We turn again to this psalm, Psalm 125. This is the sixth of these pilgrim psalms. And there's an interesting pattern for us to see. There are two groups of three psalms. And they follow this very similar pattern that we've seen of the ups and downs of life as a Christian. Life is not always rosy and easy. And we see that if we compare the first two Psalms in each of these groups, Psalm 120 and Psalm 123. Both of these Psalms speak about the distress that the psalmist finds himself in because of the wickedness of man. Psalm 120 speaks about the tongue of man speaking lies against God's people. Psalm 123 speaks about the scorn and the contempt against God's people. So at the start of each of these groups of three, But then we move on to the second in each group, Psalm 121 and Psalm 124. And both of these Psalms marvel in the deliverance that God gives. You see, we go from this distressed state and we arise up and we remember that God delivers us. Psalm 121, he is our keeper. Psalm 124, he is the one who is on our side. And then we come to the final. Psalms in those groups, Psalm 122 and Psalm 125, and we look to Jerusalem. Both these Psalms mention Zion, Jerusalem. One of them rejoicing in gathering together and fellowshipping and having peace in Jerusalem. And then this one that we study today, looking at the strength that comes to Jerusalem. The pilgrim life will be such ups and downs. It's never always easy, but it is worth it. And when you find yourself in a time of difficulty, you remember that it's not permanent. We will move on past it because God is a God who graciously leads us forward on this road towards Jerusalem. And here in Psalm 125, we see a picture of strength for a people who need strength. Look at verse one. You see that those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion. Now in what way are they like this mountain? Well, it goes on in the second half of the verse to show us that the mountain itself cannot be moved, but will abide forever. It's in the nature of mountains to be strong and stable, to stand firm and not be moved. And so too the Christian, those who are trusting in the Lord, will stand like a mountain. And you might say immediately there, how can I stand as a mountain? How can I have this strength? It doesn't seem possible. You think about yourself and you think about the difficulties in your life. It's never easy. How can this say that you're like a mountain? Well, look again at verse one and you see where the source of that strength is. It's not from yourself. Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion. The strength never comes from within. It comes from on high. And because the Lord himself is almighty, he's omnipotent, because he is full of all the strength, therefore even the weakest Christian here on earth is strong in him. Even the person that has the most doubts, the person who faces the most afflictions, the person who struggles just to get through each and every day, that Christian is stronger because the Lord God is almighty. You may not feel strong, but if you're trusting in the Lord and you're taking your strength from him, the Lord will sustain you. He will cause you to abide forever, even like a mountain. That may seem hard to believe, but it is true. It is the word of God. Now let's think for a moment about the person that stands without the Lord. It would be utter madness to stand apart from God and think that you're strong like a mountain. And yet, isn't that what the pride of man often says? Man often thinks that without God, He is strong. We sign, blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord. But how many nations think that they're strong without the Lord God? And how many individuals think that they can continue to stand in their own strength and that they will permanently be like a mountain which will not move? That's pride. And Christians, we must also look and examine ourselves diligently to see if there's any pride in us. If we find ourselves thinking that we are strong in and of ourselves, we must confess that as sin. We must flee then to Christ and put our trust in Him again and go to Him for strength. Anytime you think that in your gifts, your graces, in your character, in your wisdom, in whatever you think you're strong, confess that as pride. and go back to the Lord Jesus. As we read from 1 Corinthians 10, that him who thinks he stands, take heed lest he fall. We say often, it has its roots in the Bible, pride comes before a fall. And isn't that true? You see someone that is so proud and arrogant, and before long they fall. The Lord has arranged the general course of affairs in that way. that those who think they stand will fall. Think of Nebuchadnezzar, children. You remember when Daniel was in Babylon, the king was Nebuchadnezzar. And Nebuchadnezzar boasted. He looked around him at his big city. And he said, is not this great Babylon that I have built by my mighty power and for the honor of my majesty? It's hard to see someone as being more proud than that. He's looking around him at this great city that God has allowed him to raise up. He says, this is my city, it's for my glory, and I have built it by my strength. And what does the Lord do to Nebuchadnezzar? He becomes like a beast that dwells in the field. He's utterly humiliated, he's eating grass. He's like a madman. until he confesses that the Lord is sovereign. God resists the pride, but gives grace to the humble. Pride is an ugly sin. Sometimes we have the temptation to look at someone who is strong and that we admire that, but if there's any pride in that, arrogance, we should see that as ugliness. Stephen Charnock says, A proud faith is as much a contradiction as a humble devil. You don't find humble devils. They're all proud. And so our faith must not have any pride in it. It's a contradiction. We need to take heed lest we fall. Humble yourself in the sight of the Lord and he will raise you up. We only stand unmoved like a mountain if we're trusting in the Lord. And that first of all must be through Christ. That first of all must be through Him who is the way, the truth, and the life. Our faith must be set upon Him for our salvation, for our righteousness, for the remission of our sins, for eternal life. If we're not trusting in Him for our eternal security, then we're not going to stand like a mountain in any other aspect of our life. No, our faith must be in Christ. He's revealed to us in the Bible as the one who gives us strength, as the one who is our refuge and our strength, the ever-present help in trouble. The difference between trusting in the Lord and trusting in yourself or in other people, Jesus illustrates in the parable of the one who builds his house upon the rock and the one who builds his house upon the sand. Unless you're built upon the foundation, which is Christ, we read that, even the rock, which is Christ. Unless your trust is in him who is permanent, himself, then it's just might as well be a house on the sand, that when the winds blow and the waves come in, the house comes crashing down. You can stand proud in your own righteousness, in your own goodness, Pride goes before a fall, and you'll fall to utter destruction. But even for Christians, you may have trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ for your own salvation, but you still might have a spirit of pride in you, where you think that there's a part of you that is wise, a part of you that is strong, a part of you that has a particular gift that no one else has. Take heed to yourself. lest when you think you stand, you fall. Remember the example of Peter, a very different example from Nebuchadnezzar. Peter was a believer at that time. And he says to the Lord Jesus Christ, I will never deny you. Though all others flee away from you, I will not. I'll be there. I will go with you even to the point of death. And Jesus says this very night, you will deny me three times. take heat to yourself, lest when you think you stand, you actually fall. We can delude ourselves all too easily. We can be like a boat that we think is tied up securely to the harbour, and we lie down in the boat and have a nice sleep, we rest, but we're not checking the rope. And all the while, the rope which hasn't been tied securely is coming out of its weak knot, and the boat is drifting away from the harbor. It's not connected in. And before you know it, you're lost at sea. We delude ourselves all too often. But Psalm 125 shows us that we're only strong as much as our trust is in the Lord. Then we're like a mountain. Then we'll abide forever. We must trust in this one who keeps us. And verse two shows us the fact that he surrounds us even as mountains surround Jerusalem. I don't know if any of you have ever been to Jerusalem, but if you were to go, you would see that the temple stands on the mountain, but around it, there are other mountains. And if you were to think, in a military way of trying to attack that city. It would be difficult to attack it because it's hard to go up hills and mountains. Those on the higher ground have the stronghold. And so to Jerusalem, the people of God, they are strong because of the mountain range that's around them. It's the Lord himself, he surrounds us and we're difficult to attack. Even as we sign from Psalm 34, the angel of the Lord encamps, and round encompasseth all those about who do him fear, and then delivereth. Zechariah 2 verse 5 speaks on a similar theme. For I will be a wall of fire all around her, and I will be the glory in her midst. The Lord promises you there, Christian, it's a promise, that you may be weak, You may struggle, but the Lord is saying, I will surround you with a wall of fire to protect you. It's utter folly to think that you can stand outside of God's promise, outside of his protection, and think that you'll be okay. Imagine armies, vast armies coming up against Jerusalem, and someone saying, well, I'll be okay in one of the outlying villages. I'll be okay still in the field. No, everyone flees into Jerusalem so they're surrounded by the mountains. And so for us, if we're standing with our faith in the Lord Jesus, trusting him, it is very logical and very sensible for us to consider ourselves to be secure in him. The Lord surrounds his people and so our faith must be in him. Even the weakest one is strong, not in himself, but because of the protection around us. It's exactly the same as Psalm 124. Really, it's advancing the thought. In Psalm 124, the Lord is on our side. Psalm 125 says, well, the Lord surrounds you. It's not just he's on one side of us, he's all around us, protecting us. Now note the phrases in verses one and two which are the same, the same idea. The mountain stands, abides forever, verse one. And then in verse two, the Lord survives his people from this time forth and forever. This idea of forever, of eternity, of moving us forward from now into the distant future, The individual believer, the one whose faith is rooted in the Lord, is eternally secure. He is secure in this life, in the midst of all his weaknesses, and he's secure as he's carried forth into the next life, into heaven. This faith is expressed well in the Heidelberg Catechism. Question one of the Heidelberg Catechism asks us, what is thy only comfort in life and death? I wonder if you have comfort for yourself in life and death. And here it expresses quite a full answer, which is similar to the theme of this psalm. The comfort is that I, with body and soul, both in life and in death, am not my own, but belong to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ, who with His precious blood hath fully satisfied for all my sins and delivered me from all the power of the devil, so preserves me that without the will of my Heavenly Father not so much as a hair can fall from my head. Yea, all things are subservient to my salvation. Therefore by His Holy Spirit He also assures me of eternal life and makes me sincerely willing and ready henceforth to live on to Him. What's that question and answer saying? It's reminding us that our comfort is for our bodies, for our souls, in this life and through into the next life, is in the triune Lord God who surrounds us. The Lord Jesus Christ who is fully paid with his blood for your sins. The Lord, our Father in heaven, who has counted the very hairs in your head, that not one of them will fall without him knowing it and decreeing it. And the Spirit of God who assures you of your salvation. What better surrounding could you have? What better protection is there for us than this triune God who loves us in this life and into the next? There's no place for pride. There's nothing there that we have done. The planning of our salvation, the accomplishment of it, the application of it, it's all the Lord God. And so we trust in Him and rely on Him. But it's not just the individual believer that is kept secure. Verses one and two show us that it's those who trust in the Lord. And verse two, it's his people. It's not just the individual who may be weak and struggling by himself, but it's also the whole body of the people of God. They're all kept secure. The church is the organization in the world that will abide forever. It's the only organization that will last all the way until the day of judgment, and even beyond, into the next life. And the reason for that is because the Lord surrounds the church. And we'll think more about that, Lord willing, this evening. So I'll hold off saying much more until then. But is your faith today in the Lord? And if your faith has been in the Lord, is it firmly rooted in him and not slipping away? And that's what this psalm calls us to look back on. Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion, strong, stable, abiding forever. But there's a problem also presented in the psalm. Verse three shows it to us. There's this scepter of wickedness, or if you're using the King James, it's the rod of wickedness. And both of those can translate this word. Maybe the word rod gives the idea of the strength of wickedness. This rod that comes against us and strikes us and smashes us. power of wickedness. The scepter has the idea of the authority, the royal authority of this wickedness, that it comes against us. The scepter of wickedness shall not rest on the land allotted to the righteous. One of the dangers, of course, is that the power Perhaps in the time here that this psalm is written, perhaps the psalmist is thinking of a particular time. Maybe he's suffering the consequences of a foreign power ruling over the people with a scepter of wickedness. Maybe like the time of the judges. You remember how in that time various countries and nations came in and attacked Israel and subjected them to servitude and heavy taxation. and people would cry out to the Lord for deliverance because they were oppressed. Or maybe it's like in the days of Nehemiah, where the people have returned from exile, and yet the land isn't really their own. They're constantly facing threats from those of the Persian Empire. The people are oppressed, and a scepter is there, and it's dangerous. Today, we live in such a day, don't we, where wickedness reigns. It reigns powerfully like a rod which abuses the righteous. It reigns also with authority in the fact that the nation has turned itself away from God and has decreed in its laws wickedness. The scepter of wickedness is here. Everyone does what's right in their own eyes. And there's a danger. There's a danger, as we've said, that this rod will strike the righteous And that hurts. But there's a second danger, and it's a worse danger. It's the allure of the scepter of wickedness. It's the fact that it can entice us. Look at verse three. That the righteous might reach out his hand to this iniquity. And you think, how can that be? The wicked is here abusing the righteous. It's hurting us. Well, we can be worn down all too easily. We can feel compelled to sin. When those who are wicked hold a strong hand and they're telling us what we must do, sometimes we're worn down so much that we give in. And other times, when we see that those who are wicked have everything that they could want and everything that they could need, that they have the favour of the world, sometimes we're enticed to follow them in their way. You see, former faithfulness is not an adequate safeguard against evil. Just because you've been faithful in the past, we can't trust in that as a strength for the future. No, our trust must be in the Lord now as much as it was then. Take heed to yourself lest you fall. But note very carefully what verse three says. It tells us that this scepter of wickedness shall not rest on the land allotted to the righteous. The implication there is that this scepter of wickedness will come into the land. It will come for a time, for a season, but it shall not rest there. It will not stop and it will not settle. You may personally be afflicted by the abuse of the wicked for a time and for a season, but it will pass. It will not last forever. The wickedness of this nation over us will not rest on us forever. It's an important thing for us to see that the Lord is promising here that the power of wickedness over us will not settle. No, in fact, as we've read, the Lord will provide the way of escape. He will not allow us to be tempted beyond what we can bear, but he opens up to us in Christ the way of escape. There may be seasons of difficulty. There may be a time in your life where you're tempted to lay out your hand to that scepter of wickedness. But he who has begun a good work in you will carry it forward to completion. You see, we don't finally fall away. Those whose trust is in the Lord for their salvation will stand as a mountain. They may for a time be buffeted by all the wickedness of the world, but that shall not rest, and the reason is that the Lord surrounds his people. Hypocrites, on the other hand, those who stand in their own strength with only the appearance of righteousness, Only the appearance of doing good, only the appearance of faith, they will not stand. They will not be like a mountain. No matter how much they look like a mountain at the time, when the scepter of wickedness comes against them, they will stretch out their hand to it to do iniquity. But the Lord promises us, those of us with faith in him, that this scepter will not rest. It might present us with troubles, but it's not a great enemy that will subdue us and defeat us. Sin shall not have dominion over us. It may be around us, but we're safe. We're safe because the Lord surrounds us entirely. And the psalmist recognizes this problem, but he goes back in verses four and five to the faith that he had in verses one and two. He goes back to exercise his faith in prayer. And we must do that, friends. When we learn something that the Lord teaches us, when we're instructed in promises from his word, we take them back to God in prayer. We don't just store up in our mind these good things. We exercise them through crying out to God. And here the psalmist remembers that the Lord has said that the righteous will stand unmoved like the mountain of Zion. That the righteous are surrounded by God. And so in verse four, do good, O Lord, to those who are good. He calls on God to do exactly what is in his nature to do, do good. And he pleads with God to those who are upright in their hearts. Very simply in verse 4, it's what we sang earlier, the good receive a blessing from the Lord, but verse 5, those who are crooked, those who turn aside to evil where the Lord just leads them away down the course they want to go, those who have chosen for themselves arrogance and pride and sin, the Lord leads them to their destruction with the other workers of iniquity. is the way God deals with all people. And the question that we ask is, who are the good of verse four? Who are they? Often we don't feel like we are the good, because we see our own sin. But follow the train of thought through all the verses. In verse one, you have those who trust in the Lord. In verse two, these same people are his people. In verse three, they're called the righteous. And now in verse four, they're called good and upright. See, the thread is stretched. Those who have their faith in the Lord are these good ones. Sometimes you may not feel good, but if your faith is in the Lord, then you are one of these good. And so the prayer is do good, Lord. to those who are good. Give a blessing to those whom you have promised are like Mount Zion. Give a blessing to those that you surround with your love. Give a blessing to those of faith. And that's why we pray for each other. We pray in a different way for those who have faith and for those who don't have faith. We pray in a different way for those who are good and for those who are outside of the kingdom of God. And the psalmist prays this in verse four because he believes that God will do it. The Lord surrounds them. But verse five, again, is that different way. It's the words of the Lord saying, depart from me, you wicked, you cursed, depart from me. We sometimes think, of course, that there are Christians and there are those who are desperately wicked and then sometimes people think there's a middle category. There are those who are good people, those who are decent people, those who are quite noble in many ways. The Bible doesn't present to us these three categories of people. There's those who have faith who are good and there are those who don't have faith and they're the wicked. There's no middle ground. And it does well for us to remember that there are only two ways to live. There's the way of faith and there's the way of pride. There's the way of salvation and the way of death. And so we go back and we put our confidence again in Christ so that we might stand as this mountain. And then verse five concludes with that wonderful phrase, peace be upon Israel. And I suppose you could ask yourself, is this a prayer? Is this continuing on from verse four, do good, O Lord, to those who are good? Is the psalmist praying that peace will come upon Israel, which is the church? Or can we look at it in a different way? Is it a proclamation? Is it a benediction? Is it a pronouncement of what is indeed the fact? There's a difference between prayer and a benediction. In a prayer, we're pleading with the Lord that he would give certain things. We're asking him for things that we don't know how he will answer it. We have to, in humility, subdue ourselves to his will. A benediction pronounces something from the Lord, the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be upon his people. It pronounces something to be a fact that the Lord in heaven says is a fact. And so too here, this benediction that closes this psalm is a pronouncement of something that is true. It's not merely a prayer to the Lord to give peace, It's peace be upon you. It's a blessing. It's a fact. Psalm 122 verses six to nine was a prayer. Pray for the peace of Jerusalem. May they prosper who love you. Peace be within your walls. Prosperity within your palaces and so on and so forth. But now in Psalm 125 we come to this pronouncement of the fact. There is peace for Israel. Why is there peace? Well, it concludes the psalm. The psalm which began that those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion, surrounded by the mountains. Here we have all the enemies coming against Jerusalem again. And the man of God, the woman of God, stands within Jerusalem and they're safe. and the Lord cares for them. The Lord's loving kindness is a shield to us. His loving arms encircle us in an embrace. His providence guards us because he neither slumbers nor sleeps. And his almighty strength is a strong wall all around us. As we think about all the dangers that can come against us, We go back and we remember the fact the Lord surrounds his people and therefore there is peace in Israel. Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him and he shall direct your paths. If you think you stand, take heed lest you fall. But go back to this simple faith. in the Lord God. Amen. Let's stand and pray. Our gracious and loving God, we thank you for what you promise us here in your word. We pray that each and every one of your saints would go back to even this day, to that faith, and even to greater faith, that trusts alone in you. Help us, Lord God, never to boast in self. We pray for those who don't know Christ, who stand outwith of the mountains of the Lord. We pray, Lord God, that you would surround them. Help us, Lord, to boast in the Lord, the one whose great love encircles us, the one whose faithfulness completely surrounds us. The one Lord God who is almighty. We thank you that in him we are strong. And we pray to know that even more. Deliver us, we pray, from evil. Let it not have dominion over us. Let us not stretch out our hands towards the iniquity of the land. We thank you, Lord God, that you are with us. And we plead for your protection yet again. In Christ's name, amen. We close singing from Psalm 125. Psalm 125, once again putting our faith in this Lord God who surrounds us. We'll sing the whole psalm in praise to God. Then the Lord of the early dusk shall be like Zion's hill. Which at no time can be removed, But standeth ever still, ♪ To Jerusalem ♪ ♪ The mountains stand all weary ♪ ♪ The Lord is home ♪ ♪ But come the storm ♪ ♪ From henceforth on ♪ For heaven's throne upon the Lord, all judgment shall not pass. Blessed righteous men, stretch forth their arms unto iniquity. be good, thy goodness, Lord, impart, and do thy good to those that are upright with the angel heart. O'er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming? And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air, Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there. In the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.