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December 19
Psalm 125 was written long before Christians invented the Advent season. Even so, this psalm is a song that contains an expectation of the kind of righteous kingdom we anticipate during this season.
Many songs and stories in the Bible remind us that the behavior of our community is profoundly important in its effect on people around us. Psalm 125 sings about how God’s people are called to be a righteous community.
The psalm begins with the announcement that the Lord’s people are protected by the Lord like surrounding mountains protect Jerusalem. Yet, while these people live in “the land allotted to the righteous,” their protection in this land depends on their behavior.
The righteous are those who do not “stretch out their hands to do wrong,” but are “upright in their hearts.” “Those who turn aside to their own crooked ways” are led away from this land with evildoers since it is intended to be a righteous land protected by the LORD who “abides forever.”
Prophets like Amos and Isaiah can tell us why the LORD’S people are called to be a righteous people. They are to be a light to other people, a community that demonstrates what justice and care for the helpless looks like. Christian communities have inherited this sense of a community that consists of people who strive to be “upright in their hearts.” During Advent we tell each other again about our hopes and expectations that we can be a community known for its love for its neighbors and sense of justice for everyone.
Joe Hall