“Those who trust in the LORD are like Mount Zion,
which cannot be moved, but abides forever.”
~Psalm 125:1
“Trust” and “faith” are functionally the same thing throughout scripture. We may, in our times, delineate the two, but not typically to our benefit. Today, we might talk about trust as both a feeling and an action, whereas we most frequently speak of faith as mere feeling alone. Collapsing this distinction is important if we’re to understand the joyful complexity of this opening line from Psalm 125.
Objectively, the claim that we are to be people who trust/have faith in God and that this will make us like a mountain makes sense. We often (rightly) admire the faith of those whose convictions make them a bulwark against every sin, calamity, and challenge. We see their faith as unmovable against situations and conditions that we know, down deep, would bring us to our knees.
Interestingly, then, is Jesus’ words in Matthew 17 (not part of today’s selection of readings), in which He teaches His disciples: “Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move” (Matthew 17:20). Now, all of the sudden, faith is seen not in terms of being an unmovable mountain, but in precisely our ability to make mountains dance about.
Obviously, there isn’t a real tension here. Both passages are trying to instruct us in terms of the power of faith and each are using metaphors to do so. But I find it interesting that Jesus, who knew the scriptures well and surely would’ve read and discussed Psalm 125, intentionally turns the Old Testament metaphor inside out. I suspect that He does so to demonstrate that the sort of faith required in Israel will be different than the sort of faith required by those who follow Jesus. For the followers of Jesus, faith is placed in a particular man, acting at a particular time, who initiates universal change. Israel, on the other hand, held firm to their universal God, who could dole out particular blessings.
This inversion even continues on into verse 2 of Psalm 125: “As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the LORD surrounds his people, from this time on and forevermore.” While God still certainly surrounds us in His love and grace (most especially as we live out our roles as parts of the Body of Christ and thus, in community, we are truly surrounded by God), Jesus also promises us that God will take up dwelling inside our hearts/souls through the Holy Spirit.
So what can we say? We can say that we pray for faith that makes us unmoving, but also faith that moves us to live into our new life in Christ. We can say that we are surrounded by God (especially in/through one another), but also that God has taken up residency in our hearts. We can say that God is ever-expanding His means and methods of love and support. For this, we give thanks and see our faith grow. Amen.
