Trust In The Lord - Psalm 125

A song for pilgrims ascending to Jerusalem.

Those who trust in the Lord are as secure as Mount Zion; they will not be defeated but will endure forever.
Just as the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds his people, both now and forever.
The wicked will not rule the land of the godly, for then the godly might be tempted to do wrong.
O Lord, do good to those who are good, whose hearts are in tune with you.
But banish those who turn to crooked ways, O Lord.
Take them away with those who do evil.
May Israel have peace!
-Psalm 125

Trusting the Lord is one of the fundamentals to spiritual growth.
We are guaranteed that there will be times of adversity (John 16:32-3).  Faith, to be proven real, gets to be tested (James 1:3, 1 Pet. 1:6-7).   And our faith is proof that we trust (Heb. 11:1).

Trusting God when things are not as we believe they should be, when answers to prayers are delayed, or when the enemy seems to be winning, is a hallmark of the road to spiritual maturity. We live in the already and the not yet, of the kingdom of God. Jesus has authority over all things, but we have not yet seen all things put under his authority (Heb. 2:8).

So, what do we do in between the times?  Trust God.  How do we do that?  We see Jesus and follow his leadership into spiritual growth, or a life of salvation (Heb. 2:9-10).  Seeing Jesus means to look, with your spiritual eyes, and with your eyes of faith.

When we learn to trust, we put our faith in the faithfulness of God.  One Bible verse that flat out describes God is, "God is love" (1 Jn. 4:8).  Do you have any trouble trusting God?  Remember that God is love.  God always has out best in mind.

Security comes from trusting God.  Trust is lived out through faith and obedience.  It is not enough to just hear Jesus, we also have to obey his words (Matt. 7:24).  The life of obedience is a trusting life that brings true security (Matt. 7:25).  Being a fan, being in the crowd, and even being in ministry are not markers of trust or obedience (Matt. 7:21-3).

Your trusting God is a non-negotiable issue.  To go forward in life, you must develop trust in God.  And whether you've got it is shown in how you act and live when things do not go well.

Some of Psalm 125 seems to echo Psalm 121, with the mountain motif.  We learned in Psalm 121, that God is our guardian.  The mountains remind us of the creator who watches over us.

Psalm 125 looks at the mountains once more, and says that those who trust the Lord are like mountains.  Furthermore, just as Jerusalem is surrounded by mountains, God surrounds his people; which sounds like it is says, again, as a reminder, echoing Psalm 121, that God is watching over, this time surrounding, his people.  God gives us security.

It has always been, since the fall of man, an insecure world.  It is this simple:  Not trusting God keeps you insecure, but trusting God gives you security.  Seems like a no-brainer, yet many people choose to not trust God, and even question what they know God said (Gen. 3:1, 2 Cor. 11:3).

The old song really is true:
Trust and obey, for there’s no other way
To be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.
The (favorite)(1) verse in Proverbs says, "trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not depend on your own understanding"(Prov. 3:5).  This means that trust is a heart issue.  God is after our hearts.  A great prayer is, "I don't understand, but I trust you."  We do not stand on our understanding.  We stand on the rock of our faith and trust in God, proven and tested by trials and hardships in life, that we meet with trust in the Lord.

This was the sixth song of ascent (ESV) or song for pilgrims.  To review, and cap off with the sixth:

  1. We learn to call upon God and that God saves us and answers prayers.
  2. We learn that God is our guardian, watching over us.
  3. We learn to be worshipers, desiring God.
  4. We choose to humble ourselves as servants as we ask for mercy.
  5. We cultivate seeing God's workings in our lives, then sharing the stories.
  6. We learn to live a life of trusting the Lord, that brings security.

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1. Bible Gateway did a survey and Prov. 3:5 was the 6th most popular verse in the whole Bible.  

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