Gwendolyn Harmon's Blog: Learning Ladyhood, page 17

Psalm 125:5 Set Apart for Peace

“As for such as turn aside unto their crooked ways, the Lord shall lead them forth with the workers of iniquity: but peace shall be upon Israel.” (v.5)

 

As is frequent in Scripture, we are presented with a contrast between the Lord’s dealings with the righteous who trust in Him and the wicked, who trust themselves. This is a common contrast, and this verse is fairly straightforward, but notice the emphasis: the psalmist doesn’t just say “the unrighteous” or “the wicked,” he says, “such as turn as...

Psalm 125:4 Smiled Upon

“Do good, O Lord, unto those that be good, and to them that are upright in their hearts.” (v.4)

It is a truth illustrated throughout Scripture that God delights in pouring out His goodness on those that “do good,” obeying Him from the heart. The psalmist’s plea here is entirely appropriate in light of the truths of God’s faithful presence and protection found in the previous verses.

 

This verse reminds me of Psalm 84:11, which says,

“For the Lord God is a sun and shield: the Lord will give grace a...

Psalm 125:3 Spared from Sin

“For the rod of the wicked shall not rest upon the lot of the righteous; lest the righteous put forth their hands unto iniquity.”(v.3)

At first glance, this verse appears to promise that the wicked will never be allowed authority over God’s people, but we know from other Scripture passages that many of God’s faithful children have been allowed to be under the authority of the wicked. (Think Daniel, Esther, and the New Testament believers under horrible emperors such as Nero.)

So what is this vers...

Psalm 125:2 Surrounded and Protected

In last week’s post, we looked at the illustration given in Psalm 125:1, of those who trust in the Lord being like Mount Zion, securely rooted, immovable except by an act of God. Now in verse 2, our focus is widened, and our attention is drawn away from the security of Mount Zion to its wider geographical position.

“As the mountains are round about Jerusalem, so the Lord is round about His people from henceforth even for ever.”

 Surrounded

The ancient city of Jerusalem was surrounded by seven mou...

Psalm 125:1 Secure and Rooted

Have you ever had a seemingly ordinary passage of Scripture suddenly come alive to you?

I was sitting in church a few weeks ago, when the first two verses of Psalm 125 suddenly hit me. As I delved deeper into those verses, the rest of the psalm came into focus and I realized that this short psalm is full of truths about God’s protection and care for His people.

I was so blessed by it, I thought it might be encouraging to others as well. So come with me and let’s walk through this psalm verse by ...

Avoiding Error

One day, Jesus had some of the religious leaders come and try to trap Him into saying something foolish or untrue. These leaders were Sadducees, who did not believe in any kind of resurrection. In fact, from what I have read, these Jewish leaders hardly believed in anything supernatural at all.

Jesus listened to their improbable story, which I won’t include here because the story really wasn’t the point. At the end, Jesus responded first of all by pointing out their error, and the root from whic...

The Source of Contentment

Last Wednesday, my church began a series on what the Bible says about money. As we worked through the first lesson, something stood out to me from Hebrews 13:5.

 

“Let your conversation be without coveteousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for He hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.”

 

There’s much that could be said about this verse and the verses surrounding it, but as we read the verse out loud that night, two phrases stood out:

“be content…for He hath said”  

 

You...

Start Small

Last Saturday I finished the Old Testament as I continue to work towards my goal of reading through the Bible twice this year. As I read my way through the short books towards the end of the Old Testament which we call the Minor Prophets, familiar passages would jump out at me like old friends. One of these passages was from the book of Zechariah:

 

“For who hath despised the day of small things? For they shall rejoice, and shall see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel with those seven; they are...

The Power of your Countenance

As I drive to work in the mornings, there’s a stretch of neighborhood I pass through. It’s a quiet neighborhood, with fairly nice houses and yards, and I usually see a few people out walking their dogs as I drive through. There’s one particular lady who always waves when she sees me.

As far as I can tell, I’ve never actually met her, but she always smiles right at me and waves like she knows me. And despite the fact that the one smiling and waving is a total stranger, I still find myself cheered...

Redeeming the Unredeemable

I accepted Christ as my Savior at a very early age, but it was not until my teen years that I really began to grow in the Lord. Though I can remember specific instances of God working in my life, I had not developed the relationship I began with Him at salvation. As I grew older, I remained stagnant, and saw very little victory over sin in my life.

I felt bitter and defeated, I built up walls between myself and my family, and retreated into my imagination. But because my heart was dark and bitte...