Like the pilgrims of old goingup to Jerusalemfor their annual feast, the Lord’s pilgrims and strangers are on an upwardjourney. They are heading toward the Celestial City to join in theeverlasting Wedding Supper of the Lamb.

And like the pilgrims of old,the Lord’s pilgrims will encounter many on their journey who are not interestedin going to the feast. These,—who are in the world and of the world,—will oftentrouble the Lord’s pilgrims. Intentionally or unintentionally, they will hinderthe Lord’s pilgrims in their upward journey.

Butironically, this is all part of God’s plan for His people. For, on the onehand, the trials that God’s people face build up those who are true believers.This is so because trials strengthen their faith and dependence on the LORD,and also deepen their gratitude towards Him. And on the other hand, these sametrials and distractions will expose false professors of faith because they willbe tempted to give up the journey and fall back into the world.

All these things are reflectedin Psalm 125. This psalm may be entitled, “The Pilgrim’s Perseverance Under theLORD’s Care.” It is a psalm given by the Lord that He might sing in union withus as we seek to encourage one another on our pilgrim journey.

We may discern three majorthoughts in this psalm. From verses 1-3, we have an affirmation of the Lord’sprotection of His people. Verse 4 is a prayer for the Lord’s blessing for thetrue believers. Verse 5 contains a declaration of woe for those who turn aside.

1.Protection for the Church

¹ They that trust in the LORD shall be as mount Zion,which cannot be removed, but abideth for ever.

Mount Zion is where Jerusalem sits. It was a type of the church.It also provides a picture of the stability and permanence of the church. Like Mount Zion,the church having been purchased by the blood of Christ will never bedestroyed. She will endure forever. Of course we are not speaking aboutindividual congregations or even the Church Visible. We are talking about thetrue church that comprises the elect or true believers. This is what thedesignation “they that trust in the LORD”(v. 1) points to.

Indeed, the Lord protects His church visible only onaccount of the church invisible in her.

Verse 2 speaks of the Lord’s protection of His people:

² As themountains are round about Jerusalem, so the LORD is round about his people fromhenceforth even for ever.

Jerusalem was surrounded by mountains. Ititself is situated on Mount Moriah or Mount Zion.But there are other mounts around her. For example, on the West there are theMount of Memory and the Mount of Rest. In the North, there is Mount Scopus.In the East there is the Mount of Olives.  In the South, there is Har Homa or the Mountof Defense. 

AsJerusalem issurrounded by mountains, so the LORD is round about his people to protect themfrom the assault of his enemies. In fact, the picture of protection provided bythe surrounding mountains reminds us of another picture, even the picture ofthe LORD cradling His people in His hands. “My Father, which gave them me, isgreater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand”says our Lord (Jn 10:29).

God’spilgrim and strangers will persevere on to the Celestial City.God will see to it.

Howdoes our Lord and our Father protect us? Verse 3 gives us an example:

³ For the rod ofthe wicked shall not rest upon the lot of the righteous; lest the righteous putforth their hands unto iniquity. 

The rod represents politicaldomination. It may also be rendered ‘sceptre.’ So here we are reminded of howthe LORD will protect his people from the dominion and pressures of the wickedthat will compel them to sin against Him.

Inother words, while the Lord has appointed many trials for His people, thesetrials are measured so as to do good in our hearts. They are designed tocultivate our patience and faith in Him. God will never allow any trial ortemptation that is too strong for us to resist so that we be harmed rather thanstrengthened if we are fighting by faith. The apostle Paul puts it beautifullywhen he says:

“There hath no temptation taken you but suchas is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be temptedabove that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape,that ye may be able to bear it” (1Cor 10:13).

No matter how tough thetemptation may be, there is always a way of escape. Sometimes the way of escapeis clearly before our eye. But in our stubbornness, we refuse to go that way,and so fall into sin instead.

If only we open our eyes, wewill see that what we sing in this psalm is true: God will not allow the WickedOne and his cohort to assert such pressure upon us that we are forced to sin.

Indeed, very often deliverancefrom temptation is only a prayer away. And so the second thought in this psalmis a prayer, even a prayer of…

2. Blessing for True Believers

⁴ Do good, O LORD, unto those that be good, and to them that are uprightin their hearts.

Now, the scriptures tell usthat there is none good; and none that doeth good, no not one; and there isnone righteous or upright, no not one (Ps 14:1; Mt 19:17; Rom 3:12, 10). Apartfrom the Lord Jesus Christ, there is none truly good or upright.

Therefore, the only consistentway for us to understand this verse is to think of it as referring to those whoare justified and are being sanctified. Those who are justified are imputedwith the righteousness of Christ and would appear as good in God’s sight. Thosewho are justified would also be sanctified. Those who are being sanctified haveuprightness in their heart because of the work of the Holy Spirit in them. Whoare these who are justified and sanctified? These are the elect or the truebelievers.

Therefore when we sing verse 4,we are praying that the Lord will bless the elect or the true believers. Godhas promised that all things will work together for them, but as in everything,God is pleased to receive our petitions for the very things he promised.

So we must pray for the elect.So we must pray for one another as we sing this psalm, so we must elaborate onthis prayer when we bow before the Lord. In particularly, we must pray that thetrials and suffering that God’s children have to endure may be used for theirgood.

But at the same time, let usnot hesitate to admonish and warn against hypocrisy, backsliding and apostasy.Thus the final thought in Psalm 125 is a warning of…

3. Woe for Apostates

⁵ As for such as turn aside unto their crooked ways, the LORD shall leadthem forth with the workers of iniquity: but peace shall be upon Israel.

Wehave already seen how God’s elect will persevere on and will not drop offcompletely from their heavenward journey.

Yes,sometimes we may take wrong turns and we may backslide, but the Lord willalways lead us back to the right path. He does so in many ways—by His Word andSpirit, by His chastisement, by Godly counsels, by His providence etc. Thosewho are true believers will always be led back to the path of righteousnesswhen they stray.

However,there are in the church visible, those who are mere professors of faith. TheLord refers to them as tares, goats, bad fishes, foolish virgins, those whowalk on the broad way, etc.

Whatabout these? What happens when they turn aside from the old path or the way ofholiness to walk on the broad way?

Well,the Lord has no promise to lead them back. Instead, he will lead them forthwith the workers of iniquity. They will suffer the same destiny of terror anddestruction with the others who are workers of iniquity.

Remarkably,the Septuagint translation of the phrase “workers of iniquity” are the samewords that our Lord uses when he tells us of how many who call him Lord, lordwould be disowned by Him with the words, “I never knew you: depart from me, yethat work iniquity” (Mt 7:23).

Ourtext is saying that those who turn aside from walking in the narrow road thatleads to life, will be led on by the LORD in the broad way that leads todamnation.

Butpeace shall be upon Israel.The church, especially such as are truly the children of the Lord, will marchon in the way of the Lord with His peace and joy until they reach the heavenlyrest and celebrations typified by the feast at Jerusalem. Let us, therefore,take heed lest we fall. Let us examine our hearts to see if we are walking insincerity. For those who walk in sincerity and truth will know the Lord’s peacein their heart.

Conclusion

This is Psalm 125. Let us useit in union with Christ to exhort and encourage one another to persevere on inour upward journey. The journey is not going to be easy, but we have theassurance of the LORD that he will not suffer us to slip and fall. All whotruly believe in the Lord Jesus Christ will find much joy and meaning in theirwalk.

They will walk in humility andconfidence because they know they persevere on only because they are beloved bythe heavenly Father, and he will not suffer them to be plucked out of his handor to be tempted beyond what they can bear.

Such as walk in sincerity and truth can have the assurance of the Lord’sblessing; and I trust that you do seek to walk in sincerity and truth. Amen. Ω