Psalms 125+126

Introduction

I’m once again going to take two short psalms together. Both are songs of ascents. In Psalm 125 the psalmist expresses his confidence in the Lord who protect his people who trust in him. And while Psalm 126 refers to laughter and joy, it’s nevertheless a kind of lament, because the psalmist prays for the Lord to restore their captives to Jerusalem.

Since we began to study these songs of ascents, I’ve said that they were most likely written for God’s people who were making their way to Jerusalem for one of the annual religious festivals. But I’ve also said that some commentators think they may have been written for the returning exiles who were making their way back to Jerusalem from Babylon. And that second option fits Psalm 126: some of the exiles have returned; but some are still in exile and the psalmist prays for their return. And as we’ll see, it also fits Psalm 125.

Psalm 125

We begin with Psalm 125 where the psalmist says that those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion. In what sense are they like Mount Zion? It’s because Mount Zion cannot be shaken. It’s a mighty mountain which endures for ever. It cannot be removed. And those who trust in the Lord are just like Mount Zion, because they will not be shaken either. They will endure. They cannot be removed.

But the reason they cannot be shaken is not because of their own strength. After all, they have no strength of their own. And so, the reason they are unshakable is because the Lord surrounds his people to protect them. Just as Jerusalem was surrounded by other mountains, so the Lord surrounds his people both now and for ever more. He’s like a wall around them to keep them safe from their enemies.

And since this is the case, then — as it says in verse 3 — the sceptre of the wicked will not remain over the land allotted to the righteous. A king holds a sceptre in his hand. And so, when the psalmist mentions the sceptre of the wicked, he’s referring to wicked kings. Wicked kings will not rule over them for ever. The Lord may let them rule over their people for a time, but not for ever, because the Lord has allotted the land to his people. He has given it to them as their inheritance and he will not let the wicked take it from them.

The psalmist goes on to say at the end of verse 3 that if wicked kings were allowed to remain in control, then the righteous might use their hands to do evil. He means that having wicked leaders over them would make it difficult for God’s people to remain faithful. We saw, when we were studying 1 and 2 Kings, that wicked kings like Ahab led the people astray. If the king did what was evil in the eyes of the Lord, then the people also did what was evil. And so, the psalmist may be referring to the wicked kings of Israel and Judah. Or perhaps he’s referring to foreign kings. And so, this too might be a psalm about the exile. In that case, he’s referring to the Babylonians. For a while, the Lord let them triumph over his people and foreigners ruled over the Promised Land. But the Lord will not let them remain for ever.

And so, in verse 4 the psalmist asks the Lord to do good to those who are good and who are upright in heart. And in verse 5 he anticipates how the Lord will banish evildoers from the land. So, take away the wicked, but let the Lord’s faithful people remain. And when that happens, there will be peace in Israel: the Lord’s people will be able to live peacefully, when all the wicked are removed from the land.

Application

When you read the beginning of this psalm and what it says about the Lord surrounding Jerusalem so that it cannot be shaken, you can see why many of the people in Ezekiel’s day believed that Jerusalem would not fall to the Babylonians. However, as we’ve been hearing on Sundays, the Lord sent Ezekiel to tell the people in exile that Jerusalem will fall. And it will fall, because the Lord was going to use the Babylonians to banish evildoers from the land. He was going to use the Babylonians to remove the wicked and to cleanse the land. And when the time was right, the Lord was going to do good to his people in exile and bring them back to the land which he had allotted to them as their inheritance.

But what we read here foreshadows the new Jerusalem in the new heavens and earth, from which the wicked will be banished for ever. Those who turn to crooked ways will not be allowed to enter it. Only the Lord’s people, whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life, will be allowed to enter it. And they will be allowed to live there, not because of any goodness of their own, because they have none. They will be allowed to live there, because of Christ their King who paid for their sins with his life and who covers them in his perfect goodness. Through faith in Christ we are declared right in God’s sight, despite our natural sinfulness; and we receive the hope of everlasting life in the new Jerusalem in the new heavens and earth, where we’ll enjoy perfect peace and safety for ever.

But the psalm also speaks to believers today about how we can trust the Lord our God to take care of us. Just as the mountains surrounded Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds his people today. He puts a wall around his people so that no evil can harm us. We might suffer in this world and we may be hated by those who do not believe. But the Lord our God is able to work all things together for our good. And so, no evil can harm us, because God turns what is evil to our advantage. And since this the case, then we should always trust in the Lord our God.

Psalm 126

Psalm 126 begins with the psalmist saying that when the Lord brought back the captives to Zion, we were like men who dreamed. It was like a dream come true. And he says that our mouths were filled with laughter and our tongues with songs of joy. Coming back to the Promised Land after so many years in exile filled the people with joy and gladness. This is what they yearned for and prayed for and finally it happened. It was wonderful.

According to the second half of verse 2, even foreigners were amazed; and they acknowledged that the Lord had done great things for his people. When foreigners saw how the Lord led his people out of the captivity and back to the Promised Land, they recognised his greatness. And just as the foreigners acknowledged it, so the people themselves acknowledged it: ‘the Lord has done great things for us’. And so, they were filled with joy.

And so, the first three verses are filled with joy and laughter and gladness. And that would make us think that this is a psalm of thanksgiving and praise. But in verse 4 the psalmist prays to the Lord and asks him, according to the NIV, to restore their fortunes. The little footnote beside ‘fortunes’ tells you that the Hebrew word can be translated ‘captives’; and it’s the same word that was used in verse 1 where it was translated ‘captives’. So, the psalmist is asking the Lord to restore the captives to Jerusalem. Some of them have already returned home, but not all of them. Some who were in exile have come back to Jerusalem, but not all of them. And the psalmist is therefore praying to the Lord, asking him to let the remainder return.

Let them be like the streams in the Negev. The streams in the Negev or the wilderness are often dry. But then suddenly, when the rain comes, the dry riverbed is filled with water and becomes a rushing torrent. In a similar way, the road from Babylon to Jerusalem is deserted. No one is walking along it. But the psalmist is asking the Lord to fill that road with returning exiles. May the road become full of people the way a riverbed becomes full of water.

The psalmist then uses the image of sowing and reaping to capture the experience of the exiles who have returned. They are — for the time being — like those who sow in tears. By mentioning tears, he means the work is difficult and demanding and frustrating and often disappointing. And the work of the exiles who have returned to rebuild Jerusalem is difficult and demanding and frustrating and often disappointing. Think of the book of Ezra and how some of the returning exiles wept because the newly built temple was unimpressive compared to the old one which had been destroyed by the Babylonians. And think of the book of Nehemiah and the opposition he encountered when he was rebuilding the city walls. Rebuilding the city was difficult. The builders were like people who sow in tears.

But if they persevere, then they will become like those who reap with songs of joy. So, after the hard work of sowing, there comes a plentiful harvest. And after their hard work to rebuild Jerusalem, they will experience a joy which the psalmist compares to the joy which workers experience at the end of the harvest when they see the fruit for their labours. He who goes out to sow weeping will return with songs of joy. For now, life is hard and bitter, but they are hopeful of better days to come.

Application

You may not remember, but when we studied Nehemiah together, I explained why rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem was so important to Nehemiah. It was because he learned from Daniel 9 that when the city is rebuilt, the Lord’s Anointed Saviour–King will come. God had revealed through Daniel that once Jerusalem was rebuilt, he will send the Saviour into the world. And so, their hard work to rebuild the city will be followed by joy when the Saviour comes.

And God always keeps his promises. And so, after bringing his people back from exile, and after the temple and the walls were rebuilt, and the city was re-populated with God’s people, the Lord sent his Anointed Saviour–King into the world to give up his life on the cross as the ransom to pay for our sins and to shed his blood to cleanse us from our guilt. After the hard work of rebuilding the city, there came the joy of seeing God’s plan of salvation fulfilled when he sent his Son to be our Saviour and to offer himself as the perfect sacrifice to make peace for us with God and to give us the sure and certain hope of the resurrection of our bodies and everlasting life in the new Jerusalem in the new heavens and earth.

And our life in this world is often accompanied by tears as we seek to walk in God’s ways and to do his will. Our life is often a struggle as we fight against our own sinful desires; and as we resist temptations from without; and as we put up with the devil’s wicked schemes and the scorn of an unbelieving world; and as we suffer the ordinary troubles and trials of life. Our life in this world is often accompanied by tears. But the Lord has something better in store for us. And so, after the tears of this life, there comes the joy of everlasting life in the presence of our Saviour–King.