Persevering in the Lifelong Journey Songs of Ascent: Practices of the Lifelong Journey Series [10] Psalm 129

Psalm 129[ESV] A Song of Ascents. 1"Greatly have they afflicted me from my youth"— let Israel now say— 2"Greatly have they afflicted me from my youth, yet they have not prevailed against me. 3 The plowers plowed upon my back; they made long their furrows." 4The LORD is righteous; he has cut the cords of the wicked.

Psalm 129 [ESV] A Song of Ascents. 5May all who hate Zion be put to shame and turned backward! 6Let them be like the grass on the housetops, which withers before it grows up, 7with which the reaper does not fill his hand nor the binder of sheaves his arms, 8nor do those who pass by say, "The blessing of the LORD be upon you! We bless you in the name of the LORD!"

PERSEVERANCE: A QUALITY REQUIRED FOR THE LIFELONG JOURNEY What the culture of comfort breeds in us: “Thin Skin & Thick/Dull Heart”  Expecting life to be easy.  Preferring comfort over challenge.  Dodging deeper/serious issues of heart. What is required for the lifelong journey: “Thick Skin & Tender/Strong Heart” [=Aptitude for Perseverance]  Reality-check #1: God is good, but life is hard.  Reality-check #2: Life is a spiritual battle—the Evil One and his army want me to quit and surrender to his rule.  Reality-check #3: Christ calls us to endure hardship for the cause of Christ (2 Tim 2:3)

CULTIVATING PERSEVERANCE IN OUR LIFELONG JOURNEY 1)It requires us to… cultivate spiritual/mental toughness in our faith & attitude. 1"Greatly have they afflicted me from my youth”— let Israel now say— 2"Greatly have they afflicted me from my youth, yet they have not prevailed against me. (vs.1-2)

CULTIVATING PERSEVERANCE IN OUR LIFELONG JOURNEY 1)It requires us to… cultivate spiritual/mental toughness in our faith & attitude.  Israel’s history has been full of affliction since the time of the Egyptian bondage; the psalmist’s identification of Israel is more spiritual than ethnic—as the people of God.  YET, they did NOT prevail against the psalmist (& the people of God).  We also ought to have this kind of spiritual/mental toughness in our outlook on our lifelong journey to God.

8We areafflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; 9persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; 10 always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. 2 Corinthians 4:8-10

CULTIVATING PERSEVERANCE IN OUR LIFELONG JOURNEY 2)It requires us to… look to GOD who is righteous and faithful. 3 The plowers plowed upon my back; they made long their furrows." 4The LORD is righteous; he has cut the cords of the wicked. (vs.3-4)

CULTIVATING PERSEVERANCE IN OUR LIFELONG JOURNEY 2)It requires us to… look to GOD who is righteous and faithful.  Amidst the oppressions of the past, the psalmist draws a lesson to remember in his current/future pilgrimage.  The lesson is to look to God, remembering that God is righteous—i.e., God keeps his covenant and delivers his people by his grace.  We also ought to remember this lesson—that the deliverance is not from people, politics, or power but from the LORD.

Be assured, an evil person will not go unpunished, but the offspring of the righteous will be delivered. Proverbs 11:21 8Remember Jesus Christ… 11 If we have died with him, we will also live with him; 12 if we endure, we will also reign with him; if we deny him, he also will deny us; 13 if we are faithless, he remains faithful— for he cannot deny himself. 2 Timothy 2:8, 11-3

CULTIVATING PERSEVERANCE IN OUR LIFELONG JOURNEY 3)It requires us to… be authentic and confident in GOD. 5May all who hate Zion be put to shame and turned backward! 6Let them be like the grass on the housetops, which withers before it grows up, 7with which the reaper does not fill his hand nor the binder of sheaves his arms, 8nor do those who pass by say, "The blessing of the LORD be upon you! We bless you in the name of the LORD!" (vs.5-8)

CULTIVATING PERSEVERANCE IN OUR LIFELONG JOURNEY 3)It requires us to… be authentic and confident in GOD.  This is a display of sheer authenticity—but it is not personal animosity but a communal cry for vindication and justice by God.  Beneath this authentic heart-cry, we can sense the confidence of the psalmist in God and God’s blessing.  We also ought to be AUTHENTIC in our prayers to God and be CONFIDENT in faithful God who is the Source of our perseverance.

The Source of Our Perseverance The central reality for Christians is the personal, unalterable, persevering commitment God makes to us. Perseverance is not the result of our determination, it is the result of God’s faithfulness. We survive in the way of faith not because we have extraordinary stamina but because God is righteous, because God sticks with us. Christian discipleship is a process of paying more and more attention to God’s righteousness and less and less attention to our own; finding the meaning of our lives not by probing our moods and motives and morals but by believing in God’s will and purposes; making a map of the faithfulness of God, not charting the rise and fall of our enthusiasms. It is out of such a reality that we acquire perseverance. - Eugene Peterson

PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS FOR OUR EVERYDAY LIFE 1.Lay aside everything that hinders you from RUNNING THE RACE. 1Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith. Hebrews 12:1-2a  Lay aside any false assumptions that lead you to spiritual/mental softness.  Lay aside any complacency that leads you to passivity.  Run the race. Fight the Battle. Finish the course.

PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS FOR OUR EVERYDAY LIFE 2Cultivate perseverance by LIVING OUT YOUR FAITH COURAGEOUSLY.  Face your current hardships—get thick-skinned.  Do not quit when you face hardship/oppression—look to Christ who is faithful to you.  Take the first step of living out your faith courageously!

Praying the Songs of Ascent #10 — Psalm 129 [MSG] A Pilgrim Song 1-4 "They've kicked me around ever since I was young" —this is how Israel tells it— "They've kicked me around ever since I was young, but they never could keep me down. Their plowmen plowed long furrows up and down my back; Then God ripped the harnesses of the evil plowmen to shreds.”

Praying the Songs of Ascent #10 — Psalm 129 [MSG] A Pilgrim Song 5-8 Oh, let all those who hate Zion grovel in humiliation; Let them be like grass in shallow ground that withers before the harvest, Before the farmhands can gather it in, the harvesters get in the crop, Before the neighbors have a chance to call out, "Congratulations on your wonderful crop! We bless you in God's name!"