#Blessed And Secure

 Psalm 125

PSALMS OF ASCENT

Those who trust in the LORD

are like Mount Zion,

which cannot be shaken but

endures 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 then 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 banish with the evildoers.

Peace be on Israel.

 At the heart of this Psalm we find the object of our trust, THE LORD. Reading Jeremiah 17: 5 – 8, we can see that such trustfulness secures a variety of blessing for the true believer.

 This is what the LORD says: “Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who draws strength from mere flesh and whose heart turns away from the LORD. That person will be like a bush in the wastelands; they will not see prosperity when it comes. They will dwell in the parched places of the desert, in a salt land where no one lives. But blessed is the one who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him. They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; ist leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.”

Jeremiah 17: 5 – 8

 The fruit of such trust is:

Verse 1: Stability – those who are good are firmly established.

Those who trust in the LORD are like Mount Zion, which cannot be shaken but endures forever.

Verse 2: Divine nearness – those who are good are safely guarded.

As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the LORD surrounds his people both now and forevermore.

Verse 3: Protection from the power and oppression of wickedness – those who know their God and who are known by God will ultimately be delivered.

The sceptre of the wicked will not remain over the land allotted to the righteous, for then the righteous might use their hands to do evil.

 This simple act of trust in God brings inward stability. The word here translated “trust” literally means to “hang upon” something. And that is what faith is — hanging upon God. Yet, it is of the utmost importance to hear Eugene Peterson out when he writes in his iconic A Long Obedience in the Same Direction about Psalm 125: The emphasis here is not on the precariousness of the Christian life but on its solidity. Living as a Christian is not walking a tightrope without a safety net high above a breathless crowd, many of whom would like nothing better than the morbid thrill of seeing you fall; it is sitting secure in a fortress.

 Pondering Mount Zion is to remember that the mountain of the Lord has been standing in Jerusalem summer and winter, day and night, year in and year out, a very emblem of solidity and stability. Thus, for the pilgrims approaching Jerusalem at least once a year, the sight of their ancient capital set in a saucer of hills and the temple established on Mount Zion, a prominent hill among a series of hills, brought great security and comfort.

 It reminded them of the One who cannot lie, change or fail, their God, from everlasting to everlasting, the same — yesterday, today and forever. Jerusalem was the safest of cities because of the protective fortress these hills provided. Through the ages mountains have become an emblem of God’s defence, his strength and his everlastingness:

• Truly he is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will never be shaken (Psalm 62:2,6)
• The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. (Psalm 18:2)
• Be my rock of refuge to which I can always go; give the command to save me, for you are my rock and my fortress. (Psalm 71:3)

 It is important to highlight the fact that God was not only present with His people, but also all around them. That means that nothing and nobody can get to them unless it first passes through Him. Better than a city wall, better than a military fortification is the presence of the God of peace, Peterson exclaims and we agree. Despite the unpredictable nature of our lives – our hearts a place of sacrifice today and a battlefield tomorrow – believers who wholeheartedly trust God are assured of their unshakable position. They will be like a mountain – strong, stable and secure. This enveloping protection from God is a perpetual promise to all believers, just as Jesus assured His people of His presence until the end of time.

 Regrettably, believers often find themselves in a state of mental turmoil, experiencing profound heartaches because they do not trust in the Lord as they should. However, when they are faced with difficult and challenging times, when sorrow threatens to overwhelm them and they feel isolated and alone, when bitterness tries to take root and poison them, all they need to do is return to God with steadfast and focused hearts. They will find deliverance, just as God promised to His people who trusted in Him.

In Israel’s history, that sceptre of wickedness in verse 4 only rested on the land when God’s people were stubbornly unrighteous and untrusting in Him.

Peterson reminds us in his commentary on psalm 125 that discipleship is not a contract in which if we break our part of the agreement God is free to break his; it is a covenant in which he establishes the conditions and guarantees the results. Therefore, Psalm 125 ends with a prayer pronouncing the blessing of shalom upon Israel — that they would be the good that enjoy blessing and not be the wicked who suffer exile.

GRACE CHALLENGE FOR THE MONTH

 Even Christians become anxious, slipping into fearful moods, feeling uncertain and insecure. Memorising Psalm 125 is one way we can develop confidence and banish insecurity. This is not a call to naively whistle when life is dark, rather it is a call to honestly face the typical insecurities that beset us, putting them into place. Shall we do that, this month – TRUST GOD wholeheartedly?

#Geseënd en Veilig

 Psalm 125

‘N PELGRIMSLIED.

Hulle wat op die HERE vertrou,

Is soos die berg Sion

wat nie wankel nie,

wat vir altyd vasstaan.

Jerusalem word omring deur berge;

Die HERE omring sy volk

Van nou af tot in ewigheid.

Ja, die goddelose septer

sal nie rus op wat aan

die regverdiges toegken is nie,

sodat die regverdiges nie

hulle hand na onreg uitsteek nie.

HERE, doen goed aan die goeies,

aan dié wat opreg is in hulle harte.

Maar dié wat afdraai op kronkelpaaie —

die Here sal hulle laat weggaan

saam met dié wat onreg pleeg.

Vrede oor Israel!

 Die hart van hierdie Psalm en die voorwerp van ons vertroue is DIE HERE. As ons Jeremia 17: 5 – 8 lees, kan ons sien dat sulke vertroue ‘n verskeidenheid seëninge vir die ware gelowige verseker. So sê die HERE: “Daar rus ‘n vloek op die mens wat sy vertroue in mense stel, wat sy krag soek by sterflike mense en van My af wegdraai; hy is soos ‘n kaal bosie in droë wêreod wat nooit water kry nie; ‘n bossie wat in ‘n klipwoestyn staan, in ‘n brak wêreld waar niemand woon nie. Dit gaan goed met die mens wat sy vertroue in die Here stel, die mens vir wie die Here ‘n veilige vesting is; so iemand is soos ‘n boom wat by water geplant is en sy wortels na die stroom toe uitstoot, nie die hitte voel as dit kom nie en altyd groen blare het; ‘n droë jaar raak hom nie en hy hou nie op om vrugte te dra nie.

  Die vrug van sulke vertroue is:

Vers 1: stabiliteit — die wat goed is, is stewig gevestig

Die wat op die Here vertrou, is soos Sionsberg wat nie wankel nie en altyd vas bly staan.

Vers 2: goddellike nabyheid — die wat goed is, word veilig bewaak.

Soos die berge Jerusalem aan alle kante beskerm, so bekerm die Here sy volk, nou en vir altyd.

Vers 3: Beskerming teen die mag en onderdrukking van goddeloosheid – diegene wat hul God ken en wat deur God geken word, sal verlos word.

Oor die grondgebied van die regverdiges sal ‘n goddelose nie die mag kry nie, sodat die regverdiges nie in misdaad verval nie.

 Hierdie eenvoudige daad van vertroue in God bring innerlike stabiliteit. Die woord wat hier met “vertrou” vertaal word, beteken letterlik om “aan iets te hang”. En dit is wat geloof is – om aan God te hang. Tog is dit van die uiterste belang om Eugene Peterson te hoor wanneer hy in sy ikoniese A Long Obedience in the Same Direction oor Psalm 125 skryf: Die klem val hier nie op die onsekerheid van die Christelike lewe nie maar op die standvastigheid daarvan. Om as ‘n Christen te lewe, is nie om ‘n tou te loop sonder ‘n veiligheidsnet hoog bo ‘n asemlose skare wat niks beter wil hê as die morbiede opwinding om jou te sien val nie; dit is om in ‘n veilige vesting te sit.

Om oor die berg Sion na te dink, is om te onthou dat die berg van die Here somer en winter in Jerusalem gestaan het, dag en nag, jaar in en jaar uit, vir ewig ‘n embleem van stewigheid en stabiliteit. Dus, vir die pelgrims wat ten minste een keer per jaar opgetrek het na Jerusalem, hul antieke hoofstad, geleë in ‘n piering van heuwels en die tempel op die berg Sion, ‘n prominente heuwel tussen ‘n reeks heuwels, het dit groot veiligheid en vertroosting gebring.

 Dit het hulle herinner aan die Een wat nie kan lieg, verander of misluk nie, hulle God, van ewigheid tot ewigheid dieselfde – gister, vandag en vir altyd. Jerusalem was die veiligste van stede vanweë die beskerming wat hierdie heuwels gebring het. Deur die eeue was berge nog altyd ‘n teken van God se beskerming, Sy krag en Sy ewigheid:

 Dit is belangrik om te beklemtoon dat God nie net by Sy mense teenwoordig was nie, maar dat sy teenwoordigheid ook oral rondom hulle was. Dit beteken dat niks en niemand by sy kinders kan uitkom sonder om eers deur Hom te gaan nie. Beter as ‘n stadsmuur, beter as ‘n militêre vesting is die teenwoordigheid van die God van vrede, roep Peterson uit en ons stem saam. Ten spyte van die onvoorspelbare aard van ons lewens – ons harte vandag ’n plek van opoffering en môre ’n slagveld – is gelowiges wat God met hulle hele hart vertrou, verseker van hul onwrikbare posisie. Hulle sal soos ‘n berg wees – sterk, stabiel en veilig. Hierdie omvattende beskerming van God is ‘n ewige belofte aan alle gelowiges, net soos Jesus Sy kinders van Sy teenwoordigheid tot in all ewigheid verseker het.

 Ongelukkig is gelowiges diwels bekommerd en angstig, en ervaar hulle diep hartseer of voel hulle moedeloos en dit net omdat hulle nie op die Here vertrou soos hulle moet nie. Wanneer hulle egter voor moeilike en uitdagende tye te staan ​​kom, wanneer hartseer hulle bedreig en selfs wil oorweldig wanneer hulle geïsoleerd en alleen voel, of wanneer bitterheid wil wortel skiet en hulle vergiftig, hoef hulle net met vaste en gefokusde harte na God terug te keer. Hulle sal verlossing vind, net soos God aan elkeen wat op Hom vertrou, belowe.

 In Israel se geskiedenis het daardie septer van goddeloosheid in vers 4 net op die land gerus wanneer God se volk hardnekkig aan hulle sondes vasgeklou het sonder om Hom te vertrou.

Peterson herinner ons in sy kommentaar op psalm 125 dat dissipelskap nie ‘n kontrak is waarin God vry is om sy deel te verbreek wanneer ons ons deel van die ooreenkoms verbreek nie; dit is ‘n verbond waarin hy die voorwaardes stel en die resultate waarborg. Daarom eindig Psalm 125 met ‘n gebed wat die seën van shalom-vrede oor Israel uitspreek – dat hulle die opregtes sal wees wat seën geniet en nie die goddeloses sal wees wat in ballingskap ly nie.

 GENADE UITDAGING VIR DIE MAAND

 Selfs Christene raak angstig en bekommerd of voel onseker. Om Psalm 125 te memoriseer is een manier waarop ons Godsvertroue kan ontwikkel en onsekerheid kan uitskakel. Dit is nie ‘n oproep om naïef te loop en fluit wanneer die lewe moeilik en donker om ons raak nie, dit is eerder ‘n oproep om die onsekerhede wat elke Christen nou en dan teister, eerlik in die oë te kyk en ons rug beslis daarop te draai. Kom ons doen dit hierdie maand – kom ons VERTROU GOD heelhartig in alle omstandighede, sodat die vrede van God van ons hart en verstand besit sal neem.

#Blessed by His Help

PSALM 124

PSALMS OF ASCENT

“If it had not been the lord who was

on our side,”

Let Israel now say—

“If it had not been the LORD

who was on our side,

When men rose up against us,

Then they would have

swallowed us alive,

When their wrath was kindled

against us;

Then the waters would have

overwhelmed us,

The stream would have gone

over our soul;

Then the swollen waters

Would have gone over our soul.”

Blessed be the LORD

Who has not given us as prey to

their teeth.

Our soul has escaped as a bird

from the snare of the fowlers;

The snare is broken, and we

have escaped.

Our help is in the name of the

LORD,

Who made heaven and earth.

Psalm 124, the second psalm in the second group of three psalms, powerfully testifies to God’s active involvement in His people’s lives. It echoes the confident declaration of Psalm 121, the second psalm in the first group of three psalms, that God is not a passive observer but a proactive participant. Both psalms serve as models of Christian witness, testifying to God’s help and affirming that he is always on our side.

• If the LORD had not been on our side (Psalm 124: 1,3a)
• My help comes from the LORD the Maker of heaven and earth (Psalm 121:2)

Psalm 124, written by King David, most probably looks back on the many times the Philistines had attacked Israel and God had miraculously delivered them. David, well aware of the enemy’s wiles, perpetually trying to diminish and obscure the grace of God, commands Israel to add their voices to his and loudly declare with him that God was their ever-present help. I find it especially fascinating that the Hebrew phrase used for had been on our side is the past tense of Immanuel: God is with us. David wanted the Israelites to remember that when men opposed the people of God, God stepped in to help. What a testimony to how little confidence King David placed in his own power to bring about victory for his people. When David recounts what has happened, there is no question in his mind that God and God alone delivered them. It is evident that David is not writing about a private experience in his own life but the corporate reality as experienced by the nation of Israel.

He describes God’s help using two illustrations. The first picture is that of a giant beast, a fierce creature with thick skin, a fiery mouth, and grinding teeth. One cannot help but think of Daniel in the lion’s den, a man trapped in a situation with no escape, but reading that God had closed the mouths of the beasts.

The second picture, that of a flood, speaks of sudden disaster. This metaphor of water as a destructive force is common in the Old Testament, for a sudden storm in the Middle East can cause a torrential flash flood in a few minutes. During the rainy season, this poses a great danger for people living in these desert areas. One minute, you can be well and happy, making plans for the future; the next minute, you are in danger of being swept away by the torrent.

David poetically described these troubles as having the power to swallow and devour us or the potential to overwhelm us like a flood, sweeping us away like a torrent. Yet, when we look back, we praise God for his help, completely convinced that He was the one who set us free.

David continues his metaphors to describe Israel’s danger, comparing them to a helpless victim caught by a wild beast with grinding teeth and a bird helplessly caught in a fowler’s snare. In both cases, these creatures’ panting distress and feeble fluttering transport us to our own traps and temptations.

But God delivered Israel, and David victoriously declares, We have escaped, our help is in the name of the LORD. This should remind us that God can deliver us, too. Whatever the sin that has birdlimed (trapped) you, that gracious hand which once was nailed to the cross can set you free, Spurgeon writes in his commentary. Many times, Christians are viewed as naïve and living sheltered lives, but that is not the truth. Often, Christians know more about the deep struggles and ugliness of sin than others. For this reason, I am concluding with a quote from Eugene Peterson, taken from A Long Obedience in the Same Direction.

We speak our words of praise in a world that is hellish; we live our joy among people who neither understand nor encourage us. But the content of our lives is God, not humanity. We are not scavenging in the dark alleys of the world, poking in its garbage cans for a bare subsistence. We are traveling in the light, toward God who is rich in mercy and strong to save. It is Christ, not culture, that defines our lives. It is the help we experience, not the hazards we risk, that shapes our days.

 Dear fellow-pilgrims, thus I conclude, that it is no vain confidence to put our trust in God, the one who made heaven and earth, for He is mighty to help His people.

 OUR GRACE CHALLENGE FOR THIS MONTH

God’s help in a time of need is personal and timely, for He cares for His people. Take a few minutes now to pray for those you know who are struggling in all sorts of ways, sinking in sin or without hope. Pray that they, too, will experience God as an ever-present help in times of trouble.

#Geseënd deur Sy Hulp

 PSALM 124

‘N PELGRIMSLIED. VAN DAWID.

As die HERE

nie aan ons kant was nie,

Laat Israel nou maar sê,

As die HERE

nie aan ons kant was

toe mense ons aangeval het nie,

sou hulle ons

lewendig ingesluk het

in die hitte van hulle toorn

teen ons.

Die waters

sou ons oorspoel het;

strome

sou ons oorweldig het.

Die woeste waters

sou ons weggesleur het.

Lofa an die HERE

Wat ons nie as prooi

Aan hulle oorgegee het nie.

Ons het ontsnap

soos voëls uit ‘n voëlvanger

se wip.

Die wip het gebreek,

En ons het ontvlug!

Ons hulp kom van die HERE,

wat hemel en aarde

gemaak het.

 Psalm 124, die tweede psalm in die tweede groep van drie psalms, getuig kragtig van God se aktiewe betrokkenheid by sy volk se lewens. Dit eggo die selfversekerde verklaring van Psalm 121, die tweede psalm in die eerste groep van drie psalms, dat God nie ‘n passiewe waarnemer is nie, maar ‘n proaktiewe deelnemer. Albei psalms getuig van God se hulp en bevestig dat Hy altyd aan ons kant is.

As die HERE nie aan ons kant was nie (Psalm 124:1,3a)

My hulp kom van die HERE, die Skepper van hemel en aarde (Psalm 121:2)

 Psalm 124, geskryf deur koning Dawid, kyk heel waarskynlik terug op die vele kere wat die Filistyne Israel aangeval en God hulle wonderbaarlik verlos het. Dawid, deeglik bewus dat die vyand soos ‘n brullende leeu rondloop en poog om God se genade op die een of ander manier óf te verminder óf te verdoesel, beveel Israel hier om hulle stemme by syne te voeg en luidkeels saam met hom te verklaar dat God hulle altyd-teenwoordige hulp is. Ek vind dit veral fassinerend dat die Hebreeuse frase vir aan ons kant, die verlede tyd van Immanuel is – God met ons. Dawid wou hê dat die Israeliete moes onthou dat wanneer iemand teen hulle opstaan, God sou ingryp om hulle te help. Wat ‘n getuienis van hoe min vertroue koning Dawid in sy eie vermoë geplaas het om oorwinning vir sy volk te bewerkstellig.

 Wanneer Dawid vertel wat gebeur het, is daar geen twyfel in sy gedagtes dat God en God alleen hulle verlos het. Dit is duidelik dat Dawid nie skryf oor ‘n private ervaring in sy eie lewe nie, maar die korporatiewe werklikheid soos ervaar deur die nasie Israel.

 Hy beskryf God se hulp deur twee illustrasies te gebruik. Eerstens vergelyk hy die vyand met ‘n reuse monsteragtige deir met ‘n dik vel, ‘n vurige bek en knersende tande. ’n Mens kan nie anders as om te dink aan Daniël in die leeukuil nie, iemand vasgevang was in ’n onmoontlike situasie totdat ons lees dat God die leeus se bekke gesnoer het.

 Tweedens vergelyk hy die vyand met ‘n rampspoedige vloed. Hierdie metafoor van water as ‘n vernietigende krag kom algemeen in die Ou Testament voor. In die woestyngebiede van die Midde-Ooste kan ‘n skielike storm binne minute ‘n kolkende massa water word. Die een oomblik kan jy gesond en gelukkig wees en planne maak vir die toekoms; die volgende oomblik kan jy deur ‘n stroom meegesleur word.

 Beide hierdie beelde van Dawid kommunikeer die vermoë van die vyand om ons skielik te oorval: óf deur ons in te sluk en te verslind óf deur ons met ‘n skielike wolkbreuk te oorval en mee te sleur. Tog kyk ons saam met Dawid terug, ook oor ons eie lewens en getuig met lof en danksegging dat God die een is wat ons gehelp en vrygemaak het.

 In ‘n tweede stel metafore, vergelyk Dawid Israel se situasie eers met die van ‘n hulpelose slagoffer gevang deur ‘n wilde dier met knersende tande en dan met ‘n voël wat hulpeloos in ‘n voëlvanger se strik gevang is. In beide gevalle herinner hierdie diere se hortende asems en paniekerige gefladder ons aan wanneer ons in ons eie strikke en versoekings verstrengel word.

 Maar Dawid getuig met lof hoe God Israel elke keer verlos: Ons het ontsnap…, ons hulp is in die Naam van die HERE. Dit moet ons daaraan herinner dat God ons ook kan verlos. Wat ook al die sonde is wat jou vasgevang het, daardie genadige hand wat eens aan die kruis vasgespyker is, kan jou vrymaak, skryf Spurgeon in sy kommentaar. Baie keer word Christene beskou as naïef en mense wat beskutte lewens lei, maar dit is nie die waarheid nie. Dikwels weet Christene meer van die diep stryd en walglike omvang van sonde as ander. Ek sluit juis daarom af met ‘n aanhaling van Eugene Peterson, geneem uit A Long Obedience in the Same Direction.

 We speak our words of praise in a world that is hellish; we live our joy among people who neither understand nor encourage us. But the content of our lives is God, not humanity. We are not scavenging in the dark alleys of the world, poking in its garbage cans for a bare subsistence. We are traveling in the light, toward God who is rich in mercy and strong to save. It is Christ, not culture, that defines our lives. It is the help we experience, not the hazards we risk, that shapes our days.

GENADE UITDAGING VIR HIERDIE MAAND

 God se redding in tye van persoonlike nood en angs is altyd persoonlik en betyds, want hy gee om vir sy kinders. Neem nou ‘n paar minute en bid vir mense wat jy ken wat tans sukkel en swaarkry. Dalk is hulle sonder hoop of is hulle vasgevang in ‘n stryd met ‘n sonde wat hulle wil baasraak. Bid dat hulle na God sal uitroep en hom ,soos die Israeliete en Koning Dawid, sal ervaar as ‘n altyd-teenwoordige hulp in hulle tye van benoudheid.

#Blessed to Serve

 PSALM 123

PSALMS OF ASCENT

Welcome back to our Proclamation Challenge where we are working our way through the Pilgrim Psalms. It is the beginning of May and the year is once again flying by as we find ourselves standing on the threshold of a change of season that will require an altogether different pace again. May God help us to adapt well. Thus far, we have studied, pondered, and memorized the first three ‘Songs of the Stairway’, as the Passion translation calls it. We have also learned from Eugene Peterson that as a metaphor for discipleship, these 15 psalms each has a distinct focus.

• Psalm 120 celebrates our first steps away from violence and deceit as we repent and turn our feet in the opposite direction, pursuing peace with God and receiving the peace of God! 
• Psalm 121 is a psalm of trust, recognizing that no self-help worldly-wise short-term solutions will help us along the way. Only the evergreen promises of God’s ‘withness’ protection program and hands-on help will guard us from evil, calamity and difficulty on our journey!
• Psalm 122 is a song about worship, celebrating the ancient tradition of gathering together as believers at a specific place to worship our Creator-God and Founding Father, Jesus His beloved Son and the Holy Spirit. Which brings us to

PSALM 123

I lift up my eyes to you,

to you who sit enthroned in heaven.

As the eyes of slaves look to the hand of their master,

as the eyes of a female slave look to the hand of her mistress,

so our eyes look to the LORD our God,

till he shows us his mercy.

Have mercy on us, LORD, have mercy on us,

for we have endured no end of contempt.

We have endured no end of ridicule from the arrogant,

of contempt from the proud.

 In Psalm 123, the first psalm in the second set of three psalms of Ascent, the writer faces trouble and problems in much the same way as Psalm 120. It is also the first time that the psalmist addresses God directly.[1] In the opening line, he lifts up his eyes, beyond the mountains of psalm 121 when he searched for help, beyond Jerusalem, the city of the Great King of psalm 122, to the heaven-dwelling God himself!  

 As we find the word “eyes” four times in these verses, it is also known as “the eye of hope” or “the psalm of the eyes” or “a psalm of weary eyes.”[2]  The first mention of eyes is in the opening lines and recounts a simple action of the psalmist lifting his eyes upwards to the heavens. It means that his eyes are not on his circumstances or himself, but on God. It also reminds us that we do not look at him or down on him, but as servants we assume a certain position before God who lives in a high and holy place.

 There is a real danger of becoming the master and treating God as the servant because God chose to present himself through Jesus Christ as a servant, writes Peterson. Thus, we cannot call him into action when we are too tired to do something ourselves or run to him when we find we are ill equipped to handle a specialized problem as if He is some kind of expert. “God did not become a servant so that we could order him around but so that we could join him in a redemptive work.”[3]

 The psalmist compares this look of hope to God with the way a servant looks to his master and a maidservant to her mistress. Their attitude as they watch and wait on God is one of quiet trust and calm confidence, focusing their attention toward the LORD and specifically his directing hand, for

• The hand of the master supplies all that is needed, showing our dependence.
• The hand of the master avenges His people, bringing about our deliverance.
• The hand of the master directs the servant’s work, communicating our submission and role as we co-work with Him.
• The hand of the master corrects the servant, as He disciplines those He loves.
• The hand of the master blesses the servant, for He rewards those who diligently seek Him.

 May God help us to look at Him in the same way as the psalmist looks at him – reverently, obediently, attentively, continuously, expectantly, single-mindedly, submissively and imploringly[4] — until He has mercy on us. It is this perseverance together with our pleas for mercy (repeated three times in two lines) that will arouse God from His holy habitation to enter our situation and redeem us. It is the psalmist’s intense plea for God’s intervention that stirs our hearts, for have we not been in similar situations?

 Through the ages, in the ancient battle between light and darkness, holiness and sin, Christ and Satan, Christians have often been a minority, finding themselves at the mercy of those powers and people who oppose God. But even today in our relatively free Western societies, we have seen how power corrupts and how those in high positions can lord it over those under them. No wonder the longing for deliverance from oppression in Psalm 123 echoes in our hearts too.

 But what exactly do we need deliverance from? In our restless society with its endless demands for produce there is a hopeless weariness and a despairing fatigue among everybody. ‘Never enough’ seems to be the anthem of our age in this modern showdown between God and the gods of this world, where urgent needs and constant cravings have enslaved a new generation of God’s people. 

 OUR GRACE CHALLENGE THIS MONTH

 Eugene Peterson final plea is for reasonable service, and therefore he takes us to Romans 12:1 in the Message. So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. This last phrase, and place it before God as an offering, is translated in the NKJV as for it is your reasonable service.

 As we attend to God as Lord, service to others will come naturally. May God help us to use our freedoms appropriately under the lordship of a merciful God.

 Take Aways

Pharoah produced slaves, Moses followers and Jesus disciples. (Unknown)

A servant Christian is the freest person on earth. (Peterson)

In troubled times we must look upward, because God alone controls all things.

In troubled times we must look inward to realize our need for divine grace. (Barrick)

[1] http://drbarrick.org/files/studynotes/Psalms/Ps_123.pdf

[2] http://sermons.pastorlife.com/members/sermon.asp?USERID=&SERMON_ID=4102

[3] A Long Obedience in the Same Direction, Eugene Peterson, pg. 56

[4] David Guzik – ewm@enduringword.com

#Geseënd om God te Dien

PSALM 123

‘N PELGRIMSLIED 

Welkom terug by ons Genade-Uitdaging waar ons elke maand ‘n Pelgrimslied bestudeer en waarhede daaruit oor ons en ons geliefde afbid. Die jaar het vlerke en ons is reeds in Mei maand, waar ons met ons voete op die drumpel van ‘n nuwe seisoen staan, ene wat verseker ‘n pasaanpassing gaan vereis. Mag die Here ons hiermee help. Ons het reeds die eerste drie pelgrimsliedere bestudeer, bedink en selfs dele daarvan gememoriseer, vertrou ek. Dis Eugene Peterson wat hierdie versameling psalms as ‘n metafoor vir dissipelskap sien, want elkeen het ‘n baie spesifieke fokus. Kom ons hardloop vinnig deur ons eerste drie.

• In Psalm 120 seëvier ons oor geweld en bedrog wanneer ons tot bekering kom en in die teenoorgestelde rigting begin stap. Noudat ons die vrede van God ontvang het, streef ons aktief vrede met God na!
• In Psalm 121 plaas ons ons vertroue honderd present in die Here. Ons erken hier onomwonne dat geen selfhelp, wêreldse korttermyn oplossings ons kan help nie. Slegs die immergroen beloftes van God se alomteenwoordige beskerming en praktiese hulp kan ons vrywaar van boosheid, rampspoed en moeilikheid op ons lewenspad!
• Psalm 122 is ‘n lied oor aanbidding, en vier die antieke tradisie om as gelowiges bymekaar te kom om ons Skepper-God, Jesus Sy geliefde Seun en die Heilige Gees te aanbid. Wat ons bring by–

PSALM 123

‘n Pelgrimslied.

Ek kyk op na U,

U wat in die hemel woon.

Soos oë van slawe

gerig is op die hand van hulle meester,

soos die oë van ‘n slawedogter

gerig is op die hand van haar werkgeefster,

so is ons oë gerig op die HERE ons God,

totdat Hy genadig is oor ons.

Wees genadig oor ons, HERE,

wees ons genadig, 

want ons het baie veragting verduur.

Ons het baie spot verduur van hoogmoediges,

En veragting van die hooghartiges.

 In Psalm 123, die eerste psalm in die tweede groep van drie psalms in hierdie unieke versameling, staar die skrywer moeilikheid en probleme in die gesig op baie dieselfde wyse as in Psalm 120. Dit is ook die eerste keer dat die psalmdigter God direk aanspreek. In die openingsreël slaan hy sy oë op, verby die berge van psalm 121 toe hy ook om hulp gesoek het, verby psalm 122 se Jerusalem, die stad van die Groot Koning, na God wat in die hemel woon, self.

Aangesien die woord “oë” vier keer in hierdie psalm voorkom, staan dit ook bekend as “die oog van hoop” of “die psalm van die oë” of “‘n psalm van moeë oë”. Die eerste vermelding van oë is in die openingsreëls waar die psalmdigter hemelwaarts kyk. Met ander woorde, sy oë is nie op sy omstandighede of homself gerig nie, maar op God. Dit herinner ons daaraan dat ons nie oor hom of op hom neerkyk nie, maar as dienaars ‘n sekere posisie voor God wat op ‘n hoë en heilige plek woon, inneem.

 Ongelukkig is daar ‘n wesenlike gevaar dat ons onsself as die meester sien en God soos die dienskneg behandel en dit omdat Hy gekies het om homself deur Jesus Christus as ‘n slaaf aan die wêreld te openbaar, skryf Peterson. Ons kan hom dus nie tot aksie roep wanneer ons te moeg is om self iets te doen of na hom toe hardloop wanneer ons besef hoe swak toegerus ons is om ‘n gespesialiseerde probleem te hanteer asof Hy ‘n tipe van deskundige is nie. “God het nie ’n dienskneg geword sodat ons hom kon rondstuur nie, maar sodat ons saam met hom ’n verlossingswerk kan doen.”

 Die psalmdigter vergelyk hierdie blik van hoop na God met die manier waarop ‘n dienskneg na sy meester kyk en ‘n diensmeisie na haar meesteres. Die gesindheid waarmee hy na God kyk en op Hom wag, is een van stille vertroue, sy volle fokus en aandag op die HERE en spesifiek sy rigtinggewende hand, want

 o Die hand van die meester verskaf alles wat nodig is, wat ons afhanklikheid toon.

o Die hand van die meester veg vir Sy volk en bring so ons verlossing teweeg.

o Die hand van die meester rig die dienskneg se werk en kommunikeer ons onderdanigheid en rol terwyl ons saam met Hom werk.

o Die hand van die meester korrigeer die dienskneg, soos Hy diegene wat Hy liefhet, dissiplineer.

o Die hand van die meester seën die dienskneg, want Hy beloon diegene wat Hom ywerig soek.

 Mag God ons elkeen hierdie maand help om op dieselfde manier na Hom te kyk as die psalmdigter – eerbiedig, gehoorsaam, aandagtig, aanhoudend, afwagtend, doelgerig, onderdanig en smekend – totdat Hy ons genadig is. Dit is hierdie volharding tesame met ons pleidooie om genade wat drie keer in twee reëls herhaal word, wat God uit Sy heilige woning sal opwek om ons situasie te betree en ons te verlos. Dit is hierdie intense pleidooie vir God se ingryping wat ons harte roer, want was ons nie al dikwels self in soortgelyke situasies nie?

 As Christene is ons reeds vir eeue vasgevang in die stryd tussen lig en duisternis, heiligheid en sonde, Christus en Satan. Omdat ons dikwels in die minderheid is, weet ons hoe dit voel om uitgelewer te wees aan magte en mense wat God teëstaan. Selfs vandag, in ons relatief vrye Westerse samelewings, sien ons hoe mense hulle posisies misbruik om hulle eie agenda ten koste van ander te bevorder. Daarom weerklink Psalm 123 se hulpkrete om verlossing ook in ons harte.

 Maar waarvan presies moet ons verlos word? In ons rustelose samelewing met sy eindelose eise na meer, vinniger en beter, is daar ‘n wanhopige moegheid onder alle ouderdomsgroepe te bespeur. In hierdie moderne kragmeting tussen God en die klatergode van hierdie wêreld, blyk ‘NEVER ENOUGH’ die volklied van ‘n nuwe generasie verslaafdes te wees, ongeag dit prestige, werk, vermaak of geld is waarna hulle smag. 

 ONS GENADE UITDAGING HIERDIE MAAND

 Eugene Peterson se laaste pleidooi is vir sinvolle diens, en daarom neem hy ons na Romeine 12:1. Ek lees uit The Message:  So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Die Nuwe Lewende Vertaling beskryf dit net so mooi:  Nou wil ek julle baie ernstig vra, broers en susters: As julle dink aan alles wat God in sy groot barmhartigheid vir julle gedoen het, gee dan julleself aan Hom as ‘n lewende en heilige offer. Dit is dié soort offer waarvan Hy hou, en wat julle diens aan God werklik sinvol maak. Paulus gaan verder en waarsku, Moenie julle leefstyl aanpas by die gedragspatrone van hierdie wêreld nie…

 Vriende, ons moet altyd onthou dat wanneer ons God eerste plaas, ons diens aan ons naaste ‘n natuurlike uitvloeisel van hierdie eerste en belangrikste verhouding sal wees. Onder God se genadige toesig sal ons uitreik na ander bevrydend wees— vir hulle en vir ons.

 Waarhede

 Farao het slawe gemaak, Moses— volgelinge en Jesus— dissipels. (Onbekend)

‘n Dienende Christen is die vryste mens op aarde. (Peterson)

In moeilike tye moet ons boontoe kyk, want God alleen beheer alle dinge.

In moeilike tye moet ons na binne kyk om ons behoefte aan goddelike genade te besef. (Barrick)

#Blessed to Worship God 

PSALM 122

A SONG OF ASCENTS

I rejoiced with those who said to me,

“Let us go to the house of the LORD.”

Our feet are standing

in your gates, Jerusalem.

Jerusalem is built like a city

that is closely compacted together.

That is where the tribes go up —

the tribes of the LORD –

to praise the name of the LORD

according to the statute given to Israel.

There stand the thrones for judgment,

the thrones of the house of David.

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:

“May those who love you be secure.

May there be peace within your walls

and security within your citadels.”

For the sake of my family and friends,

I will say, “Peace be within you.”

For the sake of the house of the LORD our God,

I will seek your prosperity.

 These fifteen psalms were to be sung by worshipers as they made their way from around the country to attend three mandatory feasts in Jerusalem. These songs were carefully crafted to glorify the Lord and prepare the saints’ hearts for worship. This particular psalm, the first of four psalms written by King David, talks about the place of worship, Jerusalem; the purpose of worship, the LORD; and the power of worship, to bring joy to the heart of the worshipers.[1]

 This genuine joy of King David, “I rejoiced with those who said to me, let us go to the house of the LORD,”deeply challenged me, for how many of us share his unashamed delight about visiting the house of the Lord? In my lifetime and work, I have witnessed a whole gamut of emotions among Christians when the church is mentioned, ranging from ambivalent to hostile, from dragging feet to nonchalance. Yet, when we peel these feelings off, we are left with a precious spiritual discipline called corporate worship and one sufficient reason – God.

 For a Hebrew, Jerusalem was the place of worship. Here it is described as a city closely compacted together, in itself a kind of architectural metaphor for worship: “all the pieces of masonry fit compactly, all the building stones fit harmoniously”, explains Peterson.[2] What is true for the city is also true socially, for the thought continuous into “that is where the tribes go up—the tribes of the Lord.” Similarly, the twelve tribes from various places in Israel and vastly different situations are united by God’s command to trek to Jerusalem, the country’s religious, geographical, and political center. Here, they gather not only to praise God for who He is and thank Him for what He has done but also to hear His precepts. On these occasions, they could see in ritual and hear proclaimed in preaching the powerful truth that God forgives our sins and makes it possible to live without guilt and with purpose.[3]

  The same applies to the church today. As we unite in the worship and wonder of God and sit regularly under his word, differences in background, wealth, language and intelligence begin to pale. When we celebrate unity in diversity and joyful fellowship in the house of the Lord, genuine love, forgiveness, and restoration will follow more easily, covering quarrels and smoothing over misunderstandings among believers. 

 The same applies to the global church. Whatever truth God has placed into the different denominations through the ages, no single denomination can claim to reflect the fullness of God at any time. “The church may be many waves, but one sea; many branches, but one tree; many members, but one body,” writes Spurgeon. It is a powerful reminder that there can be no healthy diversity without humility. 

 This brings us to the last four lines and why King David so earnestly desires the peace and prosperity of Jerusalem. Firstly, it is a natural overflow from united worship, for it is in united prayer that we are reminded that our peace and security are intertwined with that of our neighbour — For the sake of my family and friends, I will say, “Peace be within you.” Secondly, while King David, who ruled from there, understood its political, economic and social significance, the main drive behind his command to seek its good was because of the house of the LORD. 

Both reasons apply to us as Christians under the New Covenant, for today, the church is the house of God. When we prioritize worship, it will overflow from our hearts to our hands and impact our societies for their good and God’s glory. The church, you see, is not peripheral to the world; the world is peripheral to the church. [4]David implicitly understood this foundational truth. No wonder he felt such unbridled joy about the prospect of visiting the house of God!

What makes studying this psalm extra special is that we will end our month, so to speak, in Jerusalem, celebrating Passover. It is my sincere prayer that remembering the Lamb of God and Saviour of the World crucified on a Roman cross outside the city gates for our sins will add new depth to our worship and not just this month. In so many ways, Jesus is the reason we come together on Sundays— to adore, lionize, revere, regard, honour, praise, magnify, esteem and treasure God for his indescribable gift in his Son! May we worship Him well!

 Take Aways:

Worship is the human response to the divine.[5] (Foster)

Worship does not satisfy our hunger for God­—it whets our appetite. (Peterson)

Worship’s central reality is found ‘in spirit and in truth.’ (Foster)

Worship is to pause in God’s presence. (Scholtz)

To worship is to change (Foster)

[1] http://www.sermonnotebook.org/old%20testament/Psalm%20122_1-9.htm

[2] A long Obedience In The Same Direction, Eugene Peterson, pg. 46

[3] A long Obedience In The Same Direction, Eugene Peterson, pg. 46

[4] Ephesians 1: 22 MSG

[5] Celebration of Discipline, pg. 199, 214

#GESEËND OM GOD TE AANBID

 PSALM 122

‘N PELGRIMSLIED

Hierdie vyftien psalms sou deur aanbidders gesing word terwyl hulle van regoor die land op pad was om drie verpligte feeste in Jerusalem by te woon. Hierdie liedere is sorgvuldig saamgestel om die Here te verheerlik en die heiliges se harte voor te berei vir aanbidding. Hierdie spesifieke psalm, die eerste van vier wat deur koning Dawid geskryf is, praat oor die plek van aanbidding, Jerusalem; die doel van aanbidding, die HERE; en die krag van aanbidding, om vreugde in die hart van die aanbidders te bring.

 Hierdie opregte blydskap van koning Dawid, “Ek was bly toe hulle vir my gesê het: Kom ons gaan na die huis van die HERE toe,” het my diep uitgedaag, want hoeveel van ons deel sy onbeskaamde behae om die huis van die Here te besoek? In my leeftyd het ek ‘n hele reeks emosies onder Christene aanskou wanneer die kerk genoem word, wat wissel van ambivalent tot vyandig, van sleepvoetig tot nonchalant. Tog, wanneer ons hierdie gevoelens afskil, word ons gelaat met ‘n kosbare geestelike dissipline genaamd korporatiewe aanbidding en een voldoende rede – God.

 Vir ‘n Jood was Jerusalem die plek van aanbidding. Hier word dit beskryf as ‘n stad wat stewig gebou is, op sigself ‘n soort argitektoniese metafoor vir aanbidding: “all the pieces of masonry fit compactly, all the building stones fit harmoniously“, verduidelik Peterson. Wat vir die stad waar is, is ook sosiaal waar, want die gedagte gaan voort, “dit is waar die stamme kom, die stamme van die Here.” Net so word die twaalf stamme van verskillende plekke in Israel en baie verskillende situasies verenig deur God se opdrag om na Jerusalem, die land se godsdienstige, geografiese en politieke sentrum, te trek. Hier kom hulle nie net bymekaar om God te loof vir wie Hy is en Hom te dank vir wat Hy gedoen het nie, maar ook om Sy voorskrifte te hoor. By hierdie geleenthede kon hulle in rituele sien en deur prediking luister na die kragtige waarheid dat God ons sondes vergewe en dit vir ons moontlik maak om sonder skuld en doelgerig te lewe.

 Dieselfde geld vandag vir die kerk. Soos ons verenig in die aanbidding en wonder van God en gereeld onder sy woord sit, begin verskille in agtergrond, rykdom, taal en intelligensie verbleek. Wanneer ons eenheid in diversiteit en vreugdevolle gemeenskap in die huis van die Here vier, sal opregte liefde, vergifnis en herstel makliker volg, wat rusies bedek en misverstande onder gelowiges laat wegval.

 Dieselfde geld vir die globale kerk. Watter waarheid God ook al deur die eeue in die verskillende denominasies geplaas het, geen enkele denominasie kan enige tyd daarop aanspraak maak dat dit die volheid van God weerspieël nie. “Die kerk mag baie golwe wees, maar een see; baie takke, maar een boom; baie lede, maar een liggaam,” skryf Spurgeon. Dit is ‘n kragtige herinnering dat daar geen gesonde diversiteit sonder nederigheid kan wees nie.

 Dit bring ons by die laaste vier reëls en waarom koning Dawid die vrede en voorspoed van Jerusalem so ernstig begeer. Eerstens is dit ‘n natuurlike oorvloei van verenigde aanbidding, want dit is in verenigde gebed dat ons daaraan herinner word dat ons vrede en veiligheid verweef is met dié van ons naaste – Ter wille van my broers en my vriende, wens ek jou vrede toe. Tweedens, was die vernaamste dryfveer agter koning Dawid se opdrag om Jerusalem se vrede en voorspoed te soek, nie omdat hy van daar af regeer het of omdat dit die politieke, ekonomiese en maatskaplike sentrum van die land was nie, maar omdat die huis van die HERE daar gestaan het.

 Beide redes geld vir ons as Christene onder die Nuwe Verbond, want vandag is die kerk die huis van God. Wanneer ons aanbidding prioritiseer, sal dit van ons harte na ons hande oorvloei en ons samelewings ten goede en God se eer by uitnemendheid beïnvloed. The church, you see, is not peripheral to the world; the world is peripheral to the church. Dawid het hierdie fundamentele waarheid volkome verstaan. Dis teen hierdie agtergrond dat mens sy onbeteuelde vreugde om die huis van God te besoek, moet verstaan!

 Wat die bestudering van hierdie psalm ekstra spesiaal maak, is dat ons hierdie maand, op ‘n manier, in Jerusalem gaan afsluit met die viering van Paasfees. Dit is my opregte gebed dat die herdenking van die Lam van God en Verlosser van die Wêreld wat aan ‘n Romeinse kruis buite die stadspoorte gekruisig is vir ons sondes ‘n nuwe diepte in ons aanbidding sal bring. Op soveel maniere is Jesus die rede waarom ons op Sondae bymekaarkom – om die Here ons God te aanbid, te verheerlik, te eer, te prys, groot te maak, te ag en te waardeer vir sy onbeskryflike gawe van Jesus Christus! Mag ons aanbidding Sy Hom verheerlik!

 Aanbidding is die menslike reaksie op die goddelike. (Foster)

Aanbidding bevredig nie ons honger na God nie—dit wek ons eetlus vir God. (Peterson)

Aanbidding se sentrale werklikheid word gevind in die frase, ‘in gees en in waarheid’ (Foster)

Aanbidding is om stil te staan in God se teenwoordigheid. (Scholtz)

Om te aanbid is om te verander (Foster)

#Geseënd deur God se Beskerming

Psalm 121

‘n Pelgrimslied

Ek kyk op na die berge:

waarvandaan sal daar vir my hulp kom?

My hulp kom van die Here

wat hemel en aarde gemaak het.

 Hy sal nie toelaat dat jy struikel nie;

Hy wat jou beskerm, slaap nooit nie.

Waarlik, die Beskermer van Israel sluimer nie in nie

en Hy slaap nie.

 Die Here beskerm jou,

die Here bewaar jou van alle gevare.

Bedags sal die son jou nie steek nie

en snags sal die maan jou nie kwaad doen nie.

 Die Here sal jou beskerm teen alle gevaar,

jou lewe sal Hy beskerm.

Hy sal jou beskerm waar jy ook gaan,

nou en vir altyd.

 My twee jong volwasse dogters het my gehelp om hierdie tweede pelgrimslied te lees, aangesien dit heel waarskynlik ‘n antifonale psalm was. Dit beteken die leier van die geselskap, in hierdie geval, ekself, sou met verse 1 en 2 open, en dan sou verskillende mense in die geselskap, in hierdie geval, my dogters, met verse 3 en 4 antwoord, totdat die psalm ten volle deurgesing is. Dis alsof ek die pelgrims sien opkyk na die verafgeleë berge rondom Jerusalem, terwyl hulle die lied loop en sing. Kan jy ook in jou geestesoog sien hoe die pelgrims die lied sing terwyl hulle nou en dan opkyk na die verafgeleë berge rondom Jerusalem?

 Die tema van Psalm 121 is God se beskerming oor sy volk. Die woord shamar (vertaal as waak in die Nuwe Lewende Vertaling en beskerm in die meeste ander vertalings) word ses keer in hierdie relatief kort psalm gebruik, wat ons herinner aan God se getroue leiding en aktiewe teenwoordigheid, ook op ons lewenspad.

 Aangesien dit die lied van ‘n reisiger of pelgrim is, word areas van kommer uitgelig:

• Pelgrims kon verkeerd trap of oor ‘n los klip struikel en hulself seermaak.
• Hulle kon sonsteek opdoen, want ‘n groot deel van die land is dor en droog.
• Hulle kon met die maan gepla word, soos die ou mense na geestessiektes verwys het. Angs en moegheid kon egter nie net ‘n emosionele tol eis nie, maar agv die uitkamp in die koue, kon hulle fisiese moë liggame maklik ‘n erge verkoue opdoen.
• Ten slotte was daar altyd die moontlikheid dat rowers hierdie klein groepies reisigers iewers langs die pad voorlê.

 Net soos die Joodse pelgrims die lang pad na die hoofstad, Jerusalem, drie maal per jaar aangepak het, is ons as Christene ook op reis, ons bestemming — die hemelse Jerusalem. Daarom weerklink die bekende openingsreëls van die psalm, ek slaan my oë op na die berge – waarvandaan sal daar vir my hulp kom, ook in ons harte.  Op soortgelyke wyse, wanneer uitputting intree, en ons fisies of emosioneel oorweldig word deur ‘n bepaalde gedeelte van ons lewenspad, kan allerhande werklike of denkbeeldige gevare ons oorweldig. Te midde van sulke beproewinge weet gelowiges instinktief dat hulle hulp nie van die skepping kom nie, maar die Skepper en daarom verklaar ook ons: My hulp kom van die HERE, wat hemel en aarde gemaak het.

 Vir Peterson gee hierdie psalm erkenning aan God as die een wat heers oor tyd, want Hy bewaak beide ons begin en einde. As Skepper van die son, maan en rotse is Hy ook die Here wat heers oor die natuurlike en bonatuurlike. Dit is ook belangrik om te besef dat hierdie psalm nie ‘n verklaring is dat ons nooit ons tone sal stamp nie, maar eerder dat geen besering, siekte of ongeluk oor ons sal heers nie. Die onderliggende belofte is dat niks ons kan skei van God se doelwitte vir ons lewens nie. Dus, terwyl ons nie ‘n probleemvrye lewe belowe word nie, word ons ‘n wel-beskermde lewe belowe!

 Opvallend is die talle verwysings na God in die kort psalm. Sy naam Yahweh of Here kom drie keer voor en daar is ongeveer agt verwysings na hom as Beskermer, ‘n rol wat Hy vervul beide vir die nasie Israel sowel as die individu. Die les is voor die hand liggend: as pelgrims moet ons getuienisse nie fokus op die beproewings op ons lewenspad nie, maar eerder op die karakter van die God wat met ons wandel, ons bewaar en oor ons heers!

 Stel jou voor, Hy slaap of sluimer nooit nie. Soos ’n ma wat geleer het om lig te slaap, sodat sy kan hoor as haar kind in die nag huil, is God ewig waaksaam en bedag op ons hulpkrete. Tog mag ons nooit vergeet dat Hy God is nie en dat daar wel tye is waar Hy vereis dat ons wag – veral wanneer dit vir ons beswil is en oor Sy eer gaan.

 In die laaste twee verse, 7 en 8, word die frase, die Here sal jou lewe beskerm drie keer herhaal. Dit is Spurgeon wat hierdie drievoudige belofte aan die Drie-eenheid koppel, asof God as Vader, Seun en Heilige Gees sy totale toewyding aan sy dissipels doelbewus met hierdie herhaling wou verseël.

 GENADE UITDAGING VIR HIERDIE MAAND

As dissipels en pelgrims op hierdie opwaartse reis na die nuwe Jerusalem, is daar een belofte wat regdeur hierdie psalm na vore kom, naamlik dat ons nie alleen reis nie. God het nie net medepelgrims voorsien om ons te ondersteun en te troos nie, Hy is self met ons elke tree van die pad. Of ons nou oorwinnings vier, oor verliese rou, vrees, angs en bekommernis ervaar of drome sien waar word, Christen-pelgrims het hierdie besondere versekering — dat God se beskerming nie net 24/7 met ons is nie, maar ons gees, siel en liggaam omsluit. Dus is dit hierdie maand my gebed maar ook my uitdaging aan jou – dat God jou oë sal oopmaak sodat jy hierdie medepelgrims sal raaksien, en nie net diegene wat jou kan help nie maar ook diegene wat jou hulp, ondersteuning, gebede en bemoediging nodig het op hulle reis.

 WAARHEDE:

God is just as present in the journey as in the destination. (Guzik)

Our exits and our entrances are under one protection. (Spurgeon)

The delays of God are not denials. (Wiersbe)

We need to wait in silence before the Lord. (Wiersbe)

#Blessed by God’s Protection

 PSALMS 121

A SONG OF ASCENTS

 I lift up my eyes to the mountains—

where does my help come from?

My help comes from the LORD,

the Maker of heaven and earth.

 He will not let your foot slip—

he who watches over you will not slumber;

indeed, he who watches over Israel

will neither slumber nor sleep.

 The LORD watches over you­—

the LORD is your shade at your right hand;

the sun will not harm you by day,

nor the moon by night.

 The LORD will keep you from all harm—

he will watch over your life;

the LORD will watch over your coming and going

both now and forevermore.

 My two young adult daughters helped me read the second pilgrim song, as it was most likely an antiphonal psalm. That means the leader of the company, in this case, myself, opened with verses 1 and 2, and then different people or groups, in this case, the girls, would answer with verses 3 and 4 and so on, as they are in the second person.[1] Can you too imagine them singing this as pilgrims, occasionally looking up towards the distant mountains surrounding Jerusalem?

 The theme of Psalm 121 is God’s protection over His people. The word shamar (translated as watch in the NIV and keep in other translations) is used six times in this relatively short psalm, reminding us of God’s faithful guardianship and guidance along the way.

 As this a traveller’s song, some areas of concern are mentioned:

• Pilgrims could misstep or trip over a loose stone and hurt themselves.
• They could suffer from sunstroke for much of the country is arid and dry.
• They could be plagued by moonstroke (lunacy today) as anxiety and fatigue takes an emotional toll, or camping out during a chilly night could result in their physically fatigued bodies to get a bad cold.
• Finally, there was always the possibility of robbers lying in wait for these small groups of travellers.

 Just as the Jewish pilgrims set out towards their ancient capital, Jerusalem, we can identify as Christians, for we too are on a journey, our destination the heavenly Jerusalem.  The famous opening lines of the psalm, I lift up my eyes to the mountains — where does my help come from, echoes in our hearts too as we are potentially a long way from our destination! Similarly, when exhaustion sets in, and we feel physically or emotionally overwhelmed by a particular stretch of the road on our life journey, all kinds of real or imaginary threats can loom large. Amid such trials and tribulations, a person of faith instinctively knows that their help comes not from the creation but the Creator of it all and thus we, too, emphatically declare: My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth.

 Peterson declares the Creator Lord over time, watching our beginnings and endings.[2] He also proclaims Him the Lord over the natural and supernatural forces, as He made the sun, moon and rocks. Thus, imbedded in this psalm is not that we shall never stub our toes but rather that no injury, illness or accident will have evil power over us. The underlying promise is that nothing can separate us from God’s purposes for our lives.[3]Thus, while we are not promised a trouble-free life, we are promised a well-protected life! 

 I especially love that the psalmist is so absorbed by God, referring to him three times as Yahweh, or God and eight times as the guardian, or as the one who guards. It overshadows any possible calamities hinted at or mentioned outright. So absorbed by the presence, protection, and power of God as the Keeper of both Israel and the individual is he, that we must stop and take note. The lesson is clear, as fellow pilgrims our testimonies should not focus on the trials and tribulations of the journey, rather we should bring honour and glory to the character of our great God who preserves, accompanies and rules us on the way![4]

 Imagine, He never sleeps nor slumbers. Like a mother who has learnt to sleep with one ear open, so that she can respond when her child cries in the night, God is eternally vigilant and alert to our calls for help. It is important to be reminded that there are still those times that God expects us to wait for Him to respond, especially when it will do us “the most good and bring Him the most glory.” [5]

 In the last two verses, 7 and 8, the phrase, the LORD shall preserve/watch over or keep your life is repeated three times. It is Spurgeon who links this triple promise to the Trinity, as if God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit wanted to seal his commitment to his disciples through a deliberate repetition.

 GRACE CHALLENGE FOR THIS MONTH

As disciples and pilgrims travelling upwards to the New Jerusalem, the one promise that supersedes and undergirds this psalm, is that we are not travelling alone. Not only has God provided fellow pilgrims to help and comfort us, He Himself is with us every step of the way. Whether we are celebrating victories, mourning losses, experiencing fear, anxiety and worry or see dreams come true, Christian pilgrims have this blessed assurance, that God’s protection is not only 24/7, but encompasses spirit, soul and body. This month, it is my prayer and my challenge to you – that God will open up your eyes so that you can recognize these fellow pilgrims, and not only those who can help you but also those who need your help, support, prayers and encouragement on their journey.

 TAKE AWAYS:

God is just as present in the journey as in the destination. (Guzik)

Our exits and our entrances are under one protection. (Spurgeon)

The delays of God are not denials. (Wiersbe)

We need to wait in silence before the Lord. (Wiersbe)

[1] https://www.biblegateway.com/resources/wiersbe-be-bible-study/psalm-121

[2] When we go out in youth to begin life, and come in at the end to die, we shall experience the same keeping. Our exits and our entrances are under one protection.” Spurgeon as quoted in 2020 The Enduring Word Bible Commentary by David Guzik.

[3] A Long Obedience In The Same Direction, Eugene Peterson pg. 36

[4] 2020 The Enduring Word Bible Commentary by David Guzik

[5] https://www.biblegateway.com/resources/wiersbe-be-bible-study/psalm-121

#Geseënd is die Vredemakers  

PSALMS 120

‘N PELGRIMSLIED

In my nood het ek na die HERE geroep

en Hy het my gebed verhoor.

HERE, red my van lippe wat lieg,

en van ‘n tong wat mislei.

Wat sal Hy met jou doen?

Hoe sal Hy jou straf vermeerder, lasterlike tong?

Hy sal toeslaan met skerp pyle van ‘n soldaat,

met gloeiende kole.

Dit was ellendig vir my om as vreemdeling

in Mesek te woon

en saam te bly met die tentbewoners

van Kedar.

Ek het te lank gewoon

tussen mense wat vrede haat.

Ek begeer vrede,

maar wanneer ek praat,

soek hulle oorlog.

Die eerste psalm in ons reeks begin met ‘n noodkreet en eindig met oorlog en tussen hierdie twee donker temas verwys die psalmdigter na onderwerpe soos misleiding, laster en mense wat die vrede van God verag. Dit is presies sulke vyandigheid en ontevredenheid met die wêreld tesame met ‘n verlange na vrede en waarheid, skryf Eugene Peterson wat ons dring om ‘n pelgrimstog na genesing en heelwording in God te onderneem. En elkeen van ons kan ons hiermee vereenselwig, want dikwels is desperaatheid die effektiefste katalisator vir verandering.

Dis eers wanneer ons deur die leë beloftes van politici kan sien, die verraad van valse vriende ervaar, die selfhelp-dubbelpraatjies van sielkundiges herken, of die godsdienstige jargon onderskei wat deur valse herders verkondig word, dat ons besef ons is op die verkeerde pad. Wanneer die skille van ons oë af val, knip ons vervaard ons oë in Sy helder lig, nou eers ten volle bewus van hoe ver ons gedwaal het en hoe diep die wond wat ons toegedien is hierdeur.  

Die enkele woord ‘God’ kom slegs twee keer in hierdie psalm voor, tog is dit die sleutel wat ‘n desperate situasie ontsluit. Die psalmdigter spreek sy opponente direk aan met hul leuenagtige lippe en bedrog en verklaar dat God aan hulle sal gee wat hulle verdien. Hy sal jou straf met ‘n vegter se skerp pyle, met gloeidende kole sal hy toeslaan op hulle wat die waarheid verdraai. Die twee etniese groepe, Meshech in die verre suide van Rusland en Kedar, ‘n barbaarse Bedoeïene-stam op Israel se grens, verteenwoordig die vreemde en vyandige wêreld van die psalmdigter. Geen wonder hy is so vasbeslote om sy rug op alles en almal te draai nie!  

By hierdie kritieke kruispad roep die psalmdigter angstig na God – wat hom antwoord! God se weerligstraal verlig die pad in Sy goddelike genade, en die psalmdigter, wat die vurk voor sien verrys, weet dadelik wat om te doen: hy moet terugkeer na God en hom bekeer! Jy sien, hy was nie net ‘n onskuldige toeskouer nie, want ons is dit selde, maar het homself verstrengel geraak in die bedrog en konflik rondom hom.

In God se liefde en wysheid laat Hy beproewing toe, net soos ‘n geneesheer bereid is om pynlike behandelings toe te pas om die siek een te genees, verduidelik my doktesrvriend uit die VSA, Kerry Dean verlede jaar. Sy neem my na Job 5:18 toe, want hy was ‘n man wat moes leer dat ‘alhoewel God verwond, Hy ook verbind. Alhoewel Hy ons tref, genees sy hande ons weer.’

“Dit is nie vreemd nie, en ook nie wreed nie,” gaan sy voort. “Behandelings vir beserings en siektes behels dikwels pyn en lyding, maar dit is doeltreffende behandeling gefokus om ten volle herstel te bring. Sy gaan voort – Dit is nie minder op ons van toepassing wat geestelik in sonde verval nie. Die wonderlike waarheid – die skoonheid in die as – is dat God se genesende krag onvergelykbaar is. Dit bereik oneindig meer as wat ons ons ooit kan indink, voorstel of selfs net voor hoop. God, in werklikheid, genees wat ons nooit geweet het siek was nie, maak reg wat ons nooit geweet het gebreek was nie, genees wat ons nooit geweet het siek was nie, en laat dit herleef wat ons nooit geweet het dood was nie. Hy genees ons siele: “Wat my betref, ek het gesê: ‘Here, wees my genadig; genees my siel, want ek het teen U gesondig.” (Psalm 41:4)

Hierdie kragtige insigte deur Kerry Dean bring ons terug na die vurk in die pad, verlig deur ‘n enkele weerligstraal …

“Bekeer julle, want die koninkryk van die hemele is naby,” was die eerste woorde op Johannes die Doper se lippe, en die eerste woorde wat Jesus uitgespreek het toe Hy uit die woestyn gekom het. Dit is ook die eerste stap wat ek en jy moet gee by ons kruispad hier aan die begin van ‘n nuwe jaar. Ek waardeer dit so wanneer Eugene Peterson skryf, “Bekering is die besef dat wat God van jou wil hê en wat jy van God wil hê, nie bereik gaan word deur dieselfde gewoontes te herhaal nie, dieselfde ou gedagtes te dink nie. Bekering is ’n besluit om Jesus Christus te volg en sy pelgrim op die pad van vrede te word.”

Daarom, laat ons seker maak dat ons niks wat ons gaan verhinder of benadeel, in hierdie nuwe jaar inneem nie, al staan die jaar maar nog in sy babaskoene. Wanneer ons harte nederig, ons hande skoon en ons gedagtes vernuwe is, het ons hierdie versekering dat Wysheid ons op die pad vorentoe sal begelei, maar ook die vreemde nuwe-ou pad sal verlig.

Wanneer die psalmdigter in verse 6 en 7 afsluit, “Ek begeer vrede”, beteken die Hebreeuse teks letterlik: “Ek is vrede. Hulle is oorlog.” Jesus, die Vredevors, verkondig in sy preek op die berghelling by die See van Galilea, ‘Geseënd is die vredemakers!’ Die Amplified weergawe lui: Geseënd (geestelik kalm met lewensvreugde in God se guns) is die makers en handhawers van vrede, want hulle sal (uitdruking gee aan Sy karakter en) die seuns van God genoem word.

Geleenthede om vrede te bring is volop in ‘n goddelose wêreld van nimmereindigende konflik. Nie net word ons gekonfronteer met oorloë en gerugte van oorlog op elke front nie – onthou daar is tans 71 miljoen interne verplaasde mensegroepe in die wêreld, maar in ons eie wentelbaan is daar baie wat ons kan laat struikel.

Tog, as vredemakers, word ons geroep nie om mense te laat sneuwel of struikel nie, maar om aktief onsself daartoe te verbind om mense met God en mekaar te versoen.

GENADE UITDAGING VIR DIE MAAND:

Medepelgrims, ek ken nie die problematiese situasie en vyandige mense waar God jou geplaas het nie, maar ek wil hê jy moet weet dat God jou uitroepe hoor en jou begeerte sien om vry te wees van wat jou wandel met Hom benadeel. Tweedens wil ek jou uitdaag. Dieselfde God wat Saulus in sy spore op die pad na Damaskus gestuit het, het die mag om diegene van “Mesek en Kedar” weg te keer van hul bedrieglike en gewelddadige weë en ook hulle voete op ‘n pad na vrede te plaas.

Waarhede:

Beware – the enemy will notice any inconsistency in our conduct. (Spurgeon)

Any hurt is worth it that puts us right with God. (Peterson)

Repentance is not an emotion. It is a decision. (Peterson)

Repentance is the catalytic agent for the change. (Peterson)

#Blessed are the Peacemakers 

PSALMS 120

A SONG OF ASCENTS

I call on the LORD in my distress, and he answers me.

Save me, LORD,

from lying lips

and from deceitful tongues.

What will he do to you,

and what more besides,

you deceitful tongue?

He will punish you with a

warrior’s sharp arrows,

with burning coals of the broom brush.

Woe to me that I dwell in Meshek,

that I live among the tents of Kedar!

Too long have I lived

among those who hate peace.

I am for peace;

but when I speak, they are for war.

 The first psalm in our series begins with distress and concludes with war and in between deals with deception, slander and those who hate God’s peace.[1] It is exactly such hostility and dissatisfaction with the world coupled with a longing for peace and truth, writes Eugene Peterson that set us on a pilgrim path to wholeness in God.[2] And we can all relate, for desperation often catapults us into change.

 Unless we see through the empty promises of politicians, experience the betrayal of false friends, recognize the self-help double-talk of psychologists, or discern the religious jargon preached by false shepherds, we continue our fumble in the dark. When the scales finally fall from our eyes, we blink in His light, only now aware of how far we have wandered and how deep the cut we have received. 

 The single word God occurs only twice in this psalm, yet it is the key that unlocks a desperate situation. The psalmist directly addresses his opponents with their lying lips and deceitfulness, declaring that God will give them what they deserve. He will punish you with a warrior’s sharp arrows, with burning coals of the broom brush. The two ethnic groups, Meshech in far-off southern Russia and Kedar, a barbaric Beduin tribe on Israel’s border, represent the strange and hostile world of the psalmist. No wonder he is so adamant that He wants out! 

 At this critical crossroads, the psalmist anxiously cries out to God – who answers him! God’s lightning strike illuminates the road in His divine grace, and the psalmist, who sees the fork looming ahead, immediately knows what to do: return to God and repent! You see, he was not only an innocent bystander, for we seldom are, but became himself entrenched in the ways of deceit and conflict around him. 

 In God’s love and wisdom, He allows affliction, just as a physician is willing to apply painful treatments to heal the diseased one, explains my physician friend Kerry Dean. She takes me to Job, a much-afflicted man who had to learn that ‘though God wounds, He also bandages. He strikes, but His hands also heal.’[3]

“This is not strange, nor is it cruel,” she continues. “Treatments for injuries and diseases often involve pain and suffering, but that which is purposeful. This is no less the case for what ails us spiritually. The wonderful truth – the beauty in the ashes – is that God’s healing power is like none other. It accomplishes immeasurably more than we could ever have conceived of, imagined, or hoped for. God, in fact, heals what we never knew was ailing, fixes what we never knew was broken, cures what we never knew was sick, and revitalizes what we never knew was dead. He heals our very souls: “As for me, I said, ‘O LORD, be gracious to me; heal my soul, for I have sinned against You.’” (Psalm 41:4)

These powerful insights by Kerry Dean brings us back to the fork in the road, illuminated by a single flash of lightning …

 “Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand,” [4] was the first word on John the Baptist’s lips, and the first words uttered by Jesus as He came from the Wilderness. It is also the first step you and I must take at our crossroads here at the beginning of a new year. I love Eugene Peterson when he writes, “Repentance is the realization that what God wants from you and what you want from God are not going to be achieved by doing the same old things, thinking the same old thoughts. Repentance is a decision to follow Jesus Christ and become his pilgrim in the path of peace.”[5]

 Therefore, let us ensure that we take nothing hindering or harming us into this new year, still in its infant shoes. When our hearts are humble, our hands clean, and our minds renewed, we have the blessed assurance that Wisdom will lead and light up the way ahead.

 When the psalmist concludes in verses 6 and 7, “I am for peace,” the Hebrew text literally means, “I am peace. They are war.”[6] Jesus, the Prince of Peace, proclaims in His sermon on the mountainside by the Sea of Galilea, Blessed are the peacemakers. The Amplified version reads, Blessed (spiritually calm with life-joy in God’s favour) are the makers and maintainers of peace, for they will (express His character and) be called the sons of God.[7]

 Opportunities to bring peace abound in an ungodly world of never-ending conflict. Not only are we confronted with wars and rumours of war on every front, currently resulting in 71 million internally displaced people, but even in our orbit, there is much that can make us stumble. Yet, as peacemakers, we are called to prevent bloodshed while actively seeking to reconcile people to God and one another.

GRACE CHALLENGE FOR THE MONTH:

Fellow pilgrims, I don’t know the problematic place and hostile people where providence has placed you, but I want you to know that God hears your cry and sees your desire to be free from what is harming your walk with Him. Secondly, I want to challenge you. The same God who stopped Saul in his tracks on the road to Damascus has the power to turn those from Meshek and Kedar away from their deceitful and violent ways and place their feet, too, on the way to peace.

 TAKE AWAYS:

Beware – the enemy will notice any inconsistency in our conduct. (Spurgeon)

Any hurt is worth it that puts us right with God. (Peterson)

Repentance is not an emotion. It is a decision. (Peterson)

Repentance is the catalytic agent for the change. (Peterson)

[1] https://www.biblegateway.com/resources/wiersbe-be-bible-study/psalm-120

[2] A Long Obedience in the Same Direction, pg. 19

[3] Job 5:18, NLT

[4] Mt 3:2 & 4:17

[5] A Long Obedience in the Same Direction, Eugene Peterson pg. 24

[6] https://www.backtothebible.org/post/peacemakers

[7] Matthew 5:9 AMP YouVersion