WWUTT 1249 If it Had Not Been the Lord On Our Side? (Psalms 123, 124, 125)

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What is it that makes heaven so great? You could probably name a number of things that have been listed in the

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Bible about heaven, but ultimately what makes heaven so great is God is there when we understand the text.

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This is When We Understand the Text, a daily Bible commentary to help encourage your time in the

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Word. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday we feature New Testament Study, an Old Testament book on Thursday, and our

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Q &A on Friday. Now here's your teacher, Pastor Gabe. Thank you, Becky. We come back to our study of the

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Psalms, and we've been in a section of the Psalms known as the Songs of the Ascents, like ascent, ascending, going up.

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Whenever you went to Jerusalem, you were always going up. It didn't matter whether you were coming from the south or from the north or from the east or west.

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You went up to Jerusalem because it sat on a hill, and the temple in particular was on Mount Moriah, so it sat higher than the rest of Jerusalem.

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So these were songs that the Hebrews would sing as they were going up to that place to worship

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God. So from Psalm 120 to 134, we have that collection of Psalms known as the

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Songs of the Ascents, and some of these songs written by David. In fact, I'm going to begin here in Psalm 123, and this one is very short, just four verses.

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To you I lift up my eyes, O you who are enthroned in the heavens, 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.

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So our eyes look to the Lord our God till he has mercy upon us.

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Have mercy upon us, O Lord, have mercy upon us, for we have had more than enough of contempt.

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Our soul has had more than enough of the scorn of those who are at ease, of the contempt of the proud.

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Going back to Psalm 120, which we looked at last week, the psalmist is not anywhere near Jerusalem.

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They're in Meshach. They're down around by the Black Sea. And then in Psalm 121, they're starting to look toward that place where they can go together to Jerusalem and worship the

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Lord. Then Psalm 122, the people are agreeing together. Let's go. Let's go to the house to worship

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God. So here we come to Psalm 123, and again, just like Psalm 121, the psalmist has lifted up their eyes to the place where they're going to worship

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God. In this particular case, I lift my eyes, O you who are enthroned in the heavens,

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I am looking to you, looking to God. Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their master, as the eyes of a maid servant to the hand of her mistress.

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So our eyes look to the Lord our God till he has mercy on us.

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So where they are, they cannot go to the temple. They cannot be in Jerusalem. You know, these

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Hebrews, wherever they are, they're far away. They're not able to be with the people of God, worshiping in the place of God.

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They look toward the hills back in Psalm 121, looking toward that place where they might go together to worship

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God. But since they can't get there, they are looking up to the Lord. They are looking to God, fixing their eyes on him, not being tempted by the ways of the world, not even being satisfied by the land in which they live.

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They are satisfied only with God. So they're looking to God. This being, you know, somewhat metaphorical here, it's not like they're walking around all the time with their eyes up in the air, but they are looking to the

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Lord until he has mercy on them. And this is to say, until the

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Lord brings us to the place of his people, that we may worship him. That is going to be the sign of mercy upon these people, that they are brought out and to the place where they may worship

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God. Have mercy upon us, O Lord, have mercy upon us, for we have had more than enough of contempt.

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The people that we live around, just like we were looking at back in Psalm 120 and Psalm 121, the people among whom we live, they have contempt for us because we're not like them.

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Remember 1 Peter 4, where Peter says that they will malign you just because you don't join them in the flood of debauchery that they are in.

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The apostle Paul saying to Timothy, 2 Timothy 3, indeed, all who desire to live a life of godliness in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.

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So we've been experiencing contempt from those people that we live around because they hate God, they hate his people.

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Our soul has had more than enough of the scorn of those who are at ease of the contempt of the proud.

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So the people among whom they live, they're just fine. They're at home. This is where we live. This is where we make our fortune.

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This is where we take advantage of that which makes us money.

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They're perfectly relaxed where they are because that's where they want to be. But the Hebrews, the people of God, don't want to be content in a land that is full of pagans who abhor

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God and worship idols. They want to go to the place where they may worship the Lord together with the people of God.

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So they've had enough of this contempt. They've had enough of being around people who are at ease. They want to go to the place where they will be at ease.

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And that is God's place to worship him. So the mercy of God is going to be demonstrated in his people that they get the chance to be brought out and brought together to worship the

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Lord. I think that this is a hunger that we should experience all week long until we may come together and worship

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God on Sunday. And we commit that day unto the Lord because that's the Lord's day.

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So all that we do on that day, we commit to God that we may be with the people of God and worshiping

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God. And yes, it's true. Just as Jesus said in John chapter four, we worship God everywhere.

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So you can worship God right where you are. In fact, you may listen to this program because it helps you in worshiping

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God as you read God's word or you meditate upon the things of God's word. You want to think of the things of God this day.

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You want to have your eyes lifted and look unto the Lord. And so you listen to a program like this one where somebody is reading to you the scriptures and giving you guidance and understanding of what they have to say.

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We can worship the Lord anywhere that we are. You can worship by yourself. You can worship with other people.

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But we have that one day that has been set aside as the Lord's day, as it's defined in the New Testament, that we may be together with the people of God in the church, singing songs and praises, hearing the word of God proclaimed together, encouraging one another, loving each other, praying for each other, all of these things that go into being a part of his church on a

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Sunday morning. We must commit that day unto the Lord. We can worship God anywhere, but that is a wonderful blessing that we may still have that day that we commit unto

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God and to his people. So let's go next to Psalm 124. This is eight verses here.

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This one written by David. If it had not been the Lord who was on our side, let

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Israel now say, if it had not been the Lord who was on our side, when people rose up against us, then they would have swallowed us up alive when their anger was kindled against us.

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When the flood would have swept us away, the torrent would have gone over us. Then over us would have gone the raging waters.

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Blessed be the Lord who has not given us as prey to their teeth.

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We have escaped like a bird from the snare of the fowlers. The snare is broken and we have escaped.

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Our help is in the name of the Lord who made heaven and earth.

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So we're asking in Psalm 123 to be delivered that we may go up to the place of God.

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May we be delivered from those people who have contempt against us, that we may gather with the people of God and worship

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God. And as we start Psalm 124, it says, if it had not been that the

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Lord who was on our side, let me read that again so I get it right. If it had not been the

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Lord who was on our side, and then you have that kind of hyphen there, and it says, let Israel now say, if it had not been the

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Lord who was on our side. So this is kind of like a call and response sort of a thing. Imagine it this way.

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So as these songs are songs that the Hebrews would have sung together as they were going up to the place of God to worship.

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Imagine this. Imagine that a bunch of Hebrews are probably gathering on a feast day, like the

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Feast of Booths, Pentecost, something like that. So they're heading back to Jerusalem to worship at one of their appointed feasts.

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And as the Jews start coming into the plane, going up to that place, that is

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Jerusalem and where Mount Moriah and the temple are, you can see Jerusalem from a distance because it's up on a hill.

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So the Hebrews start coming into the plane. You have one come from this direction. Another caravan starts coming in from this direction.

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They start to see one another as these crowds of travelers get closer and closer to one another, all converging upon Jerusalem.

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So as they get closer, somebody is going to begin a song and they're probably singing the songs of the ascents.

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And these Hebrews all coming together, they're already singing before they even get to Jerusalem.

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So somebody says something like, if it had not been the Lord who was on our side, that's how they start.

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You just hear that one line from one person or group of people. And then they say, let

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Israel now say. And everyone who is in earshot responds with the next line, if it had not been the

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Lord who was on our side. So they repeat that. Right. And it's kind of how that would have gone. So you have these caravans that are traveling.

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Somebody says, if it had not been the Lord who was on our side, let Israel now say.

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And then other groups of Hebrews join in. If it had not been the Lord who was on our side. And now they're all singing the song together.

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When people rose up against us, then they would have swallowed us up alive.

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When their anger was kindled against us. When the flood would have swept over us, the raging waters, etc.

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So these Hebrews are able to come together and go on up to Jerusalem to sing and worship

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God at the temple because God has delivered them out of the hands of those who have contempt against them.

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This may not necessarily have been the sort of a thing where they were exiled. It may not have been a thing where they were in captivity or slavery somewhere else.

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Maybe for some of them it was. But more than likely, it's just they live in another place that's not the land of Judah.

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They're among pagan people. So yeah, pagans are not so friendly to the people of God.

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It's God who delivered us out of this and has brought us to this place. So we know that it is the hand of the Lord that has done this.

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Blessed be the Lord who has not given us as prey to their teeth. We have escaped like a bird from the snare of the fowlers.

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The snare is broken and we have escaped. You know, any given week, you could become susceptible to the ways and wiles of this world and we regularly need to pray that we may commit our minds and our hearts unto

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God and not be ensnared by the devil's schemes. He's pretty crafty.

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He knows how to get our attention. He knows how to play on the passions of our mind and our bodies.

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May we commit our every way unto the Lord that we may escape from those who are attempting to break us down, make us like them.

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The world wants to make you like the world. It does not want you to be like Christ and his kingdom.

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It wants you to be a part of this fallen kingdom, all under the influence of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience, as it says in Ephesians chapter two, verses one through three.

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So God is the one who has broken the snare. We have escaped. He brings us to himself.

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Our help is in the name of the Lord who made heaven and earth and he will deliver us also.

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Let's go to the next one. Psalm 125, again, a song of ascents. Those who trust in the

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Lord are like Mount Zion, which cannot be moved, but abides forever.

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As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds his people, from this time forth and forevermore.

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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.

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Do good, O Lord, to those who are good and to those who are upright in their hearts.

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But those who turn aside to their crooked ways, the Lord will lead away with evildoers.

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Peace be upon Israel. So you have a picture now of Hebrews entering that land, which

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God has set apart for his own, for the righteous. Those who trust in the

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Lord are like Mount Zion. Again, we're converging on that place so they can see it now. There's Mount Zion.

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We're coming upon it, which cannot be moved. It abides forever. It was here the last time we were here.

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We're coming back to it again. And Mount Zion is not just this place in the

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Middle East where Jerusalem sits and the temple is on top. Of course, there's no temple there now, but it's not a geographical landmark.

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Rather, it's wherever God is. Mount Zion for us now is heaven above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.

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That's Zion for us. And we're looking forward to that day when we can come to Zion together, and the

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Lord is the one who will bring us to that place, the place where God abides forever.

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The landscape of this world is not going to abide forever. Even the landscape of this world did not always exist exactly as was created in the very beginning.

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Everything's been changed. It was changed with the flood. It's been changed with various weather patterns over the centuries and things like that.

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So land does not remain. And God is even going to destroy everything when

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Christ returns and set up the new heavens and the new earth. So that which exists on land is not going to exist forever.

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Eventually, it's going to come to an end. But wherever God dwells, since God is forever, that place will be forever.

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So we look to that place where God is that we might dwell there with him.

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Now understand what makes heaven great. What makes Zion great as we're marching to Zion, the song that was written by Isaac Watts.

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What makes it so great is that God is there. It's not just because it's heaven. It's not just because we have all this description of heaven in the book of Revelation and things like that.

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It's that we want to go to heaven because our maker is there. Our savior is there. That's why we want to be there.

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We want to be with God. Consider these words from the Scottish minister of the 19th century,

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Robert Murray McShane. He said, we could not be happy without Christ.

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Take us to the golden pavement, the pearly gates, the songs, the thrones, the palms, the angels.

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We would still say, where is the God man that died for me? Where is the angel that redeemed me from all evil?

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Where is Jesus? That's what we ultimately want. We want to go there because God is there.

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And just like it was with the Hebrews at this time, a thousand years before Christ, when these

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Psalms would have been written, just like it was with them when they're going to the place of God, God dwelled in that temple.

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When Solomon built the temple, the presence of God came down into it. God was there. They want to go to the place of God.

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It's ultimately why they want to be there, because God is there. This land in which I dwell with all these pagans, these, the people who have contempt for me, they hate

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God. I want to go with the people who love God. And we go to the place where God dwells.

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And that place abides forever as the mountains surround Jerusalem. So the

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Lord surrounds his people from this time forth and forevermore. You still got that picture of them coming into the valley, going up to the, or they're coming into the plain and they're going up to that place.

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That is Jerusalem. So you have the, the ridges, the mountains that are all the way around.

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I don't know if you've ever been in that particular area. I've not been there, but I've talked to people who have been to the holy land and they say when you're out there in the plain, you can see the towns all the way around.

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They're all up on the hills. So you have Jerusalem right there in the middle. And then all the surrounding hills is where all the other towns are.

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So as you're coming into that plain and you're going up to Jerusalem, you can see all the hills all the way around.

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And there's this picture there that's being adapted into this Psalm is to say the mountains surround

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Jerusalem. And so the Lord surrounds his people from this time forth and forever more.

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God abides forever. We abide forever in him. For the scepter of wickedness shall not rest on the land allotted to the righteous.

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Let the righteous stretch out their hands to do wrong. We're not under the influence of the devil and his schemes.

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It's the people of God. We're under a scepter of righteousness who is Christ. Verse four, do good,

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O Lord, to those who are good and to those who are upright in their hearts. But those who turn aside to their crooked ways, the

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Lord will lead away with evildoers. Peace be upon Israel, this land that the

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Hebrews were entering into. Peace was there. They're coming out of the land of hostility. That's where the wicked are.

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And so if their hearts go after this world, then they're not going to be in the land of peace.

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They're going to be in that land of hostility. They're going to remain there where worldly people are, believing that that's where they find their satisfaction, their treasure.

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But it's separated from God. It's far from God. That's not the place of God. That's not the people of God.

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But as long as we come into this land, peace is here. We will not turn aside to those who have crooked ways.

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The scepter of wickedness doesn't rest upon us, but it's rather the righteousness of Christ.

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Righteousness has been stretched out to us that our hands may do no wrong. As we've been talking about earlier this week, studying in Romans 6, walk in the righteousness of Christ.

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No longer do the sinful, wicked thing that your flesh wanted to do, that you see people doing in this world, in this particular culture, have no share in any of that.

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Some of the philosophies right now that are unfortunately even seizing the church that is in America.

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You're talking about leftism, Marxism, socialism, feminism, communism, even transgenderism, the

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Me Too movement, the social justice movement, the Black Lives Matter movement, critical race theory and intersectionality.

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All of these things that have become kind of in vogue and people are taking these worldly philosophies and believing we can adapt it to some sort of Christian intent, but they are incompatible with biblical

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Christianity. We have had the Bible long before anybody ever came up with these philosophies.

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Don't go after them. Don't be led astray and to the side by these crooked and wicked things.

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If the scepter of righteousness is upon you in Christ Jesus, then he is your focus, your eyes upon him, going to the place where God is.

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As Paul says in Colossians chapter three, set your eyes above where Christ is.

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Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ and God.

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When Christ who is your life appears, you also will appear with him in glory. Focus on Christ.

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Be more like him. He will guide you in his righteousness. Let us pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you for the goodness and guidance that you give according to your word and may we not be led astray by all of these worldly philosophies, but instead we focus our eyes on him, the author and the perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame and is seated right now at the right hand of the throne of God on high.

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That's the place where we want to be, the place where God is. So let us not become corrupted by the ways of this world, but let us walk in the way of Christ.

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In Jesus' name we pray, amen. This is When We Understand the Text with Pastor Gabe Hughes.

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There are lots of great Bible teaching programs on the web and we thank you for selecting ours. But this is no replacement for regular fellowship with a church family.

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Find a good, gospel -teaching, Christ -centered church to worship with this weekend and join us again Monday for more