Psalms Of The Ascent

Introduction

The 120th Psalm. The 120th Psalm will be our text, or at least one of the passages that we’re looking at this morning in just a few moments. It is good to see you. It’s good to be together as brethren in Christ as we’ve come together to worship our great God, to honor him, to praise him. I’m going to begin this morning with a little bit of an apology. And as to all parents that in my BC era, before children, if I ever thought of shooting you a dirty look or anything like that because your kids were noisy, I recognize I have been repaid in spades.

And I think we’re doing the same thing with him as we did with Jared, but uh, I don’t know. I don’t know. He’s got he’s got lungs, he’s got pipes. So I also apologize for those members who are trying to sing the songs of praise that Brother Michael led us in. And if you were like me, and as if my littlest one was shouting out with the words, well, you may not have actually gotten the meaning of the song at that point. But uh anyway. The Psalms of Ascent. Psalm 120 through Psalm 134. Fifteen Psalms that are form a collection within the book of Psalms. Those Psalms were not written at the same time. We know that because you can look, for instance, at Psalm 122, where it begins says in the title, a song of ascent or of David.

Also, Psalm 124 also ascribes that Psalm to the time of David. By contrast, you can look at Psalm 126. When the Lord brought back the captive ones of Zion. We were like those who dream. And not only that, but even in Psalm 120 and in verse 5, woe is me, for I sojourn in Meshech, for I dwell among the tents of Kedar. Meshech being in the far northern regions, Kadar being to the southeast of Judah. And so that idea has to do with dispersion as well. And so Psalm 120 and Psalm 126 at least seem to reflect the time after the Assyrian and Babylonian captivities during this period of exile, and now the Jews were able to go back to Judah. They’re able to go back to Jerusalem.

So why are these 15 Psalms, and I believe if you’ll look in your translations, at the beginning of every one of those Psalms, it will say a song of ascent. Why were they grouped this way? Why are they given this terminology, this title at the beginning? These Psalms had to do with pilgrimage. The idea of, even as is encapsulated in the law in Exodus 34 and verse 23, that the Jews were required three times a year to present themselves to the place of God’s choosing. Of course, when the law of Moses was written there in Exodus 34, there was a tabernacle. But God looking forward to the time when he would choose a spot for his name. We think of the days like the days of Samuel, when Samuel, well even before Samuel was born, and Samuel’s mother Hannah goes up with her husband to Shiloh to worship God on an appointed day.

That idea of wherever the Lord’s name was, wherever God chose, his people were to go there. And of course, Jerusalem became that during the days of David. The idea, of course, being that you go to worship God, that whether you’re in Judah or whether you were dispersed abroad, this is your pilgrimage, going to the holy place, going to where God is, that you may be with him, and that you may worship him. There were some traditions that developed even later, that within the court of the temple that was rebuilt, and you had these different courts, the court of the Gentiles and the court of women, the court of the Gentiles being further away from the holy place than the court of women, and there were fifteen steps that went from the court of the Gentiles into the court of women.

1. Being Away and Journeying to Jerusalem

That being as far as the women could proceed. And the idea was, as far as this tradition goes, that these psalms were sung as each step was ascended. And so the term the Psalms of Ascent. That’s a relatively late tradition, though, and probably not why they were originally given this title. The idea is ascending to Zion, is ascending to where God is, to where God’s presence is. And these Psalms were given for that reason. I want to look at these Psalms, and we’ll not have time to read all fifteen. But I want to look at some of the exhortations found within the Psalms of Ascent. I want to take the first three together. Because it may be that the first three are put this way, because they form the overall idea, the overall setting of being away and journeying to Jerusalem.

And so you start in Psalm 120. In my trouble I cried to the Lord, and he answered me. Deliver my soul, O Lord, from lying lips, from a deceitful tongue. What shall be given to you? And what more shall be done to you, you deceitful tongue? Sharp arrows of the warrior with the burning coals of the broom tree. Woe is me for our sojourn in Meshech, for I dwell among the tents of Kadar. Too long has my soul had its dwelling with those who hate peace. I am for peace. But when I speak, they are for war. The idea of this psalm, and certainly you understand we’ll not have time to look at every psalm verse by verse. But the idea of the psalm is that of a sojourn in a foreign land, whether it be to the far north in Meshech, or whether it be to the south in Kadar.

And here are God’s people living among strangers, and they are the subject of ridicule. They are the subject of persecution, and all they can do is cry out to the Lord. But even in this, there is a recognition that the Lord answers, and the Lord would be with him, even as he seeks for peace, and yet those who surround him are for war. They are wanting to war against God’s people. And so Psalm 121 then flows into this idea. I will lift up my eyes to the mountains. From where shall my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. He will not allow your foot to slip. He who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.

The Lord is your keeper. The Lord is your shade on your right hand. The sun will not smite you by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord will protect you from all evil. He will keep your soul. The Lord will guide your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forever. So here is a sojourner, dwells among foreign people, dwells among his enemies. There is this constant reflection of the Lord helps me. The Lord protects me. I look up to the mountains. There are no forces in the mountains that may help, but the Lord helps. The Lord is my shade. I like that terminology. I spent all day out in the sun yesterday, and oh, how you want shade. But the Lord is my shade.

The sun will not smite you. The Lord is there protecting me. And so the sojourner recognizes that wherever he is, even if he dwells among those who hate his life, those who want to make war on him. The Lord is still his protector. The Lord is the one who guides him and guards him. And so you come to Psalm 122, and the idea of the sojourn is now complete. I was glad when they said to me, Let us go to the house of the Lord. Our feet are standing within your gates, O Jerusalem. Jerusalem that is built as a city that is compact together. To which the tribes go up, even the tribes of the Lord. An ordinance for Israel. There’s your idea of the pilgrimage that was to be made, again reflecting Exodus 34.

The tribes going up to Jerusalem, an ordinance for Israel to give thanks to the name of the Lord. For their thrones were set for judgment, the thrones of the house of David. So pray for the peace of Jerusalem. May they prosper who love you. May peace be within your walls and prosperity within your palaces. For the sake of my brothers and my friends, I will now say, May peace be within you. For the sake of the house of the Lord our God, I will seek your good. I was glad when they said, Let us go to the house of the Lord. I would hope we would all say something similar to that even this morning. As we come together as God’s house, we’re not in God’s house, we are God’s house.

We have come together as God’s house to worship him. And we think of all the travails of our daily existence. All the trials and sufferings that we may experience, and yet we can go and be God’s house and serve him and worship him. And that’s on the mind of the psalmist. Wherever he is, and of course, this is being a psalm of David. I was glad when they said, Let us go to the house of the Lord. And now, as those who lived well after David reflected on their sojourn, their trials, they too were saying, We were glad when they said, Let us go to the house of the Lord. And now we are in your gates, O Jerusalem. The idea of the peace that has come upon them.

After having been harried in their lives, after having been persecuted. Now they’ve come to God’s place. They have come to the place where God set his name, where David ruled, and the thrones of judgment were. That is the idea of David’s descendants ruling after him. And Israel having come together to worship their God. Now we’re at peace. Now we have joy. Now we have satisfaction. But we have come to the place of God’s choosing. And so it may be that those first three psalms just kind of give you the overall idea of what the sojourn is all about, what the pilgrimage is all about. You are in your life. And your life has trials. Your life may be even among those who do not love the Lord or his people.

And you may be persecuted for his sake. And yet you constantly reminding yourself, the Lord protects me. The Lord is the one who looks after me. He is the one who guards me. And all I long for is to be in the Lord’s house. And of course, on us, for us, that would not only mean, yes, our coming together, but to truly be with the Lord. We’ll talk about that more at the end. What you have following that, then, are differing exhortations given to those who are sojourning. And I think it’s interesting that as you look at these exhortations, they are not just about traveling. In fact, they’re not about traveling at all. We think of the idea of a pilgrimage. Many of our minds go to the Canterbury Tales because we had to read them when we were young.

2. Persecution: Looking to the Lord

We have this idea, okay, we’re on a journey. Well, this is the idea, too. But it’s a journey where you may not even leave home. It’s the journey of life. That wherever you are, you’re on your journey to be with the Lord. And so these exhortations had to do with daily life and daily events. And the exhortation that we have to look on God, to focus on God, even as we’re sojourning here and now. The first few, uh, Psalm 123 through 125 had to do again with persecution. And the idea of looking to the Lord and knowing that the Lord is with you. I’ll just read 124 for an example of this. Had it not been the Lord who is on our side, let Israel now say.

Had it not been the Lord who was on our side when men rose up against us, then they would have swallowed us alive when their anger was kindled against us, then the waters would have engulfed us, the stream would have swept over our soul, then the raging waters would have swept over our soul. Blessed be the Lord, who has not given us to be torn by their teeth. Our soul has escaped as a bird out of the snare of the trapper. The snare is broken, and we have escaped. Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth. I tell you, this is what I’m learning as I go through the Psalms more and more. When you’re going through daily life, there’s an answer for it in the Psalms.

3. Prosperity and the Blessings of Life

Because here are the experiences of godly men and women that have gone on before us who recognize life is not easy. Life is filled with toil and turmoil. And what can you do? What greater hope do we have than looking to the Lord? And knowing and having the assurance in our minds and in our souls that ultimately, yes, God does deliver. And God does not forsake his people. When you come to Psalm 127 and 128, you now have not persecution that’s being dealt with. You have prosperity. You have good things, you have the blessings of life. And again, the focus is on the Lord. Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it. Unless the Lord guards the city, the watchman keeps awake in vain.

It is vain for you to rise up early to retire late to eat the bread of painful labors, for he gives to his beloved even in his sleep. Behold, children are a gift of the Lord, the fruit of the womb is a reward, or a payback, like I said earlier. No, sorry. The children are a gift of the Lord, the fruit of the womb is a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, so are the children of one’s youth. How blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them. They will not be ashamed when they speak with their enemies in the gate. Let’s go ahead and read Psalm 128. How blessed is everyone who fears the Lord, who walks in his ways. When you shall eat of the fruit of your hands, you will be happy, and it will be well with you.

Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine within your house, your children like olive plants around your table. Behold, for thus shall the man be blessed who fears the Lord. The Lord bless you from Zion. And may you see the prosperity of Jerusalem all the days of your life. Indeed, may you see your children’s children, peace be upon Israel. You see, the tone has changed. This is not a people that’s in danger. This is a people who are prospering now. And it’s those who are blessed by the Lord. And the idea is, as you sojourn here in this life, you do experience the blessings of God, the one who is the Father of life who gives every good and perfect gift. Whether it be the food that he provides, the spouse that he gives, the children that he has given.

This is a blessing of God. And so even though we are journeying to Zion, I think the focus is don’t just think about what lies ahead in the future. Don’t only dwell on your final destination. We do dwell on that, as we should. We all long to be with the Lord. That is first and foremost in our mind. But do not think to that to the exclusion of here are the blessings that God is giving you now. Be thankful every day, not just for the hope that he provides for the future, but for the blessings he offers here and now. As he has provided you at your table, as provided you with your family. And the prayer, of course, being for more blessings coming from God.

4. An Exhortation for Times of Personal Failure

So you have exhortations for time of persecution. You have exhortations for time of prosperity. Going over to the 130th Psalm, you have an exhortation for times of personal failure.

Out of the depths I cried to you, O Lord. Lord, hear my voice. Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications. If you, Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand. But there is forgiveness with you, that you may be feared. I wait for the Lord, my soul does wait. In his word do I hope. My soul waits for the Lord more than the watchman for the morning, indeed more than the watchman for the morning. O Israel, hope in the Lord. For the Lord there is loving kindness. And with him is abundant redemption. And he will redeem Israel from all his iniquities. I think you have here what begins as a personal recognition of failure, and then looking to the failure of an entire people.

But the point is the same. The Lord could have marked, could mark iniquities. And certainly we understand that the Lord is just.

5. Times Where We Simply Do Not Understand

That term loving kindness points you back to the covenant. God’s faithfulness to the covenant. God’s willingness to be gracious and merciful to those in covenant dwelling with him. That God has made promises. And yes, it is the duty of his people to follow him, and yet, because God has loving kindness, because God is merciful and gracious and faithful, he has provided even in that covenant for forgiveness. And so there is hope. The exhortation to those who have personal failings, as we all do, as we all sin before God. Even as we’re on our journey, there is hope. Maybe Psalm 131 is my favorite. Because how many times do we not think of in this life? I just don’t understand. How can this be God’s will? How can it be God’s will that this society become so corrupt?

Of course, we would respond it’s not God’s will that the society be so corrupt. But we sometimes question and wonder, how can all these things happen? Specifically, how can so many things happen to good people? Oh Lord, my heart is not proud, nor my eyes haughty, nor do I involve myself in great matters or in things too difficult for me. Surely I have composed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child rest against his mother. My soul was like a weaned child within me. O Israel, hope in the Lord from this time forth and forever. What’s a simple exhortation? You and I, we want to understand. We want to know right here and now why are all these things happening, and what’s going to be the final outcome?

How is God going to correct all this? How is God going to solve all this? The psalmist says, My soul isn’t that haughty, nor is it proud. I must quiet myself and just have hope in the Lord.

6. It All Points to Zion

I hope, if nothing else, from this morning. We’re not done yet. But if you’ll just remember in your mind, Psalm 120 through Psalm 134. There is something there for you, no matter where you are in life. No matter how good or how bad your day has been, there is something in that psalm for you. There is an exhortation for those who are sojourning, for those who are traveling, for those who are longing and waiting to be with the Lord. Because it all points to Zion. Psalm 132. Remember, O Lord, on David’s behalf, all his affliction, how he swore to the Lord and bow to the mighty one of Jacob. Surely I will not enter my house nor lie on my bed. I’ll not give sleep to my eyes or slumber to my eyelids until I find a place for the Lord, a dwelling place for the mighty one of Jacob.

Here it takes us back into the thinking of David as he longed to build a house for the Lord. He had no rest within himself because he recognized, I dwell in this house. My Lord’s house is a tent. So we long to build a house for the Lord. In verse 6, you have David’s willingness and desire to go and to take the ark and to bring it into the house of the Lord. Behold, we heard of it in Ephratha. That seems to be a different word for Bethlehem. We found it in the field of Jar. Let us go into his dwelling place. Let us worship at his footstool. Arise, O Lord, to your resting place, you and the ark of your strength. Let your priests be clothed with righteousness and let your godly ones sing for joy.

The idea being, as David and his companions went to take the ark, to take it back to the house of the Lord. That cry, Arise, O Lord, as even the Israelites cried out in the wilderness whenever it was time to depart, whenever it was time to go, and the Lord was leading them. And now David’s cry, Arise, O Lord, and lead us to your resting place. And so verse 10, for the sake of David, your servant, do not turn away the face of your anointed. The Lord has sworn to David a truth which you will not turn back, of the fruit of your body I will set up your throne, and if your sons will keep covenant, and my testimony which I teach them, their sons shall sit upon your throne forever.

For the Lord has chosen Zion. He has desired it for his habitation. This is my resting place forever. Here I will dwell, for I have desired it. I’ll abundantly bless her provision. I’ll satisfy her needy with bread. Her priests also I will clothe with salvation, and her godly ones sing aloud for joy. Then I’ll cause the horn of David to spring forth. I prepared a lamp for mine anointed. His enemies I will clothe with shame, but upon himself his crown shall shine. The idea of the psalm is exalting Jerusalem, is exalting Zion, is exalting the dwelling place of God. And it goes into that in an historical basis. This is where David desired to build God’s house. This is where David brought the ark. This is where God promised to David that your descendants will reign forever.

And now this is where we have the hope and the promise and the blessing that God will be with his people. The focus is on Zion and God’s dwelling there. We’ll come back and just say a word about this in a minute. I think one Psalm 133 ties right in. Because for Israel, being God’s people was not simply a matter of each individual having relationship with God, but also the matter of them having a relationship with each other. And so to be in Zion, they could say, behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together in unity. It is like the precious oil upon the head coming down upon the beard, even Aaron’s beard, coming down upon the edges of his robe.

Conclusion

It is like the dew of Hermon coming down upon the mountains of Zion, for there the Lord commanded the blessing, life forever. The idea of both of those figures, whether it be the anointing of the head and honor a blessing associated with that, or the dew on Hermon, Hermon being the source of the Jordan River, and the waters flowing down from Herb and Hermon and making that river, the idea being God has provided these blessings. And now we dwell together. Brethren together. Here is the blessing that we have, dwelling together in Zion. Before I get to the last of them, I just want to think about this in terms that fit our day and time. We now recognize that we are looking for a city. Hebrews 13 and 14 makes that point.

We have no permanent city here. Here we are looking for one. The true Zion. And so all these things are true of that as well. Here we are living in dispersion. We may be persecuted, on trial, and yet our hope is still in the Lord. Our longing is one day to be in the house of the Lord. And so again, you take those various exhortations, whether it be during times of trial or in times of blessing. Whether it be in times of personal failure or in times where we simply do not understand.

And this is God exhorting me to come to him, to come to Zion. You go to Psalm 132 in the centrality of Zion. Zion being where David desired to build the Lord a house. And Zion being where God promised to David that his descendants would reign.

The true son of David, Jesus the Christ. And now he reigns with God. What is Zion? But where God is and his son, where they reign. And our longing is to be there in Zion. Together. Again, you look at Psalm 133. How blessed is it when we can be together. Our longing is to be in Zion, where the descendant of David is, where the Son of David is, where our Lord is. And there dwell together, and there partake in all the blessings that God has provided. Psalms of ascent. Does Paul not call it a higher call? Pressing on the upward way we sometimes say. Ascending to Zion is our aim and goal in life. And that in mind, just read with me, Psalm 134, how this collection of Psalms of Ascent ends.

Behold, bless the Lord, all servants of the Lord, who serve by night in the house of the Lord. Lift up your hands to the sanctuary and bless the Lord. May the Lord bless you from Zion, he who made heaven and earth. Mutual blessings. We bless the Lord with all of our might in true recognition that the Lord blesses us from Zion. Would you go to God in prayer with me at this time? We bless you, Lord. All your servants bless you. We who serve you by night in your house. We lift up our hands, Father, to your sanctuary, and we bless you. And we know, Father, that you bless from Zion, you who have made heaven and earth. Father, our prayer is that you would help us in this sojourn.

That you would, in our hour of trouble, as we cry out to you, that you would answer us. That we would lift up our eyes to the mountains, knowing that there you are, and your help comes. Our help comes from you, the one who has made the heavens and the earth. Our Father, we long to be with you. We would pray for your strength. We would pray for your guidance. We would pray that we would come before you in Zion, that we would serve you and love you. We pray, Father, that we would dwell together in peace and harmony, knowing, Father, that you will continue to bless us. Father, be with us not only throughout this day, but throughout whatever remains of this life, as we are on the path to the upward calling, as we ascend to you, knowing that one day even your Son will come, and we’ll rise to meet him, and we’ll be with you for all eternity.

It’s in your Son’s holy name that we pray. Amen. Now dismissed.