On My Way Up: A Summer Pilgrimage in the Psalms of Ascent | Psalm 120

The Psalms of Ascent were compiled as Pilgrim songs, songs when held together map out a physical and spiritual pilgrimage. Step by step, Psalm by Psalm each articulate a movement from current living conditions to a growing dependency on God’s presence, God’s goodness, God’s power and God’s promise for their future. God’s people have always been a pilgrim people, a people on the move, a people being shaped by God and a people following God forward.

Journey

The twists and turns of a journey are anticipated and are considered just part of the process of life.

Pilgrimage

The ups and downs of a pilgrimage aren’t dismissed as disconnected parts, they are embraced as shaping experiences necessary for the desired outcome.

Hebrews 11:1-3 (NIV) Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. 2 This is what the ancients were commended for. 3 By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.

Faith is the manner and mechanism for pilgrimage. Journeys are marked by personal wisdom, strength and resolve. Pilgrimages are marked by faith - a conviction that God and the ways of God are what shape my life and give my life meaning and substance.

Hebrews 11:4-16 (NIV) 4 By faith Abel brought God a better offering than Cain did. By faith he was commended as righteous, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith Abel still speaks, even though he is dead. 5 By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death: “He could not be found, because God had taken him away.” For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God. 6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. 7 By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that is in keeping with faith. 8 By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. 9 By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaacand Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. 10 For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God. 11 And by faith even Sarah, who was past childbearing age, was enabled to bear children because she considered him faithful who had made the promise. 12 And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.13 All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth [pilgrims, sojourners]. 14 People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. 15 If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.

Each person’s movement was predicated on a trust in the goodness of God, the specific way(s) of God and in His saving and sustaining might.

·      Is God good?

·      Is God’s way(s) trustworthy?

·      Is God strong and mighty to save?

These are the questions you have to ask and answer if you are going to turn your life into a pilgrimage and not just a day to day journey: “eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow you will die.”

Faith in God is a pilgrimage. Discipleship is a pilgrimage. Heaven is a pilgrimage. God knows where you are. God knows what stands against you. God is faithful to lead you out and up. 

Psalm 120 I call on the Lord in my distress, and he answers me. 2 Save me, Lord, from lying lips and from deceitful tongues. 3 What will he do to you, and what more besides, you deceitful tongue? 4 He will punish you with a warrior’s sharp arrows, with burning coals of the broom bush. 5 Woe to me that I dwell in Meshek, that I live among the tents of Kedar! 6 Too long have I lived among those who hate peace. 7 I am for peace; but when I speak, they are for war.

Vs. 1 A statement of confidence based on past experience.

Vs. 2 A sobering assessment of current condition.

Vs. 3,4 An acknowledgment of God’s response to those who stand against us.

Vs. 5-7 A lament of the current position.

Vs. 1 I call on the Lord in my distress, and he answers me.

Distress = a tight place.

Satan wants to use tight places to crush us and God uses them to expand our faith and Christ character. Part of our pilgrimage with God is a growing confidence in His sustaining and delivering power from tight places.

God bringing us into wide open spaces is a common Biblical theme. Wide open spaces are places of freedom, deliverance, relief and rescue.

Psalm 18:19: "He brought me out into a spacious place; he rescued me because he delighted in me"

Psalm 118:5: "When hard pressed, I cried to the LORD; he brought me into a spacious place"

A signpost of discipleship growth is leaning on a past God experiences for a right now tight place. If you believe that God has a future place for you – this has to mean that your current place isn’t your last place.

V2 2 Save me, Lord, from lying lips and from deceitful tongues.
Ironically, this is where this discipleship pilgrimage begins, the Truth of God being challenged by the lies of the enemy.

When you find yourself the target of a lie begin with intercession rather than defense. “Lord, what are you up to? Your will be done in this matter. Your name be glorified in this circumstance. Use this instance to shape me and forward your kingdom. Protect me.”

Vs.3,4 What will he do to you, and what more besides, you deceitful tongue? 4 He will punish you with a warrior’s sharp arrows, with burning coals of the broom bush.

God fiercely has your back. Discipleship is the process of not having to see or even understand how God is working on our behalf.

Vs. 5-7 Woe to me that I dwell in Meshek, that I live among the tents of Kedar! 6 Too long have I lived among those who hate peace. 7 I am for peace; but when I speak, they are for war.

You will always be dissatisfied with the promises of salvation if you aren’t up for the pilgrimage of discipleship.

The only experience in life that exceeds the joy of salvation is the pilgrimage of discipleship - growing into one who trusts in God, His goodness, His ways and His power. Discipleship is a lifelong process. Question: Have you given your life to it?