Daily Meditations

Psalm 129:5 Hatred of Zion Verse 4 of this Psalm declares that the Lord had cut His people free, that they had been liberated from the cords of the wicked. Most commentators take this to be a reference to Babylon and that the writer was one of those who had been freed from captivity. He is therefore reflecting on his experiences and also praying for divine retribution against those who had brought so much suffering and tribulation to Israel. This theme is pursued in Psalm 137 where brutal language is used to describe the anticipated fate of the Babylonians.  There have been many nations and individuals who have hated Zion over the centuries. Many do not realise that their hatred is not only directed against a country and its people but also reflects on the God who called those people and established them. Even if we do not like what the Jews do or what they stand for, we should be careful to not allow that to develop into hatred or any other form of prejudice, for these are still G...

Psalm 129:4 He cuts me free Throughout our studies in the Psalms we have reflected on the righteousness of the Lord our God. We have discovered that true righteousness does not stand alone, it is not static, it is active. If God is righteous than He must be fair and reasonable but also holy in His judgements. If He is righteous, He must be faithful and true to those who believe in Him and who obey Him. Everything about this God we trust in, is a reflection of His righteousness, even His grace and love are righteous and only granted to those who are made clean by the blood of the Lamb. God is always faithful because of His righteous commitment to those He loves and to those who acknowledge Him as King. He is righteous when He protects those who are weak. He is righteous when He vindicates those who have been oppressed. He is righteous when He provides for those in need. Each of these responses, and many more, are a direct consequence of His righteous character.  The psalmist saw thi...

Psalm 129:3 The ploughing of furrows Verses 1-2 of this Psalm have already alerted us to the suffering of Israel at the hands of her enemies. From captivity in Egypt, 2,000 to 1,500 years before Christ, right up to this present-day, Israel has been a nation that has been trodden down, humiliated and punished by the rest of the world and particularly their surrounding neighbours. The arguments about whether or not they deserve this treatment have also divided opinion for centuries but, despite all the odds, they have survived and were re-born in 1948. Can we approve of all they do and say? Certainly not, for few Jews today follow God’s laws and His Word, and even fewer recognise Jesus Christ as their Messiah but, they are still the nation that God chose and through whom He gave us the Law, the Prophets, His Son, the Gospel and His Holy Spirit.  Today’s verse is symbolic of the way individual Jews have been treated but it also speaks of the tribulations of the nation as a whole. As a...

Psalm 129:1-2 They have not gained the victory over me Our journey through Psalms 124 to 128 has been one of joy and celebration for these songs have acknowledged and proclaimed the blessings of God on His people, both as a nation and as individuals. Victory in battle has been celebrated. The longevity of Mount Zion has been proclaimed. The restoration of Israel from captivity has been declared with joy. And we have stood with the godly man who has witnessed the Lord’s blessing on his home and family. Now, Psalm 129 takes a darker turn, this is a prayer against the enemies of Israel, it is a request that God should not bless those who oppress His people.    V1-2    Whilst this Psalm can be read as the plea of an individual, it is really a cry on behalf of a nation. Since the birth and formation of Israel, the people have been oppressed. When Joseph brought his father and his brothers to Egypt, they enjoyed a brief period of prosperity and peace. However, it...

Psalm 128:6 The joy of grandchildren This Psalm has passed very quickly indeed, the last verse is already upon us, and it offers further blessings to those who  “fear the Lord and who walk in obedience to Him.” I  visited all of my grandchildren last weekend; my wife and I were on our way home from a cruise holiday! In one home we watched a toddler, who has only just learned to walk and who has not yet learned to speak, adoring her new baby brother who is just over a month old. Seeing the bonding that was taking place between them was very special. A few hours later we listened to another granddaughter quoting 1 Corinthians 13 by heart and then she and her brothers sang and acted spiritual songs that they had been chosen to perform in Chelmsford Cathedral just a few days earlier. I was humbled and so proud to be the granddad of all these children and to be able to watch them growing up! This privilege should never be underestimated or taken for granted, the energy and life of ...

Psalm 128:5 Blessings from Zion This unique Psalm promises many things to those who love and obey the Lord, and now there is a special blessing bestowed on all who are included in the company of believers. The earthly Zion was just a reflection of a spiritual reality, God has a heavenly throne in the heavenly Zion, the author of Hebrews puts it like this,  “But you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem”  …..  (Hebrews 12:22-24) it’s worth reading on!  For the Jewish readers of this Psalm, Zion and Jerusalem were not heavenly places but earthly centres of worship and holiness. For the Israelites, God’s dwelling was on earth, amongst them, and they had a physical location with a glorious Temple that they visited as often as was possible.  The Psalm seems to promise unbroken prosperity for those who love the Lord, not only individually but as a whole nation. Included in the blessing is the hope of a secure national exis...

Psalm 128:4 Count your blessings There was a hymn that was very popular in my childhood, i.e. a long time ago, it was called “Count your Blessings.” Modern songwriters may consider the words to be a bit twee, but I will repeat them here.    When upon life’s billows you are tempest tossed, When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost, Count your many blessings name them one by one, And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.   Count your blessings, name them one by one; Count your blessings, see what God hath done; Count your blessings, name them one by one, And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.   Are you ever burdened with a load of care? Does the cross seem heavy you are called to bear? Count your many blessings, every doubt will fly, And you will be singing as the days go by.   When you look at others with their lands and gold, Think that Christ has promised you His wealth untold. Count your many blessings, money cannot buy Your reward in h...

Psalm 128:3 The value of family A vine in the Bible, is a symbol of fruitfulness. When Jacob was blessing his sons on his death bed he said of Joseph , “Joseph is a fruitful vine, a fruitful vine near a spring, whose branches climb over a wall.”  Genesis 49:22. The vine is also used in Scripture as a picture of sexual allure; see Solomon’s words in Song of Songs 7:8-12. Notice that in today’s verse the wife  is “in the house.”  In other words, she’s not out and about displaying her charms to other men, she is faithful and devoted to her husband and her family. The picture changes but another plant is now used to symbolise fruitfulness, this time it is the olive tree. The olive is evergreen, and its shoots promise longevity and abundance, for the olive was used for oil, for its fruit, and also for its timber. A healthy olive tree is a sign of productivity and good management, it’s a reflection on its owner and will last for a long time. This is a picture of our children be...

Psalm 128:2 The fruit of your labour Let’s be clear here, the Lord God rewards the righteous and He denies the wicked. If we measure rewards using prosperity and academic success as a yardstick, then we might conclude that the wicked come off better than the righteous! But there are other ways of measuring the rewards that the Lord gives. A happy marriage. Loving and respectful children. Sleep at night. Trustworthy friends. Hope for tomorrow. Eyes and ears that can see and hear the beauty of the world around us. Contentment with little. Joy that is inspired by love not by material things. The list is a long one and the items on it are priceless. Many of us have never been rich and yet we have prospered and can say with conviction that we are blessed.  Notice that the fruits that can be eaten come from our labours, they are not stolen or deceitfully obtained. Old fashioned hard work has made us fruitful, and we are able to enjoy the harvest of what that work has produced. Isaiah put...

Psalm 128:1 The fear of the Lord 1 Timothy 6:6 says that “ Godliness with contentment is great gain.”  I wonder if the Apostle Paul had been reading this psalm when he wrote those words to Timothy? This is another short song that highlights the blessings that accompany the life of a man who lives in obedience to God’s Word. This is also another Psalm of Ascents to be sung by the pilgrims as they approached the Temple Mount in Zion. Even there they were to remind themselves of their domestic lives back home, and to rededicate themselves to being godly men and women on high days and ordinary days!    V1        Let’s remind ourselves of what it means to “ fear the Lord .” It does not mean that we must spend the rest of our lives trembling and quaking at the merest hint of His name or the thought of His intervention in our lives. Many, like Isaiah and the Apostle John, fell at His feet as though dead when they saw a vision of His glory ...

Psalm 127:5 A quiver full of children Yesterday’s verse likened children to arrows, they are an extension of ourselves and as such form a protective barrier around us, just as we would do everything in our power to protect them. It follows that the more children we have and the more loyal they are, the stronger all family ties and influences will be. That is one of the reasons that God gave the Commandment  “Honour your father and mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.”  Exodus 20:12. Therefore, any man or woman who has a “quiver” full of children is greatly blessed, although a modern quiver holds 25-30 arrows! Jacob was deemed to be greatly blessed with his 12 sons and 1 daughter. So strong was he that they formed the backbone of a nation that exists to this very day.  Solomon goes on to suggest that a man with a number of children will not be put to shame in a Court hearing! Presumably this means that if a father was falsely accus...

Psalm 127:4 Children who are like arrows At first glance this verse of the Psalm is a bit confusing, who would use their children as arrows? How can we view them as objects of warfare? Maybe Psalm 112 throws some light on this conundrum?  “Praise the Lord. Blessed are those who fear the Lord, who find great delight in His commands. Their children will be mighty in the land; the generation of the upright will be blessed.”  Psalm 112:1-2. Solomon appears to agree with these sentiments, if we raise our children to fear the Lord and to find great delight in His commands, then they will be like mighty warriors in the land. All around us a battle rages, the enemies of God seek to destroy His creation, His truth and His people. Those who are committed to His Word and who are raised to honour and obey Him stand out, but they will find themselves in a fearsome conflict. Hell’s forces will challenge them at every turn, the ones who survive will be those who were trained from their youth...

Psalm 127:3 Our children! Yesterday, my wife and I were part of a large family gathering, ten adults and five grandchildren all together in one place. There was lots of laughter, a decent walk, a game of football, fun in a play park, a new-born baby to be cuddled and last, but not least, wonderful food. It was the Saturday before Easter Sunday and I would not have been anywhere else on the planet; they are all wonderful people.  Today is Resurrection Sunday and we will meet together with our spiritual family, there may not be the football but there will be a great celebration and up to 50 people will sing and dance and praise the Lord and enjoy each other’s company. It’s a double joy to be part of two families, and to be with those who love us and who love the Lord Jesus too. What a heritage! What a reward! What else is there that pays a better tribute to our pathway through this life and our devotion to Yeshua?  Our children are a wonderful gift from God, they constantly caus...

Psalm 127:2 Work v sleep! Solomon continues the theme of this Psalm in Proverbs, “ The blessing of the Lord brings wealth, without painful toil for it.”  Proverbs 10:22. Jesus picked up the same theme when He taught us not to worry about what we will eat and drink or what we will wear. He pointed to birds and to flowers and reminded His disciples that they do not have to toil to remain alive, their heavenly Father knows about all the needs of His children. Matthew 6:25-34. Jacob’s blessing of his sons from his deathbed is very powerful and to Benjamin he says,  “Let the beloved of the Lord rest secure in Him, for He shields Him all day long, and the one the Lord loves rests between His shoulders.”  Deuteronomy 33:12. What a beautiful picture and what a reminder that we do not have to worry in this life, the Lord carries us on His shoulders just as a shepherd carries a young sheep. We are protected, provided for and given rest when we trust in the care of the shepherd...

Psalm 127:1 A Song about life at home This short Psalm is attributed to Solomon, he was renowned for his wisdom, a man endued with a lot of common sense. As we shall see, the Psalm is down to earth, it talks about families and homelife and children and yet it is still called “A song of ascents.” Presumably it kept people grounded, it was wonderful to savour the Temple atmosphere and to ascend the hill of the Lord, but life at home with the kids was also a wonderful thing, the Lord God is with us and part of our lives wherever we are.   V1        The word for house here refers to a domestic building, not the grandeur and unique nature of the Temple. The author uses the word “builders” too which is a Hebrew pun on the word for children, so it’s not just the physical dwelling that is in view but also the building of a family. In other words, the Lord should be part of our home life in every aspect, be it the physical dwelling or the construction...

Psalm 126:6 Seeds and sheaves What a contrast this verse offers us! As we saw with the previous verse, sowing can turn into reaping and reaping can turn into joy. There is one explanation of this figure of speech that is not often noticed, it may well be that the Sower is God Himself. He takes His people and scatters them with great sorrow in other lands. The seeds, Israel, leave their homeland with heavy hearts and broken spirits, they may never see it again, their labours have been in vain, the Promised Land has become a land of despair. God watches and He weeps. The people stumble northward towards Babylon, and they weep. It is a dismal and heartbreaking journey to exile and uncertainty.  70 years later their fortunes are reversed, many of the exiles have been allowed home and they travel eagerly, anticipating their reunion with their heritage and their people. A whole generation has passed, there are new relationships to build, new family bonds to be constructed but oh, the joy...

Psalm 126:5 Sowing and reaping This verse likens the exile of the Jews to a Sower striding out into the fields to scatter his seed. He takes a handful of what appears to be lifeless grains and tosses them across the land. Nebuchadnezzar had done this with Israel, he had picked them up, carried them away and tossed them onto the fields of Babylon. This had been a tearful process for the Jewish people, and the prophets predicted their sorrow but also their joy when they were restored. That restoration is likened to a harvest when there will be “ reaping with songs of joy.” This whole scenario is set out in depth by the prophet Jeremiah, he refers to Israel as Ephraim and constantly uses the analogy of gathering from exile, of sorrow that turns to joy. In fact, he does this far better than I could ever do, so I will copy his words below from Jeremiah  31:1-25. I make no apology for this, many do not read the words of prophets like Jeremiah or, if they do, they do not understand the co...

Psalm 126:4 Let the streams flow It seems that this Psalm was written at a point when some of the exiled Jews were still in captivity in Babylon. This may have been of their own choosing, there are records that show that some never returned to Israel, they had started businesses, they had settled into the culture and integrated with their Babylonian contemporaries. Others simply lacked the will or the means to make the journey home, it may even be that only limited numbers were given permission to leave. The cry of the psalmist is simply that the Lord should bring back all of the captives, he puts it like this,  “restore our fortunes, Lord .” The wealth of Israel was, and still is, its people, it has always been God’s purpose that they should return and dwell in the land that He appointed to them. To this day, nothing has changed. The Negev is the desert wastelands that cover a vast area south of Israel and east of Egypt. In summer this area is arid and seared by scorching heat, it...

Psalm 126:3 Filled with joy For many of us the journey of faith begins with our salvation from sin and an awareness of our need for forgiveness and hope from God. We are brought to a place of repentance and the Holy Spirit opens our eyes to who God is and the validity of His Word and the sacrifice He made for us. We begin a relationship with Yeshua and the Holy Spirit continues to open our eyes to the truth of the Scriptures and the reality of our salvation. We are baptized and come into an even deeper awareness of God’s power and presence; the journey has begun. For far too many believers, that journey stops and starts, and they can go for long periods without any further progress. That might be down to their own indolence, their lack of meaningful Bible teaching, the poor example of older, more experienced Christians, a wrong choice of church fellowship – there are many reasons why the initial joy can turn to monotonous indifference. That is not meant to be the way! If we are in chur...

Psalm 126:2 The Lord has done great things for them Can you imagine the atmosphere as the returning Jewish exiles made their first pilgrimages back to the city of Jerusalem? Many had “come home” from Babylon fearing the worst. A whole generation had passed since they were last in the land, few remembered the festival occasions and the sense of community and also the holy wonder when the ascent to Jerusalem took place. The old songs had to be retaught, and the new ones learned. The musicians had to re-learn the words and tunes that their ancestors had known so well. The Levites and priests had spent hours diligently pouring over their ceremonial roles and practicing their different responsibilities. When the great days came, the crowds ascended with laughter and they sang, as never before, the Songs of Zion; the songs that exalted their God and that restored their place as His Chosen ones.  The effect was two-fold, the Jews danced and sang for joy, the rest of the world looked on an...

Psalm 126:1 Dreaming of Zion This is another short Psalm that is added to the catalogue of the “Songs of Ascents”. These are songs that express great devotion to Zion or Jerusalem and it’s Temple. The singers were not just thrilled by architecture and buildings, they came to Zion to meet with their God. The ceremonies and annual festivals were the highlight of their year and all who lived in that land, and beyond, made at least one pilgrimage to the great city. This was a time of celebration for families and communities, and the streets would be packed with worshippers. As they ascended the hill to the Temple Mount, the air would be filled with music and songs and men like David and Asaph were the composers of these festive psalms.   V1        It is thought that Psalm126 was especially written to express the joy of those Jews who had survived exile in Babylon and who were now able to return to the Holy City and partake in its festivals once a...

Psalm 125:5 The two roads The Bible is very clear; there are two roads that we can pursue in our lives. The righteous way or the wicked way. Jesus talked about this,  “ Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and   broad is the way that leads to destruction , and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.”  Matthew 7:13-14. Notice that it’s not just the “ways” that are broad or narrow, it is also the gates that lead to these ways. A wide gate allows all sorts of possibilities, all sorts of religion, all sorts of beliefs and behaviours, it is all-inclusive, it permits diversity and inclusivity. Sadly, even churches today offer wide gates for congregations, all are welcome, all faiths are valid, all beliefs are tolerated. Those who follow such crooked ways will find themselves judged and banished with evildoers; they have not walked upon the way that leads to life. A narrow g...

Psalm 125:4 A message for the good Is there anyone who qualifies as being good? Notice the different emphasis in this verse between the Lord who DOES good and those people who ARE good. It goes without saying that God is good, but is it possible that there are human beings who are also good? Paul did not think so when he wrote Romans 3:10-12.  As it is written: “ There is no one righteous, not even one ; there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one .” Paul later goes on to explain that righteousness before God is not based on our works but on our faith .  “ Now to the one who works, wages are not credited as a gift   but as an obligation.   However, to the one who does not work but trusts God who justifies the ungodly, their faith is credited as righteousness.   David says the same thing when he speaks of the blessedness of the one to whom Go...

Psalm 125:3 The land allotted to the righteous Whatever the moment in Israel’s history that this Psalm was written, there was a threat in the air – there always was! Be it the taunts and intrusions of local tribes and nations like the Philistines or the Ammonites or be it the oppressive menace of the Empires of the Assyrians, the Babylonians or the Persians; the land and the people of Israel constantly experienced dark clouds on their horizon. Someone was always out to intimidate or even destroy them.  Despite the ominous presence of dark forces, the people were protected, and they prospered under the hand of the Lord God. In this verse they are described as the righteous and their enemies as the wicked. Israel was righteous not because they were perfect or even tolerably good, there were too many broken commandments and laws for them to claim that distinction. Their righteousness was attributed to them by God, His presence was amongst them. They, out of all the nations, were alone...

Psalm 125:2 The mountains of Jerusalem The obvious question is how many mountains   surround Jerusalem? Well, there are 7, often referred to as the Judean Hills.  Jerusalem's seven hills, or mountains, are: - 1.       Mount Scopus 2.       Mount of Olives 3.       Mount of Corruption  (all these three are peaks in a mountain ridge that lies east of the Old City) 4.       Mount Ophel 5.       The original Mount Zion or Moriah (today’s Temple Mount) 6.       The new Mount Zion (where the traditional Upper Room is located) and  7.       The hill on which the Antonia Fortress was built.   As we read this Psalm, we see a mighty picture of God’s steadfast and unmovable love. It is specifically His love for the Jewish people, for Jerusalem, and Israel. The mountain region that surrounds the city o...