Fall Revival Services will begin Sunday, September 22 at 6 PM, and will continue Monday, September 23 through Wednesday, September 25 at 7:30 PM. Special guest speaker will be Rev. Harvey Whaley, Jr. All are warmly welcome.
Read the Bible: Psalm 123
I lift my eyes to you,
the one enthroned in heaven.
2 Like a servant’s eyes on his master’s hand,
like a servant girl’s eyes on her mistress’s hand,
so our eyes are on the LORD our God
until he shows us favor.
3 Show us favor, LORD, show us favor,
for we’ve had more than enough contempt.
4 We’ve had more than enough
scorn from the arrogant
and contempt from the proud.
Psalms 123:1-4 (CSB)
TOMORROW: Homecoming & Fall Revival Services
Join us for Homecoming at Springfield on Sunday, September 22. Special guest speaker will be Rev. Harvey Whaley, Jr. Sunday School for all ages begins at 9:45 AM, followed by Morning Worship at 11 AM. Dinner will be served in the Fellowship Hall following Morning Worship.
Fall Revival Services will begin Sunday, September 22 at 6 PM, and will continue Monday, September 23 through Wednesday, September 25 at 7:30 PM. All are warmly welcome.
Read the Bible: Psalm 122
I rejoiced with those who said to me,
“Let’s go to the house of the LORD”
2 Our feet were standing
within your gates, Jerusalem —
3 Jerusalem, built as a city should be,
solidly united,
4 where the tribes, the LORD’s tribes, go up
to give thanks to the name of the LORD.
(This is an ordinance for Israel. )
5 There, thrones for judgment are placed,
thrones of the house of David.
6 Pray for the well-being of Jerusalem:
“May those who love you be secure;
7 may there be peace within your walls,
security within your fortresses.”
8 Because of my brothers and friends,
I will say, “May peace be in you.”
9 Because of the house of the LORD our God,
I will pursue your prosperity.
Psalms 122:1-9 (CSB)
Read the Bible: Psalm 121
I lift my eyes toward the mountains.
Where will my help come from?
2 My help comes from the LORD,
the Maker of heaven and earth.
3 He will not allow your foot to slip;
your Protector will not slumber.
4 Indeed, the Protector of Israel
does not slumber or sleep.
5 The LORD protects you;
the LORD is a shelter right by your side.
6 The sun will not strike you by day
or the moon by night.
7 The LORD will protect you from all harm;
he will protect your life.
8 The LORD will protect your coming and going
both now and forever.
Psalms 121:1-8 (CSB)
Read the Bible: The Psalms of Ascent
Today, we arrive at the first of the Psalms of Ascent, a collection of 15 pilgrim songs meant to accompany a journey.
From my 4th grade year until high school graduation, summers were spent helping my grandfather house tobacco. From 6 AM until a little after noon, the men in the field would load drags with cropped tobacco leaves and drive them to an old stick barn where we would feed layers of tobacco and sticks through a looper—an oversized conveyor-fed sewing machine that would stitch the large green leaves around the stick on which it would hang during curing. The work was dirty, first soaking wet from the morning dew, then leaving fingers black and sticky from the gummy tar residue. It was hot, with constant movement in searing summer heat. It wasn’t glamorous, but thanks to that old looper, it had a rhythm. On some days when the heat would bear down and bodies would tire, Mrs. Oretha would start singing to the rhythm of that looper songs of the faith. And sometimes, the rest of us would join in too, a shared song to bear the burden of shared work, maybe lightening the load just a bit.
Pay attention to the fine print at the beginning of Psalms 120 - 134 and you may notice each of them labeled as “A Song of Ascents,” taken from a Hebrew term translated as “going up,” or “ascend.” There are different ideas of exactly what sort of ascent is in view. Some have read that these 15 psalms corresponded to the 15 steps leading up to the temple in Jerusalem and were sung by the priests as they ascended. Others have referenced the return of the Hebrews back to Jerusalem, the city on a hill, from exile following the Babylonian and Assyrian captivities.
Most, however, think of the Psalms of Ascent in similar fashion to Mrs. Oretha’s rich gospel melodies in rhythm with that old tobacco looper: a soundtrack to lighten an arduous journey. Three times a year, Hebrews were commanded to “go up” to Jerusalem to observe feasts to the Lord (Exodus 23:14-17; Deuteronomy 16:16). The journey was dirty, hot, and hard, but thanks to these psalms, it had a rhythm. All along the way faithful worshippers shared a communal pilgrim playlist that marked their progress and collectively focused their minds on the purpose of the journey—ascent to the presence of God.
Today, we aren’t much in the business of traveling to Jerusalem three times a year for feasts of worship. Nonetheless, we are pilgrims in pursuit of the presence of God. The Psalms of Ascent remain for us a call to pursue a dwelling with God, to live our lives upward toward Him, to follow after His presence. Revelation 21 records for us the culmination of our pilgrimage homeward. Until that day, we are reminded:
“For we do not have an enduring city here; instead, we seek the one to come. Therefore, through [Jesus] let us continually offer up to God a sacrifice of praise, that is, the fruit of lips that confess His name” (Hebrews 13:14-15).
Just as for those in the days of Kings David and Solomon, the Psalms of Ascent are still today our pilgrim playlist. In the words of Eugene Peterson, “there are no better ‘songs for the road’ for those who travel the way of faith in Christ.”
Read more about the psalms of ascent
Eugene Peterson. (2021). A Long Obedience in the Same Direction: Discipleship in an Instant Society.
Mike Leake. (May 2023). Finding Encouragement for Our Journey in the Psalms of Ascent.
Charles H. Spurgeon. (nd). The Songs of Degrees as a Whole Psalm in Treasury of David.
Matt Erikson. (nd). Preaching the Psalms of Ascent.
Read the Bible: Psalm 120
In my distress I called to the LORD,
and he answered me.
2 “LORD, rescue me from lying lips
and a deceitful tongue.”
3 What will he give you,
and what will he do to you,
you deceitful tongue?
4 A warrior’s sharp arrows
with burning charcoal!
5 What misery that I have stayed in Meshech,
that I have lived among the tents of Kedar!
6 I have dwelt too long
with those who hate peace.
7 I am for peace; but when I speak,
they are for war.
Psalms 120:1-7 (CSB)
TONIGHT: Ladies' Auxiliary & Brotherhood Meet
There is a place for you to serve among the women’s and men’s ministries at Springfield PFWB Church. Join us at 7 PM.
Sunday School is for All Ages!
In the account of God’s work forming and filling creation, we come to Genesis 2:18 where, for the first time, we read God’s assessment that something is not good.
Then the LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper corresponding to him” (Genesis 2:18).
After finding no corresponding helper in all of creation, God provides for the man the woman. For the mandate to be fruitful, multiply, fill, subdue, and rule (steward the blessing), Adam’s corresponding helper was Eve.
Fast forward through time and we again find a pronouncement of “not good.” In Exodus 18:13-27, Jethro observes how Moses spends his time when Israel is not on the move. Moses sits down to judge the people, essentially serving as their sole arbiter, from sun-up until sundown. Notice specifically what Jethro identifies as “not good” about this arrangement:
When Moses’s father-in-law saw everything he was doing for them he asked, “What is this you’re doing for the people? Why are you alone sitting as judge…?” (Exodus 18:14, emphasis mine).
Once again, the pronouncement is rightly made: it is not good for the man to be alone. And, if we’re not careful, we’ll skip to the details of Jethro’s solution without rightly understanding the problem. The problem is not a multitude of people requiring a leader. The problem is not the position of leadership. The problem is not Moses’s abilities or even his calling to lead. The problem is simply that he has taken on the mandate to steward the people of God ALONE. Moses needs a corresponding helper. The helper corresponding to Moses’s need is not in the form of a wife, but in a multitude of capable leaders who will divide the weight of responsibility for God’s treasured possession.
Moses receives Jethro’s advice with gladness. And what of us? Will we receive the admonition throughout the pages of Scripture that it is not good for us to be alone? In the walk of faith before us, will we hear the warning: this thing is too heavy for you, you need a corresponding helper? We need a community of faith—a church family—within which we can experience the fullness of the gifts of the Spirit distributed by God to each one “as He wills” (1 Corinthians 12:4-11).
“In this way you will lighten your load, and they will bear it with you. If you do this … you will be able to endure…” (Exodus 18:22-23
Sunday School for all ages begins weekly at 9:45 AM. All are warmly welcome.
NEXT WEEK: Homecoming & Fall Revival Services
Join us for Homecoming at Springfield on Sunday, September 22. Special guest speaker will be Rev. Harvey Whaley, Jr. Sunday School for all ages begins at 9:45 AM, followed by Morning Worship at 11 AM. Dinner will be catered in the Fellowship Hall following Morning Worship.
Fall Revival Services will begin Sunday, September 22 at 6 PM, and will continue Monday, September 23 through Wednesday, September 25 at 7:30 PM. All are warmly welcome.