We all love a good underdog story. No one wants to watch a movie were the Goliath characters win, no neutral sports fan wants the favourites to thrash the underdogs! There is just something in us that loves to see the underdog beat the odds. Maybe it’s because we can identify more with being the underdog. The Bible is full of underdog stories, yet the big difference in the Bible’s stories is not luck or sheer determination, but God – God is the hero of every underdog story in the Bible! Psalm 124 encapsulates this so well. Psalm 124 is a song for God-trusting underdogs everywhere who find help & victory in the name of the LORD against all the odds! 

​Songs for the Journey: Sermons on the Psalms of Ascents
Reading: Psalm 123

Christians are worshiping servants of the Most High. Psalm 123 helps remind us of this as it encourages us to look up to God for mercy, mercy in the sense of help. The Psalmist was living in a time when God's people were suffering contempt & scorn, things we can experience as Christians in this present world. Like the Psalmist we can express our frustration to God & look to him for help. This will help us remain patient amidst scorn, contempt or persecution.  

In this message visiting speaker Paul Cullen unpacks & applies Psalm 126. The Psalm is a lament that recalls a previous time of God's mercy on his people while asking for fresh mercy today. The Psalmist desires to be like a stream bed, that while dry for a season is restored to its original purpose & fruitfulness by God's intervention. That as God's people sow in tears they will reap with shouts of joy as God answers their prayers for restoration.  

Have you ever experienced the joy being somewhere you've always wanted to be & the surreal excitement of knowing you’re actually there? That will help you understand how Jewish pilgrims felt when they arrived in Jerusalem! What we essentially have in Psalm 122 is a song expressing the sheer joy of being in Jerusalem & the unity experienced there, as well as prayer for the peace & security of Jerusalem. From a whole Bible perspective such joy & unity will be fully realised, & this prayer fully answered, when as God’s people we stand within New Jerusalem with all the redeemed of every nation, tribe & tongue to worship under Christ our eternal King!

Songs for the Journey: Sermons on the Psalms of Ascents
Reading: Psalm 120

Psalm 120 is the first of a collection of Psalms known as the Songs of Ascents (Psalm 120-134). This group of Psalms, written at different times by different artists, became the songs Jewish pilgrims sang on their way up to Jerusalem for major festivals. Psalm 120 was originally written by someone a long way from Jerusalem, likely in the time of the exile, so it's fitting this Psalm begins this collection. The author is clearly distressed with lies & deceit & has had his fill of residing among those opposed to God’s way of peace, he expresses all this very strongly. It’s okay for us to feel like this & express it to God in prayer. However, like the Psalmist we also need to trust in God's deliverance, leave justice with him & remain committed to peace! This Psalm helps us remember as Christians we do not fit comfortably in the present world because we are resident aliens, pilgrims on our way to the New Jerusalem!