THE LORD SPOKE (August 30)

Daily Reflections from Scripture:

Old Testament: Psalm 120-131

The Psalms of Ascent

There are fifteen of these “Songs of Ascent” (Psalms 120-134). At the main public entrances to the south of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, there were fifteen steps climbing up to the platform where the Temple once stood. Actually, there are thirty but in a unique arrangement of one long step plus one short step, making fifteen paired steps. Archaeologists and historians have put the two together and suggested that this was the place where these special psalms were recited by visitors just before entering the compound. No doubt the pilgrim would have thought and prayed through these texts many times at home and during the long trip to Jerusalem. But then, upon arrival, he probably recited them upon approaching his holy destination. These fifteen psalms were most likely on his lips as he climbed those last fifteen steps.

I rejoiced with those who said to me, “Let us go to the house of the Lord!
Our feet are standing in your gates, O Jerusalem. (122:1-2)

As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds his people
both now and forevermore. (125:2)

May the Lord bless you from Zion all the days of your life.... (128:5)

For the Lord has chosen Zion, he has desired it for his dwelling.
“This is my resting place for ever and ever;
Here I will sit enthroned for I have desired it....” (132:13-14)

Lift up your hands in the sanctuary and praise the Lord.
May the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth bless you from Zion. (134:2-3)

Because Jerusalem was at the top of the Judean hills, it was always true that you went up to get to Jerusalem - no matter from what direction you approached. The Hebrew word for “going up” is aliyah and it took on a metaphorical meaning of rising to Jerusalem. The most likely nuance in the term “Song of Ascents” would be going up to Jerusalem for the pilgrim festivals each year. In modern usage it has gained two related meanings: (1) When a Jewish man is called up to the platform to perform one of the readings from the weekly Torah portion in the synagogue he is making an aliyah. (2) The act of immigration to Israel is called Aliyah so that Jewish people today speak of “doing Aliyah” or “making Aliyah”.

There are many other topics tucked into this collection of psalms. It served and still serves as a valuable reminder of how to approach God. Check out the following:

• proper and improper use of the tongue (Ps. 120)
• sha’alu shalom Yerushala’im - pray for the peace of Jerusalem (Ps. 122)
• how to handle contempt and ridicule (Ps. 123)
• the source/importance of sleeping well (Ps. 127)
• why you shouldn’t keep a record of wrongs (Ps. 130)

About Psalm 131, Spurgeon said, “This is one of the shortest psalms to read, but one of the longest to learn.”


New Testament: Revelation 5

The Lamb is introduced! After the majestic description of the throne room in heaven (ch. 4), the scene is set and our anticipation runs high. An unopened scroll is in the hand of the One sitting on the throne and a mighty angelic crier is calling out for a worthy reader to come forth.

“Behold the Lion!” [drum roll]. Enter a lamb. Ah, but such a Lamb! Freshly slain, “standing in the center of the throne”, yet coming to take the scroll “from the right hand of him who sat on the throne”. Confused? How else could the Trinity be described? He’s three, yet one. All the heavenly realm breaks out in singing praise “to Him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb” (Rev. 5:13).

The voices number “thousand upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand” and with one voice they proclaim the worthiness of the Lamb. He is worthy because He was slain (Rev. 5:9, 12). By His blood He “purchased men for God”. Oh, glory! And He has made them to be a kingdom of priests.

That’s us! The redeemed, blood-bought, men and women since the death of the Lamb are a kingdom of priests to minister before God and to reign on the earth. “Every [other] creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them” knows that and joins in one glorious chorus to sing the unsurpassed majesty of God Almighty.

As you read this you are lost in wonder.

When all my labors and trials are o’er,
And I am safe on that beautiful shore,
Just to be near the dear Lord I adore,
Will through the ages be glory for me.

Oh, that will be glory for me,
Glory for me, glory for me,
When by His grace I shall look on His face,
That will be glory, be glory for me.

When, by the gift of His infinite grace,
I am accorded in heaven a place,
Just to be there and to look on His face,
Will through the ages be glory for me.

Friends will be there I have loved long ago;
Joy like a river around me will flow;
Yet just a smile from my Savior, I know,
Will through the ages be glory for me.