Seder 152: Psalm 124---Thanksgiving for Deliverance

 Psalm 124, one of the psalms of ascents, is a communal thanksgiving song.  The community gives thanks for the real and potential dangers from which God has delivered them.  

The psalm begins by declaring that the community owes its continued existence to the fact that God has been with them.  The covenant blessings include protection from enemies and dangers (Lev 26:3-13).  

In a part of the world where destructive torrential rains can occur, they compare the attacks of enemies to the waters of a flood.  God has saved them from drowning time and time again. 

The psalm closes by praising and blessing God for this continuing deliverance.  Verses 6-7 bring in a different metaphor, that of being rescued from the teeth of a wild animal or a snare that has been laid for them.  God, who "made heaven and earth" (verse 8), is in control of his creation, and help comes through God's name---his covenant, his character, and all that he stands for.  

The midrash on Psalm 124 looks at verse 1b ("let Israel now say"), and reflects on God's continued deliverance of the patriarch of the nation, Jacob himself.  Jacob went through a period of twenty stressful years when he fled from Esau, suffered under Laban's deception, and then returned to face his brother.  The midrash imagines him reciting the psalms of ascent (or even all of the psalms---based on Psalm 22:3) during this time.  (The psalms were written after Jacob, as far as we know, but the point is that Jacob had a great deal for which to be thankful.)  

Seder 116: Psalm 125 and Isaiah 10---"the scepter of wickedness shall not rest on the land"

 Psalm 125 is one of the "psalms of ascents," those associated with visits to Jerusalem for the annual pilgrim festivals.  People arriving in Jerusalem might look up and realize that with all the insecurities of life, God was the one dependable thing.  From his throne he rules the Universe, and those who trust in him are on solid ground (v 1).  Mt Zion represents God's presence, power, and protection.  

Verse 3 of this psalm begins with an important affirmation: "For the scepter of wickedness shall not rest on the land allotted to the righteous." Israel might experience correction, even exile, but ultimately they would be restored to the land.  

Since God is just and faithful, God's people can pray the "thy kingdom come" prayer for justice and peace to prevail (vv 4-5).  

We see one illustration of Psalm 125:3 in the prophecy of Isaiah 10, which seems to date from a time shortly after the mighty Assyrian Empire conquered the northern tribes of Israel, with capital at Samaria, in 722 BC.  [Commentator Geoffrey Grogan (EBC) notes that we know when Assyria took the places mentioned in Isa 10:9, with the latest of those conquests occurring in 717 BC.]  The arrogant Assyrians assumed that they easily would be able to take over the southern kingdom of Judah as they had the northern kingdom (vv 7-11).  However, God would not allow that (vv 12-34).  Ultimately the Messiah, the "mighty God" of Isa 9:6-7, would rule in Jerusalem (Isa 10:21; 11:1-11).   

Seder 73: Psalm 132---The End of the Ark's Pilgrimage

 Psalm 132 is the longest of the psalms of ascent (120-134), a group of psalms associated with pilgrimage to Jerusalem for festival days.  It is a psalm about the ark of the covenant being transported to Jerusalem in the days of King David (2 Sam 6; 1 Chron 15-16).

In this case the ark was not on a temporary journey to Jerusalem for a festival.  In fact, the ark was finally coming to rest at Zion at the end of a long pilgrimage.  "Arise O Lord and go to your resting place, you and the ark of your might," we read in Psalm 132:8.

The psalm praises David's tireless efforts to bring the ark to Zion and asks that God remember David for these efforts (vv 1-5).  God responds that he will remember his covenant with David, a covenant that includes the promise that a Davidic king will rule forever.  

Psalm 132 includes a messianic prophecy.  Of Zion God says, "There I will make a horn sprout for David; I have prepared a lamp for my anointed."  Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist, refers to this prophecy in Luke 1:69.

There is another reference to Psalm 132 in Acts 2:30, where Peter mentions the oath of Psalm 132:11 in his Pentecost sermon.  And Stephen in Acts 7:46 alludes to Psalm 132:5.

On September 17, 2021, Kyle Kettering gave a sermon on Psalm 132 at Church of the Messiah.  He noted another significant theme of Psalm 132, that of God as teacher (see v 12).  "Who is a teacher like him?", Job 36:22 asks.  Isa 2:3 pictures people from all nations coming to Zion to learn from him.  

Seder 47: Psalm 122---A Pilgrim Prays for Jerusalem

 Psalm 122 is one of the psalms of ascent, which are traditionally associated with the pilgrimage to Jerusalem for the festivals of Israel.  Here the psalmist is glad whenever it is time to make the journey, and the pilgrims rejoice when they have reached their destination.  

They find Jerusalem to  be a city "bound firmly together," creating an atmosphere of strength and unity as people from all the tribes of Israel come together.  There is great peace at the celebration, and the psalmist prays that this peace would be present there forever.  This was the city where the line of David ruled, kings that were forerunners of the Messiah.

Seder 42: Psalm 128----Blessing Goes Out Across Time and Space

 Psalm 128 begins with a beatitude:  "Blessed is everyone who fears the LORD, who walks in his ways!  You shall eat the fruit of the labor of your hands; you shall be blessed, and it shall be well with you" (vv 1-2).  

The fear of the Lord leads to wisdom which leads to obedience to God, which leads to blessing of one's family and neighbors.  

Psalm 128 is also a psalm of ascent, associated with pilgrimage to the festivals in Jerusalem.  Those who attend the festivals receive blessing and then spread it to their neighbors when they return home (v 5).  

A benediction at the close of the psalm says, "May you see your children's children!  Peace be upon Israel!" (v 6)  The patriarch Jacob at the end of his life experienced this kind of blessing, a period of peace and prosperity as he was united with his family in Goshen.

Jacob hadn't always experienced such peace.  At an audience with Pharaoh he declared, "Few and evil have been the days of the years of my life" (Gen 47:9).  After deceiving his brother and father, he had gone through a period where he had experienced what it is like to be a victim of deception.

Another beatitude may apply to his experience:  "Blessed is the man whom you discipline, O LORD, and whom you teach out of your law" (Ps 94:12).  In Jacob's life God's discipline accomplished its purpose.  Jacob learned to trust in God more than in his wits.  He grew from a deceiver into an overcomer.  And he was ultimately blessed.  

Not every season in life is one of peace and prosperity.  But God ultimately does bring those who walk with him into blessing.  As we read in Ps 126:6, "He who goes out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing, shall come home with shouts of joy, bringing the sheaves with him."

Seder 26: Psalms 121 and 133---Faith and Fellowship on the Journey

 Psalms 121 and 133 are two of the "psalms of ascents", the psalms from 120-134.  These psalms are traditionally associated with the journey to Jerusalem for one of Israel's pilgrimage festivals---Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles.  A number of books have been written about these psalms, and these books often reflect on the guidance these psalms give for people at various stages of life's journey.  

Two such books are Eugene Peterson's A Long Obedience in the Same Direction and Walter Kaiser's The Journey Isn't Over.

In Psalm 121 the pilgrim looks up to the hills (the journey to Jerusalem was uphill), perhaps with a mixture of anticipation (of coming into God's presence at the festival) and anxiety (of what dangers may lie ahead on the journey).  At this point the pilgrim either (a) states that the source of his help comes from those hills (as in the KJV); or (b) asks (perhaps rhetorically) about the source of his help.  Either way, the psalm makes clear that the pilgrim puts his faith squarely in God as the source of help.  The same God who is in covenant with Israel is also the creator and ruler of everything.    The Psalm goes on to poetically state that God's help is available at all times and places, now and forever. 

At the festivals people came together from many places to worship God in unity, celebrating a common heritage of redemption.  Psalm 133 reflects upon how sweet and refreshing that unity is.  It looks back to a time when Israel enjoyed great unity, at Mt Sinai when Aaron was anointed Israel's first high priest (Lev 8).