Growing up one my favorite movies was The Karate Kid. A few years ago Netflix created a series called Cobra Kai based on the movies Karate Kid (1,2, and 3). In season 5, we find an episode that deals with the idea of working together. In the episode, Chozen (one of the Karate teachers) is developing the idea of teamwork. He gives the students each an egg and tells them to protect it from him. One by one each egg is broken and with that each student is defeated. Chozen tells them to try again and this time one of the students comes up with the idea of putting all the eggs in one basket and the students surround the egg to protect them from Chozen. By putting all the eggs in one basket and working together they are able to hold off and defeat Chozen and with that protect the eggs. The idea here is that it is better to work together than it is to work alone.
In Psalm 125:2, we find these words; “The mountains surround Jerusalem and the Lord surrounds his people both now and forever.” The psalmist had just spoken of the security and stableness of Mount Zion. He had said that our faith and trust in the Lord are to be like Mount Zion which is unshakable. It’s not our ability to stay faithful but it God’s unshakable character that holds us now and forever. But the psalmist doesn’t just stop with our personal faith. He continues in verse 2 with the idea of Jerusalem being surrounded by the mountains. The mountains were a natural defense for the city of Jerusalem. It was difficult to get over and through the mountains. Not only was the mountains a defense for Jerusalem but God Himself was a defense for the people. In Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary (page 206), we find this description of verse 2; “Mount Zion wasn’t the highest peak of the mountain range around Jerusalem. The surrounding mountains protected the city. Invading armies would have to march up the mountains or through the mountain passes (leaving them vulnerable). Jerusalem was thus defensible. The hills served as a great wall. The psalmist is saying that God similarly surrounds his people.”
In application of this Psalm and particularly verse 2, I think we can apply a couple of things to our lives as Christians. The first is that our faith in God must be unshakable like the psalmist says in verse 1. If we trust in the Lord, then we will be like Mount Zion. Our faith is not in our ability or giftings but simply in the Sovereignty of God. Secondly, protection exist for us. It begins with knowing that God is protecting us Himself. But also, we must understand that we are surround as well. I think it right and proper to understand that each person who is believer in Christ is called to help protect other believers. When we surround each other and hold on to the reality of Christ our protector, we come to understand the truth of Psalm 23. We understand how we are able to walk through the valley of shadow of death and how we can sit at the table of the enemy. We are able to do those things because we are not alone!
In closing, just like the students from Cobra Kai series realized that they can’t protect the eggs individually, we must realize that we can’t do this alone. The call to follow Christ is individual for salvation, but corporate for the rest of life. We are to walk together, and we help protect each other from loneliness of the valley to the fear of the setting at the table of the enemy. Alone we will never make the impact God wants us to make, but together we can see the nations transformed for the gospel of Jesus Chri
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