5/27/11
Psalm 121 --- Psalm 123-125 --- Psalm 128-130
Psalm 121
Assurance of God's Protection
A Song of Ascents.
1 I lift up my eyes to the hills—
from where will my help come?
2 My help comes from the Lord,
who made heaven and earth.
3 He will not let your foot be moved;
he who keeps you will not slumber.
4 He who keeps Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.
5 The Lord is your keeper;
the Lord is your shade at your right hand.
6 The sun shall not strike you by day,
nor the moon by night.
7 The Lord will keep you from all evil;
he will keep your life.
8 The Lord will keep
your going out and your coming in
from this time on and forevermore.
Psalm 123
Supplication for Mercy
A Song of Ascents.
1 To you I lift up my eyes,
O you who are enthroned in the heavens!
2 As the eyes of servants
look to the hand of their master,
as the eyes of a maid
to the hand of her mistress,
so our eyes look to the Lord our God,
until he has mercy upon us.
3 Have mercy upon us, O Lord, have mercy upon us,
for we have had more than enough of contempt.
4 Our soul has had more than its fill
of the scorn of those who are at ease,
of the contempt of the proud.
Psalm 124
Thanksgiving for Israel's Deliverance
A Song of Ascents. Of David.
1 If it had not been the Lord who was on our side
—let Israel now say—
2 if it had not been the Lord who was on our side,
when our enemies attacked us,
3 then they would have swallowed us up alive,
when their anger was kindled against us;
4 then the flood would have swept us away,
the torrent would have gone over us;
5 then over us would have gone
the raging waters.
6 Blessed be the Lord,
who has not given us
as prey to their teeth.
7 We have escaped like a bird
from the snare of the fowlers;
the snare is broken,
and we have escaped.
8 Our help is in the name of the Lord,
who made heaven and earth.
Psalm 125
The Security of God's People
A Song of Ascents.
1 Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion,
which cannot be moved, but abides forever.
2 As the mountains surround Jerusalem,
so the Lord surrounds his people,
from this time on and forevermore.
3 For the scepter of wickedness shall not rest
on the land allotted to the righteous,
so that the righteous might not stretch out
their hands to do wrong.
4 Do good, O Lord, to those who are good,
and to those who are upright in their hearts.
5 But those who turn aside to their own crooked ways
the Lord will lead away with evildoers.
Peace be upon Israel!
Psalm 128
The Happy Home of the Faithful
A Song of Ascents.
1 Happy is everyone who fears the Lord,
who walks in his ways.
2 You shall eat the fruit of the labor of your hands;
you shall be happy, and it shall go well with you.
3 Your wife will be like a fruitful vine
within your house;
your children will be like olive shoots
around your table.
4 Thus shall the man be blessed
who fears the Lord.
5 The Lord bless you from Zion.
May you see the prosperity of Jerusalem
all the days of your life.
6 May you see your children's children.
Peace be upon Israel!
Psalm 129
Prayer for the Downfall of Israel's Enemies
A Song of Ascents.
1 "Often have they attacked me from my youth"
—let Israel now say—
2 "often have they attacked me from my youth,
yet they have not prevailed against me.
3 The plowers plowed on my back;
they made their furrows long."
4 The Lord is righteous;
he has cut the cords of the wicked.
5 May all who hate Zion
be put to shame and turned backward.
6 Let them be like the grass on the housetops
that withers before it grows up,
7 with which reapers do not fill their hands
or binders of sheaves their arms,
8 while those who pass by do not say,
"The blessing of the Lord be upon you!
We bless you in the name of the Lord!"
Psalm 130
Waiting for Divine Redemption
A Song of Ascents.
1 Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord.
2 Lord, hear my voice!
Let your ears be attentive
to the voice of my supplications!
3 If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities,
Lord, who could stand?
4 But there is forgiveness with you,
so that you may be revered.
5 I wait for the Lord, my soul waits,
and in his word I hope;
6 my soul waits for the Lord
more than those who watch for the morning,
more than those who watch for the morning.
7 O Israel, hope in the Lord!
For with the Lord there is steadfast love,
and with him is great power to redeem.
8 It is he who will redeem Israel
from all its iniquities.
Devotionals, Videos and more ...
by Bill Federer
Twentieth-Century Fox made a motion picture entitled "A Man Called Peter," about the life of U.S. Senate Chaplain Peter Marshall, who was born this day, May 27, 1902. He emigrated from Scotland, was ordained a Presbyterian minister, and became a U.S. citizen in 1938. His son is the well-known author of The Light and the Glory. During a critical moment, U.S. Senate Chaplain Peter Marshall opened a session of Congress with the prayer: "God of our Fathers, whose Almighty hand hath… preserved our Nation… May it be ever understood that… to the extent… America honors Thee, wilt Thou bless America."
Federer, B. (2003). American minute. St. Louis, MO.: Amerisearch, Inc.
by whoever
Most people wish to serve God
- but only in an advisory capacity.
--- Author Unknown
I've been hiding from God,
and I'm appalled to find how easy it is.
--- Mignon McLaughlin, The Second Neurotic's Notebook, 1966
... from here, there and everywhere
by D.H. Stern
Stone is heavy and sand a dead weight,
but a fool's provocation outweighs them both.
Fury is cruel and anger overwhelming,
but who can stand up to jealousy?
Stern, D. H. (1998). Complete Jewish Bible-OE
: An English version of the Tanakh (OT) and
B'rit Hadashah (NT) (1st ed.). Clarksville, Md.: Jewish
New Testament Publications.
A Daily Devotional by Oswald Chambers
The life that lives
Tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high. --- Luke 24:49. Chambers, O. (1993). My Utmost for His Highest
The disciples had to tarry until the day of Pentecost not for their own preparation only; they had to wait until the Lord was glorified historically. As soon as He was glorified, what happened? “Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, He hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear.” The parenthesis in John 7:39 (“For the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified”) does not apply to us; the Holy Ghost has been given, the Lord is glorified; the waiting depends not on God’s providence, but on our fitness.
The Holy Spirit’s influence and power were at work before Pentecost, but He was not here. Immediately Our Lord was glorified in Ascension, the Holy Spirit came into this world, and He has been here ever since. We have to receive the revelation that He is here. The reception of the Holy Spirit is the maintained attitude of a believer. When we receive the Holy Spirit, we receive quickening life from the ascended Lord.
It is not the baptism of the Holy Ghost which changes men, but the power of the ascended Christ coming into men’s lives by the Holy Ghost that changes them. We too often divorce what the New Testament never divorces. The baptism of the Holy Ghost is not an experience apart from Jesus Christ: it is the evidence of the ascended Christ.
The baptism of the Holy Ghost does not make you think of Time or Eternity, it is one amazing glorious NOW. “This is life eternal, that they might know Thee.” Begin to know Him now, and finish never.
the Poetry of R.S. Thomas
The Garden
It is a gesture against the wild,
The ungovernable sea of grass;
A place to remember love in,
To be lonely for a while;
To forget the voices of children
Calling from a locked room;
To substitute for the care
Of one querulous human
Hundreds of dumb needs.
It is the old kingdom of man.
Answering to their names,
Out of the soil the buds come,
The silent detonations
Of power wielded without sin.
Thomas, R. S. Selected Poems, 1946-68
Ḥullin 60b
Jason and Jessica were driving to the beach for a day of sunning and swimming. Along the way, Jessica kept a sharp eye on the speedometer. Every time that the needle went above 55, she would let Jason know that he was speeding and that he had better ease up on the gas pedal. "What's the problem?" he asked. "The roads are empty … I'm not putting us in any danger by driving at 60!" Jessica was not impressed by the argument. "I don't care! It's against the law to drive over 55, so don't do it! I don't want us to get stopped by the police. Slow down!"
When they arrived at the beach, Jason noticed that the lifeguard stations were empty. Signs were posted everywhere: "Danger! No lifeguard on duty. Swim at your own risk." Jason was very nervous about going into the water. "Don't be a scaredy-cat" Jessica yelled. "Come on in! The water's fine!" "But there's no lifeguard," Jason answered. "And there are all those danger signs! I don't think we should swim today." Jessica shook her head: "We're not breaking any law.… We'll be fine. Let's swim!"
Many people make the same mistake as Jessica. They think that because something is not illegal, it must be safe. The truth is that there are many things which are legal but still dangerous. Smoking cigarettes may be the most common example in our society today.
We all know that it is important to heed the warnings that various authorities give us; they can literally save our lives. But we also need to learn that while others may look out for our welfare much of the time, there are countless situations each and every day when we are left on our own. At these instances, we have to depend not upon someone else to protect us but upon our own good common sense.
Is it possible for two kings to share one crown?
Text / Rabbi Shimon ben Pazi contrasted two verses. It is written: "God made the two great lights …" [Genesis 1:16] and it is written: "… the greater light [to dominate the day] and the lesser light [to dominate the night] …" [ibid]. The moon said to the Holy One, blessed be He: "Master of the World! Is it possible for two kings to share one crown?" He said to her: "Go, and make yourself smaller!" She said to Him: "Master of the World! Just because I said to You the correct thing, I have to make myself smaller?" He said to her: "Go, and rule over the day and the night." She said to Him: "What is so special about a lamp in the daylight? What purpose does it serve?" He said to her: "Go, Israel will calculate by you the days and the years." She said to Him: "But they cannot calculate the seasons without the sun, as it is written: 'They shall serve as signs for the set times—the days and the years' [Genesis 1:14]." "Go, the righteous shall be called by your name: Jacob ha-Katan [the lesser], Shmuel ha-Katan, David ha-Katan." When He saw that this did not console her, the Holy One, blessed be He said: "Bring a sacrifice of atonement for Me, for having made the moon smaller," and this is as Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish said: "What is different about the he-goat brought on Rosh Ḥodesh? As it says concerning it: '[And there shall be one goat as a sin offering] for the Lord' [Numbers 28:15, author's translation]. The Holy One, blessed be He said: 'This goat will be atonement for My having made the moon smaller.' "
Context / "O Lord God, pray forgive. How will Jacob survive? He is so small." (Amos 7:2)
Context / "The three oldest sons of Jesse had left and gone with Saul to the war. The names of his three sons who had gone to war were Eliab the first-born, the next Abinadab, and the third Shammah; and David was the youngest [smallest]." (1 Samuel 17:13–14)
Context / Shmuel ha-Katan was a leader and teacher in first century Israel. He was asked by Rabban Gamliel of Yavneh to compose a special prayer against the minim, the sectarians, and this paragraph became a standard part of the Amidah. According to one interpretation, he was known as ha-Katan because he was so humble, lessening his own importance.
Rabbi Shimon ben Pazi is intrigued by the fact that the sun and moon are first described by the Torah as equals ("the two great lights"), but are then characterized as a "greater" and a "lesser." This change is explained by a legend. Originally, the sun and moon were of equal size but after the moon complained that "two kings cannot share one crown," God reduced the moon in size. In other versions of this Midrash, the moon was punished for the sin of pride; here there is no logical reason why God should have made the moon smaller.
In trying to console the moon, God tells her that the title ha-Katan ("the lesser") is actually one of honor. Two great biblical figures, Jacob and David, and a great rabbinic personality, Shmuel, are all referred to by this same title.
The end of this piece pictures God deeply distressed over having made the moon smaller. To atone for this, God asks that a sacrifice be brought for this "sin" (!) on Rosh Ḥodesh (the festival of the New Month, which is marked by the virtual disappearance of the moon from the heavens). This incredible notion, that God committed a sin, comes from a clever reading of a Hebrew word in the list of sacrifices to be brought on the holidays. On Rosh Ḥodesh, the sacrifice is to be brought "la'donai." This can be read either as "to the Lord" (obviously, the intended meaning) or "for the Lord" (as Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish suggests). The latter reading implies that God must have done something wrong that required the bringing of an offering to atone for a mistake.
Katz, M., & Schwartz, G. (1998). Swimming in the Sea of Talmud: Lessons for Everyday LIving
by Diana Wallis
Why do you stand here looking into the sky? --- Acts 1:11
The angels' address is a rebuke to idle speculation in regions beyond the reach of human knowledge. (Joseph Barber Lightfoot, "Christ's Gift of Peace," in Sermons in St. Paul's Cathedral (London and New York: Macmillan, 1893), 141–49.) It is a warning against substituting that which is visionary for that which is real in religion.
[But] aren't we told that our citizenship is in heaven? Aren't we commanded to store up treasure in heaven? In what sense then can we be required to avert our gaze from heaven and to fix our eyes on the earth?
The circumstances of the apostles will supply us with a first answer. What was a fault in them will be a fault in us also. They were eager to know the exact time—the day and the hour—when their King would come and claim his kingdom. He had told them again and again that this knowledge was hidden from them. It was hidden even from the angels of heaven. And still, the last words that they address to their risen Lord ignore the warning; still the last answer that they receive from his lips is a rebuke for desiring to fathom the unfathomable. "It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set."
The subject has exercised a strong fascination over Christians in all ages. Again and again people have predicted the time of the Second Advent. Again and again their predictions have been falsified.
And the wrong done by this lawless speculation is not trifling. It impairs that attitude of patient waiting that is enjoined on the church. It substitutes a spasmodic, feverish watchfulness for the calm and continuous expectation that suits the children of God. It is chargeable with still more fatal consequences than these. It has bred disappointment, and from disappointment has sprung skepticism and from skepticism, mockery and unbelief. It has given occasion to the enemies of Christ to blaspheme. And the guilt lies in no small degree with the speculation of believers. Strange that it should have been so; strange that people should not perceive how each such prediction falsified is a confirmation of the Master's saying, "No one knows about that day or hour."
Spend no more time on speculations; they only absorb energy and paralyze action. Stand no more gazing up into heaven, but return from the mount of ascension to your everyday life. There, continue in prayer and supplication; there await in confidence that outpouring of the Spirit; there live and bear witness to Christ.
--- J. B. Lightfoot
(27). Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications.The Apologetics Study Bible
These 15 psalms have the heading "a song of ascents"; that is, "going up" to Zion for the festivals; hence they are also called "pilgrim psalms" or "psalms of Zion." Older English versions thought of the "ascents" as graduated steps of the sanctuary, and called the psalm "a song of degrees."
120:5 Meshech is in Asia Minor near the Black Sea; Kedar is a word for the desert area in which Arab tribesmen wander (see Is 21:16–17; Ezk 27:21). How could the psalmist be in both places at the same time, even if they referred to widely scattered areas? The language is figurative; the psalmist lived among people who hated peace (v. 7), and they were like the hostile barbarians in these places.
121:1–2 The psalmist was contemplating ("I raise my eyes") the dangerous journey ("toward the mountains") and was concerned for his safety ("Where will my help come from?"). Alternatively, he thought of the mountains as sites for the worship of pagan deities, who were no help to anyone. He supplied his own answer: The One who made all things, including the hills, was his Protector.
121:3–6 The psalm concludes with a pronouncement of blessing in another voice (note the change in personal pronouns from "my" to "your"). Someone accompanying the pilgrim on the journey, such as a priest, was speaking. Or the setting for the psalm is not the pilgrimage to Zion but the sanctuary itself, once the worshiper reached it; the expression "coming and going" (v. 8) suggests that the speaker was at the site of the festival.
121:6 In a poetic image, the sun and the moon are not the literal heavenly bodies but represent what takes place under them—events occurring during the day and night that could, potentially, be harmful.
121:7–8 These verses could be translated as a "bidding prayer" ("May the Lord protect"). They can also be translated as a promise for the future, "The LORD will protect you from all harm" (most Bibles have a similar rendering). The immediate context was concerned with divine protection for the holy mission to the temple in obedience to the law, but the words in any rendering express a general belief of the faith, only occasionally cast into doubt (Ps 44).
122:1 The pilgrim psalmist reflected on the joy he felt when it was time to go to the holy city to observe the annual festivals. These times of celebration could extend for a week or more. Now the pilgrim found himself standing in the city, marveling at all its features.
122:4 The purpose of the people going to the festivals to worship was "to give thanks," expressing their loyalty to the Lord and reaffirming their gratitude for His covenant blessings (on the meaning of "giving thanks" in the OT, see note on 118:19).
122:5 The mention of "thrones of the house of David" indicates that there was probably a high court of appeals in the royal city. Local elders could handle routine cases, but the most difficult cases had to be brought to the leader of the nation or his representatives (72:2; cp. Ex 18:13–23; 1 Kg 3:16–28).
124:1–2 What appears to be a redundancy is actually a glimpse into the way the psalms may have been performed. First the leader, or choirmaster, announced the title of the psalm (in biblical times, Scripture passages were identified by their opening words). Then, at his invitation, the congregation joined in to recite the entire piece.
124:4–5 The image of water is used for the threat to life (Lm 3:54; Jnh 2:3–4). Such language always brings to remembrance Israel's escape from Egyptian slavery, the great "saving" event that lies at the heart of OT faith.
Ps 125 The security of the true believer is like the security of Mount Zion that is surrounded by mountains; but those who turn aside to sin have no security in the Lord (see Heb 6:4–8; 1 Jn 2:19).
125:3 The scepter is the symbol of rule; "the scepter of the wicked" would refer to a corrupt and unjust rule by either a Gentile or an unrighteous Israelite or Judean king. Either situation was a threat to the righteous.
126:1 Any occasion when Jerusalem was restored to a position of peace and prominence would be a time for great celebration and recognition of what the Lord had done for his people. This could have occurred after some foreign threat had diminished (e.g., 2 Kg 18:9–19:36) or at the restoration of the Judeans to their homeland after the Babylonian exile. An alternate reading of the clause "we were like those who dream" occurs in the Greek OT and the Dead Sea Scrolls: "we were greatly comforted."
126:4–6 The psalmist prayed for the restoration of the land to its fruitfulness; "watercourses in the Negev" could refer to irrigation that made agriculture possible in southern Judah. A foreign invasion would force all local residents into the fortified cities, and a siege might last for several years during which time the land could not be worked. This would also have been the case during the Babylonian exile when depopulation of Judah meant that much of its farmland lay fallow. Getting it back into productivity required great effort; the psalmist described the labor of sowing and reaping and the joy of a successful harvest. In the context of return from exile, by "sowing" the psalmist could mean the effort to convince people still in the East to return and join in God's program to restore the community centered in Zion. "Reaping" would then refer to their response to this appeal. This figure of sowing and reaping was well known when Jesus used it in His parable of the sower, a picture of spreading the message of the kingdom (Mt 13:1–23). In many ways, Jesus was calling Israel back to the Lord from an "exile" of false religious hopes that centered on throwing off Roman domination.
127:2 It is not necessarily pointless, or vain, to rise early or stay up late. The key to understanding this verse is the phrase "eating food earned by hard work." The expression "hard work" translates the same word that is rendered "painful labor" in Gn 3:17; it stresses anxieties as well as painful experiences. The Bible commends the diligent worker (Pr 24:33–34; 2 Th 3:10–13; cp. Col 3:17), but to lengthen the day with anxious toil and stress only leads to greater problems of body and spirit. By contrast, the Lord gives sleep to the person He loves—the one who trusts Him (Ps 4:8). The psalm's words may apply equally to literal sleep and to the rest and peace of mind that sleep symbolizes. Anxious toil burns the candle at both ends. One can work hard at worthwhile projects (e.g., building a house—cp. v. 1, where "house" could even refer to the place of worship), but it is the Lord's involvement that makes the effort worthwhile and successful.
127:3–5 The verse reminds parents of their duties. Children are the Lord's gift, to be sure, but also a heritage that must be developed and improved. Having a strong family, with many sons, gives a man influence in the community—"at the city gate" (v. 5), the place of business and legal transactions. Before Israel had arrived at an understanding of the resurrection of the dead, a man's children were viewed as the instruments ("arrows," v. 4) of the continuing influence of his life.
129:3 The agricultural analogy of plowing is applied to the painful oppression of the psalmist's enemies: they plow his back. The image stresses their persecution and his suffering. Perhaps the speaker is referring to wrongful flogging because of the testimony of false accusers (Dt 25:1–3).
Cabal, T., Brand, C. O., Clendenen, E. R., Copan, P., Moreland, J., & Powell, The Apologetics Study Bible: Understand Why You Believe