Psalm 125:1














There can be little doubt, so it seems to me, that these psalms, from one of which our text is taken, were all of them songs of the exiles returning from their captivity in Babylon. Their very name - "Songs of Degrees" - denotes that they were sung as the people went up towards their land, their city, and the sanctuary of the Lord. But the frequent allusions to the Exile, to its degradation and sorrow, to the almost complete destruction which had there all but overtaken them, and then to their preservation and restoration, all show that in these fifteen psalms we have the devout utterances of those whom God had once suffered to be in exile, but whom he had not only graciously preserved therein, but now had wonderfully restored. So that we may picture the long line of the returning captives as they journeyed on over the weary waste of rock and sand which stretched between the place of their exile and their beloved home. We listen to them refreshing and cheering their hearts from time to time by singing one or other of these holy psalms. Alter their return, these psalms appear to have been collected together, and to have formed part of their national liturgy, and were sung, as they well deserved to be, when their city and temple were again built and dedicated to the Lord. There is a beautiful progression in them - an advance in thought and expression, harmonizing with the commencement, progress, and completion of the return from Babylon to the city of God. The first tells how, in their distress, the exiles cried unto the Lord, and utters their lament over their long sojourn in the strange land. The next - the hundred and twenty-first - is one which, it is probable, formed the evening psalm, as the tents were pitched, and the whole encampment lay down to rest. Then did they lift up their eyes to the Lord - the Lord that kept Israel and who neither slumbered nor slept. The next is a song of gladness in view of their once more standing in the house of the Lord - the gladness of those who had long been hindered in the enjoyment of any such privilege. The next recalls their prayer - their earnest, pleading prayer, which they offered up because of the contempt of the proud and the scorning of their luxurious stranger-lords. And the next celebrates with joyous rapture the great deliverance which God gave them: "Blessed be the Lord, who has not given us as a prey to their teeth." Such is the spirit of the whole. And then comes the devout conclusion from all their experience - the blessedness of trusting in the Lord. Perhaps it was sung as the exiles drew near to Jerusalem and Mount Zion, and saw the mountains round about her, and the Mount Zion which abideth for ever. As those beloved heights, on which their fathers had gazed with delight, reared themselves on high, unchanged amid all the storm and tumult which had surged around and upon them, they seemed to the devout Israelites a type, not only of the Divine guard over Israel, encompassing his people even as these mountains "were round about Jerusalem," but a type also of the stability, the permanence, the immovability, of all those who trust in the Lord. "They who trust in the Lord shall be," etc. No object was more familiar to the devout Jew than Mount Zion and the mountains round about Jerusalem. As often as they went up to the house of the Lord, and day by day, all those who dwelt in or near Jerusalem, as did most of those who came back from the Exile, Zion and the surrounding heights were conspicuous before them. And good was the use they made of them. They beheld in them a symbol of their God, and a promise of what they themselves should be if they put their trust in him. Thus did this familiar everyday scene speak to them. Happy are they who, from the common surroundings of their everyday life, the many gifts of God's love which daily they enjoy, hear and listen to a voice which speaketh to them such holy truths as these! As one has well said, "Believing Englishmen, you may specially bless God that your country gives you an admirable picture of your own security, by dwelling alone, separated by the floods from all other nations. This is the security of our beloved isle."

"He bade the ocean round thee flow;
Not bars of brass could guard thee so." They that trust in the Lord shall be as these happy islands, which shall not know the rod of the oppressor, for the Lord has guarded them with a better defense than walls or bulwarks. Hebrew comparisons were most fit for Hebrew believers, but those nearer home should serve us as theirs served them. But now to turn to this blessed truth itself which our text declares - the ever-abiding, the immovable stability of them that trust in the Lord.

I. CONSIDER THE BLESSING HERE PROMISED. To "be as Mount Zion, which cannot," etc. From the days of Melchizedek, in the early patriarchal ages, right on and down to our own, Jerusalem has been an historic place. It has never been moved. Other great cities, like that of Nineveh, Babylon, and the cities of Asia, we can now but taintly trace where they stood. But Jerusalem has not only preceded, but has long survived them all. But in what sense can God's people be said to be as Mount Zion!

1. Of the Church of God it is historically true. If by violent persecution or other calamity she has been driven from one region - as from all North Africa - it has only been to settle more immovably in other and wider lands. There is no more reassuring argument to the mind anxious for the welfare of the Church of God than her history in the past. This psalm is truer of her than it was of Israel.

2. Of the individual believer it is also true; for he cannot be moved. His feelings may be. He may, as did the psalmists oftentimes, imagine that "the Lord has cast him off for ever, and hath in anger shut up his tender mercies." But it is not so really. Read the triumphant challenge of St. Paul at the close of Romans 8. That tells the real truth, as doth this psalm here. For the city of Divine grace lieth foursquare, like the city of God told of in the Apocalypse, and is defended with all those within it - as God's people are - by the mighty walls of God's omnipotence, righteousness, love, and grace - even the grace of the Holy Spirit working within us. Therefore is this psalm true.

II. THOSE FOR WHOM THIS BLESSING IS DESIGNED. "They that trust in the Lord." Now, this trust is:

1. A very simple thing. Anybody can trust - old and young, rich and poor. It requires no long study, no store of learning.

2. And it may be a very imperfect thing. Not mature, not strong and mighty at all; but yet it is trust, like him who cried, "Lord I believe: help thou mine unbelief."

3. It does not matter how or where we may have been brought to it. Blessed be God!

III. THE CONNECTION BETWEEN THIS TRUST AND SO GREAT BLESSING.

1. Because God so delights in our trust.

2. It is the transforming grace.

3. It identifies us with Christ in his life.

4. It devitalizes our connection with the first Adam, and grafts us into Christ. - S.C.

Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth.
I. GOD IS EVERYWHERE PRESENT. Sometimes those who would help us are afar off. Not so God; He is "a very present help in trouble" (Psalm 46:1).

II. HE HAS EVERYTHING WE WANT READY AT COMMAND. Is it money, grace, friends, comfort, guidance, strength? He has of these things more than we can possibly need.

III. HE IS A VERY WILLING HELPER. He invites us to call upon Him in the day of trouble (Psalm 50:15).

IV. HE IS A LOVING AND TENDER HELPER. His kindness is often called "lovingkindness" (Deuteronomy 33:27).

V. HE NEVER FAILS TO HELP HIS PEOPLE.

VI. HE IS AN EVERLASTING HELPER (Psalm 90:12).

(R. Brewin.)

The confidence here expressed by the Church is founded upon two things.

I. PAST DELIVERANCE. "Our help is in the name of the Lord." When placed in perilous circumstances, one's faith is much increased by thinking upon the times of old, and musing upon the years of the right hand of the Most High. We learn there that affliction is no strange thing, and that God can afford us all requisite aid. He has done so before, and He can do so again. As to Himself, He is "the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever." As to His agents, there is no diminution in their number, or decrease in their power.

II. THE DIVINE OMNIPOTENCE. He who defends the Church is the Creator of the universe. Yes! He who hung those stars in heaven, and filled their lamps with everlasting oil: He who made the earth, with its golden corn, and its purple grapes, and its dark olives. My Father made them all; and a single look at the green earth, and the swelling ocean, and the burning stars, is enough to rebuke our distrust, and to infuse a serene gladness into our troubled spirits. Would that we had more of this holy confidence; and how much of the peace and joy of heaven would be ours, even when travelling through the wilderness to the land that is afar off.

(N. McMichael.).

They that trust in the Lord shall be as Mount Zion.
I. TRUSTFULNESS IN ITS SUPREME OBJECT: "The Lord" (Jeremiah 17:5-8).

II. TRUSTFULNESS SECURING INESTIMABLE BLESSINGS.

1. Stability (ver. 1).

2. Divine nearness (ver. 2).

3. Protection from the power and oppression of wickedness (ver. 3).

III. TRUSTFULNESS SEEKING THE GOOD OF OTHERS (ver. 4). Its nature to do so, being unselfish, generous, and jealous for the glory of God. Others kept good for goodness' sake.

IV. TRUSTFULNESS PRONOUNCING THE FATE OF APOSTATES, AND THE TRANQUIL EXPERIENCE OF ITSELF AND COMPANIONS (ver. 5).

(J. O. Keen, D. D.)

Homilist.
I. THE SECURITY OF THE GOOD ENSURED (vers. 1-3). The good are "they that trust in the Lord." Such are —

1. Firmly established (ver. 1).

2. Safely guarded (ver. 2). (Isaiah 54:10; Zechariah 2:4-15).

3. Ultimately delivered (ver. 3).Rod here means sceptre, and the "lot of the righteous" the land of promise. The generic idea is that the power of the wicked shall not always extend to the good; one day the community of the good shall be out of the dominion of wickedness for ever and ever. "He shall bruise Satan under our feet."

II. THE PROSPERITY OF THE GOOD INVOKED (vers. 4, 5).

1. The invocation specifies the character of the good (ver. 4). "To be good" is to be "upright in heart," and to be "upright in heart" is to be right in our loves, our aims, and activities. The "goody" are common, the good are rare.

2. The invocation pictures the character, and foretells the doom of the wicked (ver. 5). (Judges 5:6; Psalm 58:8; Psalm 109:23; Matthew 7:22; Matthew 24:51.)

(Homilist.)

I. THE SECURITY OF THE PEOPLE OF GOD.

1. Between them and all evil is —

(1)The almightiness of God.

(2)His unerring wisdom.

(3)His unchanging love.

2. This Divine surrounding affects —

(1)The spiritual interests of His people.

(2)Their temporal necessities.

(3)All providential experiences.

(4)Their sorrows.

II. THEIR STABILITY. Mount Zion cannot be removed, but abideth for ever; even so, they that trust. Having a hold of God, they cannot be permanently injured in their highest and eternal relations. Moved they may be, but never removed; "perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed." "The Lord is round about them even for ever."

(J. M. Jarvie.)

This little psalm looks very much like a record of the impression that was made on the pilgrim as he first topped the crest of the hill from which he looked on Jerusalem. Two peculiarities of its topographical position are both taken here as symbols of spiritual realities, for the singularity of the situation of the city is that it stands on a mountain and is girdled by mountains. There is a tongue of land or peninsula cut off from the surrounding country by deep ravines, on which are perched the buildings of the city, while across the valley on the eastern side is Olivet, and, on the south, another hill, the so-called "Hill of Evil Counsel"; but upon the west and north sides there are Do conspicuous summits, though the ground rises. Thus, really, though not apparently, there lie all round the city encircling defences of mountains. Similarly, says the psalmist, set and steadfast as on a mountain, and compassed about by a protection, like the bastions of the everlasting hills, are they whose trust is in the Lord.

I. THE SIMPLE ACT OF TRUST IN GOD BRINGS INWARD STABILITY. The word here translated "trust" literally means to "hang upon" something. And so, beautifully, it tells us what faith is — just hanging upon God. Whoever has laid his tremulous hand on a fixed something, partakes, in the measure in which he does grasp it, of the fixity of that on which he lays hold; so "they that trust in the Lord" "shall be as Mount Zion," that stands there summer and winter, day and night, year out and year in, with its strong buttresses and its immovable mass, the very emblem of solidity and stability.

II. THIS SAME ATTITUDE OF REALIZING THE DIVINE PRESENCE, WILL, AND HELP, WILL BRING AROUND US THE ENCIRCLING DEFENCES. "As the mountains are round about Jerusalem, so the Lord is round about His people" — a very real defence, but a defence that it takes an instructed eye to see; no obvious protection, palpable to the vulgar touch, and manifest to the sensuous eye, but something a great deal better than that — a real protection, through which we may be sure that nothing which is evil can ever pass. Whatsoever does get over the encircling mountains, and down to us, we may be sure is not an evil but a very real good. Only we have to interpret the protection on the principles of faith, and not on those of sense. When, then, there come down upon us — as there do upon us all, thank God! — dark days, and sad days, and solitary days, and losses and bitternesses of a thousand kinds, do not let us falter in the belief that if we have our hearts set on God, nothing has come to us but what He has let through.

III. SIMPLE TRUST IN GOD, IN SOME MEASURE, ASSIMILATES THE PROTECTED TO THE PROTECTOR. Mountains girdle a mountain, and so my trust opens my heart to the entrance into my heart of something akin to God. It makes us "partakers of a Divine nature." The immovableness of the trustful man is not all unlike the calmness of the trusted God; and the steadfastness of the one is a reflex of the unchangeableness of the other. "As the mountains are round about Mount Zion," God is round about the people that are becoming Godlike. Mark further the significant repetition of the same expression in reference to the stability of the man protected, and the continuance of the protection. Both are "for ever." That is to say, if it is true that God is round about me, and that, in some humble measure, my heart has been opening to be calmed and steadied by the influx of His own life, then His "for ever" is my "for ever." And it cannot be that He should live and I should die. The guarantee of the eternal being of the trustful soul is the experience to-day of the reality of the Divine protection. And thus we may face everything — life, death, whatsoever may come, assured that nothing touches the continuity and the perpetuity of the union between the trusting soul and the trusted God.

(A. Maclaren, D. D.)

Homilist.
I. TRUST IN THE LORD IS THE CONDITION OF MORAL STABILITY. Such a soul is firm in its —

1. Love.

2. Faith.

3. Purpose.

II. TRUST IN THE LORD IS THE CONDITION OF DIVINE SECURITY. How often mountains protected nations! The free winds that sweep the summits, and thunder at the sides, seem to inspire the people with an invincible love of freedom. And mountains, too, have often proved the asylums of freedom. But no mountains have guarded a people as God guards those who trust in Him. The Eternal God is a refuge, and underneath are the "everlasting arms." He "is a fire round about" them, and their "glory in the midst" of them.

(Homilist.)

I. THE MOUNTAIN AS AN EMBLEM —

1. Of God's defence (Psalm 62:2, 6; Psalm 18:2; Psalm 71:3).

2. Of God's strength. Those who have stood at some great height amid the sloping snow-field, bristling barriers of ice, and peaks of untrodden rock in the higher Alps, far from organic life, even of the smallest kind of vegetation, have felt some thrill of perhaps inexpressible awe. The grandeur of the vastness and power of the scene proves our own utter helplessness and littleness. Looking from ourselves and our little finite limits of thought and act out into the large unrealized infinity of God's great power, written in earth and sea and sky, and in the mind of man, the soul feels lost. But remember that all this expression of power is but the symbol of the strength of a Father's love.

3. Of God's everlastingness.

II. TRUST IN GOD GIVES —

1. An inspiration of success.

2. A happy heart, in spite of everything.

3. Submissive decision of character.There is something supremely exhilarating and sublime in the spectacle of the good man who, in the strength of what he believes to be Heaven-sent guidance, goes intrepidly forward, noting little of what opposes and may attack, though death itself hang its sword above his head, though the world seem to shake in ruins around him. Though, as it were, the very earth be moved and the mountains be carried into the heart of the seas, the regular, constant, unwavering pursuit of his ideal is the one motive of life. So Daniel braved in quiet reverence the decree which opened the den of lions; the three witnesses to God argued not a moment, though the flames and heat of the fiery furnace were in front of them.

(C. E. Harris.)

The metaphor in the text was drawn by the pilgrims from the hill before them; or, if the psalm does not belong to pilgrims, but to all Israel, they took the comparison from that mountain with which they were best acquainted. If they might not all see Lebanon, which lay at the northern extremity of the land, if they might not all behold the excellency of Carmel, or gaze upon the heights of Hermon, yet once in the year they must all look upon Zion, "whither the tribes go up, the tribes of the Lord, unto the testimony of Israel." The emblem was therefore a familiar one, and I wish sometimes that we were more apt at sanctifying to holy uses the common objects which are round about us: these streets and houses, our own country, and our own home. I am afraid our eyes are open when we seek emblems of sadness and we find them on every hedge and in any garden-plot; but we should also look at home when we want metaphors of thanksgiving with which to set forth our security and our comfort in the Lord.

I. A LOWLY PEOPLE. They "trust in the Lord." A very simple thing to do. It needs no effort of intellect to trust, and it needs no laborious education to learn the way; trusting in the Lord is simply depending where there is unquestionable reason for reliance, believing what is assuredly true, and acting upon it. Trusting in the Lord is taking at His word One who cannot lie, or change, or fail; and certainly this is no great feat if we look at it from the carnal man's own point of view. At the same time, it is very right. Should not a man trust in his own Creator? Does He not deserve to be trusted? Has He not always been faithful? Moreover, is it not wise? What can be wiser? Those of us who have tried trusting in God have never found it fail, whereas when we have trusted in men we have been disappointed.

II. THE SECURITY OF BELIEVERS. God's children undergo a variety of experiences. To-day their hearts are a place of sacrifice, and to-morrow a battle-field; by turns their soul is a temple and a threshing-floor; but whatever their ups and downs may be, they shall never be removed from their ordained and appointed place: by the grace of God they are where they are, and where they shall be. They shall never be effectually removed from that place before the Lord in which infinite love has fixed them.

III. THE EVIDENT REASON FOR ALL THIS. Why is it that they that trust in the Lord shall not be moved?

1. Because they are trusting in the truth. They have not believed a lie, and therefore they shall not be swept from their foundation. They are trusting in One who will not deceive them and cannot fail them. They have laid their foundation on a rock, have they not?

2. They are trusting where their reliance is observed and welcomed. God loveth to have many dependants about Him. It is His way of revealing Himself and manifesting His glory. If this is what He desireth, if He seeketh such to worship Him, who believe that He is, and that He is the rewarder of them that diligently seek Him, why should He reject their suit?

3. It is not the nature of God to cast away any who rely upon Him; on the contrary, He is very careful that faith should never have less than she has expected. He respects the courage of faith: He never confounds it.

( C. H. Spurgeon.)

Believers are too often tossed about in their minds, and suffer great shakings and movings of heart because they do not trust in the Lord as they should. These things ought not to be, for we ought to be steadfast and immovable; but by reason of infirmity and immaturity many are tossed to and fro as with a tempest. Still, even in these, deep in their soul their faith is earnestly keeping its hold, and does not permit them altogether to drift. At the back of a great deal of grievous unbelief, when we are in a depressed condition, there lives a faith which is not moved, but in secret takes hold as for dear life, biding its time till better days shall come. It is only by realizing the everlasting, abiding love of God that they that trust in the Lord shall come to feel steadfast as Mount Zion which shall never be removed. The man of God may know that he is safe, and yet there may be such a rush and tumult in his experience that he may not be able to understand himself or realize his true position. This may happen even to more advanced believers; but as we grow in grace the tendency is to reach a more even and equable condition. Experienced believers are not to be put about by every puff of wind; nay, they come at last to hold on their way in the teeth of all ill weathers, and, like hardy mariners, make small account of the lesser storms of life.

( C. H. Spurgeon.)

People
Psalmist
Places
Jerusalem
Topics
Abides, Abideth, Age, Ascents, Can't, Confide, Degrees, Endures, Forever, Gt, Hope, Keeps, Lt, Mount, Mountain, Moved, Remains, Removed, Shaken, Song, Trust, Trusting, Zion
Outline
1. The safety of such as trust in God
4. A prayer for the godly, and against the wicked

Dictionary of Bible Themes
Psalm 125:1

     5058   rest, spiritual
     5290   defeat
     5295   destruction
     5798   betrayal
     5914   optimism
     5942   security
     8031   trust, importance
     8354   trustworthiness

Psalm 125:

     7963   song

Psalm 125:1-2

     5292   defence, divine
     7271   Zion, as symbol

Psalm 125:1-4

     8442   good works

Library
Mountains Round Mount Zion
'They that trust in the Lord shall be as Mount Zion, which cannot be removed, but abideth for ever. 2. As the mountains are round about Jerusalem, so the Lord is round about His people from henceforth, even for ever.'--PSALM cxxv. 1, 2. The so-called 'Songs of Degrees,' of which this psalm is one, are probably a pilgrim's song-book, and possibly date from the period of the restoration of Israel from the Babylonish captivity. In any case, this little psalm looks very much like a record of the impression
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Security of the Church
We shall consider the text, first, as relating to the Church as a whole, and then we shall endeavor to note how it applies to every individual in particular. I. FIRST, THE CHURCH AS A WHOLE is secured by God beyond the reach of harm. She is ably garrisoned by Omnipotence, and she is castled within the faithful engagements of the covenant. How often has the Church been attacked; but how often has she been victorious? The number of her battles is just the number of her victories. Foes have come against
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 3: 1857

Letter ii (A. D. 1126) to the Monk Adam
To the Monk Adam [3] 1. If you remain yet in that spirit of charity which I either knew or believed to be with you formerly, you would certainly feel the condemnation with which charity must regard the scandal which you have given to the weak. For charity would not offend charity, nor scorn when it feels itself offended. For it cannot deny itself, nor be divided against itself. Its function is rather to draw together things divided; and it is far from dividing those that are joined. Now, if that
Saint Bernard of Clairvaux—Some Letters of Saint Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux

Calvin -- Enduring Persecution for Christ
John Calvin was born in 1509, at Noyon, France. He has been called the greatest of Protestant commentators and theologians, and the inspirer of the Puritan exodus. He often preached every day for weeks in succession. He possest two of the greatest elements in successful pulpit oratory, self-reliance and authority. It was said of him, as it was afterward said of Webster, that "every word weighed a pound." His style was simple, direct, and convincing. He made men think. His splendid contributions to
Various—The World's Great Sermons, Volume I

The Unchangeableness of God
The next attribute is God's unchangeableness. I am Jehovah, I change not.' Mal 3:3. I. God is unchangeable in his nature. II. In his decree. I. Unchangeable in his nature. 1. There is no eclipse of his brightness. 2. No period put to his being. [1] No eclipse of his brightness. His essence shines with a fixed lustre. With whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.' James 1:17. Thou art the same.' Psa 102:27. All created things are full of vicissitudes. Princes and emperors are subject to
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity

Psalms
The piety of the Old Testament Church is reflected with more clearness and variety in the Psalter than in any other book of the Old Testament. It constitutes the response of the Church to the divine demands of prophecy, and, in a less degree, of law; or, rather, it expresses those emotions and aspirations of the universal heart which lie deeper than any formal demand. It is the speech of the soul face to face with God. Its words are as simple and unaffected as human words can be, for it is the genius
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament

Links
Psalm 125:1 NIV
Psalm 125:1 NLT
Psalm 125:1 ESV
Psalm 125:1 NASB
Psalm 125:1 KJV

Psalm 125:1 Bible Apps
Psalm 125:1 Parallel
Psalm 125:1 Biblia Paralela
Psalm 125:1 Chinese Bible
Psalm 125:1 French Bible
Psalm 125:1 German Bible

Psalm 125:1 Commentaries

Bible Hub
Psalm 124:8
Top of Page
Top of Page