Thursday, I was at lunch with two of my friends. It was supposed to be four of my friends, but one of my friends, not too bright, sent the other two to a different restaurant. One of the first things they said to me was, the rooster is crowing. No, that's not what they said. They said, Scott, what do you think of what's going on with Israel and Iran? Now these two friends, I have been praying for and talking to for 20 or 30 years. What would you say if your friends who were unsaved, they were semi-religious, ask you that question? What did I say? I heard the bells go off. Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding. Here is your chance once again. And I said this. could be ushering in the rapture. And they looked at me like, what? Is that a ride at Cedar Point? No, no, no, it's the next thing on the prophetic timeline is the rapture. And I go, do you guys know what the rapture is? They said, no. What would you say then? Yes, I said, this is what the Bible says, right? And I quoted them, 1 Thessalonians 4, the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be what? Caught up together with them in the clouds to forever be with the Lord. It talks about the trumpet sound of God. I could tell that they, right, in their mind were thinking, do I believe this? I go, this is in the Bible, the very Bible that you believe in too. And they had never heard of it before. For those of us that believe, it will be our ultimate assent. Today we're gonna look at two of the Psalms of Ascent. It's a collection of 15 Psalms. There it is, Psalms of Ascent. It's Psalm 120 through 134. We're not gonna look at all of them, right? Sometimes the Psalms of Ascent are called the Songs of Degrees or the Pilgrim Songs. Now these Psalms are traditionally associated with the journey that the Israelites would take to Jerusalem, to the festivals, right? They express themes of worship, gratitude, and hope. They often reflect the progression of distress to praise. As we mature in our faith, many times we go from distress to praise, don't we? These Psalms highlight the importance of community and the expectation of God's people to be in his presence at any moment. Now, the city of Jerusalem is, it's in the hills. Those of us that have been there, Barbara and I got to go with Jean and Karen and others from the fellowship. I guess in my mind, I pictured Israel a lot flatter than it really is. If you're up at the Sea of Galilee and you travel down the Jordan River, you're essentially at the Dead Sea, which is below sea level. And it's 4,000 feet up to Jerusalem. And so in about five or six miles, you've got to climb 4,000 feet. So here are these pilgrims. They're traveling to Jerusalem, right? There was three annual festivals that the Israelites were supposed to go to Jerusalem. And they're traveling up and they're singing these songs. Maybe they were reciting them, I don't know. Some say that the priests also quoted these Psalms as they went up the steps into the temple. Now, the pilgrims were families, just like us. They had their children with them, and their children were probably learning how to worship as they went up to Jerusalem. Do you long to worship God in spirit and in truth? I do. The theme of each Song of Ascent offers encouragement to those who seek to worship God today. We're gonna look at two of these and I'll read them a little bit later, but first let's pray. God, we come before you and we come in the name of Jesus and we come once again recognizing that unless you, through the Holy Spirit, make this come to life for us, it will be an exercise that is in vain. And so we just ask you this morning that you would calm our hearts and our minds, that you would help us to clear out those worldly thoughts that have a tendency to creep in. Would you help us to enter into this time and place where you can minister to us Would you open your word to us in such a way that we can understand and worship and glorify you this morning. May Jesus be exalted in everything that we say now. We commit it to you and we give thanks for your word. That's a light to us. Thank you. We say this now in Jesus' name for his glory, amen. All right, here is the Psalms of Ascent. Somebody want to forward that for me? The clicker doesn't seem to be working. Thank you. Now, you can take a picture of this if you want. Sometimes I hesitate to read all these only because they take up some time, but sometimes people say that they're traveling in their car and they don't have access to look at it on a screen, and so I'm just gonna read these quickly. This is a summary of the Psalms of Ascent. And you can look at the list and see if maybe one of them describes where you are at today. Psalm 120 talks about God's presence during distress. 121 talks about joyful praise to the Lord. 122 is prayer for Jerusalem. Psalm 123, patience for God's mercy. 124, help comes from the Lord. Psalm 125, prayer for God's blessing upon his people. 126, the Lord has done great things. 127, God's blessing on man's efforts. 128, joy for those who follow God's ways. 129, a cry for help to the Lord. Psalm 130 is a prayer of repentance. We're gonna cover that one today. Psalm 131, surrender as a child to the Lord. 132 is God's sovereign plan for his people. 133 is praise of brotherly fellowship and unity. Psalm 134, praise to God in his temple. Once again, the people who were reciting these or singing these had struggles, trials, triumphs, just like us. They were singing. They were singing about their experiences. Now I thought to myself, What does it mean to ascend? And I thought, what does it mean to us today to ascend spiritually? When I look at the songs of ascent, I think of pilgrims going up to the temple, Israelites. Is there a place or a temple that we can go to today? a place that we can escape the trials and temptations, maybe escape isn't the best word, where we can go to rest. Maybe the songs of ascent are not just for pilgrims going to a physical place. Maybe they're for us today on our spiritual journey, taking us higher and higher until we get to our ultimate destination, our home in heaven. I just ask you today, are you discouraged? There's usually something in your life that's discouraging. These songs of ascent can be a tremendous encouragement to all of us. They can help us as we journey with our fellow pilgrims to that place of rest. Now, worship is not just something we do on Sunday mornings. Everything that we do, our whole life is worship to God. Our new life as believers shows what we're living for, what we think is worthy, and what deserves our time and affection. I just say to you today, who gets your time and affection? Ephesians tells us, those of us that are believers, to sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves and make music to the Lord in your hearts. All right, this shows that worship, although sometimes it's something we do outwardly, it's actually something that's inward. It comes from our heart. This, Ascent to that place of worship is really in the spiritual realm. As many times, we can find ourselves singing the words that are on the screen, but we're not really worshiping. Our heart is somewhere else. Our mind is somewhere else. God wants us today to worship in spirit and in truth. And we can actually worship over the word as we read it. Now, as I mentioned the Songs of Ascent, some of you might be thinking, this is pretty cool. I don't think I've ever seen this before. Maybe I should go back and read the Songs of Ascent. Some of you maybe have studied the Songs of Ascent before. And I looked up other lessons and people that have taught. Beth Moore taught on the Songs of Ascent. How many lessons do you think she had? There was one every day, five days a week for six weeks. That's 30 lessons. So we're gonna cover in 40 minutes what she took 30 lessons or 30 hours to cover. And so today we're not really gonna get down into it. But if God has done something in your heart, chances are he's already poked you in the heart. and said, this is something for you. This is something for you to study. Now, the Psalms of Ascent are about the Lord. That's what they're about in the end, right? He's the one that gives us the strength for our journey, but he's the destination of the journey, isn't he? What would it take for you to ascend to the next level in your faith and intimacy with the God of the universe? Here's another question. What is holding you back? What is holding you back from going to that next level with the Lord? You're stuck. Maybe you're in the desert, the spiritual desert. There's no water, there's no sustenance. And you're wandering and wondering, where's God, where's the Lord? Today, God is gonna answer you. The intimate and personal meaning of each Psalm of ascent Comes from where? It comes from God himself, through the Holy Spirit. Now, I thought about this. I thought, how many times have I read the Psalms of Ascent? And did they have any meaning to me then? But this portion is something that, you wanna click the next slide? It's pretty important. And I've actually had this slide up in many sermons that I've preached. But I do it once again as a reminder to myself. This is 1 Corinthians 2, 10 through 16. These are the things God has revealed to us by his spirit. The spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. For who knows a person's thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way, no one knows the thoughts of God except the spirit of God. What we have received is not the Spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has by the Spirit, or what God has freely given us. This is what we speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words. The person without the Spirit does not understand it then because they are discerned only through the Spirit. The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to mere human judgments. For who has known the mind of the Lord so that as to instruct him, but we have the mind of Christ. You'll have to excuse me, my eyes have been, Just getting worse and worse. Diabetes is not something I would recommend to anybody. Don't get it. The meaning of these Psalms can be revealed to us through the Holy Spirit today. And he wants, the Holy Spirit wants to reveal to us the meanings for us Now, I came across several lists of ways that the Songs of Ascent can help us on our faith journey. And I have conglomerated them into my own list. But some of the ways that the Songs of Ascent can help us are, I've put down, you wanna advance to the next slide? It's kind of hard to read. The first one I have is joy. The Songs of Ascent remind us that joy comes from trusting the Lord. Psalm 126.3, one of the Songs of Ascent says, the Lord has done great things for us and we are filled with joy. When our faith is strong, we have faith in God's promise, we can experience true joy that nothing else in this world can provide. I wanna be joyful. The songs of ascent can help us to do that. Number two, songs of ascent can bring a sense of hope. If you're struggling or feel discouraged today, God wants to give you hope. This is what Psalm 130 verse five says. I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I put my hope. This verse reminds us that even in the difficult times, we keep hoping. We put our hope in the Lord. Number three, songs of ascent give us comfort and strength. Psalm 121, one and two says, I lift up my eyes to the hills. Where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth. This verse reminds us that even in the worst of times, if we're in the desert, God gives us strength and comfort. He's not gonna leave us or forsake us. Number four, the songs of ascent can provide guidance. They can encourage us as we seek the path of righteousness, and sometimes we get confused on our journey, don't we? Psalm 128, one and two says, blessed are all who fear the Lord, who walk in obedience to him. You will eat the fruit of your labor. Blessing and prosperity will be yours. These verses remind us that as long as we stay close to the Lord, honor his ways, he's gonna guide us, he's gonna bless us. Number five, songs of ascent can provide assurance of protection. They remind us that we are guarded from evil along our journey. Psalm 129, one and two says, they have attacked me mercilessly, but they will not triumph over me. The Lord is righteous. He has cut me free from the cords of the wicked. God protects us. He's never gonna leave us to face danger alone. Number six, forgiveness. The songs of ascent remind us that God has provided for us salvation. Many of us in this room today have availed ourselves of that salvation. Psalm 130 verse seven says, hope in the Lord for with the Lord there is steadfast love and with him is plentiful redemption. God knows that we fail. He provides forgiveness for the sins to the death of his dear son, our Savior, Jesus Christ. Last, the songs of ascent help us as we focus on worship. Psalm 122.1 says, I was glad when they said to me, let us go to the house of the Lord. This verse reminds us that no matter where we are in our journey, we can turn to God and worship Him in His greatness. I think it was two weeks ago, our brother Tim Taylor came up to me and was all excited that he had come to the early remembrance. And I've mentioned this many times. For me, it's the best time of worship for me. It only lasts a half an hour, but that half an hour is just sweet time of worship where my heart is drawn out to the Lord and remembering what He's done for me. I would just suggest to you, you wanna give a jolt of energy to your worship, come to the early remembrance. It's great. Now, This week I was mowing. I'm not sure if I was supposed to be mowing, but it was the day I was supposed to go to the doctor, and the doctor took out the stitches, cleared me to even stand here, which you can see I'm doing. And as I was mowing, I thought I would listen to what? the Psalms of Ascent, right? So I started with the Psalms of Ascent, and in an hour and 20 minutes, you actually make it to Proverbs 18. So it was just a sweet time of just enjoyment. And God was ministering to me. And I had to ask myself this. I said, Scott, do you have a song of assent, your own song of assent? Is there something that I recite or that I sing when I'm going through tough times or struggling? And so I just said, God, Is there a song of ascent that I have? And you know what he said to me? He said, a good song for you, Scott, is Jesus loves me. And so I'm riding the mower and I'm singing, Jesus loves me. Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so. Little ones to him belong. They are weak, but he is strong. Yes, Jesus loves me. Yes, Jesus loves me. Yes, Jesus loves me. The Bible tells me so. He said to me, I love you. Thank you, Lord. When was the last time God said to you, I love you? He's saying it right now. He's saying it to you right now. I love you. I love you so much that I gave my son for you. It just made my heart jump right out of my chest. Do you have a Psalm of Ascent? Something that reminds you of God's love? Is God calling you to maybe memorize one of these? Because God asked me, Scott, maybe you should memorize one of these Psalms of Ascent. And so I started. I'm memorizing Psalm 130. We're gonna cover it today. There's a person named Heather Chesnia, and she summarized the Songs of Ascent this way. I thought it was powerful to me. These songs remind us to turn to the Lord in all aspects of life and trust his plans, even when it seems difficult or impossible. Through these Psalms, we can be encouraged to remain faithful, humble, and united, knowing that God will always be there to provide comfort and guidance. We can rely on Him for protection and provision as His love endures forever. He deserves all honor, glory, and praise. There were some other aspects of the Song of Ascent that I came across in my studies. And one of them was in some lyrics of a song called Highlands Song of Ascent by a guy named Benjamin Hastings. And some of the lyrics spoke about Christ ascending to Calvary. and ascending from the grave to his throne. And I'm just gonna read some of the lyrics. For who could dare ascend that mountain, that valleyed hill called Calvary? but for the one I call Good Shepherd, who like a lamb was slain for me. I will praise you on the mountain, I will praise you in the mountains in my way. You're the summit where my feet are, so I'll praise you in the valley all the same. Whatever I walk through, wherever I am, Your name can move mountains wherever I stand. And if ever I walk through the valley of death, I'll sing through the shadows my song of ascent. From the gravest of all valleys come the pasture we call grace, a mighty river flowing upward from a deep but empty grave. Let's look at these two Psalms that I've picked. Dick said that he read these this morning and recognized that they're not really related. The first one, Psalm 127, talks about, it's called the family psalm. And it's attributed to Solomon. Solomon knew a lot of things that were vain. Could you put that slide up? There it is. And he mentions things that are in vain. He knew the futility of human effort without divine blessing, especially when it comes to establishing a home or raising children. And we see that the psalm begins with, lest the Lord builds the house. Those who build it labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain. It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil, for he gives to his beloved sleep. Behold, children, our heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb, a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one's youth. Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them. He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate. Five verses. Matthew Henry said this, dependence on God in all endeavors, whether building a home or safeguarding a city, require God's blessing. Without his involvement, even the most diligent efforts are futile. He goes on. The psalm presents children as a heritage and reward from the Lord. Children should be viewed as blessings rather than burdens. They are a source of strength for families like arrows in the hands of a warrior. So I thought about this. I thought we were all children once. Many of us, some of us may have grown up in homes that did not acknowledge Christ, but We are all arrows in God's quiver. I came across, Alistair Begg said this, and he was quoting someone else. He said, children are a handful before they are a quiverful. We know that to be true, don't we? And I thought to myself, there are many in this room who can actually minister about families and children much better than I could. And so I just wanted to look at some of the things in here that God had to say to me. And the first thing I wrote down was a question from verse two. How important is resting in God's provision? And I would just ask you, how has your sleep been lately? I was struggling to sleep one night this week. And instead of acknowledging God's role in the fact that I was struggling, I should have gotten up, read my Bible many times, I'll just put the headphones in and pick a portion of scripture and lay there and just listen to scripture. One time I listened to the whole book of Isaiah. And it was exciting, it was encouraging to me. But this week, did I do that? Did I just stop and pray? No. No, I fought against it. And I tossed and turned and grumbled. And many of us can relate to that. And I would just ask you, how about you? Do you self-medicate when you can't sleep? Do you watch TV or watch videos on your phone? Do you ask the Lord, Lord, why am I awake? Why is sleep not coming? Is there something you wanna say to me? And I would just challenge you, next time it happens, you can't sleep and you're fighting against it, just say, Lord, why? Why is this happening? What do you want to say to me? It takes dependence on God to sleep soundly, right? Independence from God causes anxiety. but even believers can fall into that trap of, we try and find security from our investments, we get financial security, or maybe we wanna be physically secure, and so we buy a bunch of weapons, and we keep them in our house, and we think that's gonna provide security for us. Well, we know, in fact, that security comes from the Lord. Right? They didn't want to eat the bread of anxious toil. Right? They wanted to enjoy the blessings of the Lord and get a good night's sleep. And we do too. We can ask God for that. Let's look at Psalm 130. Time is flying by as it always does. Could you put that slide up there? This is Psalm 130. By the way, Psalm 127 is about prospering and Psalm 130 is penitence. Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord, O Lord, hear my voice. Let your ears be attentive to my voice, to the voice of my pleas for mercy. If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness that you may be feared. I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I hope. My soul waits for the Lord more than watchman for the morning, more than watchman for the morning. O Israel, hope in the Lord, for with the Lord there is steadfast love, and with him is plentiful redemption. And he will redeem Israel from all his iniquities. As I mentioned, this is a penitential psalm. It's actually the sixth of seven. There's seven penitential psalms. Penitential means that you're showing that you're sorry for the wrong things that you've done. But aren't we all sorry when we get caught? We're all sorry, but many times we continue on doing the same thing. But it's godly repentance or turning away from our sin that brings God's mercy. So if you want God's mercy, you need to repent. You need to turn away from the sin. We must never forget that God's mercy is greater than our sin. By crying out to him for help and mercy, we can be assured of his forgiveness. I've noticed that theme started certainly with Dick when he talked about crying out. God wants us to cry out, cry out for mercy and forgiveness. I found that this psalm, Psalm 130, was Calvin's favorite. It was instrumental in Wesley's conversion. Luther wrote a hymn about it, and it was also one of John Owen's favorite psalms. And so there's something here for us. When all of these great stalwarts of the faith could say, this is my favorite, we should stop and take a look and see what it says to us. Maybe it'll become your favorite. Now, what are the depths in verse one? The depths are sin, guilt, judgment, and they're a picture of a drowning man. As I thought about drowning, is anybody else terrified of drowning? Something inside of me does not like to be in a boat out of sight of land. It's in me. The thought of drowning, of being under the water and not being able to take a breath is terrifying to me. That's the picture of the depths that are mentioned in verse one. When you're in need of mercy, what do we do? You don't phone a friend. That's not what you do. You cry out to God when you're in need of mercy. When I see the phrase who can stand, right, we see it on the front of our bulletin, that was great, thank you Carol. Who can stand, right? I'm reminded of the two men in the temple, and the Pharisee and the tax collector. We find it in Luke 18. Did I make a slide of that one? There it is. This is what it says. He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and treated others with contempt. Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus. God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week, I give tithes of all that I get. But the tax collector, standing far off, would not lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, God, be merciful to me, a sinner. I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted. I had to ask myself, are you willing to be humbled, Scott? Here's another lesson I learned while I was in the hospital. Actually, several people came to me and God's voice came out of their lips and said, Scott, you need to be humbled. Now, being in the hospital and the fabulous gowns that they provide is very humbling. But God was saying something else to me. God does not like pride. And many times our pride is insidious. We don't even recognize it. I want to be more like Christ, the most humble of all. The forgiveness mentioned in verse four is really the gospel in a nutshell. It's not talking about cheap grace or mercy. It was bought for us at great cost. The death of our Savior, right? The psalmist here not identified. In deep distress, despair seeks forgiveness and mercy. Have you done this? Are you in deep despair this morning? Do you need forgiveness from God? If so, he is calling out your name right now. Can you hear God calling your name right now? This psalm serves a reminder for us of the power of prayer in seeking God's forgiveness and mercy. Now, what does it mean to wait on the Lord? I looked deeply into this one. And I have some stuff that we really don't have time for, but it essentially talks about Psalm 27. And I would just say to you, take a look at Psalm 27. Read that one today. It's actually great. And one of my favorite verses is in Psalm 27, and it talks about how to wait on the Lord. Essentially, it says that seeking, trusting, and praying is how we wait on the Lord. It's not a passive thing like, oh boy, I'll just wait here for a minute. No, it involves some action that we're supposed to do while we're waiting on the Lord. One of my favorite verses is Psalm 27, four. One thing I ask from the Lord, this only do I seek, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life to gaze on the beauty of the Lord and seek him in his temple. Isn't that great? Wait on the Lord. Isaiah 64, four says, from of old, no one has heard or perceived by the ear, no eye has seen a God besides you who acts for those who wait on him. It's a message for all of us. It's a message for me. Scott, you need to wait on the Lord. Barge ahead, take action that you think is the best course Wait on the Lord, seek him, pray. As I get to the conclusion, the Psalms of Ascent highlight the timeless message of worship, trust, and hope in the Lord. They serve as traveling hymns for pilgrims. They underscore the unity and optimism of God's people, Theologically, they remind us of His protecting hand, the joy of corporate worship, the blessings of seeking Him in humility. These Psalms continue to invite believers into a pilgrimage of the heart. Are you on a pilgrimage of the heart today? Lifting our eyes to God's presence and hope of eternity with Him. As we get to the end, I just ask you, are you waiting? Are you waiting for the sound of the trumpet? Are you waiting for the call when we will all, true believers, ascend to meet our loved ones in the cloud and forever be with the Lord? Let's pray. Father, as we conclude this message, we feel that we have hardly scratched the surface. But you, through the Holy Spirit, can lead us to an understanding of these Psalms of ascent and how we have been on an ascent since the day we were saved. We have been traveling upward to our celestial home Now, as we think about these, would you just confirm to us the things that you've said to us today while we were sitting here? Would you just confirm in our heart and our mind what you've said? Thank you for being so plain. Thank you for providing salvation for us, forgiveness, for providing your mercy. Thank you for Jesus. We love Jesus. And we pray all this now in his name, amen.