, it is a vigorous act of the soul by which we, I love this, we choose to lay hold on the promises of God. I love that. We choose to lay hold on the promises of God and we cling to them despite the adversity that at times may seek to overwhelm us. Oh, there's nothing passive about trusting in the Lord. It is a vigorous act of the soul to lay hold of the promises of God. May God help you and may he help me that we would be those who trust in the Lord and find security in him. Well, Father, now as we turn our attention to prayer, we thank you for the wonderful gift of prayer