Song of Ascent: Fifth Step

Israeli Defense Force soldiers take a break just west of the Temple Mount, Jerusalem. 1988. (C) Wil Robinson

A Song of Ascents. Of David.
Psalm 124

1 If it had not been the LORD who was on our side—
let Israel now say—
2 if it had not been the LORD who was on our side
when people rose up against us,
3 then they would have swallowed us up alive,
when their anger was kindled against us;
4 then the flood would have swept us away,
the torrent would have gone over us;
5 then over us would have gone
the raging waters.

6 Blessed be the LORD,
who has not given us
as prey to their teeth!
7 We have escaped like a bird
from the snare of the fowlers;
the snare is broken,
and we have escaped!

8 Our help is in the name of the LORD,
who made heaven and earth.

Psalm 124. In previous steps the ascending Levites have cried out for help, for mercy, for deliverance, as well as in praise. Here the Levites on the fifth step of ascent encourage all to exclaim confidently that our L-RD is for us; He is not against us despite the trials we may seen as we trod our paths.

“Besides applying this to any particular deliverance wrought in our days and the ancient times, we should have in our thoughts the great work of redemption by Jesus Christ, by which believers were rescued from Satan.” Matthew Henry.

L-RD Bless, Keep, Shine. . .

Song of Ascent: Fourth Step

A portion of the Old City wall, Jerusalem. 1985 Wil Robinson

A Song of Ascents.
Psalm 123

1 To you I lift up my eyes,
O you who are enthroned in the heavens!
2 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,
so our eyes look to the LORD our God,
till he has mercy upon us.

3 Have mercy upon us, O LORD, have mercy upon us,
for we have had more than enough of contempt.
4 Our soul has had more than enough
of the scorn of those who are at ease,
of the contempt of the proud.

Psalm 123, in “contrast of tone with the joy of the preceding psalm is very striking. After the heights of devout gladness have been reached, it is still needful to come down to stern realities of struggle, and these can only be faced when the eye of patient dependence and hope is fixed on God.” Expositor’s Bible Commentary

In Psalm 121 the Psalmist begins “I lift my eyes to the hills. . .” but ultimately we understand this isn’t where we receive our help. Here he simply begins plain and simple, “To you I lift up my eyes, O you who are enthroned in the heavens!” Wonderful!

I do like the way the Psalmist in verse four essentially says, “I’m so over the lazy and the arrogant.”

L-RD Bless, Keep, Shine. . .

Song of Ascent: Third Step

A Tribute to King David’s Harp. Outside the gate, near the Temple Mount. Jerusalem.

A Song of Ascents. Of David.
Psalm 122

1I was glad when they said to me,
“Let us go to the house of the LORD!”
2 Our feet have been standing
within your gates, O Jerusalem!

3 Jerusalem—built as a city
that is bound firmly together,
4 to which the tribes go up,
the tribes of the LORD,
as was decreed for^a Israel,
to give thanks to the name of the LORD.
5 There thrones for judgment were set,
the thrones of the house of David.

6 Pray for the peace of Jerusalem!
“May they be secure who love you!
7 Peace be within your walls
and security within your towers!”
8 For my brothers and companions’ sake
I will say, “Peace be within you!”
9 For the sake of the house of the LORD our God,
I will seek your good.

Psalm 122, sung on the third step, and is described in Benson’s Commentary as “words of the people, exhorting one another to go and attend upon the worship of God at his tabernacle or temple at Jerusalem, and especially at the three great festivals;”

Forgotten are the complaints of the slanderous words by false witnesses cried out about on the first step. Forgotten are the fears of some undisclosed danger of which caused frantic eyes to look beyond the hills.

Now the Levites sing of the throngs who will come up to worship the G-D of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The G-D of Moses and of King David. The G-D and Father of our L-RD Jesus. Our Father, our King.

L-RD Bless, Keep, Shine. . .

Song of Ascent: Second Step

A Song of Ascents. Psalm 121

1I lift up my eyes to the hills.
From where does my help come?
2My help comes from the LORD,
who made heaven and earth.

3He will not let your foot be moved;
he who keeps you will not slumber.
4Behold, he who keeps Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.

5The LORD is your keeper;
the LORD is your shade on your right hand.
6The sun shall not strike you by day,
nor the moon by night.

7The LORD will keep you from all evil;
he will keep your life.
8The LORD will keep
your going out and your coming in
from this time forth and forevermore.

On the second step, the Levites sang Psalm 121. It’s has always seemed to me that the first verse is best read as something like, “Even if I looked to the hills. . .” It is like a commander of soldiers who would greatly appreciate help in the heat and fog of battle. But there is neither help upon the hill nor any on the other side. And he knows it. He also knows from where his help will come.

The psalmist exclaims that “My help comes from the LORD,
who made heaven and earth.”

The psalmist, in verse five, shifts from a personal view to a more universal view of G-D and His Chosen. He proclaims, “The LORD is your keeper.” Here could be inserted Guardian, or certainly Shepherd. The word picture we might have is of our G-D standing watch over us.

L-RD Bless, Keep, Shine. . .

Song of Ascent: First Step

Narrow Ascent. Israel 1986 Photo by Wil Robinson

A Song of Ascents. Psalm 120

1In my distress I called to the LORD,
and he answered me.
2Deliver me, O LORD,
from lying lips,
from a deceitful tongue.

3What shall be given to you,
and what more shall be done to you,
you deceitful tongue?
4A warrior’s sharp arrows,
with glowing coals of the broom tree!

5Woe to me, that I sojourn in Meshech,
that I dwell among the tents of Kedar!
6Too long have I had my dwelling
among those who hate peace.
7I am for peace,
but when I speak, they are for war!

Psalm 120 is the first of fifteen psalms that all begin in a similar manner: A Song of Ascents. It is generally accepted among Jewish sages that these songs were sung by the Levites while ascending the steps separating the two sections of the courtyard outside the Temple. At each step one Psalm was sung, in order, until the last step and the last Psalm was sung.

The first verse sums up this song as a cry in distress and an answer. The trial that is causing this distress, according to Barnes’s Notes, is “caused by the tongue – slander.”

L-RD Bless, Keep, Shine. . .