Read the Psalm

The One who created heaven and earth dwells with us and within us. The imagery in Psalm 125 suggests that He also surrounds us, just “as the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds his people from this time forth and forevermore.” (vs. 2) As vulnerability may arise from the openness of heart and surrender of will that comes from identifying as God’s temple, God reminds us that He is protecting us. In the mountains, His strength and power are on display. The mountains are a visual picture of the safety and security the Lord offers us as we journey with Him. Our hearts might return to the prayer of Psalm 121 and vision of God as One who keeps us and guards our way.

We need to know and experience this safety and security because our tender souls ask questions like: “Can I really open up? Can I really let down my guard? Am I safe?” As we look at the mountains, our hearts respond with: “Perhaps I can open up. Maybe I am safe.”

As we walk toward home, God is saying, “I’ve got you. You are safe and secure because I’ve given you everything you need. You can rest. You can let the tension release in your body. You can let the worries on your mind drop away. You can let the desires of your heart settle into my care. Truly, I’ve got you.”

How is it that God protects us and keeps us safe and secure? It is His love. Because He is always loving us (He never stops, slows down, or pauses His active love in our lives), we can know that no harm can ultimately befall us. We will experience hard things, but they won’t defeat us. In the New Testament Scriptures, Paul writes that “we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed.” 

Consider the full context of what 2 Corinthians 4 offers:

“For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our bodies.” (verses 6–10)

How do we know it is His love that protects and sustains us? We might simply go further in 2 Corinthians and be reminder of God’s statement to Paul, “My grace is sufficient.” (12:9)

Our inclination when encountering the injustices and uncertainties of the world is to react. Our reactive states often flow from a place of insecurity. As we come to a place of rest, trusting God’s power and strength in our lives, we are able to move into a place of responsiveness. Reactivity is mindless, quick, and does not flow from prayer. Responsiveness, on the other hand, is mindful, slow, and flows from prayer.

The stillness of heart that comes from being still/contemplating ourselves with God as Mount Zion flows into a watchfulness in which we are not reacting but responding to both our interior world and the exterior world around us.

When we see things through the lens of God’s love which is seen in His power, presence, and protection, we respond by asking different questions. Our questions move from “what if?”, “why?”, “how long?”, and “will I make it?” to … “isn’t that interesting?”, “how God will be present with me?”, and “how is God loving me right now?”

Certainly, the first set of question are appropriate and invited in prayerful lament, but they get transformed over time as we patiently watch God’s hand at work. And, so we are able to move into a space where we filter all things through the love and safety of God’s presence with us. This is exactly what we see in 2 Corinthians 4:16–17:

“So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison.”

Reflection questions: in what situations do you tend to “lose heart?” How does knowing the Lord’s love and protection lead you to courage? What helps you appreciate and see God’s loving, powerful presence with you?

Prayer: Lord, thank you for surrounding me with Your love which protects and provides for me. Give me eyes to see the mountains that surround. May I see You everywhere I look. Amen.