WWUTT 1259 O Lord Who Could Stand? (Psalms 129, 130, 131)

If the Lord marked iniquities, who could stand in his presence? Who could stand against his judgment? Nobody, your goodness will never outweigh your badness. But praise God, he is merciful when we understand the text.

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Here once again is Pastor Gabe.

Psalm 129 and the Prayer for Deliverance from Oppression

Thank you, Becky. We continue our study of the Psalms and we're up to Psalm 129. If you wanna open up your Bible and join with me there, we've been in what are referred to as the Songs of the Ascents.

These were the songs that the children of Israel would sing as they went up to Jerusalem to worship. No matter where you came from, whether it was the North, South, East, or West, when you went to Jerusalem, you were going up because it was up on a hill.

The temple itself was on Mount Moriah. So going up to that place to worship was always ascending. Therefore, these songs that the children of Israel would sing as they went to that place to worship, these were known as the Songs of the Ascents.

So we're gonna start here in Psalm 129. This is eight verses. Greatly have they afflicted me from my youth. Let Israel now say, Greatly have they afflicted me from my youth. Yet they have not prevailed against me.

The plowers plowed upon my back. They made long their furrows. The Lord is righteous. He has cut the cords of the wicked. May all who hate Zion be put to shame and turned backward. Let them all be like the grass on the housetops, which withers before it grows up, with which the reaper does not fill his hand, nor the binder of sheaves his arms.

Nor do those who pass by say, the blessing of the Lord be upon you. We bless you in the name of the Lord. Now, this is obviously recalling a time when Israel was being persecuted by their oppressors. It could have been in the time of the judges.

It could have been just thinking back to a time in Egypt when the slave drivers were whipping them. Hence you have the line, the plowers plowed upon my back. That's a pretty gruesome image of being beaten on the back to do their work.

So it would almost be like you have rows on your back of where you were struck. So as the Israelite slave was driven to plow the ground, the slave driver would plow the back. Now, the way that this Psalm starts, it's kind of a call and response.

Back in Psalm 124, there was a similar beginning there and I explained it when we were in that Psalm. But here it would have started with maybe one singer. Someone saying, greatly have they afflicted me from my youth, let Israel now say.

And that would have been the cue for the rest of Israel to join in to singing. They know exactly which Psalm this is by the first line that has been sung. So then verse two, greatly have they afflicted me from my youth, yet they have not prevailed against me.

Now to say greatly have they prevailed against me from my youth, this may be alluding to the oppression that the children of Israel had known had been long enough that there was like the youngest generation had only known oppression.

So they had afflicted me from my youth, but they have not prevailed against me. So even the youth and the elders got to see the deliverance of God who brought them out of the oppression of the wicked.

Verse three, the plowers plowed upon my back. They made long their furrows. The Lord is righteous. These enemies are wicked. God is good. He has cut the cords of the wicked. And the wicked in this case would be anyone who is against Israel.

The enemies of Israel, they are the wicked. All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Yes, but in this particular instance, we're talking about those who would be opposed to the people of God.

And that has an immediate context to us as well. Like in our current context, anyone who would be opposed to the church, we would think of as wicked. Yes, we are sinners in need of a savior as well. So are they.

Hence Jesus said in Matthew chapter five, that we love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us. That they would turn from their wickedness and turn to righteousness, wearing the righteousness of Christ.

But whoever would be opposed to the people of God, they are wicked. And we pray that they would repent and know the salvation that is in the Lord lest they perish with the wicked. As Jesus talks about in Matthew chapter 25, the wicked will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.

Whoever would be opposed to the people of God would be among those who are perishing. And God will cut the cords of the wicked. Those who would persecute us, those who would come against us and ridicule us.

May all who hate Zion be put to shame and turn backward. Now that statement verse five, be put to shame and turn backward doesn't mean may they repent, but it means may their efforts to harm us turn back on themselves.

And they would receive what it is that they were trying to afflict others with. Let them be like the grass on the housetops, which withers before it grows up. Now the grass on the housetops is worth nothing.

There's nothing beneficial about grass on a housetop. Nobody's growing crops on their housetop. It isn't good anyway. But this grass that is grown up, may it wither before it starts to break up the rooftop.

The roots kind of seep in and start to break up the rock a little bit. And so may that grass, which grows, it withers. It's grass that the reaper does not fill his hand with nor the binder of sheaves his arms.

Cause it's no good. There's no point in the grass. It's better to just be destroyed. Verse eight, nor do those who pass by say, the blessing of the Lord be upon you. We bless you in the name of the Lord.

Now this means that those who are wicked will not receive the blessing of God. As it says through the prophet Isaiah, Isaiah 48, 22, there is no peace, says the Lord for the wicked. And in fact, through the prophet Isaiah, we have that picture also of grass on the housetop withering before it sprouts up.

He uses the same sort of imagery. Now there's a reason why this kind of prayer is right for the people of God to pray. Oftentimes we ask those questions about the imprecatory Psalms, those Psalms that say things like break the teeth of the wicked.

Is that okay for a Christian to pray such a thing that the wicked would come to humiliation and even eventually their own destruction? Well, first of all, it's realistic because we know that the judgment of God is going to come upon those who do wickedly, who never turn from their wicked way and fear the Lord and follow in his ways according to his will, who worship Christ and are saved by faith in Jesus who died for our sins on the cross and rose again from the grave.

Those who do not worship Christ as savior will come to destruction ultimately in the end. So it is right for us to pray this way, knowing that this is what God ultimately will fulfill in the end. We read about his judgment.

We read about his judgment, afflicting the wicked in the Old Testament. And of course we read about it, the judgment that is coming, not just in the book of Revelation, but throughout the New Testament.

I mentioned Jesus talks about it. Peter in 2 Peter 3, the Lord is not slow to fulfill his promises. The destruction that is going to come upon the ungodly, the Lord knows how to keep them for the day of judgment.

You have Paul talking about with the Thessalonians, how the fire of God is gonna come upon those who did not obey the gospel. And then of course you have the revelation of God's judgment coming upon the nations, Jesus striking down the nations with an iron rod.

So we know these things are going to come. And even when we pray as John prayed at the end of Revelation, in Revelation 22, come quickly, Lord Jesus, that's not just a prayer of delivering us out of this world, but it's also a prayer of God's judgment that it would come upon this world.

So that's first of all, we know that God is going to judge the wicked, but secondly, it's also just. We would desire the justice of God would be upon those who are evil. Now we certainly hope that they repent and turn from their ways, because if they do not, they're gonna perish under the judgment of God, but we should still desire that our just God would do justice in the earth, and that evil would be put to an end, and that righteousness would reign forever.

That is our desire. So therefore it is good for us even to pray Psalms such as this, such as Psalm 129. And we may take heart in knowing that though the wicked do not hear this, the righteous will, the blessing of the Lord be upon you.

We bless you in the name of the Lord. Let's look at Psalm 130. Out of the depths, I cry to you, O Lord. O Lord, hear my voice. Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my pleas for mercy. If you, O Lord, should mark iniquity, O Lord, who could stand?

But with you, there is forgiveness that you may be feared. I wait for the Lord. My soul waits, and in his word, I hope. My soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning, more than watchmen for the morning.

O Israel, hope in the Lord, for with the Lord, there is steadfast love, and with him is plentiful redemption, and he will redeem Israel from all his iniquities. So out of the depths, I cry to you, O Lord.

Hear my voice. Out of the depths, in a place of such despair that you wonder if anybody can even hear you at all, but to cry out is to show that the heart of the psalmist here understands that he is God, and he does hear.

Maybe no one else hears. Maybe no one else even turns an ear to that cry, but the Lord does. Otherwise, this psalm wouldn't have even been written at all. Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my pleas for mercy.

We don't know what the suffering is that's going on here. It could just be a deep depression. Calling out from the depths. Now, it would be reasonable to think that this person is depressed, perhaps because of their own sin, and that's hence the reason why he is asking for mercy.

Hear the voice of my pleas for mercy, and then in verse three saying, if you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? When we have sin in our hearts, when we recognize that we have sinned against God, it can cause a depression.

We can get depressed over that. We can wonder if God still loves us, but we should not ever, ever in those moments be so in despair that we would not cry out to God. Because see, that's exactly what Judas did.

When Judas betrayed Jesus, he did not weep bitterly over his sins and repent. Peter did, Judas did not. When Peter denied Jesus three times, it says after that, when the rooster crowed, he went out and wept bitterly.

He realized his sin, but he still loved his Lord, and said that to him three times. When Jesus, at the end of John, asked Peter, Peter, do you love me? Asked that question three times, Peter said three times, Lord, you know that I love you.

That was a merciful act of Jesus, and restoring Peter back to this call that he had given to him to go and preach the gospel, even unto his death. He would indeed demonstrate his love for Jesus with the rest of his life, with his very life.

So Peter wept over his sin, Judas did not. And so you, likewise, when you know that you have sinned, weep bitterly over your sin, come before the Lord and ask for his forgiveness. Ask for repentance. And asking for repentance means that you don't continue in that sin.

You don't persist in that. We've been talking about this, as we've been going through Romans chapter six and seven. Yes, as we were going through Romans seven, understanding there are times you are going to fall into sin.

You're still struggling with what is going on in your members, but do not make that an excuse for sin. Don't ever make that an excuse for sin. The call is still to holiness, that you would submit your members as slaves to righteousness rather than as slaves to unrighteousness.

But as you face those temptations, don't go into those temptations believing that you have a power and an ability to overcome those things. You look to Christ. It is the power of Christ that gives you the strength to overcome those things that are going to entice your flesh.

When you stumble, you come back to Christ even then. Lord, forgive me of my sins. Hear my pleas for mercy. If you, oh Lord, should mark iniquities, oh Lord, who could stand? That's verse three. And thankfully our God is a gracious God whom as we had read back in Psalm 103, has thrown our sins as far as the East is from the West, and he remembers them no more.

Or as he says through the prophet Isaiah, I have blotted out your transgressions. Return to me and I will make you new. We also have this question, oh Lord, who can stand? This is in the book of Revelation as well.

It's Revelation 6, 17. At the end of Revelation 6, when the great day of God's wrath has come upon those who are wicked, it says, who can stand? And then in chapter seven, you see who can stand. It is those whom God has marked for himself, has called out from the wicked and redeemed by the precious blood of Christ.

The wicked will perish, but those whom God has elected and then effected their salvation through the cross of Christ, through the preaching of the gospel, through faith in Jesus, these are the ones who will be able to stand in the judgment because God has made them to stand.

So the question here would be that, if it was up to me to try to redeem myself from my iniquities, I would never be able to stand before a holy God. But then verse four, but with you, there is forgiveness that you may be feared.

Now that's interesting that by the forgiveness of God, we would fear God. Well, it's because it's with the understanding that God judges and God redeems. So if he is the one who ultimately holds all judgment in his hand and he chooses not to judge me, but forgive me, then we would have the fear of the Lord in our hearts, knowing that he is the one who holds life and death in his hands, but he has given me grace and lifted me up.

I wait for the Lord. My soul waits and in his word, I hope. How do we have assurance of the forgiveness of sins and the promise of eternal life? We have that through the word of God. How are we forgiven our sins?

By faith in Jesus who died for our sins. And it's through faith that God's grace is transmitted to us. We receive his blessings. We are adopted into the family of God. We become fellow heirs of the kingdom.

We know all of this because the word of God says so, because the Bible tells me so. In his word, I hope. My soul waits for the Lord, more than watchmen for the morning, more than watchmen for the morning.

And there are those occasional lines in the Psalms that remind us that we're actually reading song lyrics, especially when something gets repeated like that. It is, we are so in love with God that our eyes would be fixed on him more than a watchman whose assignment is to watch the horizon for the morning and give call when the sun rises.

Verse seven, oh, Lord, hope in, oh, I'm sorry. Oh, Israel, hope in the Lord. For with the Lord, there is steadfast love and with him is plentiful redemption. And he will redeem Israel from all his iniquities.

He will redeem the church from our sins. Let's conclude with Psalm 131. This one's real short, just three verses. Again, a song of a sense of David. Oh, Lord, my heart is not lifted up. My eyes are not raised too high.

I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvelous for me, but I have calmed and quieted my soul like a weaned child with its mother, like a weaned child is my soul within me. Oh, Israel, hope in the Lord from this time forth and forevermore.

This is a song of humility. So we start in verse one. Lord, my heart is not lifted up. I don't think too highly of myself or of things that are not worth my time and my mind. My eyes are not raised too high.

I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvelous for me, things that would puff up. As the Apostle Paul said to the Corinthians, knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. So not occupying oneself with things that would make them big headed, essentially that's really what's being said here in these first two verses.

But I have calmed and quieted my soul like a weaned child with its mother, like a weaned child is my soul within me. So like a child would be content simply with being in the presence of one's mother.

So we should be content with being in the presence of our God. It's good to ponder deep theological truths, but may those theological truths not lead us to this head knowledge or an ivory tower sort of a mentality, and we forget very simply to love God.

There's a, here's a quote from Costi Hinn, and I love this, it's actually pinned at the top of his Twitter page. He says, if I speak with words of Calvin and Luther, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.

If I have a master's of divinity or a master's of theology or a PhD, my doctorate, and can preach with big words and know all mysteries and knowledge, but do not have love, I am nothing. So it is good to ponder these deep truths, but may we not forget to love the Lord our God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength.

Oh, Israel, hope in the Lord from this time forth and forevermore. Do not hope in your knowledge, hope in the Lord. Heavenly Father, thank you for this time together as we look through the Psalms and we study your word, and we get to know more about you and the goodness and loving kindness that you have shown us through your son.

Forgive us our sins. May we mourn over our sins and desire the righteousness of Christ that we would walk in it. Grant us repentance. Lead us in ways of uprightness before you. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.

Amen.

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Join us again tomorrow as we continue our Bible study When We Understand the Text.