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The Lord Surrounds His People
A Song of Ascents.
125 Those who trust in the LORD are like Mount Zion,
which cannot be moved, but abides forever.
As the mountains surround Jerusalem,
so the LORD surrounds his people,
from this time forth and forevermore.
For the scepter of wickedness shall not rest
on the land allotted to the righteous,
lest the righteous stretch out
their hands to do wrong.
Do good, O LORD, to those who are good,
and to those who are upright in their hearts!
But those who turn aside to their crooked ways
the LORD will lead away with evildoers!
Peace be upon Israel!
(ESV)
Psalm 125 Commentary
by Brad Boyles
It is a bold declaration, especially within the turmoil of our world today. Those who trust in the Lord will never be moved. Never. Think about that for a moment. Those who trust can never be shaken. Again… never. These are inflexible, absolute statements. There are no exceptions. There is no fine print. The volatile nature of our life may bring circumstances that rock us. We will fail to trust… and fail to believe… and fail to take action. God is unmovable. He is unshaken. He surrounds His people.
What does this mean for you today? In other words, what changes by knowing this? If you choose to trust and believe these verses, how does your view of your situation change?
Immediately, my mind goes to all of the evil being done in the world today. This is one of the most puzzling questions we face as humans. The psalmist, no doubt, was thinking the same thing.
he scepter of the wicked will not remain over the land allotted to the righteous, so that the righteous will not apply their hands to injustice. 4 Do what is good, LORD, to the good, to those whose hearts are upright. 5 But as for those who turn aside to crooked ways, the LORD will banish them with the evildoers. Peace be with Israel.
Psalms 125:3-5 HCSB T
The wicked cannot remain over the people of God, because inevitably, they would be consumed by evil. We’ve seen in time and time again in the Scriptures. The corrupted human heart is not strong enough to resist the temptation of evil. In OT theology, the law was the solution. The black-and-white theology of the law stated that those who were righteous and followed God would be saved and those who did evil in His sight would perish. The people who read these verses would cling to them for strength in order to keep their lives holy and righteous. They would cherish the strength of God over their afflictions.
The same is true for us, though, the view is much different. Today, we have Jesus Christ who became the Word in the flesh. Jesus was the fulfillment of verse 3. The scepter of wicked could not remain over us because God chose grace. Though we couldn’t keep His commands, and we did turn aside to crooked ways, He remained faithful to His Word. Jesus is unmoveable. He is unshaken. He surrounds His children. His sacrifice covers all.
The irony of these verses is that even though there is grace, the truth hasn’t changed. Those who turn aside from Jesus to do wicked acts will be banished. Those who, by faith, walk in holiness and righteous with the Holy Spirit will be saved. This is the beautiful complexity of the God we know and love. He will never leave us or forsake us.