Psalm 125:1

Whole Psalm. This short psalm may be summed up in those words of the prophet (Isa 3:10-11), "Say ye to the righteous, that it shall be well with him. Woe unto the wicked! it shall be ill with him." Thus are life and death, the blessing and the curse, set before us often in the psalms, as well as in the law and in the prophets. --Matthew Henry, 1662-1714.

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 service unto God, and, thereby thought to make condign satisfaction for sin and to merit eternal life. But here the Psalmist leadeth us the plain way unto God, pronouncing this to be the chiefest anchor of our salvation, -- only to hope and trust in the Lord; and declaring that the greatest service that we can do unto God is to trust him. For this is the nature of God -- to create all things of nothing. Therefore he createth and bringeth forth in death, life; in darkness, light. Now to believe this is the essential nature and most special property of faith. When God then seeth such a one as agreeth with his own nature, that is, which believeth to find in danger help, in poverty riches, in sin righteousness, and that for God's own mercy's sake in Christ alone, him can God neither hate nor forsake. --Martin Luther (1483-1546), in "A Commentary on the Psalms of Degrees."

Verse 1. They that trust in the Lord. All that deal with God must deal upon trust, and he will give comfort to those only that give credit to him, and make it appear they do so by quitting other confidences, and venturing to the utmost for God. The closer our expectations are confined to God, the higher our expectations may be raised. -- Matthew Henry.

Verse 1. They that trust, etc. Trust, therefore, in the Lord, always, altogether, and for all things. --Robert Nisbet, in "The Songs of the Temple Pilgrims", 1863.

Verse 1. Shall be as mount Zion. Some persons are like the sand -- ever shifting and treacherous. See Matthew 7:26 . Some are like the sea -- restless and unsettled. See Isaiah 57:20 James 1:6 . Some are like the wind -- uncertain and inconstant. See Ephesians 4:14 . Believers are like a mountain -- strong, stable, and secure. To every soul that trusts him the Lord says, "Thou art Peter." --W. Hr. J. Page, of Chelsea, 1883.

Verse 1. As mount Zion, etc. Great is the stability of a believer's felicity. --John Trapp, 1601-1669.

Verse 1. Mount Zion, which cannot be removed, etc. Lieutenant Conder, reviewing Mr. Maudslay's important exploration, says, "It is especially valuable as showing that, however the masonry may have been destroyed and lost, we may yet hope to find indications of the ancient enceinte in the rock scarps which are imperishable." This is very true; for, while man can destroy what man has made, the everlasting hills smile at his rage. Yet who can hear of it without perceiving the force and sublimity of that glorious description of the immobility of believers.

Verse 1. Cannot be removed, etc. They can never be removed from the Lord, though they may be removed from his house and ordinances, as sometimes David was; and from his gracious presence, and sensible communion with him; and out of the world by death: yet never from his heart's love, nor out of the covenant of his grace, which is sure and everlasting; nor out of his family, into which they are taken; nor from the Lord Jesus Christ, nor out of his hands and arms, nor from off his heart; nor from off him, as the foundation on which they are laid; nor out of a state of grace, either regeneration or justification; but such abide in the love of God, in the covenant of his grace, in the hands of his Son, in the grace wherein they stand, and in the house of God for evermore. -- John Gill, 1697-1771.

Verse 1. Abideth for ever. So surely as Mount Zion shall never be "removed", so surely shall the church of God be preserved. Is it not strange that wicked and idolatrous powers have not joined together, dug down this mount, and carried it into the sea, that they might nullify a promise in which the people of God exult! Till ye can carry Mount Zion into the Mediterranean Sea, the church of Christ shall grow and prevail. Hear this, yet murderous Mohammedans! --Adam Clarke, 1760-1832.

Verse 1. Abideth. Literally, sitteth; as spoken of a mountain, "lieth" or "is situated"; but here with the following forever, used in a still stronger sense. --J. J. Stewart Perowne, 1868.

Verse 1-2. -- That which is here promised the saints is a perpetual preservation of them in that condition wherein they are; both on the part of God, "he is round about them from henceforth even for ever"; and on their parts, they shall not be removed, -- that is, from the condition of acceptation with God wherein they are supposed to be, -- but they shall abide for ever, and continue therein immovable unto the end. This is a plain promise of their continuance in that condition wherein they are, with their safety from thence, and not a promise of some other good thing provided that they continue in that condition. Their being compared to mountains, and their stability, which consists in their being and continuing so, will admit no other sense. As mount Zion abides in its condition, so shall they; and as the mountains about Jerusalem continue, so doth the Lord continue his presence unto them.

That expression which is used, Psalms 125:2 , is weighty and full to this purpose, The LORD is round about his people from henceforth even for ever. What can be spoken more fully, more pathetically? Can any expression of men so set forth the safety of the saints? The Lord is round about them, not to save them from this or that incursion, but from all; not from one or two evils, but from every one whereby they are or may be assaulted. He is with them, and round about them on every side that no evil shall come nigh them. It is a most full expression of universal preservation, or of God's keeping his saints in his love and favour, upon all accounts whatsoever; and that not for a season only, but it is "henceforth", from his giving this promise unto their souls in particular, and their receiving of it, throughout all generations, "even for ever." --John Owen, 1616-1683.

HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS

Whole Psalm.

Verse 1. See "Spurgeon's Sermons", No. 1,450: "The Immortality of the Believer."

Verse 1-2.