Psalm 125

Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion,

Which cannot be shaken but endures forever.

As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds his people both now and forevermore.

Psalm 125:1-2, NIV

Hiking from your far corner of Israel. Pilgrim you are, going up to Jerusalem for the festival. Bandits, heat, cold of night, weariness, provision, night after night in a new bed. What do you feel? Think? Imagine your body, the journey, the emotions.

 

What did the Lord want his people to know?

Why might he use the image of Mount Zion and mountains?

I have never been to Jerusalem, but I hear the mountains are actually not that majestic in comparison to Kilimanjaro, the Alps, or the Rockies. Perhaps to the Israelite who did not leave their four corners, their mountains were impressive, weighty, grand. But also here is the promise--grander than the mountains--of God. The promise is the soaring majesty the crowns the mountains.

Can you feel the strength, the rootedness, the protection of the mountains? Can you feel it seeping into the pilgrim’s bones, lifting her step? How does the sight change her body? Her emotions?

When have you felt like a pilgrim? In that moment/season, what did it feel like?

In that season, what would it have felt like to hear these words, to really, deep, deep down feel the Lord surrounding you like mountains?

What promises do we have of protection? How does this psalm point to Christ?

Christ brings us to Hebrews 12, “Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire.” We are in Christ, surrounded by all he is. His security before the Father in his authority over all, he gives to us. Protected in him, wrapped in his eternal secureness. Even in the moments of our being a pilgrim, we are his.

What does the Lord want you to know?