Were you not on the side of the righteous, O Sovereign Lord, there was no way that such could have survived life in this wicked world. We would surely have been swallowed up alive. But thanks be to Thee Adonai that You not only sanctify us but also preserve and sustain us. By Your mighty right hand You uphold us and keep us from stumbling. As our shield and defender, You also keep us safe from the hunter's trap. What would we do without You O God whose eyes are on the righteous and whose ears are attentive to their cry?
But let us remember that as long as Israel was righteous and walked in obedience to Your commands they had You on their side. The moment they went after their wayward ways, You brought calamity over them and scattered them. Let us be wary of holding to the promise of Your salvation and ignore, to our peril as do so many, that we have to be faithful to our part of the covenant too. In this covenant relationship—as sanctified children with a Holy God—Your promises are hinged on our obedience, love and faith in You. Keep us from deceiving ourselves in thinking that we can sustain a one-sided relationship of only drawing from You without first abiding in You.
Song of Ascents comprises of a collection of 15 psalms from Psalm 120 to 134. While there are a number of suggestions as to what the phrase, “Song of Ascents” could mean, one thought is that these psalms were sung by Israel as they went up to Jerusalem to celebrate the three annual feasts that the Lord had commanded (Lev. 23; Ex. 23:14).
We have concluded the seven-day Feast of Unleavened Bread which started on the 15th day of the first month of the Biblical calendar (or on the evening of March 30, 2018). During this seven day feast, Israel went up to Jerusalem singing these Songs of Ascent.
From the day of First-fruits, which was the day our Lord rose from the dead, we have now completed 29 days of counting up to the fifty days to Shavuot (Lev. 23:15-16), the next feast day of the Lord. This counting is also a good reminder of the fact that after our Lord Yeshua rose again, He revealed Himself to His disciples and to many others for 40 days. This means that even as we have counted 29 days to Shavuot, our risen Lord showed Himself with convincing evidence on each of these days—walking with them and eating with them—to help them understand that He truly is alive. Ten days after His ascension, on Shavuot, the Holy Spirit was poured out from heaven and filled men and women, clothing them with power from on high.
My purpose of posting a verse from these psalms each day (during these days between the Feast of Unleavened Bread and the Feast of Weeks (Shavuot) which in Greek is called Pentecost) is so that we too—if you are a son (or daughter) of Israel, even though you once may have been a Gentile but now through the great grace shown to us by the Father and through the blood of the Messiah Yeshua—can pilgrim into the presence of the Most High God (for we are the temple of God and the Holy Spirit dwells in us) singing these psalms to Him who sits on the throne (in heaven and in our hearts).
Join with me then O son of Israel and let us exalt the name of our God together as we pilgrim on His appointed feast days just as He commanded.
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