Psalms: Songs of Ascent

Psalm hundred and 25, a song of Asense Those who trust in the lords are like Mount Zion, which cannot be shaken but in jaws forever. As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the lord surrounds his people both now and forevermore. The scepter of the wicked will not remain over the land allotted to the righteous For them the righteous might use their hands to do evil. Lord, do good to those who are good?

To those who are upright in heart, but those who turn to crooked ways, the lord will vanish with the evil doers. Peace, beyond Israel then. Thanks very much, Rory. Good evening from me. Evening.

Thanks for coming out on this sticky hot evening. It's always encouraging when there are lots of bodies in the room on a on a day like today. This is a great Psalm. Really blessed me this week because I've been thinking about it. And 1 of those Psalms that I've just been applying to everything.

In all sorts of ways. So it's been great. Let's pray, shall we? As we start, Oscar Lord to help us. Further, we thank you for these Psalms.

These pilgrims would have sung on the way up to Jerusalem to meet with your people to to worship you. And thank you father that we no longer have to go anywhere to worship you, but because of Jesus, the spirit lives within us. And so right now, we have come to you. And, Lord, you want to speak to us. And we thank you for the bible, your word.

Thank you that as you speak to us, you impart life and wisdom. And you correct us and you train us, and you do good for us. And so I pray that you'd give us ears now to hear this word. That you would change us, that you would grow faith in us, and maturity in us, that you teach us things, and that we would glorify the Lord Jesus because of it, and his name. R Men.

R Men. Great. If you've been keeping up with the news, you'll know that it's hard to imagine a man more shaken at the moment than Philip Scofield. Hard to imagine a man more visibly and literally shaken than Philip Skoford. Whatever you think of him, whatever you think of situation he's in, whatever you think about the whole thing.

He's shaken, isn't he? To his to his very core. If you've seen the BBC interview he gave, The interviewer said his hands were trembling the whole time. He's literally shaking. I was on holiday last week, and I was perusing a charity bookshop and there was his autobiography out, which was on sale.

I think people trying to get rid of these things, sadly. And and it was a Sunday Times best seller, Philip Scofield's autobiography was an Sunday Times best seller just in 20 20. Not even that long ago. And do you know what it's called? It's called life's what you make it.

Quite a shocking sort of prophetic title for a book by him, isn't it? Life's what you make it. Life's what you make it. I do wonder whether he would stand by that title. Probably he would, actually.

In fact, he he he takes a lot of blame himself, and he says, I've I've done this. Life is what you make it. So it's a it's a prophetic book, but it's a tragedy, isn't it, really, what's happened to him? Because almost everything in his life has been shaken to the core. The pillars that make up our lives, the various different things.

Every single 1 of them have been shaken. Family, His family I mean, he talks about them being a unit of 4, but I I I find that hard to imagine. So since he left his his wife not long ago. His family is really torn apart at the seams. His friends So his colleague and his friend, Holly Willoughby.

What's happened to their relationship? Broken. And and at 1 point, she was his closest sort of confident, broken, his career. Well, the BBC interviewer asked him, he said, what do you think where did your career go from here? And he said, nowhere.

His reputation He's been dropped as ambassador for the Prince's Trust among many other different charities. His mental health is shaken. He says that openly. He says some very scary things about his mental health and his physical health. It's impossible to go through all of this and for your body not to suffer in some way.

And if you saw him, he was All the pictures of him are very drawn, very thin, very pale. Now we've seen in 1 Timothy chapter 5 that the sins of some are obvious, reaching the place of judgment ahead of them. Well, that's happened for him. His sin has been made obvious. And judgments caught up with him.

But then, 1 Timothy says, the sins of others trail behind them, hidden. And so in in a sense, Gofield has just been caught out. He's just been caught. But all sorts of people, many others still conceal their sin as it trails behind them, and they're lying to cover things up. But 1 day, all secrets are gonna be revealed But the interesting thing about Phillips, Gofield, because he's been caught out, what this whole situation has revealed, is the things that we build our lives on, our shaky ground.

The things that we build our lives on, the things that we think are pillars that will bring us meaning and satisfaction and joy, and we'll never move. They're all shaky. Actually. That's what this that's what he showed us. Because normally, if if 1 thing in our life goes, Our instinct is just to shift everything onto another pillar, isn't it?

So, you know, oh, my family is falling to bits, but at least my career is going well. You know, I've had to make some sacrifices at home, and that's all now gone to pot. But I've done it. I've made it in in my career. You see?

How we move things across. I mean, Philip Scofield did that on live on TV. He put his career forward whilst his family was breaking in background. Some people say, well, I've had to, like, leave those friends behind. Maybe in a workplace, you're you're sat on a table with colleagues, but you're trying to get a promotion.

And in order to get a promotion, you have to not really spend as much time with these friends anymore. So you kind of like leave them. And you start spending more time with these guys over here. And so in a way, you leave your friendships behind, and maybe they maybe they say, oh, just a money grabber, you've just left us, what you're gonna leave And we thought you were on me, but you're just going after money. And that person would say, oh, well, I've lost my friendships, but at least, I've built my career.

I've progressed. Yeah? They've moved 1 pillar to another. Or maybe, you know, I've had to chuck everything in. I've had to just stop everything and close the door to my bedroom because of my mental health.

Everything else is suffering, I need to prioritize my mental health. You see, normally, that's what we do. When 1 thing gets a bit shaky, we lean on other things. But what is extraordinary about Scofield is that almost everything in his life has gone overnight, his family, his friends, his career, his reputation, his mental health. And so he's really got nowhere left to turn.

He said in this recent BBC interview, he said, I see nothing ahead of me except blackness and sadness. All of his pillars are gone. That pillar gone. That pillar gone. That piligot.

Now, look, the Lord has really brought inflection upon him. Not without purpose. The Lord brings things in order to do his work. So we pray that he's gonna lead into Christ. That would be an amazing thing.

But actually, this is also what I want us to see tonight is his his life is a warning to us. And to everyone else. It's a warning that none of the things that he had built his life on, his family, friends, reputation, career, health, none of them are strongholds. None of them are are immune from being shaken and crumbling at some in. And now normally, if 1 thing goes, as I said, we just move on to something else.

But but that's just as crumbly, and it could go at any moment. And so the question is, how are we not gonna be shaken in this world? We're Christians, aren't we? We believe in the lord. How are we different from the schofields of this world?

How are we not going to be shaken in this world? Because storms come and go. We had a storm today. That was lovely, wasn't it? When it came and broke the heavy tension.

But storms come and go. Sometimes they come at our own doing, because we've made a mistake. And then there's a storm. But sometimes storms come uninvited, don't they? Nothing really to do with us.

How are we gonna remain in the light and not just have blackness and sadness ahead of us as we look forward into the future and into this world. Well, the Israelites, the pilgrims, who they themselves and their nations, his particularly faced many storms, all sorts of pillars were getting smashed, in their history, they would sing this song to remind themselves of how not to be shaken in this world. How do God how are God's people set apart? How is it that we can stand on a solid rock that is Christ? And not be shaken.

So that's what this Psalm is about. It's about how not to be shaken in this world. And my first point is verse 1. Take a look at It says those who trust in the lord are like Mount Zion. Those who trust in the lord are like Mount Zion, which cannot be shaken, but endures forever.

Those who trust in the lord cannot be shaken. Now, that is diametrically opposed in the Scriptures, with trusting in anything else. You cannot, in the bible, trust in God, and in family. It's not like you have a main pillar of your life as god and then a little pillar as your family. It's not you have God and your health.

It's not that you have God and money, Psalm 20 says this, some trust in chariots and some in horses, and chariots and horses are like the strength in the world, the sort of worldly security, the things that you can get here and now, some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the lord our God. That's how the Bible presents trust, and the pillars of your life. Some trust in cherits and horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God. So what does it mean to trust in the lord I've got? It's easy to say.

Those who trust in the lord are like Mount Zion, which cannot be shaken. What does it mean to trust him? Well, it means to trust in his unfailing love. Trust in the Lord's unfailing love. Isaiah 54 says this, though the mountains be shaken, and the hills be removed.

Yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken. Nor my covenant of peace be removed. My unfailing love for you will not be shaken, is what God says. He has an unfailing love for you. In a world where people's love for you, kind of wanes, and grows, and shrinks, and expands suddenly, and then diminishes, and then disappears.

A world where people are here 1 minute and then gone the next. God's love will not be shaken, he said. He has an unfailing love for you. Doesn't fail. Doesn't run out.

It's not dependent upon you or your performance. Everyone loves someone until they fall from grace, and then they become an enemy. But God doesn't treat us like that. We mess up. His mercy is more as we sang.

He has an unfailing love which will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed. That's what it means to trust in law, to trust in his unfailing love. It also means to trust in his covenant, and a covenant is a promise, an unbreakable promise that God makes with us. And he promises in the Scriptures. He says, never will I leave you nor for sake you.

That is a promise God has made to his people. And that's something that we can trust in, we can depend on that when people leave us, when people move away, or people pass away, or people fall out with us. When we fall out with people, God will never leave us nor forsake us. He's made a covenant with us, a promise It's an amazing picture in Genesis when God makes a covenant with Abraham. And normally, in those days, to make a covenant you would have you would get an animal and you'd tear it in 2.

And you would put a piece here and a piece here. And you would both walk between the pieces of the animal. And you would say, if we break the covenant, may it be like, may it be to us like this animal? If we break this covenant, may it be to us like this animal? Maybe we be torn in 2.

And the amazing thing with God when he makes his covenant with Abraham, is normally both parties walk through. 1 party says, yes, we will hold our end of the bargain. And then the next party goes, yes, we will hold our end of the bargain. But with God and Abraham, only God walks through. He says, I will hold up my end of the bargain and your end of the bargain.

That's how much I'm gonna keep this covenant That's how much I'm gonna keep these promises I've made to you. There's nothing that can separate us from the love of God because of his covenant to us. That's something you can trust in. You can trust in the lord because of his covenant. Trusting in the lord means to trust his assessment of you, rather than anyone else's.

Again, amazing how our reputation can rise and fall in this world. You can go to an interview. You cannot get it. You can feel awful about yourself. You can have a friend who suddenly just gives you the cold shoulder and doesn't talk to you as much as they're used to or doesn't treat you the same as they as they're used to.

You can do something that really lets a lot of people down. If you are basing your life and your pillars of your life on people's of you, then just look at Philip Scofield and see how quickly that could disappear. But your reputation in God's eyes, is amazing. We were looking this morning at Seoul at the story of Zakius, and everyone talks about Zakius as if he's a sinner, they grumble and they say, Why is Jesus going to the house of that sinner? And Jesus comes to him and he says, Zakius.

He calls him Zakius. He knows his name. He has a high reputation in the eyes of Jesus because he loves him. That's something you can trust in. His assessment of you.

What else does it mean to trust in the lord? It means to trust in his salvation. I mean, how many times do we fail and mess up? And then suddenly panic. Ugh.

We we sort of slip, don't we? Into thinking that our salvation is something to do with us. We've compromised our salvation somehow, but we haven't. The Lord's salvation is his salvation. Again and again in the scriptures, the Lord says, I will save you.

I will do this. So that's something you can trust in. That's what it means to trust in the lord, in his unfailing love, in his covenant, in his assessment of you, his value of you, and his salvation. Those who trust in the lord are like Mount Zion, which endures forever. I think this is an amazing This is this is a song that the pilgrims would sing as they were walking up the mountain.

And they're singing about the mountain that they're walking up What a great illustration that is as they're as they're walking and reminding themselves. They're saying those who trust in the lord are like this mountain. Which was here years ago when our forefathers walked up it. It's still here today, and it will still be here in years to come. This is what we're like if we trust the lord.

Hey, that's great, isn't it? That rock is still there. I saw that last year. Still there. That mountain over there, still there.

Yeah. What a great illustration. Mountains don't move. Mount Zion is still there today, thousands of years later. It hasn't moved.

Those who trust in the lord are like Mount Zion, which endures forever. It's also not just any old mountain, is it? It's amazing. Could have just said, those who trust in the lord are like a mountain, But he doesn't say that, he says those who trust in the lord are like Mount Zion. There's something very special about Mount Zion, and it's special because the Lord is there.

This is where Jerusalem is. This is where God the place God has chosen for his dwelling. It's where he blesses his people, It's where he showers them with with his love. And so here's the logic of this thinking, God cannot be shaken. You're gonna try and shake God, good luck.

God cannot be shaken. His dwelling place cannot be shaken, so his people cannot be shaken. Those who trust in the law like Mount Zion, the city of God, the place of God. And then look at verse 3. As the mountains surround Jerusalem.

So the lord surrounds his people both now and forevermore. So Jerusalem is surrounded by 7 mountains, 7, amazing, perfect completeness. There is some surrounded by 7 mountains, and these mountains act as a kind of a bit of a barrier with the weather. So if there's a storm rolling in in Israel, it will break on the mountains before it gets to Jerusalem so that it's it's tempered. You know, if there's a storm coming that way, it's tempered, if there are winds, if there's rain, and hail, it's tempered.

It's a safe place. From the elements it's protected. But also, these mountains provide security against enemies because they would go and sort of have scouts on these mountains, and you'd see the enemy coming before. And so you'd have time to prepare, and then also these mountains act as a kind of trell barrier of protection as well. These enemies have to climb over these mountains in order to get to to to to Jerusalem.

And so do you see? As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds his people, both now and forevermore? God is protecting his people. He's surrounding us. Maybe you know the story in 2 kings.

With Elijah, and he's with his servant. And there's a whole army coming towards them to get them. And the servant is rightfully shaking. He's like, Elijah. Have you seen this huge army coming towards us?

Aren't you worried about this? And Elijah prays, and he says, Lord open the eyes of this servant. And God opens the eyes of the servant, and he sees around the enemy coming on all the mountains that are surrounding Elijah in the servant. He sees chariots and horsemen of fire. The armies of the Lord are surrounding them on the mountains, even though there's an enemy coming, even though there's danger right there.

Even though this this enemy is about to come upon them, the lord is surrounding his people. And do you notice it says, both now and forevermore. Are there not chariot and horsemen of fire surrounding us right now? Are they not? There are.

God protects us He surrounds his people now and forevermore, even with the enemy in our presence. God is there with his with his armies. No storm ever hit Jerusalem that the Lord did not allow over the mountains that surround it. No storm ever came towards Elijah, that that army and chariots didn't allow to come through. This is how the lord still surrounds his people today.

I find that very exciting. Those who trust in the lord are like Mount Zion. Isn't that good? That's good news, isn't it? We cannot be shaken.

Mount Zion cannot be shaken. Those who put their trust in the Lord cannot be shaken because he cannot be shaken. That's the first thing as they're singing and they're walking along and they're remembering why in this world they're not going to be shaken even though things come and disasters come and difficulties come, they're not shaken because they trust in the lord. The second thing that they seem to remind themselves, is, I think, in in verse 3. Verse 3.

The scepter of the wicked will not remain over the land a lot to the righteous. This is my second point. The scepter of the wicked will not remain over the land allotted to the righteous. This was a great thing for them to remind themselves of. So the scepter of the wicked.

So scepter is 1 of those sort of sticks with a ball on the end. If you watched the king's coronation recently, you would have seen, he'd be was given 2 septas, and at 1 point, he held them out like this. He looked like a little bug or something or a dalek. But he was given septas. Now, septas are symbolic of power and authority.

So he was given 1 scepter that represented his authority over the country in like a lawful way. And then he also received 1 that was authoritative over the church. And there he was with his 2 septas. Now, he's just sort of a fragile old man, but he was holding the sept which symbolize power, authority, conquest, strength, that's what sectors symbolize. And so the scepter of the wicked in the land of the righteous is an amazing picture for us.

It's picture language of something that has a kind of evil presence in your life or stronghold over you that is wicked. So literally, in Israel's history, on a national level, they had a sector of wickedness in the land of the righteous. The land allotted to the righteous is the promised land. That is the land allotted to the righteous and the Romans there. Or the Babylonians are there, or the Assyrians are there.

That is this scepter of authority, a stronghold of power in the land of the of the righteous. What's this doing here? But also on a personal level. I think all of us have various septas of the wicked in our lives, don't we? Maybe it's a stubborn sin in your heart or a kinda constant notation.

It's like a scepter of wickedness there. Just sort of in the in the land of your heart. It's like an evil presence. Or maybe persecution outwardly is there a scepter of wickedness in your home or in your workplace or amongst your friends. What about financially, you know, financial difficulties?

That can be a scepter of wickedness in your life, can't it? Or health issues, that's a scepter of wickedness. I have a I have a scepter. There's a there's an authoritative stronghold of wickedness in my body. Whatever the oppressive thing is that's taken up residence in your life.

Here is the amazing truth that the Israelites reminded themselves of. The truth is that it will not remain in the land allotted to the righteous. It will not remain there. It will not remain there. The word remain is actually the word rest It's Neuach, which is this amazing biblical word that represents kind of settled permanent goodness.

So on the seventh day, God rested. When Solomon built the temple, the presence of the Lord rested there. When all was well in the in the land of Israel, God's people were at rest. And here, they're saying, the scepter of the wicked will not rest in the land allotted to the righteous. This is not its final resting place.

This wicked thing in our life does not belong there. In fact, the land has been allotted. It doesn't belong to me or to you. It belongs to God, and he has allotted this land to me. My body, my life.

It doesn't belong to wickedness, or evil, or sickness. It doesn't those things are aliens living in the land. God has given this to us, not to wickedness, and so they remind themselves, the scepter will not remain in the land of the righteous. The scepter of wickedness will not and this is what I've been saying to myself. I had a I had a spiked fever Last Saturday, I was in hospital, I'd rushed to hospital in an ambulance.

I was shaking like this. I was burning up My whole body seized up and I was shivering for about half an hour. And so Kerry was like, I'm gonna call the ambulance. So I was rushed to hospital, You know what I was saying to myself when I was like this? I was saying the scepter of the wicked will not remain in the land of the righteous.

This is gonna pass. And sure enough it did pass. But, hey, sometimes in this life it doesn't pass, but it will pass. A scepter of the wicked not remain in the land allotted to the righteous. That is what God has said.

That is what we must remind ourselves of when wickedness comes. And evil. Now, why? Why does it not remain in the land? It's interesting.

We're given a reason. It's quite interesting. Look at the second half of of of verse 3. It won't remain there. Why?

For them, the righteous might use their hands to do evil. Okay? So here is God, permitting the presence of the scepter only up to a point. Yes, the scepter may proceed over the hills protecting Jerusalem, but only for a little while. And the reason it's there only for a little while, It's because otherwise, you might turn and use your hands to do evil.

So in other words, if the scepter pushed you enough, to turn you away from the lord, then the lord would take it away. That's a comfort, isn't it? Nothing in your life that you're suffering with. Will push you away from the Lord because if it would, God would remove the scepter. In Matthew's Gospel, Jesus talks about the end times and he talks about a time of great distress And and he says this.

He says, if those days had not been cut short, no 1 would survive. But for the sake of the elect, those days will be shortened. For the sake of the elect, God has shortened the days under the scepter of wickedness. For his people, for their sake. So they wouldn't turn away from him.

And so here is the confidence God wants us to have about the suffering in our life. As we're walking along, wickedness will not rest in the land allotted to us. This is not its final resting place. I will be free of this 1 day. It will not be there forever.

Secondly, he's in sovereign control of this. He will give me everything I need, every grace, every endurance to stand under it, Because if I couldn't deal with it, if it would drive me away from him, he would take it away. Good news, isn't it? So why are we not shaking in this world full of so many disappointments and afflictions and difficulties? 2 reasons, I've told you them already.

1, because those who trust in the lord are like Mount Zion. And secondly, because the scepter of the wicked will not remain in the land allotted to the righteous. See, it's interesting. Without the lord, without these truths, Skofield is absolutely right, isn't it? He says there is nothing ahead of him except blackness and sad this.

And you see that in verses 4 and 5. So, Lord, do good to those who are good, to those who are upright in heart, light Joy. Do good to those who are good. But to those who turn to crooked ways the Lord will vanish with the evildoers. Black ness, sadness.

Now, what hope is there for people like Philip Scofield in this world? Finally, my last point. Peace be on Israel peace be on Israel, which is the final word of this Psalm. As Jesus began his earthly ministry, after he was tempted in the wilderness. He went to the synagogue on the Sabbath.

He stood up, and the scroll of Isaiah was handed to him, and he opened it up, and he found the bit that said this. The spirit of the lord is on me because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners. Or release from darkness for the prisoners, and recovery of sight for the blind to set the oppressed free to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor. And then he sat down after he read that and all eyes were on him.

And then he began by saying today, the scripture is fulfilled in your hearing. I noticed this week that it says he began by saying, why didn't they include more? What else did he say after that? He began by saying today, this scripture fulfilled in your hearing to the 1 who is poor, to the 1 who is in darkness, to the 1 who is imprisoned, to the 1 who is blind, to the 1 who is oppressed, to the 1 who is shaken, to the 1 who whose pillars have come crashing down, Jesus has come to proclaim good news to you. This is the year of the Lord's favor.

There is freedom. There is recovery. There is restoration for the 1 who turns to Jesus. That's what he's saying. Though the whole world collapses, Jesus' unfailing love will never be shaken.

And we see this nowhere more clearly or powerfully than on the cross of Jesus. In 1 John chapter 4, says this, this is love, wanna know what unfailing love is? This is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his son as an atoning sacrifice for us in The greatest expression of love is Jesus becoming the atoning sacrifice for our sins. That's where we see what God's unfailing love. Is pushed to and looks like.

That's where we see the immortal God becoming flesh and dying. That's unfailing love. The father who loves the son and has loved him from eternity is pouring out his wrath and anger for our wickedness, our crooked our sin, on him, that's unfailing love. The God who should be worshipped and honored above all else, We've just sang, behold our king seated on his throne. That's about Jesus.

But Jesus is the 1 who came into this world and put himself behind everyone. Humbled himself to the grave we sang tonight. That's unfailing love. Excuse me. So though pain and enemies and the scepter of wickedness seem to rule in our lives, Jesus binds up the brokenhearted, And through his death and his resurrection, he's defeated every evil, the scepter of the wicked will not remain in the land allotted to the righteous.

Satan is on borrowed time. And so because of Jesus, there can be peace on Israel. That's how they can be peace on Israel. Verse 5. The word is actually Shalom, Shalom be on on Israel.

Shalom means wholeness. It means satisfaction. It means completeness. It means health. It means prosperity in a sense.

Jesus is the prince of Shalom, the prince of peace. He's the prince of Shalom. So those Here's here's the 2 here's the 2 things you can choose to base your life on. You can trust in the world and be shaken. Or you can trust in Jesus, the Lord, and have shalom.

Yeah? Shaken or shalom. Shaken or shalom. James Bond was shaken not stirred, but here are the 2 options I'm giving you. Shakein or Shalon.

Those who trust in the lord are like Mount Zion, which cannot be shaken, but endure forever. Jesus invites you to trust him, to build your life on him, to have Shalon in him. That's good news, isn't it? Let's pray. Father, we thank you so much for the Psalm and for the things that it teaches us and reminds us.

Thank you that those who trust in you are like Mount Zion, the city of God that cannot be shaken. Thank you father because you cannot be shaken. Your city cannot be shaken. Your people cannot be shaken. Thank you father for your unfailing love for us.

Showed to us most clearly in the death of your son for our sins. Father, thank you for the joy that it is to say that the scepter of the wicked will not remain in the land allotted to the righteous. Lord, wickedness, evil, sickness. They do not belong in this land, in our hearts, in our lives. And we thank you that they will not take up permanent residence there.

But 1 day, Jesus will cleanse and clear every evil from the land. I pray, lord that you give us strength and endurance in this world if and when there are septors of wickedness in our lives. Thank you, lord, that if it were too much for us, if we were gonna turn away from you, you would take it away from us. Thank you for father. And give us confidence that if you have not removed it, you will not abandon us.

You will give us everything we need to stand under it. And father, we pray that we would put our trust in Jesus, that we would have this shalom in a world of storms and difficulties we would be standing on the solid ground of Christ. And Lord, with our friends and family who don't know you, see within us this unshakable pillar of faith. And we pray that they would desire it. And we pray for Philip Scofield.

Lord, you've humbled him, please would that be not without purpose? Would you show him Christ? Would he see the shalom that Jesus offers? In a world that has shaken him. And we pray these things in Jesus' name, our men.