Learning to Trust God in the Psalmsనమూనా

Psalm 125: I Am Surrounded

“Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion, which cannot be shaken but endures forever. As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds his people both now and forevermore.”

Psalm 125:1–2 (NIV84)

In December 1944, a critical battle during World War 2 occurred in Bastogne, Belgium. The German army launched a surprise attack against the Allied forces. The United States Army 101st Airborne Division, along with elements of other units, was rushed to Bastogne to hold the town. It did not take long for the German forces to surround the city. The Allied forces were outnumbered and low on supplies. On December 22, the Germans sent a delegation under a white flag to deliver an ultimatum: surrender or face total destruction. The acting commander of the 101st Division famously replied with a single word, “Nuts.” Though surrounded, the Allied forces held, and this battle contributed to the end of the war.

A similar battle took place three thousand years before 1944. The king of Aram sent his army to surround the prophet of God, as told in 2 Kings 6:8-23. The prophet’s name was Elisha. Seeing they were surrounded, Elisha's servant asked Elisha, “…what shall we do?” Elisha said, “Don’t be afraid, those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” Elisha prayed and asked the Lord to show the servant what Elisha was seeing. Verse seventeen reads, “…Then the Lord opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.”

Elisha put his trust in the Lord. So did the Psalmist.

Those who trust in the Lord...

When a person trusts in the Lord, especially when they are surrounded by a myriad of challenging circumstances, something amazing happens. A divine exchange occurs. What could not be perceived or experienced before that moment is now available to them. They see differently. Act differently. They have an internal ability they did not have before. They are empowered to believe what they previously could not. Emotionally, mentally, and spiritually, they are changed. They have the ability to endure. They have discovered the surrounding presence of the Lord.

…like Mount Zion.

Mountains have always outlived a generation of people. The ones that surround Jerusalem have been there since God placed them there. To the Israelites, they were a testament of what does not change. They were an ever-present visual testament of God’s ability to intervene in the battles and difficult moments that threatened to end their lives. They were a constant reminder of the surrounding love and sovereignty of the Lord.

Even today, from one generation to the next, the Lord’s strength and power remain for those who trust in Him. You cannot shake His love and grace from you any more than you can shake the mountain under your feet. His love for you is rock solid. His grace towers over every valley of sin and misdeed of one’s past. From its mountainous view, grace looks down upon the inhabitants and covers them like a fog that rolls onto its slopes and into its valleys. His strength can empower you to face your battles with courage. To see with eyes of faith what cannot be seen in any other way.

“…cannot be shaken but endures forever.”

Can anything be so strong? So stable? So eternal? For those who place their trust in the Lord, the answer is yes, eternally yes! They are the recipients of an unshakable, ever-faithful, always dependable Savior. The Lord has made an everlasting covenant with those who place their trust in Him. He is the covenant-keeping Lord of the “both now and forevermore.” He is a “surrounding” covenant-keeping Lord. He encircles us in the now and in all our tomorrows. His presence stabilizes us, supports us, and strengthens us.

The enemy surrounded the prophet of God and his servant. Similarly, we will have seasons of life where we feel surrounded by hardship, heartache, and undeserved and unfair circumstances. We will feel surrounded by the enemy. John 16:33 records Jesus saying, “…In this world you will have trouble.” Thankfully, he continued saying, “But take heart! I have overcome the world.” As they surround us, He can, and will surround them.

As we trust in the Lord, we will endure because He is sovereign and always has the last word on all things. We are the forever people the Psalmist was referring to in the last word of this Psalm. Because of the Lord in us and our trust in Him, we will endure. Why? Because “You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world” (1 John 4:4).