Psalm 125 eloquently represents the Psalms of Ascent as it elaborates in depth and complexity similar themes to Psalms 120-124. Remember, worshiping pilgrims sang these psalms as they journeyed to Jerusalem, and this psalm in particular proclaims a timeless message about the stability of God’s people and a prayer for future peace.
Endurance Through Trust
Psalm 125:1 sets up the main idea: God’s people will endure if they trust in Him.
This is both a promise on which we hold and a cause for praise as we remember God’s faithfulness. Pay attention to Mount Zion as the author’s example of permanence. Zion was not just any mountain. As the location of the temple, it was the geographical center of their identity. The worshippers sang these songs en route to Zion. Also called the City of David, Zion came to represent the Davidic covenant and its Messianic promises for God’s people (II Samuel 5:7; Psalm 2:6).
Psalm 50 says it powerfully: “Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God shines forth.” For the psalmist to use Mount Zion as a simile powerfully says that God will be faithful to bring about his covenant promises in and through those who trust in him. The Psalms of Ascent come to a climax in 132 with this very theme.
Then, verse two answers the question of how such an endurance is possible.
Those who trust God abide forever because God is always surrounding them with protection. Across the Kidron and Hinnom Valleys are immovable mountains that buffeted Jerusalem from attack. God’s protection is just as constant. With the same language as Psalm 121, God’s future protection is assured because it is his nature. As a mountain must act like a mountain, so God always keeps his people because it’s who he is.
Finally, verse three provides a reason for we can trust in God’s promises.
If God did not surround his people, then evil would be in charge. The holy people of God, set apart so God could bring salvation to the nations, would cease to be his people. The “scepter of wickedness” refers not only to wicked authority ruling over the people and land, but all that results from idolatrous living.
Real and Present Danger
The danger of evil leadership was both internal and external. Kings and Chronicles show time and again how most Hebrew kings turned away to worship false gods. Ever since Egypt, a foreign pagan power sought control over the people and land God had promised. The psalmist knows this history, and this verse is as much an explanation as it is an act of resting on the promise of God to be faithful.
No wonder the author ends with a plea to God for justice. Verses 4-5 ask God to make good on his promises of justice by blessing the good and leading away the evil. The result is peace, wholeness, and a flourishing community. This is the same shalom mentioned multiple times already and alluded to even more (i.e., Psalm 120, 122, 124, 128, 132, 133). We need God’s just judgment to bring this about.
It seems obvious. Who wouldn’t want God to bless the good people and give our enemies their due? The psalmist helps us understand, however, that the line of God’s justice is not drawn along ethnic or geographical lines. The propensity for good and evil lies in every human heart. Justice is terrible and liberating, humbling and preserving. Reflecting again at the opening verse, trusting in the LORD means trusting in his good judgment and ability to bring about faithful justice.
The peace of God’s people depends on this and nothing else.
