Psalm 132:1-7 “A Song of Ascents. LORD, remember David and all his affliction, how he swore to the LORD, and vowed to the Mighty One of Jacob: ‘Surely I will not come into the structure of my house, nor go up into my bed; I will not give sleep to my eyes, or slumber to my eyelids, until I find out a place for the LORD, a dwelling for the Mighty One of Jacob.’ Behold, we heard of it in Ephrathah. We found it in the field of Jaar. ‘We will go into his dwelling place. We will worship at his footstool.’ ”

This Psalm remembers David’s zeal to build the temple, and asks God to remember His covenant with David that would not just bless Israel, but the whole world.

We would do well to emulate David’s zeal, for we have experienced the blessings of that covenant through Jesus!

Hebrews 9:14-15 “how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without defect to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? For this reason he is the mediator of a new covenant…”

For additional worship: Worthy of it All/I Exalt Thee

Psalm 131:1-3 “A Song of Ascents. By David. LORD, my heart isn’t arrogant, nor my eyes lofty; nor do I concern myself with great matters, or things too wonderful for me. Surely I have stilled and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with his mother, like a weaned child is my soul within me. Israel, hope in the LORD, from this time forward and forever more.”

Hope. Trust. Contentment. Humility. It’s hard. But if we truly believe in the greatness, goodness, and sovereignty of God, we’ll live more restful lives.

Philippians 4:11-13 “Not that I speak because of lack, for I have learnt in whatever state I am, to be content in it. I know how to be humbled, and I also know how to abound. In any and all circumstances I have learnt the secret both to be filled and to be hungry, both to abound and to be in need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”

Hebrews 13:5-6 “Be free from the love of money, content with such things as you have, for he has said, ‘I will in no way leave you, neither will I in any way forsake you.’ So that with good courage we say, ‘The Lord is my helper. I will not fear. What can man do to me?’ ”

For additional worship: Peace Be Still (Lauren Daigle)

Psalm 130:1-8 “A Song of Ascents. Out of the depths I have cried to you, LORD. Lord, hear my voice. Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my petitions. If you, LORD, kept a record of sins, Lord, who could stand? But there is forgiveness with you, therefore you are feared. I wait for the LORD. My soul waits. I hope in his word. My soul longs for the Lord more than watchmen long for the morning, more than watchmen for the morning. Israel, hope in the LORD, for there is loving kindness with the LORD. Abundant redemption is with him. He will redeem Israel from all their sins.”

Wow, and wow. After what He’s done for us, how could we not long for Him?

Isaiah 53:3-6 “He was despised and rejected by men, a man of suffering and acquainted with disease. He was despised as one from whom men hide their face; and we didn’t respect him. Surely he has borne our sickness and carried our suffering; yet we considered him plagued, struck by God, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. The punishment that brought our peace was on him; and by his wounds we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray. Everyone has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.”

For additional worship: The Love of God (Rich Mullins)

Psalm 129:1-8 “A Song of Ascents. Many times they have afflicted me from my youth up. Let Israel now say: many times they have afflicted me from my youth up, yet they have not prevailed against me. The ploughers ploughed on my back. They made their furrows long. The LORD is righteous. He has cut apart the cords of the wicked. Let them be disappointed and turned backward, all those who hate Zion. Let them be as the grass on the housetops, which withers before it grows up, with which the reaper doesn’t fill his hand, nor he who binds sheaves, his bosom. Neither do those who go by say, ‘The blessing of the LORD be on you. We bless you in the LORD’s name.’ ”

This is a communal lament with vivid imagery. Isreal is battered and bowed, but not defeated! Even in their pain, they turn to God and recognize that He is their refuge and strength. He will avenge them and defeat their enemies.

Prayer: “God, your people have always experienced persecution, and there are many Christians around the world today who are experiencing hatred, torture, prison, and even death. But we trust in your providence, mercy, care and love. Protect your people and put those who wish them harm to shame. May their hatred and nastiness be evident to all, and may it turn others against them.”

For additional worship: The Lord Is Good – Psalm 129

Psalm 128:1-6 “A Song of Ascents. Blessed is everyone who fears the LORD, who walks in his ways. For you will eat the labor of your hands. You will be happy, and it will be well with you. Your wife will be as a fruitful vine in the innermost parts of your house, your children like olive shoots around your table. Behold, this is how the man who fears the LORD is blessed. May the LORD bless you out of Zion, and may you see the good of Jerusalem all the days of your life. Yes, may you see your children’s children. Peace be upon Israel.”

Following God brings blessings. Some of them natural (simply from staying out of trouble and following God’s plan), and some supernatural. For the believer the best blessings don’t even happen in this life. We have a wonderful promise of what is yet to come!

James 1:22-25 “But be doers of the word, and not only hearers, deluding your own selves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man looking at his natural face in a mirror; for he sees himself, and goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. But he who looks into the perfect law of freedom and continues, not being a hearer who forgets but a doer of the work, this man will be blessed in what he does.”

Revelation 21:3-4 “I heard a loud voice out of heaven saying, ‘Behold, God’s dwelling is with people; and he will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; neither will there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain any more. The first things have passed away.’ ”

For additional worship: “Psalm of Ascent” | An original song based on Psalm 128

Psalm 127:1-5 “A Song of Ascents. By Solomon. Unless the LORD builds the house, they who build it labor in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city, the watchman guards it in vain. It is vain for you to rise up early, to stay up late, eating the bread of toil, for he gives sleep to his loved ones. Behold, children are a heritage of the LORD. The fruit of the womb is his reward. As arrows in the hand of a mighty man, so are the children of youth. Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them. They won’t be disappointed when they speak with their enemies in the gate.”

Diligence is important. But it must be diligence coupled with faith, not greed or anxiety. Everything we do must be grounded by our trust in God and our reliance upon Him. And God, in His mercy, is the one who provides family too. Children are a gift that God gives, and they should be treated as a heritage – carefully preserved and cultivated. Ultimately, that faithful and numerous progeny become the ones who care for the parents, so the parents are doubly blessed!

For additional worship: If the Lord Builds the House

Psalm 126:1-6 “A Song of Ascents. When the LORD brought back those who returned to Zion, we were like those who dream. Then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with singing. Then they said amongst the nations, ‘The LORD has done great things for them.’ The LORD has done great things for us, and we are glad. Restore our fortunes again, LORD, like the streams in the Negev. Those who sow in tears will reap in joy. He who goes out weeping, carrying seed for sowing, will certainly come again with joy, carrying his sheaves.”

The Jewish people went into captivity for 70 years. Many were killed when Jerusalem was ransacked. Some went into captivity and never saw their land again. Some were born in captivity and never came home. Some were born in captivity and got to be a part of the return. The people who were able to return were thankful and rejoiced, and even the surrounding nations had to acknowledge what God had done! Those currently worshipping rejoiced as well, and recognized that God can turn bad into good for His people.

We too should note that sadness and discouragement only last for a season. But what if that season lasts a long time? The perspective here is both communal and eternal. Our lives are better when we recognize that joy for one should be joy for all. And we also note that God kept His promises, even if many didn’t live to see it happen. Some of our weeping may not turn to laugher in this life, but the promise is that one day it will. And we should experience peace and joy because of that.

Romans 8:18 “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which will be revealed towards us.”

For additional worship: Sheaves

Psalm 125:1-5 “A Song of Ascents. Those who trust in the LORD are as Mount Zion, which can’t be moved, but remains forever. As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the LORD surrounds his people from this time forward and forever more. For the scepter of wickedness won’t remain over the allotment of the righteous, so that the righteous won’t use their hands to do evil. Do good, LORD, to those who are good, to those who are upright in their hearts. But as for those who turn away to their crooked ways, the LORD will lead them away with the workers of iniquity. Peace be on Israel.”

Trust is another way of saying faith and belief. That belief leads to obedience (righteousness). And the righteous are God’s from this time forward and even forevermore!

Ephesians 2:4-10 “But God, being rich in mercy, for his great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him, and made us to sit with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in kindness towards us in Christ Jesus; for by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, that no one would boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared before that we would walk in them.”

Ephesians 1:13-14 “In him you also, having heard the word of the truth, the Good News of your salvation—in whom, having also believed, you were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is a pledge of our inheritance, to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of his glory.”

For additional worship: Our Soul’s Delight – Psalm 125

Love as an Act of Worship
Romans 12:9-13

I) Our _________ for God is an act of worship

II) Our love needs to be _____________

III) Genuine love abhors _______________

IV) Genuine love clings to _______________

V) Genuine love means we love our church ________________

     A) We ___________ for others

     B) We ____________ and honor others

     C) We _____________ to help others

     D) We are ________________

VI) Genuine love is ______________

VII) Genuine love is _____________

VIII) Genuine love _____________

IX) Genuine love _____________ because of hope

X) Genuine love ____________ God

XI) Genuine love persists in ___________