Psalms 125 – 127
Verse 125:7 opens with a question that was raised in my head:
Those who trust in the LORD are like Mount Zion,
which cannot be moved, but abides for ever.
This could become one of those “church clichés” that are difficult to really absorb. Sure when times are good and things are humming right along, it’s easy to be “like Mount Zion” in our walk. But let an untimely death or betrayal enter the mix and suddenly the mountain becomes a mole hill. We question God the “why’s” and “how’s” of what happened. Our faith gets kicked around when these answers don’t come quickly and God seems less real.
This is what our faith should be, not what it is by default. Everyone has times when they hit lows and question God, that is life. Even great pastors I know admit to having “winter” seasons where they have to preach each week but are not “feeling it”. We somehow think that being a mountain of faith is easy, when it’s far from that.
Using the mountain analogy, we look at them majestic over the horizon through every natural disaster and they remain solid. The mountain endures everything that is thrown at it with courage. Sure the mountain shows the scars or torrid floods and massive earthquakes, but it still endures like we should. Endurance is what the mountain teaches us, not going with the flow.
Verse 126:4 is one of those verses I pray often:
Restore our fortunes, O LORD,
like streams in the Negeb!
How all seem to want their fortunes restored or just happen. We tend to forget the “thou shalt not covet” commandment and want more stuff. I know when we see the new Porsche 911 pull up next to your dented and old Civic, that is ready to turn 200k, it’s easy to want. Is that “coveting” or desire? You don’t want to take that specific car from the driver, you aren’t jealous he has it and you don’t, yet you still want. I am still working on the true Biblical idea of wanting more verse breaking commandments, I just know I have prayed for our family fortunes to be resorted more than once.
Verse 127:2 had me wonder:
It is in vain that you rise up early
and go late to rest,
eating the bread of anxious toil;
for he gives to his beloved sleep.
I had to take a double take on this since it appeared “ok” to not be ambitious. Then I saw who the Psalmist was, Solomon. The one who is credited with Ecclesiastes and the words “everything is meaningless”. This shows that just because a person may have the faith of a mountain that they do not get in a funk from time to time. Often I wonder if what I do each morning is a waste of time, I can read the Bible before bed and sleep in each morning if I took this a Biblical truth and not an example of a prayer.
Just a quick note … verse 127:5 had the line “Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them!” I wondered what a “quiver” was and had to comment. It’s a archer’s case for holding arrows, so this is an analogy to being prepared for battle.