Psalm 125
Introduction
Exposition
Verse 1
They that trust in the LORD shall be as mount Zion. The emphasis lies upon the object of their trust, namely, Jehovah the Lord. What a privilege to be allowed to repose in God] How condescending is Jehovah to become the confidence of his people! To trust elsewhere is vanity; and the more implicit…
Verse 2
As the mountains are round about Jerusalem, so the LORD is round about his people from henceforth even for ever. The hill of Zion is the type of the believer's constancy, and the surrounding mountains are made emblems of the all surrounding presence of the Lord.
Verse 3
For the rod of the wicked shall not rest upon the lot of the righteous. The people of God are not to expect immunity from trial because the Lord surrounds them, for they may feel the power and persecution of the ungodly. Isaac, even in Abraham's family, was mocked by Ishmael.
Verse 4
Do good, O LORD, unto those that be good, and to them that are upright in their hearts. Men to be good at all must be good at heart. Those who trust in the Lord are good; for faith is the root of righteousness, and the evidence of uprightness.
Verse 5
As for such as turn aside unto their crooked ways, the LORD shall lead them forth with the workers of iniquity. Two kinds of men are always to be found, the upright and the men of crooked ways.
Explanatory Notes & Quaint Sayings
Verse 1
They that trust in the LORD. Note how he commandeth no work here to be done, but only speaketh of trust, In popery in the time of trouble men were taught to enter into some kind of religion, to fast, to go on pilgrimage, and to do such other foolish works of devotion, which they devised as an high…
Verse 2
As the mountains are round about Jerusalem. This image is not realised, as most persons familiar with our European scenery would wish and expect it to be realised.
Verse 3
The rod of the wicked. It is, their rod, made for them; if God scourge his children a little with it, he doth but borrow it from the immediate and natural use for which it was ordained; their rod, their judgment.
Verse 4
Do good, O Lord, unto those that be good. The Midrash here calls to mind a Talmudic riddle:—There came a good one (Moses Ex 2:2) and received a good thing (the Thra, or Law, Pr 4:2) from the good One (God, Ps 145:9) for the good ones (Israel, Ps 125:4).—Franz Delitzsch, 1871.
Verse 5
Such as turn aside unto their crooked ways. This is the anxiety of the pastor in this pilgrim song. The shepherd would keep his sheep from straggling. His distress is that all in Israel are not true Israelites. Two sorts of people, described by the poet, have ever been in the church.
Hints to the Village Preacher
Whole Psalm. 1. The mark of the covenant: "They that trust." 2. The security of the covenant . 3. The rod of the covenant . 4. The tenor of the covenant . 5. The spirit of the covenant,—"peace." Verse 1. See "Spurgeon's Sermons," No. 1,450: "The Immortality of the Believer." Verses 1-2. 1.
TITLE. A Song of Degrees. Another step is taken in the ascent, another station in the pilgrimage is reached: certainly a rise in the sense is here perceptible, since full assurance concerning years to come is a higher form of faith than the ascription of farther escapes to the Lord.