From This Time Forth and Forevermore by David Bast

From This Time Forth and Forevermore
March 22, 2019

Read: Psalm 125

The LORD surrounds his people, from this time forth and forevermore. (v. 2)

For most of human history, ordinary people have been vulnerable to sudden attack. If you were a simple farmer who one day saw an armed band of enemies galloping toward your village, you had only one option: to run for it. Your only hope of survival was to reach a safe hiding place or defensible position.

The Bible, and the Psalms in particular, are full of images like that for God. He is “our refuge and strength . . . our fortress” (Ps. 46:1, 7, 11). “The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold” (Ps. 18:2). “You are a hiding place for me; you preserve me from trouble” (Ps. 32:7).

That’s the thought behind the psalmist’s words here in Psalm 125. As he makes the climb up to the city, the writer’s thoughts focus on Mount Zion, the main hill on which Jerusalem was built. All who trust in the Lord are able to stand like a mountain amid all the storms of life and assaults of the enemy. It’s not that we are so strong in ourselves. It’s that, now and always, we are surrounded by the Lord.

The Lord’s protection does not mean trouble can never reach us. But it does mean that in order to reach us, it has to go through him first. —David Bast

As you pray, meditate on the assurance that God makes all things work together for your good.