Links for today’s readings:
Jul 28 Read: Isaiah 57 Listen: (3:37) Read: Psalms 123-125 Listen: (1:32)
Scripture Focus: Psalm 123.3-4
3 Have mercy on us, Lord, have mercy on us,
for we have endured no end of contempt.
4 We have endured no end
of ridicule from the arrogant,
of contempt from the proud.
Psalm 124
1 If the Lord had not been on our side—
let Israel say—
2 if the Lord had not been on our side
when people attacked us,
3 they would have swallowed us alive
when their anger flared against us;
4 the flood would have engulfed us,
the torrent would have swept over us,
5 the raging waters
would have swept us away.
6 Praise be to the Lord,
who has not let us be torn by their teeth.
7 We have escaped like a bird
from the fowler’s snare;
the snare has been broken,
and we have escaped.
8 Our help is in the name of the Lord,
the Maker of heaven and earth.
Psalm 125.3-5
3 The scepter of the wicked will not remain
over the land allotted to the righteous,
for then the righteous might use
their hands to do evil.
4 Lord, do good to those who are good,
to those who are upright in heart.
5 But those who turn to crooked ways
the Lord will banish with the evildoers.
Peace be on Israel.
Reflection: Songs of Ascent Playlist — From Badlands to Highlands
By John Tillman
The fifteen “Songs of Ascent” following Psalm 119 are a divine playlist of rescue, restoration, and worship. These songs were sung on the ascent to Jerusalem and sung about the post-exile return to Jerusalem.
Jerusalem’s temple represented God dwelling with his people as he did in Sinai’s wilderness. Every trip to the temple was a lowercase “exodus” from life’s daily enslavements and temptations to seek freedom and forgiveness at the mountain of God. “Songs of Ascent” helped people sing their way from the badlands of sin, separation, and slavery to the highlands of freedom, forgiveness, and fellowship with God.
Have you ever needed more than a vacation? Have you needed an escape?
The psalmists of Psalms 123, 124, and 125 map out that kind of journey. They move from badlands to highlands using a similar pattern from the first triad, Psalm 120, 121, and 122. The pattern begins with lament, turns to praise, and ends with peace.
Psalm 123 raises a cry for mercy. They are trapped in contempt, ridicule, and arrogance. In Psalm 124, they remember the Lord is the source of rescue. The trap is broken. They escape the attacks that tried to sweep them away. In Psalm 125, they remember where they are escaping to. Their destination and destiny is God’s righteous kingdom of justice.
My wife and I have taken many healing and freeing “escapes” to the mountains or desert highlands. In the wildest places, our phones lose their signal but our souls better detect God’s truths.
We return home with a reoriented reality. The temporary exodus reminds us an eternal one is coming. Contempt, ridicule, and arrogance may close their trap on us, but it will shatter in their faces. The scepters of swaggering tyrants will splinter. Corrupt thrones and powers will be overthrown. These truths ride home with us like a song we can sing.
I encourage travel as a spiritual discipline. Visit a National Park or your local city park. (We don’t take our inspiration from Central Park for nothing.) But even without leaving your house, “Songs of Ascent” can transport you to your true home.
Whatever kind of badlands you navigate, Jesus has opened the road to God’s highlands. No kind of sin, corruption, oppression, worry, or sickness can keep you from joining him on that narrow way. Sing your way there with these psalms. Sing your way into God’s peaceful highlands.
Music:
“Shall crime bring crime forever?
Strength aiding still the strong?
Is it thy will, O Father
That men shall toil for wrong?
“No!” say thy mountains!
“No!” say thy skies!”
Man’s clouded sun shall brightly rise
And songs be heard, instead of sighs!”
— “God Save The People,” Godspell, Steven Schwartz
Divine Hours Prayer: The Call to Prayer
Be joyful to the Lord, all you lands; serve the Lord with gladness and come before his presence with a song. — Psalm 100.1
– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summertime by Phyllis Tickle.
Read more: How Did He Do It?
How did Jesus do it?…set aside his divinity and glory to live in flesh and struggle…worship in a corrupted temple and synagogue system?
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