Bear with me, if you would, back
to Psalm 125. Psalm 125. Psalm 125. I'm going to say this, and you
may not believe me, thinking, yeah, I've heard that before.
But this is one of my favorite portions of scripture. This really is one of my favorite
portions of scripture. I have quoted this to you many
times, but I do not believe I have ever brought a message from this
text. And I don't know why that is,
because this really is one of my favorite things to read. When I was in my 20s, I went
through a very difficult moment in life. My whole family did. The Lord called my mother home. The Lord drew very near to me
in that moment. His word really came alive to
me. What I knew in my head and what
I believed in my heart, it really came alive to me. And. There were certain portions
of Scripture, especially certain Psalms that it's like the words
stood up on top of the page. I don't. I don't know how to
describe that. I'm not trying to insinuate some,
you know. I mean, it was, I believe it
was of the Lord. I believe he drew near in a special
way and he made this come alive in a special way, but. My soul
was fed. These words fed my soul and they
comforted me and they drew me close to my Lord and I needed
them. I needed them. Some of you have experienced
what I'm talking about. Some of you are experiencing
what I'm talking about. And some of you will experience
what I'm talking about. Our Lord will bring all of his
people to a place where they need his word. If what I'm saying is a little
bit foreign, which it can be, because I believed this. I knew this. I grew up knowing
this, but I really did believe this. This was my hope. And it's
highly likely that there are many who are listening to me
right now, and it's a little bit foreign, and they can't enter
into what I'm saying. I'm glad to tell you this. I
kind of hate to tell you this, but I'm glad to tell you this.
The Lord is going to bring you into a place where you need His
Word. You don't just know His Word,
and you don't just believe His Word. You need His Word. You're gonna have a choice, air
or God's word, and you're gonna pick God's word. It's just so. If you're a child
of God, it's so. These were some of those words
that I needed in that moment in time. I read Psalm 125 over
and over and over Wanting to be in that city. Finding all my hope to be included
among the citizens of that city. Wanting those mountains. I needed
those mountains. I needed that Lord. That's what
I needed. I needed that Lord. Reading this
psalm provided me everything that I needed in that moment.
And for that reason, this Psalm will always hold a special place
in my heart. Verse one says, 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. The Lord, the Lord Jesus Christ,
they that trust in the Lord shall be as Mount Zion, which cannot
be removed, but abideth forever. The actual city of Jerusalem,
the literal city of Jerusalem is not Mount Zion. It's a picture
of Mount Zion. The spiritual city of God. And it's not that the mountains
of that physical city of Jerusalem over there in Israel, it's not
that they cannot be removed. It's just a picture of the rock
of salvation, the rock of safety that our Lord has surrounded
his people with, both spiritually and physically. The mountains around Jerusalem
may not last forever. They're not going to. This whole
earth is going to melt with a fervent heat and they're not going to
last forever. but the safety of God's keeping hand will. It'll
last forever. This psalm right here always
makes me think of 2 Kings 6. Turn over there to 2 Kings 6. I love this story. 2 Kings 6 verse 8, it says, Then
the king of Syria warred against Israel, and took counsel with
his servants, saying, In such and such a place shall be my
camp. And the man of God, Elisha, the prophet of God, who foretold
the words of our Lord, The man of God sent unto the king of
Israel, saying, Beware that thou pass not such a place, for thither
the Syrians are come down. Don't go that way, that's the
camp of the Syrians. Verse 10, And the king of Israel
sent to the place which the man of God told him, and warned him
of, and saved himself there, not once nor twice. meaning more
than that. He just kept veering him and
diverting him. The king of Israel would go this
way and Elisha would say, don't go that way, turn. Verse 11,
therefore the heart of the king of Syria was sore troubled for
this thing and he called his servants and said unto them,
will you not show me which of us is for the king of Israel?
There's a mole within us. There's a defect here. Somebody's
telling, Our secrets, verse 12, and one of his servants said,
none, my Lord, O king, but Elisha, the prophet that is in Israel,
telleth the king of Israel the words that thou speakest in thy
bedchamber. He knows everything you're saying. And the king of Syria said, go
and spy where he is that I may send and fetch him. And it was
told him saying, behold, he's in Dothan. Therefore sent he
thither horses and chariots and a great host. And they came
by night and compassed the city about. And when the servant of
the man of God, the servant of Elisha, when he was risen early
and gone forth, when he went out of the house where they were,
Behold, and host compassed the city, both with horses and chariots. And that army right there represents
the great number of trials and sorrows and fears that assault
us. And they overtake us and they
overwhelm us. So much so, sometimes we don't
think we can survive it. Verse 15, when the servant of
the man of God was risen early and gone forth, behold, and host
compassed the city, both with horses and chariots, and his
servant said unto him, Alas, my master, how shall we do? You ever found yourself in that
place before? What am I going to do? You ever
found yourself in that place before? What am I going to do? I'm in shock. I'm in panic. I have no defense or reaction
for this. This is about to literally sweep
me away and be the end of me. What am I going to do? Verse 15, when the servant of
the man of God was risen early and gone forth, behold and host
compassed the city, both with horses and chariots. And his
servant said unto him, Alas, my master, how shall we do? And
Elisha answered, Fear not. Do you know that's what God's
word says to God's child every single time? Every single time. Fear not. Here's what you're
going to do. Master, what are we going to
do? Here's what we're going to do. Fear not. I am with thee. Oh, be not dismayed. For I am
thy God. I will still give thee aid. I'll
strengthen thee, help thee, and cause thee to stand. upheld by
my gracious, omnipotent hand. I will sit right beside you and
hold your hand saying, fear not, I'll help you. Fear not. Verse 15, when the servant of
the man of God was risen early and gone forth, behold, and host
compass, the city, both with horses and chariots and his servant
said unto him, alas, my master, how shall we do? And he answered,
fear not for they that be with us are more than they that be
with them. I'll tell you this. If God be
for us, just God, only God. If God was the only one for us,
no one could be against us. Nothing could be against us.
But with Him, according to His will and according to His commandment,
The whole host of heaven is for us. The whole host of heaven,
the cherubims, the seraphims, the angels, an innumerable company,
a number that no man can number of God's angels are for us, ministering
spirits sent to strengthen us and help us and encourage us
and pick us up. By the all-powerful, unchangeable
decree of God Almighty, they that be for us are infinitely
more than they that be against us. All of the fears and all
of the worries and all of the anxieties and all of the trials,
the mercies, the graces, the helps, the joys, infinitely more. Verse 15, when the servant of
the man of God was risen early and gone forth, behold, and host
compassed the city, both with horses and chariots, and his
servant said unto him, alas, my master, how shall we do? And
he answered, fear not, for they that be with us are more than
they that be with him. And Elisha prayed and said, Lord,
I pray thee, open his eyes that he may see. And the Lord opened
the eyes of the young man and he saw, and behold, the mountain
was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elijah. As the mountains are round about
Jerusalem, so the Lord is round about his people from henceforth
even forever, literally. Literally, that is what is going
on right now. If the Lord would open our eyes
to see Bays Mountain. If we could only really see Bays
Mountain right now. You wouldn't worry about anything. You wouldn't worry about one
thing. If he has his security round about us now, There will
never be a time when His security is not round about us. It will be forever. It is forever. It's forever. Turn over to Isaiah
60. Isaiah 60, this is speaking of
glory, the eternal kingdom of Christ. And verse 18, Isaiah
60, verse 18, it says, violence shall no more be heard in thy
land, wasting nor destruction within thy borders, but thou
shalt call thy walls salvation and thy gates praise. In glory, we're still gonna have
walls around us. Not that we're gonna need them,
but we're going to have them. And it's because the safe keeping
hedge of our God is never gonna leave us. Never gonna leave us. Look at Isaiah 26. And I want that wall, that wall
of salvation, the gates of praise, Isaiah 26. Verse one, it says, in that day
shall this song be sung in the land of Judah. We have a strong
city. Salvation will God appoint for
walls and bulwarks. Open ye the gates that the righteous
nation which keepeth the truth may enter in. Who is that righteous nation? Who is it exactly that's going
to be allowed to enter in? Because according to our text,
everyone is not going to enter in. According to Psalm 125, everyone
is not going to enter in. The safekeeping hedge of God
Almighty does not surround everyone. So who is that talking about?
Hold your place right here in Isaiah 26 and go back to Psalm
125. Psalm 125 verse three, it says, for the rod of the wicked shall not rest upon the lot of
the righteous, lest the righteous put forth their hands to iniquity.
Do good, O Lord, unto those that be good, and to them that are
upright in their hearts. And 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. Who is the wicked? Who is the
wicked? Here's the answer. Man is the
wicked. Who are the evil? Man, men and
women are the evil. All right, well, whose ways are
crooked ways? Man's ways are crooked ways. All of our ways
are crooked ways. Well, then who's the righteous?
Christ is the righteous. Who is the good? Christ is the
good. Whose way is the straight? and
narrow way. Christ's way is the straight
way. Christ is the sinless one. Christ
is the worthy one. Christ is the one who's going
to enter in. Christ is who the promise of God is to. Christ is the peaceful one. That's
what he secured for his people on the cross of Calvary, sinlessness
and peace. He redeemed His own. He conformed
them to His image. You know, that's what Christ
did on the cross. He redeemed His own and conformed them to
His image. He put away their evil wickedness. He robed them in His own righteousness. He made a difference. He put
a difference. Because He is the difference.
It all comes down to this right here. Here is the difference
in the protected and the punished. Here's the difference. Verse
1 says, They that trust in the Lord shall be as Mount Zion. It all comes down to Christ.
What think ye of Christ? Either a soul is going to put
his or her trust in man or in the Lord. It's going to be man
or Christ. If a soul does put his or her
trust in the Lord, it is the Lord who put that soul's trust
there. If we do trust in the Lord, it's
the Lord who did that. Man doesn't get the credit for
that, God does. If we trust in the Lord, God did that. And if God does that work in
a man or a woman, that's where his trust will be. It'll be in
him. If the Lord saved the soul, the
soul's trust will be in the Lord. Look back at Isaiah 26, verse one. In that day shall this song be
sung in the land of Judah. We have a strong city. Salvation
will God appoint for walls and bulwarks. This safekeeping was
appointed to us by Him. Salvation through His blood,
salvation through the death of the Savior. Finished, salvation
will God appoint for walls. Verse two, open ye the gates
that the righteous nation That's the nation that's in Christ.
That's the nation that the Father gave to Christ. Open ye the gates
that the righteous nation which keepeth the truth. Why do they
keep the truth? Because Christ kept the truth
for them. Christ is the truth and they're in Him. Open the gates that the righteous
nation, which keepeth the truth, may enter in. Thou wilt keep
him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee, because he
trusteth in thee. The mind is there, the trust
is there, the peace is there, because he's keeping it there.
When the mind is there, trust is there. And when trust is there,
peace is there. And if it's there, it's because
He's keeping it there. He put it there, He's keeping
it there. Ephesians 2 says, He is our peace. In Christ Jesus,
ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of
Christ, for he is our peace, who hath made both one and hath
broken down the middle wall of partition between us, having
abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments
contained in ordinances, for to make in himself of twain one
new man, so making peace. And that he might reconcile both
unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby,
and came and preached peace to you. And that peace brought trust
to you. Real trust. Actual trust. It's there. It's there. God puts it there. Not just in
word only, but in heart, in soul, in every fiber of our being.
Trust. We trust Him. Not everyone who
just says, Lord, Lord, will dwell in the safety of Mount Zion.
It's those who trust in the Lord. That's who's going to dwell there.
What is it to really trust in the Lord? All right. We say trust
in the Lord, those who trust in the Lord. That's who it is.
What is it to really trust in the Lord? The word trust means
to hang on. to hang on. It means to have
confidence in, to find security in. It means to feel safe in. Think about that. If you trust
somebody, you feel safe with them. It's to feel safe in. It's to seek refuge in. It's to flee to for protection. That's what trust is. And that's
what all of God's people feel about his will. We trust his
will. We say that will be done because
we trust his will. I don't trust my will. But by
his grace, we trust his. That's what we feel about his
way, whatever his way is. That's what we feel about his
word. You trust this word. That's what we feel about His
power, His sovereignty, His salvation. That's what we feel about His
blood. Think about it. Do you trust His blood? That's your entrance into glory.
That's your redemption price. We trust His righteousness. You
know, when we go stand before Him, the only thing we're going
to be standing in making us worthy to enter in is robed in His righteousness. We trust His sanctification,
His holiness. We trust His wisdom, His providence,
His predestination of our lives. We trust Him. We trust Him. Thank God we trust Him. Thank
God we've been made to trust Him. Isaiah 26 right here, verse
3, thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on
thee because he trusteth in thee. Trust ye in the Lord forever. For in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting
strength. Do you have a center margin in
your Bible for everlasting strength? It means the rock of ages. the mountain of ages. Trust ye
in the Lord forever, for in the Lord Jehovah, that's God Almighty. Jehovah is God Almighty. Why
do we trust Him? Why do we trust the Lord Jesus
Christ so much? Here's the reason why. It's because
He's God Almighty. That's the reason why we trust
Him. Every time we're reminded of that, it increases our trust.
Oh yeah. We really are safe in His hands,
aren't we? He's God Almighty. Trust ye in the Lord forever,
for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength. Let's close with our
text one more time. Go back to Psalm 125. Verse 1 says, 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. For the rod of the wicked shall
not rest upon the lot of the righteous, lest the righteous
put forth their hands unto iniquity. Do good, O Lord, to those that
be good, good in Christ, to them that are upright in their hearts,
upright in Christ. As for such as turn aside unto
their crooked ways, Lord, let me not turn aside to my crooked
ways. Keep your hand on me. Prone to wander, Lord, I feel
it. As for such as turn aside unto
their crooked ways, the Lord shall lead them forth with the
workers of iniquity. You know, after God sends saving
faith, all of his people say, to who else can we go? You're
going to go to somebody else. Such as turn aside to 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, all
because of the trust that he put in Israel. Lord, put that
trust in us. Trust for Christ, create that
assurance and security and rest in us. For Christ's sake, amen.