Psalm 125

From out of nowhere, we get hit. We never saw it coming. We weren’t prepared for it, not even a little bit. We had heard about it happening to others, but we never, never thought we would have to deal with it ourselves. What “it” is is different for each of us, but we’ve all been hit. Whatever the cause of the wound, whatever the reason for the pain, we all know the feeling of being shook up. Maybe it was the disease that we never saw coming. Maybe the divorce, the breakdown of a marriage of a child totally blindsided us. Maybe it’s our own marriage. We had all these ideas of what marriage would be like, and our marriage is not fitting those images. Our marriage hurts, and marriage isn’t supposed to hurt. Maybe we lost a job where we had seniority. We were supposed to be at the top of the ladder, and we got knocked off. Maybe the cause for the pain is so shameful, it’s so embarrassing that we can’t even talk about it, not even with other Christians, not even with our family. We hurt, AND we’re afraid that others will find out why we’re hurting.

Whatever the cause, whatever the reason, we’re shook up. There’s a knot in our stomach, there’s an ache in our forehead, and we’re really sure what to do. We don’t know what the answers are, we’re not really sure there are any answers. We’re nervous about what else is going to happen, what new crisis is around the corner. Just the telephone ringing can ratchet up the worry and fear. We’re shook. We’re shook to the very core of our being. We don’t like to feel shook up. We don’t like being nervous. Today, on Father’s Day, we want to feel the way many of our dads made us feel, like nothing could hurt us, as long as they were around. Tornado sirens could go off, but as long as Dad was there, we knew we were safe. And on Father’s Day, Dads, we want to keep our families safe. We wish we could make sure everything is okay. If only we were as strong and capable of protecting as our little children that we were.

But dads can’t always make everything okay. And not every one of us had a childhood where dad was the safest person in the whole world. There are some problems, some worries, some dangers bigger than dad. And then, this morning, we hear verse 1:

Those who trust in the LORD are like Mount Zion, which cannot be shaken but endures forever.

And that sounds so good, but it seems so far away. To trust seems so right, and yet actually trusting seems so impossible. How can we calm down when this is happening? How can we know it’s going to be okay? How can we ever again know peace, real peace, deep, unshakeable peace?

Knowing peace, experiencing peace, living in that deep, unshakeable peace is what God wants for His people. Originally, there wasn’t even supposed be anything that would shake us. No disease, the tragedy, no crisis, no danger, no shame. Because we sinned, now we face enemies all around us, enemies to our bodies, enemies to our minds, enemies to our families and friends.

And yet, in spite of the enemies, in spite of the dangers, our God still offers us a life of peace. He offers us the ability to live, without fear, surrounded by evil. He makes it possible to know that everything is okay, even when circumstances are certainly not okay. This is the life of a child of God. This is a life of peace. And for the next few weeks, we’re going to be surrounded by the peace of God. You know the Hebrew word for this kind of okayness. You’ve heard the word shalom. It’s a big wonderful word that needs at least 5 weeks to get our minds around. And even then, we’ll want to hear more. We don’t want to be shaken anymore. We want to stand firm. We want to know peace.

And verse 1 tells us how. Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion. Try shaking a mountain. It’s silly to even say that. Even a large hill is unmovable. But Mount Zion is rock. Not dirt that can dug away, not soil that can slowly be worn away. No Mount Zion is rock. Not just a pile of little rocks that can be plucked away. But a mountain of rock, with roots that go down deep into the earth. Rock that soars into the sky. A mountain of solid rock.

That’s you. You’re a rock. Your roots go down deep. Nothing can wear you down. Nothing can tear you apart. Whatever tries to blindside you, whatever runs into you, whatever hits you bounces off. You are like Mount Zion, because you trust in the Lord. You didn’t put your trust in your job, because you know that your job can be gone in a day. You didn’t put your trust in a healthy balance in your checking account, because you knew that money is about as solid as water, that flows away through our fingers. You didn’t even put your trust in your family. You trust them, you just didn’t make them the foundation of your peace, because you know that even family can let you down.

No, you trusted the Lord. You didn’t always understand the Lord. You maybe didn’t always agree with the Lord. There were times you really wanted the Lord to reconsider His choices. Yet, you still trusted Him. If He decided it, then it must be okay. If He allowed the lay-off, then you knew He would provide the money through the layoff. If He allowed the disease, then you knew that He would provide the strength. If He allowed the crisis to enter your family, then you knew that He would guide your family through the mess and take you out the other side. You knew that He would carry you through whatever was happening. You trusted.

And you were unshakeable. Not that you didn’t feel fear. The fear was there, but you were okay. You were not at all sure of how this was going to turn out, and yet that didn’t seem to matter. You knew, in your mind, that you would be okay. You knew, you were convinced, in your heart, that your family was going to make it. You started out the day not knowing at all how things were going to go, but still knowing that it was going to be a good day. You were going to be okay. You were at peace. You lived in shalom.

Now, so far, we might get the idea that this amazing trust in the Lord, and this ability to make it through, that this can only be done by super-Christians. I mean, who is this “you” that we’re talking about here, because it’s certainly not me. We don’t always feel like it’s going to be okay, do we? We do feel scared. We do doubt. We are shook up. And if we are honest with ourselves, then we admit, we don’t always trust God. I know that sounds awful to say, but it’s the truth. We know that He is holy, we know that He is good, we know that He is not capable of doing anything bad, anything harmful. And yet, we’re just not always so sure.

And if our safety and security depends on us trusting the Lord, if peace, if shalom only happens when we have faith, then we’re in trouble. Because our faith runs out, and we don’t always trust Him. And our doubts grow too big, and worries grow too strong. And peace is not possible, if it’s up to us to trust.

But faith, trust, believing God isn’t up to us. We don’t hang on to God, God hangs on to us. We don’t stay near to God, God stays near to us. Verse 2:

As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the LORD surrounds his people both now and forevermore.

We are surrounded by the presence of the Lord. We can’t move an inch in any direction, without His presence going with us. When Jesus was named Immanuel, meaning, “God with us”, He meant it, God is with us, around us, before us, above and behind us. The writer of Psalm 125 is looking at the city of Jerusalem as he writes this psalm. And what he sees is a city in the middle of big, rocky mountains. And there is no way, there is no possible way to get near the city of Jerusalem without going through mountains. This is what made Jerusalem such a great city to defend. It would be incredibly difficult for an army to make it through those mountains and attack the city.

And as strong as those mountains were in defending Jerusalem, how much stronger, how much more sure, is our Lord’s defense of us. God has us, He has us in His hand. Jesus say, in John 10:29:

My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand.

The Lord surrounds His people, now. Right now, this very moment, the almighty presence of God surrounds you like a castle, like a mountain fortress. Right now, this very moment, the almighty presence of God surrounds your children, wherever they are. He surrounds your parents, your loved ones, that you worry about. They are safe and snug within the holy presence of the Creator of all things. This safety that we are talking about is not just somewhere, sometime in heaven. The peace that we can experience is not just a peace that comes when we go to be with the Lord. We are with the Lord, now, the Lord surrounds His people now.

And forevermore. Not just when we’re in church on Sunday. Forevermore. Not just when we stop and remember that He’s close. Forevermore. Not just when we’re acting holy. Not just when we’re being pure. Not just when we’re being the best we can be. Even when we forget, even when we fail, even when we stumble, He still surrounds us, forevermore.

His surrounding presence, both now and forevermore, this is our peace. This is how we know that we’re going to be okay. From our perspective, there are plenty of enemies lurking around, just trying to get in. The temptation to put things in our bodies that only hurt us, from the food that we eat to the cigarettes that we smoke to too much alcohol to harmful drugs. And the temptation is strong. The lure of ideas and philosophies and beliefs that sound so wrong but are really so deadly. How easy wouldn’t it be to just give up. It’s just simpler to let the world go it’s own way, while we go ours. It’s just easier to spend time around nice, clean, holy people, and avoid anyone who doesn’t believe the same way we do, or behave the same way we do. It’s too messy, it’s too difficult to let our kids play with unchurched children, considering the things those kids say and do sometimes. We face the enemy of isolation. We are tempted to hunker down. Whatever the temptation, whatever the enemy, they’re trying to sneak in and drag us down. The enemies want to lure us away.

But, don’t worry, it’s okay. Be at peace. Verse 3:

The scepter of the wicked will not remain over the land allotted to the righteous, for then the righteous might use their hands to do evil.

There is a beautiful, reassuring doctrine from scripture, that we call the perseverance of the saints. Not because we try so hard, not because we’re so smart, not because we always try to do the right thing, but because of God’s mercy, we cannot sin so deeply, we cannot leave His presence for so long that He won’t draw us back. The temptation from the enemy, the pressure from the wicked will not, can not draw us so far off track that God won’t put us back on track. 1 Corinthians 10:13

And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.

So, safe within the mountain fortress of the presence of God, we pray with confidence, verse 4:

Do good, O LORD, to those who are good, to those who are upright in heart. But those who turn to crooked ways the LORD will banish with the evildoers.

How can we pray this prayer so confidently, when we know that we have not always been good? How can we pray verse 4, when we know that we have not been upright in heart? What about the evil that we ourselves have done? How can we be at peace when we haven’t always trusted? How can we know that we’re surrounded by the protecting presence of God, when we’ve walked away so often?

We find confidence, we find hope, we find security, we find peace…we find shalom because of Jesus. If you have believed in Jesus, if He is your savior, if He is your Lord, you are upright in heart. Through His death and resurrection, His goodness became your goodness. His faithfulness is your faithfulness. Which means His strength is your strength. His confidence is your confidence. His peace is your peace.

Jesus is the mountain that surrounds us. Jesus is the reason that we are unshaken, we cannot be moved. Jesus is the way for us to feel the safety of our Father, the greatest Father. Jesus is actually the reason that dads can give comfort. Jesus is the strength that makes good dads strong. Jesus is the reason that dads themselves can feel safe. Every one of us, at any time in our life, has an enemy lurking around, trying to sneak in, working to steal our peace. It’s not too hard for any of us to think of a reason to worry, and reason to fear. But because of Jesus, you are trusting in the Lord, and you cannot be shaken. Because of Jesus, you are like Mount Zion, and you cannot be moved. Because of Jesus, you are surrounded by the presence of the Lord, now and forevermore. And in the face of despair, under attack from hopelessness, even then you can know peace. People of God, you are safely surrounded by the Lord. People of God, you are secure because of your Savior, Jesus. People of God, verse 5:

Peace be upon Israel. Peace be upon you.