Sermon: Be Immoveable–Trust in the Lord, Psalm 125

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Be Immoveable: Trust in the Lord 

Psalm 125

Don Ruhl • Savage Street, Grants Pass, Oregon • August 27, In the year of our Lord, 2017

Prelude: 

1. Do you trust in the Lord? 
   1. You trust Him to supply whatever you need.
   2. You know that regardless of what happens around you,
      1. He will be there.
      2. His trustworthiness has moved you
         1. to build your life
         2. on the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ.
2. What does the Bible say 
   1. about people like yourself,
   2. who put their lives in the hand of the Lord?

Persuasion: 

1. Psalm 125.0 | Going to the Strong Place
   
   0 A Song of Ascents.
   
   1. This song of ascents,
      1. about ascending to Jerusalem,
      2. uses Jerusalem as a picture of God’s people.
   2. Imagine then the ancient Israelites singing this song
      1. as they journeyed to Jerusalem, and
      2. as they got closer
         1. they could see the mountains that surrounded Jerusalem.
         2. Then they sang these words.
2. Psalm 125.1–2 | You Can Be Immovable
   
   1 Those who trust in the LORD
   Are like Mount Zion,
   Which cannot be moved, but abides forever.
   2 As the mountains surround Jerusalem,
   So the LORD surrounds His people
   From this time forth and forever.
   
   1. You trust in the Lord,
      1. you are immoveable.
      2. The psalmist did not place conditions upon it, such as
         1. you are immoveable only in doctrinal matters, but
         2. as long as you keep trusting in the Lord,
            1. you will continue as immoveable as Mount Zion,
            2. which has not gone away yet!
               1. You are immoveable in all things.
               2. In all the issues of life.
   2. They are like Mount Zion:
      1. It cannot be moved.
      2. It abides forever.
         1. The Lord surrounds His people
         2. just like the mountains surround Jerusalem.
            1. The Lord’s surrounding of His people lasts forever.
            2. Those things being true, you cannot go wrong trusting in the Lord.
      3. Psalm 34 makes this promise,
         
         7 The angel of the LORD encamps all around those who fear Him,
         And delivers them.
         (Psa 34.7)
         
      4. Speaking of Zion/Jerusalem, the Lord said in Zechariah,
         
         5 “‘For I,’ says the LORD, ‘will be a wall of fire all around her, and I will be the glory in her midst’” (Zec 2.5).
         
   3. However, the day will come when Zion in Palestine shall be moved, because
      1. it is of the earth, and
      2. when the Lord Jesus returns,
         1. He will shake it with the rest of the earth.
         2. Hebrews 12 though, shows the actual Zion that cannot ever be moved,
            
            22 But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels…

            26 whose voice then shook the earth; but now He has promised, saying, “Yet once more I shake not only the earth, but also heaven.” 27 Now this, “Yet once more,” indicates the removal of those things that are being shaken, as of things that are made, that the things which cannot be shaken may remain. 28 Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear (Heb 12.22, 26–28).
            

            1. If you trust in the Lord Jesus Christ now,
            2. you are the Mount Zion of which the writer spoke.
   4. Trust in the Lord as a Christian, and
      1. you shall be as immoveable as earthly Mount Zion, and
      2. you shall be Mount Zion in the spirit and in the sight of heaven.
3. Psalm 125.3 | The Wicked Will Not Last
   
   3 For the scepter of wickedness shall not rest
   On the land allotted to the righteous,
   Lest the righteous reach out their hands to iniquity.
   
   1. The Lord surrounded His people
      1. to keep the scepter of wickedness from resting in the land.
      2. Yes, the wicked did come through the land and
         1. some stayed for a while, but
         2. they all eventually fell.
   2. Why did the Lord prevent the wicked from resting on the land?
      1. Number 1, it was allotted to the righteous.
      2. Number 2, He did not want the righteous
         1. to reach out and
         2. partake in the iniquity of the wicked.
      3. First Corinthians 10 shows
         1. that the Lord still works in our lives,
         2. not allowing temptation to be too strong for us,
            
            13 No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it (1Co 10.13).
            
   3. This reminds me of the class that I taught, “Help! I Can’t Stop Sinning!”
      1. Yes, the Lord works on our behalf, but
      2. He does not remove every potential stumbling block.
         1. The biggest factor in overcoming sin is our desire to quit sin.
            1. Just because you know something displeases the Lord,
            2. does not mean that you have the desire to stop it.
         2. You can follow all the things that I listed in that class, but
            1. if you do not desire to quit,
            2. you will not be able to quit,
               1. in spite doing those other things.
               2. The Lord is not going to do it all for us.
                  1. He wants us to do what we can.
                  2. He also wants us to want to cease sinning, to hate sin.
   4. Plenty of Israelites sinned and died in their sin.
      1. The psalmist did not make a general declaration of all Israelites, but
      2. it is those who trust in the Lord.
         1. Yes, they will sin too, but
         2. the question is whether they allow iniquity to capture them.
4. Psalm 125.4 | The Lord Does Good to the Good
   
   4 Do good, O LORD, to those who are good,
   And to those who are upright in their hearts.
   
   1. We do not want just prevention from temptation and sin,
      1. we need Jehovah God’s goodness in our lives.
      2. What have we gained,
         1. if we do not sin and
         2. we do not have the Lord’s goodness in our lives?
      3. In Matthew 12, Jesus explained what happens
         1. when the Lord’s goodness has not filled our lives,
            
            43 “When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest, and finds none. 44 Then he says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when he comes, he finds it empty, swept, and put in order. 45 Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first. So shall it also be with this wicked generation” (Matt 12.43–45).
            
         2. The Lord will do good to the good, because
            1. they have sown good, so
            2. they shall reap good.
   2. Who are the upright in heart?
      1. They are the ones who are good.
      2. What does it mean to be upright?
         1. They do not cower in shame and guilt, because
         2. they walk in the Lord’s truth and grace.
            1. They do not have to hang their heads in shame.
            2. They walk upright, but not in haughtiness.
5. Psalm 125.5 | Peace for the Lord’s People
   
   5 As for such as turn aside to their crooked ways,
   The LORD shall lead them away
   With the workers of iniquity.
   Peace be upon Israel!
   
   1. You have two groups of people in this Psalm.
      1. First, you have those who trust in the Lord.
      2. Second, you have those who turn from the Lord to their crooked ways.
   2. The Second Group: Yahweh God will lead them away with the workers of iniquity.
      1. They will go the way of those whom the Lord has said
      2. will go to destruction.
         1. God will lead them away from
         2. those who trust in the Lord.
   3. Finally, the psalmist puts peace on Israel.
      1. From time to time, the Lord’s people experience trouble and anxiety, but
      2. as they continue to trust in Him,
         1. He finally brings peace into their lives.
         2. Just look at the lives of the people
            1. whom you know trust in the Lord at all times.
            2. Imitate their lives.

Exhortation: 

1. Part of a prayer that Patrick of Ireland said,
   
   Christ to shield me today
   Against poison, against burning,
   Against drowning, against wounding,
   So that there may come to me abundance of reward.
   Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me,
   Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
   Christ on my right, Christ on my left,
   Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down, Christ when I arise,
   Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,
   Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me,
   Christ in every eye that sees me,
   Christ in every ear that hears me.
   
2. Let us pray for you that Jesus be all those things to you.