Psalm 125.

I saw Tony Curtis on television last week. Bald and bloated yet still flirtatious, he was a gross parody of the young man I first saw in 'Trapeze'. The story of Trapeze concerned a young man who wanted to perform a triple somersault on the Trapeze, who seeks out a 'catcher' to teach him, who was himself crippled by his own attempt at a triple. His progress is delayed by a love triangle to accomodate Gina Lollobrigida, but the triple is finally attempted and achieved in the last act, when to heighten the tension, Bouglione, the circus owner, removes the safety net.

For Christians Psalm 125 answers the question, "Is there a safety net?" or to put it another way, "Can I lose my salvation?"

Those who trust in the LORD are like Mount Zion, which cannot be shaken and endures for ever. The word translated 'shaken' in the NIV, elsewhere is translated 'totter' or 'fall'. Now my faith sometimes falters and if it depended on me to cling on to my hope of heaven I would surely fail. I might hang on a month or even a few years, but 'for ever'? No way.

But it does not depend on me. Like the mountains surrounding Jerusalem so the LORD surrounds his people. This is not the final perseverence of the saints; it is the final preservation of the saints. We are protected by God's presence (v2), his power, (v3) and God's promis (vv4-5).