A Song of Ascent

[Mike S]

Psalm 130, the de profundis prayer, is one of the "songs of ascent" is a Christian favorite. It was, in fact, the subject of the message in our church this morning. There is a spiritual ascent within this prayer, a going up from the depths of despair, to the joyful reassurance of redemption. But, why are these fifteen scriptures from Psalm 120 to Psalm 134, considered songs of ascent, or sometimes, songs of degrees?

Thoughts?


Psalm 130
1. Out of the depths have I cried unto thee, O Lord.

2 Lord, hear my voice: let thine ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications.

3 If thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand?

4 But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared.

5 I wait for the Lord, my soul doth wait, and in his word do I hope.

6 My soul waiteth for the Lord more than they that watch for the morning: I say, more than they that watch for the morning.

7 Let Israel hope in the Lord: for with the Lord there is mercy, and with him is plenteous redemption.

8 And he shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities.

 

[ezrider]

Thank you for this post Mike S, I will have to think upon this for a bit. I have been meaning to read these Psalms again in light of the discussion we are having concerning Psalm 133 on one of my threads. Have you heard the Dew from Hermon? I suspect when you recognize that you have, maybe the degrees will also show themselves. I don't know. Anyway it is a beautiful Psalm.

Psalm 133
Behold, how good and how pleasant it is
for brethren to dwell together in unity!
It is like the precious ointment upon the head,
that ran down upon the beard,
even Aaron's beard: that went down to the skirts of his garments;
As the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion:
for there the Lord commanded the blessing,
even life for evermore.


Please feel free if you would like to come and join in our discussion. Below is the link to that conversation.

http://christianforums.net/Fellowsh...ts-the-old-and-new.55735/page-11#post-1109690

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[ezrider]

I can't recall the whole story off of the top of my head, and I am sure there are some here who might reference the scriptures for you, but I seem to remember the story of one of the Kings of Israel or Judah were the Lord moved the Sun backwards in the sky as a sign unto him. If I am not mistaken, I believe the sun was set back 15 degrees. So then are the Psalms of degrees a witness and a sign unto you, that the Lord has done this thing that he swore he would in this land.

 

[Mike S]

I can't recall the whole story off of the top of my head, and I am sure there are some here who might reference the scriptures for you, but I seem to remember the story of one of the Kings of Israel or Judah were the Lord moved the Sun backwards in the sky as a sign unto him. If I am not mistaken, I believe the sun was set back 15 degrees. So then are the Psalms of degrees a witness and a sign unto you, that the Lord has done this thing that he swore he would in this land.

In the Book of Isaiah, God set the sun back 10 degrees, and this is one thing mentioned by men who have commented on the songs of degrees.. I don't know about a 15 degree setback

 

[ezrider]

You are correct Mike, it was 10° backwards. I couldn't remember exactly how may degrees it was. I was just trying to remember the story, and yes it was with Isaiah.

Isaiah 38
2 Kings 20