{"id":2470,"date":"2022-01-09T18:00:03","date_gmt":"2022-01-10T02:00:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cbcwla.org\/home\/en\/?p=2470"},"modified":"2022-01-06T23:09:47","modified_gmt":"2022-01-07T07:09:47","slug":"20220110-psalm-125","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cbcwla.org\/home\/en\/blog\/20220110-psalm-125\/","title":{"rendered":"Ascending to Meet with God – Psalm 125"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

1\u202f<\/sup><\/b>Those who trust in the\u202fLORD\u202fare like Mount Zion,\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/b>\u00a0<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 which cannot be moved,\u202fbut abides forever.<\/span><\/i><\/b>
\n2\u202f<\/sup><\/b>As the mountains surround Jerusalem,\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/b>\u00a0<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 so the\u202fLORD\u202fsurrounds\u202fhis people\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/b>\u00a0<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 from this time forth and forevermore.<\/span><\/i><\/b>\u00a0<\/span>
\n3\u202f<\/sup><\/b>For the scepter\u202fof the wicked shall not rest\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/b>\u00a0<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 on the land allotted to the righteous,\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/b>\u00a0<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 lest the righteous stretch out\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/b>\u00a0<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 their hands to do wrong.<\/span><\/i><\/b>\u00a0<\/span>
\n4\u202f<\/sup><\/b>Do good, O LORD,\u202fto those who are good,\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/b>\u00a0<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 and to those who are upright in their hearts!<\/span><\/i><\/b>
\n5\u202f<\/sup><\/b>But those who turn\u202faside to their crooked ways,\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/b>\u00a0<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 the\u202fLORD\u202fwill lead away with evildoers.<\/span><\/i><\/b>\u00a0<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Peace be upon Israel.<\/span><\/i><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

(Translated version, original article written in Chinese by Pastor Mickey Hsiao)<\/span><\/i>\u202f\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

[Theme] Protection by the surrounding mountains\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

First, let us imagine the following conditions: one area is surrounded by natural barriers formed by towering mountains and river valleys; the other area is surrounded by blocks of bunkers and trenches dug out manually with a machine. Which area is more secure?<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The people who went up to worship God, seeing Jerusalem surrounded by mountains, thought that the protection God had set up around them was like a mountain that would never be moved.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>The poet mentioned that<\/span> \u201c<\/span><\/b>For the scepter\u202fof the wicked shall not rest on the land allotted to the righteous, lest the righteous stretch out their hands to do wrong.<\/span><\/i><\/b>” (Psalm 125:3).\u201d <\/span><\/b>While the evil deeds by the wicked are temporary, God’s protection is eternal. The wicked may be rampant for a while. And yet, the poet reminds us that what we look up to is the truly righteous and holy God, who has the authority to judge the world.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Meanwhile, we should stay alerted from being influenced by the evildoers nor doing any unrighteous things. We must stand firm on the side of justice, believing that God <\/span>is sovereign and He <\/span>will treat those who are good and upright in heart.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

[Meditation]<\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

When we come before God to worship Him attentively, we will be attracted to His glory; When we draw near to Him and spend more time with Him, our lives will also be transformed. Because of his righteousness and love, our hearts and minds will be able to follow God\u2019s will more. And our conduct will reflect more of Christ.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Let us look up to God and see that God is like a solid rock and towering mountains protecting his people. Let us shout to God with praises and let us also examine ourselves: are we easily shaken by the surrounding environment. Are we easily angered and do we often make complaints when we feel being wronged by others? Let us remind each other not to embark on a crooked road like the wicked, but to join the group of brothers and sisters to ascend and to worship God together.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

[Prayer]<\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Lord, who surrounds <\/span>His <\/span>people, please save us from the evil deeds of the wicked and the deceitful hearts. In all things, <\/span>grant <\/span>us <\/span>be upright, hold on to your truth, live out your goodness, and glorify your name!<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

[<\/b>Memory Verse<\/b>]\u202f<\/b>\u202f\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Psalm <\/span>125:5\u00a0<\/span> <\/span>But<\/span> those who turn\u202faside to their crooked ways,\u202fthe\u202fLord\u202fwill lead away with evildoers. <\/span>Peace be upon Israel.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

1\u202fThose who trust in the\u202fLORD\u202fare like Mount Zion,\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 which cannot be moved,\u202fbut abides forever. 2\u202fAs the mountains surround Jerusalem,\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 so the\u202fLORD\u202fsurrounds\u202fhis people\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 from this time forth and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":2432,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[77,71],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2470","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ascending-to-meet-with-god","category-pastor-mickey-hsiao"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cbcwla.org\/home\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2470","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cbcwla.org\/home\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cbcwla.org\/home\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cbcwla.org\/home\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cbcwla.org\/home\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2470"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/cbcwla.org\/home\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2470\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2488,"href":"https:\/\/cbcwla.org\/home\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2470\/revisions\/2488"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cbcwla.org\/home\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2432"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cbcwla.org\/home\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2470"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cbcwla.org\/home\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2470"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cbcwla.org\/home\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2470"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}