our pilgrims right now upon this
earth. Do we not long to be in the Lord's
presence? We long to be in His presence
in glory. And think of this, what peace
we will have when we're with Him. It'll be incredible. It'll be absolutely incredible. When the battle of this life
is over, when the warfare, our warfare is accomplished, We know
that Christ accomplished the warfare for our sins, but when
our time upon this earth is finished, when we're done being pilgrims,
and when we're face to face with our Lord, with Jehovah, oh, what
peace, what peace the believer will have. In the Psalms leading up to this
Psalm, The psalm that we'll look at tonight, the believer by faith
has praised Jehovah for past deliverances. And here we see
the psalmist rise to confident joy, confident joy in the present
and future safety. Now that's key, the present and
future safety of the believer, proclaiming that they who trust
the Lord will be secure in the Lord forever. forever. And it's not based on what we
do. It's all based on him and what he's done. And this is wonderful. Now, this song celebrates the
divine goodness of God and defending his people and securing them
from all enemies, all enemies. Matthew Henry brings forth that
this short song may be summed up in these words of the prophet.
Turn, if you would, to Isaiah chapter three. Matthew Henry
brings forth that this short song may be summed up in these
words of the prophet in Isaiah chapter three, verses 10 and
11. And this is marvelous. Isaiah chapter 3 verses 10 and
11. Say ye to the righteous that
it shall be well with him. For they shall eat the fruit
of their doings. Woe unto the wicked. It shall
be ill with him for the reward of his hands shall be given him. Look at that verse 10. Say to
the righteous that it shall be well. Oh, how can the believer
say it as well with my soul? Only because of what Christ has
done. Only because of what our Lord has done. Let's go back
to our psalm, Psalm 125. This psalm is divided into three
sections. A song of confidence in Jehovah,
verses 1 and 2. You see it's a song of degrees.
Look at verses 1 and 2. The song of confidence in Jehovah,
they that trust in the Lord shall be as Mount Zion, which cannot
be removed, but abideth forever. As the mountains are round about
Jerusalem, so the Lord is round about his people from henceforth
even forever. And then a promise in verse 3. For the rod of the wicked shall
not rest upon the lot of the righteous, lest the righteous
put forth their hands unto iniquity. And then verses 4 and 5, a note
of warning put forth, a prayer and a note of warning. Do good,
O Lord, unto those that be good, and to them that are upright
in their hearts. As for such as turn aside unto their crooked
ways, the Lord shall lead them forth with the workers of iniquity,
but peace shall be upon Israel. Peace shall be upon Israel. So let's look at verses 1 and
2 and consider these verses a song of confidence in Jehovah. These
two verses here. They that trust in the Lord shall
be as Mount Zion, which cannot be removed, but abideth forever. As the mountains are round about
Jerusalem, so the Lord is round about His people from henceforth
even forever. Now note, note, they that trust
in the Lord. They that trust in the Lord.
See how he commands no work here. He commands no work here. They
that trust in the Lord. No work to be done by us. The
psalmist only speaks of trust in religion. It's what you do.
They tell you what you got to do. The psalmist here says, just
trust him. Just trust, just look to him.
No work to be done by me. The work's already done by him.
By faith, we look to Christ. My, the scriptures proclaim we
are to trust the Lord. Trust the Lord. The psalmist
leads us one way to God. Pronouncing this to be the anchor
of our salvation. Only to hope and trust in the
Lord. That's Jehovah. to look to Him
alone. It's right there in the text.
Just look to Him, trust in the Lord. The sinner's only hope
is what? Christ. And this Psalm proclaims,
they that trust in the Lord shall be as Mount Zion, which cannot
be removed, but abideth forever. Now note, Note the psalmist,
by inspiration of the Holy Spirit of God, brings to the forefront
that the emphasis lies upon the subject, or lies upon the object
of their trust. The emphasis is on the object
of their trust. The Lord. The Lord. Jehovah. They that trust in the
Lord. There's the object of their trust. Jehovah. So let us consider this,
what a privilege it is, what a privilege it is for the believer
to be allowed to repose in Christ, to be allowed to trust Christ. Not everyone trusts Christ, but
we are allowed, as one commentator said, I loved it, we're allowed
to trust Christ, we're made willing in the day of his power. It's
incredible, and then, how condescending is Jehovah to become the confidence
of his people. To become the confidence. The
Lord condescended. God himself condescended. But condescension, Jehovah is
to become the confidence of his people. Now to trust anywhere
else or anyone else for salvation will lead to the sinner's doom.
It'll lead to the sinner's doom. But we see in our text that to
trust the living God is what the believer is commanded. And
the scripture proclaims this truth again and again and again. And our Lord himself said, come
unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden and I'll give
you rest. There's only rest in Christ.
And Christ is God. Christ is Jehovah. God incarnate
in the flesh. So those who trust in themselves
or others will perish in their sins. And this will be their
eternal ruin, that their confidence will turn out to be a false confidence,
that their refuge will turn out to be a refuge of lies. Those
who trust in their works and those who trust in anyone else. But they that trust in the Lord
shall be as Mount Zion. They that trust in the Lord shall
be as Mount Zion, which cannot be removed, but abideth forever. Note it's not to some who trust
in the Lord, but to all who trust in the Lord. To all who trust
in the Lord. They that trust in the Lord shall
be as Mount Zion. Those who trust in Jehovah shall
be fixed and firmed and stable as the Mount where David dwelt. And where the Ark abode, that's
what shall be as Mount Zion. To move Mount Zion was impossible.
The idea was absurd. It cannot be removed. And as Mount Zion shall never
be removed, so surely shall the Church of God, those who are
the redeemed, of the Lord Jesus Christ, they shall not be moved. And we don't say that presumptuously. We say that in Christ and in
the Lord. We will not be removed only because
Christ keeps us. They that trust in the Lord shall
be as Mount Zion, which cannot be removed, but abideth forever. So the believer's stability is
in Christ. And it is in him that they abide
forever. One commentator brings out that
in the Hebrew, abideth forever means sitteth. Sitteth. It is spoken of a mountain and
how it is situated firm and unmoving. Firm and unmoving. Beloved, this
is only in Christ. Only in Christ and Christ alone.
that the believer abides, and it's all by God's power alone. Brother Chet, you prayed about
that, and it's all by his power. He's the one who saves us, and
he's the one who keeps us. And the believer dwells safely
in Christ. Look at verse two, as the mountains.
Verse two, as the mountains are round about Jerusalem, so the
Lord is round about his people from henceforth even forever
as the mountains. Now this was something they could
look and see. This was something the people
during the writing of this psalm could look and see. They could
see where Mount Zion was on the side of the north. and the Mount
of Olives on the east, and other mountains on the other sides
of Zion, so that it was encompassed with them, and naturally fortified,
so the believer in Christ is fortified by God, by God, encompassed
by Him, safe in Him. And let us take note that the
sacred writers all delighted in using strong images and figures
and types to represent divine things. As in this instance,
God's covenant engagements in Christ to his people are compared
to strong mountains, strong mountains, the mountains of Jerusalem, which
are fixed and immovable. What? a great salvation we have
in Christ. We have in Christ. 2 Corinthians
1.21, the scriptures proclaim this right here. For all the
promises of God are in Him, being Christ. Yea, and amen. Yea, and in Him, amen. Unto the glory of God by us. Turn, if you would, to Zechariah
2. Our Lord represents His faithfulness
and presence with His people as a wall of fire round about
her, round about the bride, round about His people. And He shall
be the glory in the midst of her and His people. And this is what Jesus is to
every single believer. Look at Zechariah 2, verses 3
to 5. Behold, the angel that talked
with me went forth, and another angel went out to meet him, and
said unto him, Run, speak to this young man, saying, Jerusalem
shall be inhabited as towns without walls for the multitude of men
and cattle therein. For I saith the Lord, will be
unto her a wall of fire round about." My, what a shield, what
a protector, the believer has. The Lord himself is as a wall
of fire round about the bride and will be the glory in the
midst of her. Who do we glory in? The Lord
Jesus Christ. We give him all the glory and
all the honor and all the praise. And in the midst of the church,
he is the one we glory. Turn, if you would, to 2 Kings,
2 Kings chapter 6. The Lord showed this to his prophet's
servant when the invisible host of heaven, which is always taking
its stand about the Lord's people, were made visible to his eyes
at the request of the prophet. God protects his people, beloved. 2 Kings chapter 6, verses 15
to 17. And when the servant of the man
of God was risen early and gone forth, behold, and host come
past the city, both with horses and chariots. And his servant
said unto him, alas, my master, how shall we do? The city was surrounded with
horses and chariots. And he answered, I love these
two words, fear not. Fear not. For they that be with us are
more than they that be with them. And Elijah prayed and said, Lord,
I pray thee open his eyes that he may see. And the Lord opened
the eyes of the young man. He saw and behold, the mountain
was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elijah. God protects his people. He protects
his people. As he said, he is a wall of fire
round about his people. Let's go back to Psalm 125 and
note the latter part of verse two. It says, the Lord is round
about his people from henceforth, even forever. He protects his
people. He watches over his people. And
here we have a full expression of the preservation of God's
people by God's almighty power and by God himself. The Lord
is round about his people from henceforth even for how long?
Forever. Forever. My, he is ever with
his people, keeping his saints in love and favor forever. And note the word henceforth.
from his giving this promise, his people in particular, and
the receiving of it throughout all generations of believers
forever, forever. So we have seen the all surrounding
presence of Jehovah with his people, and may we give him all
the glory for our safety now and eternally, now and eternally. Now let us consider the promise
in verse three, Psalm 125, verse three, for the rod of the wicked
shall not rest upon the lot of the righteous. The rod of the
wicked shall not rest upon the lot of the righteous, lest the
righteous put forth their hands unto iniquity. Now the people
of God are not immune from trials, we're not, we go through a lot
of them. We go through a lot of them.
And the Lord surrounds us. He surrounds us, but oftentimes
we feel the persecution of the ungodly in this world. Isaac
experienced this in Abraham's family. He was mocked by Ishmael. We also see that Assyria laid
its scepter upon Zion itself, but the Lord preserved his people
even through that. Graceless and godless often rule
and wield the rod in this world. And when they do, they are usually
sure to make it fall heavy upon the Lord's people. So that the
godly cry out by reason of their oppressors to our great God and
King. But let us remember, the heart
of the King is in the Lord's hands. he ever watches over his people
think of this Egypt's Egypt's rod was exceedingly heavy upon
Israel it was exceedingly heavy upon Israel but the time came
for it to be broken forth to be broken and it was broken by
the power of God Almighty and he delivered his people he delivered
his people God has set a limit to the woes of his chosen. The
rod may fall for a time on us, but it shall not rest on us.
In our text, it means to dwell in the Hebrew. When it says rest
there, it means to dwell. It won't dwell upon us. The righteous
have a lot, which none can take away from them. And God has pointed
them errors of it by his mercy. Turn, if you would, to Psalm
16. Remember our study in Psalm 16? The scripture proclaims this
wonderful truth. Psalm 16 verses five and six,
the Lord is the portion of my inheritance. The Lord is the
portion of my inheritance and of my cup. Thou maintainest my
lot. The lines are fallen unto me
in pleasant places. Yay. I have a goodly heritage. The rod of the wicked may fall
upon the righteous, but it will not have a lasting control. The saints will abide forever
in glory, but their troubles will not follow them. Their troubles will not follow
them. Brother Scott Richardson used to say, the Christian is
either going into trouble, in trouble, or coming out of trouble. And it's a constant phase. It's
a constant thing in this world. And remember, we're stones being
made ready, aren't we? Being conformed to the image
of the sun. And we know this to be true by
experience. And we cling to the former promises
in verse one and two, that God will keep those whom he saved,
even when we're going through trials, tribulations, temptations. We cling to the fact that the
Lord will keep his people. We cling to our Savior. We trust
in our Savior. Even when it seems most people
would just walk away, God keeps us. He keeps us. And he keeps
us trusting in him. God will keep those whom he has
saved. those whom Christ has purchased with his own blood
on Calvary's cross. Again, for the rod of the wicked
shall not rest. It won't dwell upon the lot of
the righteous. Lest the righteous put forth
their hands unto iniquity. What a promise we have here.
What a precious portion of scripture. We are showing how the Lord watches
over his people by his preventing and restraining grace. And he
knows how to deliver the godly out of temptation. He knows how
to. Because 2 Peter 2.9 says, the Lord knoweth how to deliver
the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust until
the day of judgment to be punished. And note the latter part of the
verse, lest the righteous put forth their hands into iniquity.
The trials that we go through are to prove our faith, not to
destroy it. Or sometimes our faith is tried. And let us never forget
that God considers the frame of his people and will portion
their trials to their strength. And he gives all by the care
of his providence. And then he gives us strength
to make it through the trials. He gives us strength to make
it through the trials. He has us go through the trials. Sometimes these are trials which
would normally destroy a person. But he keeps us. He keeps us. What a great God. What a great
God and King. Note in verse 4, the prayer of
the faithful. And a note of warning put forth,
too, in verses 4 and 5, though. Prayer of the faithful in verse
4. Do good, O Lord, unto those that be good, and to them that
are upright in their hearts. The psalmist prays that the Lord
would do good to his people, those who are called good and
upright in our text. But let us always remember that
they are only made so by the Spirit of God. They are only made so by the
Spirit of God. As we're not naturally good,
we're naturally evil. But scripture declares, do good,
O Lord, unto those that be good, and to them that are upright
in their hearts. Clothed in the perfect spotless
righteousness of Christ. Only those who are regenerated
and made new creatures, those whom the Lord has done a work
of grace in them, are called good and upright all because
of Christ and his perfect spotless righteousness. Christ the Lord.
That's the only way we can be called good and upright is in
Christ, and it's not because of anything we did. The psalmist prays that the Lord
would do good to his people, not only in a providential way,
but also in a special way, bestowing the blessings of his goodness
on them and causing all things to work for their good. Also
note that the saints should pray for one another. They should
pray for one another. We're all sinners. And we who
are redeemed are all saved by the same grace. We're all saved
by the same grace of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. We all need prayer
as we journey through this world. We all need prayer. And note
in the Psalms, unto those that be good and to them that are
upright in their hearts. If you have a problem with a
brother, pray for him. Pray for him. If you have a problem
with a sister, pray for them. Pray for them. Brother Henry
Mahan once said, you can't be mad or be at odds with someone
if you're praying for them. Ah, but our pride sometimes,
eh? Pray for them. If you're lifting
them up to the throne of grace and petitioning our wonderful
Savior, for them as fellow believers, this is what we should do. This
is what we should do. Then note in verse 5 a note of
warning in the ruin of the ungodly said here before us, as for such as turn aside unto
their crooked ways, the Lord shall lead them forth with the
workers of iniquity. but peace shall be upon Israel. The ways of sin and error, which
are the crooked ways here mentioned, ways that do not agree with the
word of God, several commentators bring forth that this is not
just openly profane sinners. This is not just openly profane
sinners who have always lived in the course of sin and wickedness,
but this is also carnal professors. false professors who are in the
midst of the church and who through affliction and persecution because
of the word are offended and desert the ways of God and turn
from Christ in his gospel. Their ways are called crooked
ways as they shift from one pursuit to another and they go here and
there to deceive and to stir up division and conceal their
intentions yet misery is their end. Misery is their end. Turn, if you would, to Isaiah
chapter 65. Look at this portion of scripture here. We see scriptures
where God promises to feed his people and declare that their
enemies shall be hungry. We see a string of rich and blessed
promises to God's people and the promised destruction to the
wicked. Isaiah chapter 65, verses 13 to 15. Isaiah 65, verses 13 to 15. Therefore, thus saith the Lord
God, behold, my servant shall eat, but she shall be hungry. Behold, my servant shall drink,
but she shall be thirsty. Behold, my servant shall rejoice,
but she shall be ashamed. Behold, my servant shall sing
for the joy of heart, but she shall cry for the sorrow of heart,
and shall howl for vexation of spirit. and you shall leave your
name for a curse unto my chosen. For the Lord God shall slay thee
and call his servants by another name. What a contrast, what a
contrast. Now think of this, the Psalm closes, but peace shall
be upon Israel. but peace shall be upon Israel. What mercy the believer has in
Christ. What mercy the believer has in
Christ and Christ alone. And truly peace is upon the God,
or peace is upon the Israel of God. Peace is upon his elect
only through Christ alone. Peace is upon God's people, the
Israel of God, only through Christ alone. Who is Israel spoken of
in our text? They are those who are born again
by the Holy Spirit of God. Those who are born again by the
Holy Spirit of God. Those who are circumcised with
the circumcision made without hands. Those who are trusting
in Christ and Christ alone. They are the true worshipers
of God. And what is the peace that is spoken of in our text? It's a peace, a peace of conscience, a peace
of conscience, a peace which comes to the believer in knowing
the truth and the fact that all our sins are forgiven in Christ
Jesus and paid for by His precious blood. We see the certainty of this
in our text. Look at this, but peace shall
be upon Israel, shall be mine, mine. Why? Because Christ has made peace
for them. Christ has made peace for them,
dying in their place, is their substitute, shedding his precious
blood to satisfy the justice and law of God in our place. And the Holy Spirit brings this
peace to his people, to God's people. When we're born again
by his mighty power, we have a peace now that passes all understanding. We do. Now, can that peace be
interrupted by things that occur? Yes. but it'll never be taken
away. It'll never be taken away. It's
a peace that passes all understanding. Oh my. It's abiding peace. And this is all done by the power
of God. And then we walk in this peace,
don't we? As we journey through this world
as believers, we walk in the way of peace. And it's all in
Christ. It's wonderful. Well, we're here
upon this earth. And then again, oh, what peace
awaits us. When we draw our last breath
here, we awake in glory. Oh, what peace. What peace, beloved. All because of the Lord Jesus
Christ. What a Savior, what a Savior,
what a Redeemer is Jesus Christ, our Lord. Gracious Heavenly Father,
all we come to Thee. We've seen tonight that You are
round about Your people, that You keep us, and though we may
sometimes receive correction in this life, You never, ever
forsake us and never ever leave us and you are ever watching
over us. And oh Lord, we have received
peace from thee. We have peace with God now. We
who trust in thee, we who trust in the Lord. Jehovah, our great
God and King. Oh Lord, may we leave here rejoicing
tonight. And may we turn our hearts to
thee and give you all the glory for the great salvation that
we have in thee. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.