Web Theologian

>129:1 “Greatly have they afflicted me from my youth”—
let Israel now say—
2 “Greatly have they afflicted me from my youth,
yet they have not prevailed against me.
3 The plowers plowed upon my back;
they made long their furrows.”
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,
which withers before it grows up,
7 with which the reaper does not fill his hand
nor the binder of sheaves his arms,
8 nor do those who pass by say,
“The blessing of the Lord be upon you!
We bless you in the name of the Lord!”

Who has been after you for a long time? I can think of difficulty and evil but a particular person or group of people is hard, if they have been at it I’ve been completely unaware. The Psalmist has felt it, they really have made him suffer, and God is his deliverance.

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>127:1 Unless the Lord builds the house,
those who build it labor in vain.
Unless the Lord watches over the city,
the watchman stays awake in vain.
2 It is in vain that you rise up early
and go late to rest,
eating the bread of anxious toil;
for he gives to his beloved sleep.
3 Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord,
the fruit of the womb a reward.
4 Like arrows in the hand of a warrior
are the children of one’s youth.
5 Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them!
He shall not be put to shame
when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.

This is another pretty cool Psalm. Anything God is behind will get done. If he is not don’t be surprised if you have trouble regardless of how hard you work, smart you are, or how early you wake up in the morning, it will all be worthless if God doesn’t want it to happen.

Then there is the issue of children, they are a blessing. Never once in the Bible are they not referred to in that way. They are described as great and wonderful weapons, which leads me to the question of whether I am working to make my daughters ‘sharp’. I really hope so. Those kids are going to be so great that even your enemies won’t have anything bad to say about you because of them. That is pretty cool.

>126:1 When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion,
we were like those who dream.
2 Then our mouth was filled with laughter,
and our tongue with shouts of joy;
then they said among the nations,
“The Lord has done great things for them.”
3 The Lord has done great things for us; we are glad.
4 Restore our fortunes, O Lord, like streams in the Negeb!
5 Those who sow in tears shall reap with shouts of joy!
6 He who goes out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing,
shall come home with shouts of joy, bringing his sheaves with him.

This is a really wonderful Psalm, on my top five favorites. The line that says, when the Lord restored us “we were like those who dream”. To me that is beautiful, fairytale like, and full of imagination. It also blows my mind because it is about being restored here on earth, and yet it is never done fully therefore we still have dreams to dreams. So many times people come to faith and they check their brain and their imagination in at the door. We are encouraged to continue to hope in God’s power and desire to lead us beyond our wildest imagination.

Many will look upon the fortunes of God’s people and be amazed! There will be crying, and shouting and plenty of goodies to bring home to the family. What an amazing picture.

>125:1 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 forth and forevermore.
3 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.
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 crooked ways
the Lord will lead away with evildoers!
Peace be upon Israel!

What does your faith do for you? In this Psalm we are told it makes us steady, like a mountain. Amazing because it has nothing to do with us or our ability, but has everything to do with God. Those who opposed God will fall short. One friend of mine always says God doesn’t mind our fight with him because our arms are too short. Because of this stability you have keep up the good work, look out for those who are after the same things. Don’t waste time or energy with those who are up to no good.

>124:1 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 people rose up against 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.

If the Lord was not on my side I would not be where I am. Some of the things that God has brought me through are really amazing, and whether you are a Christian or not the same is true for you. When it is your time to go…God is not late. I am grateful for his faithfulness to me especially in those times where I could not take care of myself.

>123:1 To you I lift up my eyes, O you who are enthroned in the heavens!
2 Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their master, as the eyes of a maidservant to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look to the Lord our God, till 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 enough of the scorn of those who are at ease, of the contempt of the proud.

Who gets your attention each day? More and more I am learning to pay attention to that in my life. Are the things that have my attention worth while or do I enjoy them. God desires our attention. Lift up your eyes toward him, when you see him, the first thing you see is that he is in control.

Right now with Taitum she doesn’t do much. Maybe she will stick out her tongue, smile or cry but that is about it. Though what is really captivating about her and other babies is that they just stare at you while in your arms. No dult would do such a thing because it would be consider rude, but babies don’t care. They intently look you down watching everything about you, as a parent at least it draws you atention. And once she has your attention you are ruined.

>122:1 I was glad when they said to me,“Let us go to the house of the Lord!”
2 Our feet have been standing within your gates, O Jerusalem!
3 Jerusalem—built as a city that is bound firmly together,
4 to which the tribes go up, the tribes of the Lord,as was decreed for Israel, to give thanks to the name of the Lord.
5 There thrones for judgment were set, the thrones of the house of David.
6 Pray for the peace of Jerusalem! “May they be secure who love you!
7 Peace be within your walls and security within your towers!”
8 For my brothers and companions’ sake I will say, “Peace be within you!”
9 For the sake of the house of the Lord our God, I will seek your good.

These Psalms are the roadtrip Psalms. The Psalms of ascent, where everybody was heading toward the Temple for worship on the High Holy days, so they would sing these along the road to prepare tehem and pass the time! People who are thrilled to get to church, that is the type of church I want to go to…wait it is the type of church I go to:)

This is not just about getting to see God as this Psalm makes note of. It is about going to a place of security and rest, but it is also about catching up with your people! And they are thrilled to see you. One friend would describe church as the place where you can take your armour off, I love that picture. Sadly this is generally not the case, because there are lots of wounded people in church. And wounded people hurt other people. If you are willing to find the right place, people, time, and possible take a few on the chin while trying to encourage peace it is well worth it.

>121:1 I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does 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 Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.
5 The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade on 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 forth and forevermore.

This is a really great Psalm. As I sit hear and drink my coffee looking at the mountains in the distance I am led to worship. Thought that is how we commonly think of this Psalm it really was not the intention of the writer. This is one of the Psalms of ascent where the writer is making a trip to Temple. He looks to the hills and get freaked out becuase that is where the robbers come down from. So it immediately leads him to pray for help.

Help from a God who makes all things, and who does not sleep or slumber. He is on the job. God not slacking is good news for us, because we then have the opportunity to rest. And I need it right now! He will take care of you better then you can imagine so stop worrying and enter into His rest.

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