In Psalm 125, the psalmist compares those who trust in the LORD to Mt. Zion, which cannot be moved. He then speaks of the evil as those who will be cast aside. It really is that simple–not easy, but simple. The LORD upholds those who trust and honor Him.
Psalm 126 acknowledges the pain of life. It starts with those who return to Zion. The reason they had to return was they were exiled. It speaks of sowing tears and reaping joy. We don’t often think of life that way, do we? In the midst of sorrow, we don’t think about the potential joy we will gain through it, but that is how God works in our lives. He desires to transform anything in our lives to joy, when we trust Him and put Him first. That does not mean our sorrowful circumstances will immediately, or ever end in this life. It does mean during those times His joy can remain in us.
Psalm 127 reminds us how important it is to have the LORD at the center of all we are and do. We can seek security in our lives, but if the LORD isn’t our true security, we won’t be secure. We can seek to build homes and places others will envy, but unless the LORD is the architect, it is vain. The psalmist ends by reminding us our children are a great blessing in our lives. While it doesn’t seem to fit with the theme of the psalm, it does: the world looks at building and security one way, and the LORD another. Children can be seen in many ways from a worldly viewpoint, but the LORD sees them as blessing.
Psalm 128 shows us what is truly valuable: a relationship with the LORD; a relationship with our wife (or husband if you’re a woman), a relationship with our children; and to live a long, full life to His glory. The key aspect of a life well lived is healthy relationships with God and others. Jesus would tell us the same thing when He walked the earth by offering the Great Commandment in response to the question, “What is the greatest commandment in the Law?” That commandment is to love the Lord with everything we have, and to love our neighbors as ourselves.
Psalm 129 is a call for those who work against those who follow the LORD to be eliminated. We might not see that as worthy of a psalm, but it is a psalm, which means the LORD agrees with the assessment. The focus is more for the protection of the one who trusts the LORD, but by association those who turn against the LORD’s children are going to receive His response.
As we turn to Luke 6, we find some parallels to Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount from Matthew 5-7, one of the interesting differences in this section is Matthew 5:48 reads, “Be perfect even as your Father in heaven is perfect,” While Luke 6:36 reads, “Be merciful even as your Father in heaven is merciful.” The change of the word perfect to merciful seems to make a great difference, but let’s think about that for a moment. What does God’s perfection do in our lives? It causes Him to show mercy to all who are imperfect, which is all of us. If we were perfect, we would not need His mercy. At the same time, those who are perfect–if they have a perfection similar to God’s–will be merciful to others. At the end of the day, the two statements, which seem so different on the surface, lead to the same result: showing mercy to others, because of the Lord’s perfection in our lives!