Ps 125

Preservation in the faith

Context: Until here, the Songs of Ascent instructed Israel to pursue peace (Ps 121), be influential through prayer (Ps 122), with a servant heart (Ps 123), knowing that we owe it to God alone if we have been saved from the snare of pride that is the root of all hostility against God and his people (Ps 124).

Warm-up: Can believers lose this salvation? Why or why not?

Read: Psalm 125

1) v1a: Why is Christian faith a matter of trust in the Lord (lit. Yahweh)? cf Ps 121:1

  • What distinguishes such trust from ‘positive thinking’ (=faith in our own ‘faith’)?
  • In Ps 121, mountains were symbolic for the world and its kingdoms. Why are they hostile to Yahweh and saving faith in Him?
    • What do they think of the way laid down in Psalms 121-124 for the pilgrims? Why do they despise it? 1Cor 1:27

2) v1b: How do those who trust in the Lord resemble Mount Zion?

  • Read Ps 9:11. How does trust in the Lord make you His abode and his throne (i.e. where His will is done as it is in heaven)?
  • “…which cannot be moved …”: The name Zion probably derives from ṣiyyôn (hebr. castle), 2Sam 5:7. How do followers of Christ resemble a castle? e.g. Ps 48:12-13 [ramparts and palaces, for battles and celebrations]
  • “…but abides forever”: After the conquest of Canaan, the land was distributed by casting a lot, Jos 14:5. How is the imperishable inheritance of believers like “…the land allotted to the righteous”, v3? 1Pet 1:4-5; cf Ps 16:5

3) v2: How does God surround His church like the ‘mountains surround Jerusalem’?

  • Why not instead compare God to the protective walls of Jerusalem? cf Zech 2:5; Ps 34:7
  • Since Jerusalem is surrounded by gentle hills at best (for aerial views, see e.g. here), what could be the meaning of this metaphor?*

4) v3: What is promised to those who live in the ‘allotted land’ and in its Sabbath rest and tranquility (by believing)?

  • (omit if already clear) Is the promised land symbolic for resting in God in this life, or only for heaven? cf Heb 4:1-2 (s. question 1 about Heb 4)
  • Does Ps 125 promise believers that nothing will afflict them? Why not? Mt 24:9
  • v3 (lit.) “…so that the righteous do not stretch out their hand…”: What is that?
    • How will God ensure that his people are not tempted beyond what they can bear? Mt 24:22; 1Cor 10:13

5) v4 lit. says: “…Be good/pleasing, o Lord, to (those who are) good/pleasing and (to those who are) upright”. What kind of prayer is this, and what could it mean?

  • Why can it not mean ‘Reward those who deserve it’, or ‘Help those who help themselves’?
  • How else is it possible to please God? Ro 8:8-10; Heb 11:6; 13:21

6) v5 (lit.) “…who turn to their twisted/bent/crooked”**. They are contrasted to those in v4 with an upright heart. Who are they?

  • In the NT, natural men (and the best of their wisdom) are called ‘flesh’ (e.g. Ro 8:8). What will God do to those, v5?
    • KJV: “…lead them away with the workers of iniquity.”
    • Others (e.g. NIV) seem to take it figuratively for exile from the land of rest: “…banish with the evildoers”
  • “…with the evildoers”: Why can a new heart (and nothing else) sever us from the pull to follow the world? 1Jn 2:15-16; 4:5
  • Is it God’s fault if the unregenerate remain unregenerate and thus follow evildoers? Why not? cf Ja 1:15
  • What must they ‘do’ to be made new and share in the peace of God’s Israel? v1; cf Ps 86:5; Gal 6:16

7) Personal & application

  • Since this psalm comes without its own title, what title would you give it?
  • What difference does it make for you whether you believe in a God who keeps you, versus a God who may not?
  • How do you pray like v5 for those with an upright heart and for their peace?

* If mountains symbolize powerful kingdoms here as they do in Ps 121:1, one possible interpretation is that God himself is the protection for his people that others seek from kingdoms of the world. Alternatively, the metaphor could mean that God’s protection is real despite the fact that the world is no more deterred by it than by the gentle hills of Judea.

** their crooked (…): The Hebrew word here is an adjective (feminine, plural), without a noun. The Hebrew nouns for way/road (derek) or path (orach) are both masculine, see e.g. Ps 27:11. Since the crooked (…) is female, the noun implied here more likely is the crooked heart (hebr. libbah), the (female) root word of the crooked-hearted in v4. Turning to our own crooked hearts is what the NT calls “trusting in the flesh“, Phi 3:3-4, namely that we might become righteous by observing the law instead of trusting in the Lord, Phi 3:9; Gal 3:2-3.

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