Pilgrim Songs--Psalm 129 and John 15:18-27; 16:1-4

Comprehension and Interpretation--"They have afflicted me from my youth".  The psalmist says this and has the congregation repeat.  From the time God called them as His own, the Israelites have faced persecution in the form of slavery, wickedness, and hatred.  But those who have shown so much hostility have not defeated them!!  They've been mistreated, but the Lord, because He is upright and loves justice, has cut the cords of the wicked.  They pray that any who are full of hate for God's people be ashamed of their actions and moved out of the way.  They pray that any plans the wicked have will be unsuccessful, stopped before it can even start.  And they pray that no one mistakes the work of the wicked as the Lord's work or dare bless it in God's name.  

*Christ Connection*--Jesus is warning His disciples again of the cost of following Him.  (We considered that more deeply in the "Red Letters" study.) Since the beginning, the world has hated Jesus.  "The World" wanted to go on being blissfully ignorant. But in showing the world the right way to live, Jesus naturally shone a light on the wrong way, too.  And the world cannot handle it.   In John 16:3, Jesus confirms that some people will even think they are doing right by killing followers of His New Way, which mirrors the sentiment of Psalm 129:8.  I wonder if Jesus, prompted by the Pilgrims' Song that He would have known from His own youth, used the lyrics to remind His disciples that their path will be similar to Israel's.  There will be hatred and persecution, so don't be surprised,  but there will be salvation and eternal life, too, as we keep His Words and lead others to do the same.   "The blessing of the Lord be upon you. We bless you in the name of the Lord."  

Application--As our world seems to become more contrary to the idea of Christianity (I should say "our part of the world".  Our brothers and sisters in Christ have faced far worse persecution for far longer), maybe we should start mimicking the Hebrews Song of Ascents as we go to worship.  We tend to just take news of persecution as a "sign of the times", but what if we patterned our prayers after this chapter?  What if we pray that God would stop the plans of the wicked before they can even start, instead of living in fear? (I'm speaking to myself the loudest, I am the queen of anxiety. 🙇)  If we could clearly see and LIVE like we know that the Lord, in his rightness and justice, has already cut the cords of the wicked, would that change our tune?   Just as the wicked are guilty by association, so we are victorious by our association to the One who has won over all, Christ Jesus!

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