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SCRIPTURE REFERENCES FOR THIS SERMON:
Psalm 120:1-126:6
120:1 A song of ascents.
In my distress I cried out
to the Lord and he answered me.
2 I said, “O Lord, rescue me
from those who lie with their lips
and those who deceive with their tongues.”
3 How will he severely punish you,
you deceptive talker?
4 Here’s how! With the sharp arrows of warriors,
with arrowheads forged over the hot coals.
5 How miserable I am.
For I have lived temporarily in Meshech;
I have resided among the tents of Kedar.
6 For too long I have had to reside
with those who hate peace.
7 I am committed to peace,
but when I speak, they want to make war.
121:1 A song of ascents.
I look up toward the hills.
From where does my help come?
2 My help comes from the Lord,
the Creator of heaven and earth.
3 May he not allow your foot to slip.
May your Protector not sleep.
4 Look! Israel’s Protector
does not sleep or slumber.
5 The Lord is your protector;
the Lord is the shade at your right hand.
6 The sun will not harm you by day,
or the moon by night.
7 The Lord will protect you from all harm;
he will protect your life.
8 The Lord will protect you in all you do,
now and forevermore.
122:1 A song of ascents; by David.
I was glad because they said to me,
“We will go to the Lord’s temple.”
2 Our feet are standing
inside your gates, O Jerusalem.
3 Jerusalem is a city designed
to accommodate an assembly.
4 The tribes go up there,
the tribes of the Lord,
where it is required that Israel
give thanks to the name of the Lord.
5 Indeed, the leaders sit there on thrones and make legal decisions,
on the thrones of the house of David.
6 Pray for the peace of Jerusalem.
May those who love her prosper.
7 May there be peace inside your defenses
and prosperity inside your fortresses.
8 For the sake of my brothers and my neighbors
I will say, “May there be peace in you.”
9 For the sake of the temple of the Lord our God
I will pray for you to prosper.
123:1 A song of ascents.
I look up toward you,
the one enthroned in heaven.
2 Look, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their master,
as the eyes of a female servant look to the hand of her mistress,
so our eyes will look to the Lord, our God, until he shows us favor.
3 Show us favor, O Lord, show us favor!
For we have had our fill of humiliation, and then some.
4 We have had our fill
of the taunts of the self-assured,
of the contempt of the proud.
124:1 A song of ascents; by David.
“If the Lord had not been on our side”—
let Israel say this.—
2 if the Lord had not been on our side,
when men attacked us,
3 they would have swallowed us alive,
when their anger raged against us.
4 The water would have overpowered us;
the current would have overwhelmed us.
5 The raging water
would have overwhelmed us.
6 The Lord deserves praise,
for he did not hand us over as prey to their teeth.
7 We escaped with our lives, like a bird from a hunter’s snare.
The snare broke, and we escaped.
8 Our deliverer is the Lord,
the Creator of heaven and earth.
125:1 A song of ascents.
Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion,
which cannot be moved and will endure forever.
2 As the mountains surround Jerusalem,
so the Lord surrounds his people,
now and forevermore.
3 Indeed, the scepter of a wicked king will not settle
upon the allotted land of the godly.
Otherwise the godly
might do what is wrong.
4 Do good, O Lord, to those who are good,
to the morally upright.
5 As for those who are bent on traveling a sinful path,
may the Lord remove them, along with those who behave wickedly.
May Israel experience peace.
126:1 A song of ascents.
When the Lord restored the well-being of Zion,
we thought we were dreaming.
2 At that time we laughed loudly
and shouted for joy.
At that time the nations said,
“The Lord has accomplished great things for these people.”
3 The Lord did indeed accomplish great things for us.
We were happy.
4 O Lord, restore our well-being,
just as the streams in the arid south are replenished.
5 Those who shed tears as they plant
will shout for joy when they reap the harvest.
6 The one who weeps as he walks along, carrying his bag of seed,
will certainly come in with a shout of joy, carrying his sheaves of grain.