A Long Obedience in the Same Direction by Eugene H. Peterson
Week 7: Chapter 6 — Holiness (Psalm 125)
Read Chapter 6 of A Long Obedience in the Same Direction. Primary text: Psalm 125.
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Psalm 125 offers an image of stability and protection — and calls the pilgrim to the kind of moral steadiness that matches the God they are walking toward.
Discussion Questions
7 questions1."Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion, which cannot be shaken." Peterson draws on this image to describe not emotional unflappability but deep moral stability — a rootedness in God that holds when external circumstances shift. How would you distinguish true stability rooted in trust from emotional numbness or just being stubborn?
2.Peterson identifies holiness as a central theme here — the idea that God's people are called to be different, set apart, shaped by a different set of loyalties than the surrounding culture. Where do you feel the most pressure to conform to patterns of thinking or behaving that are incompatible with life in God's kingdom?
3.The psalm warns that "the scepter of the wicked will not remain over the land allotted to the righteous." Peterson connects this to the promise that injustice and evil are not permanent — they will not have the last word. How does this promise help you resist both cynicism and despair when you observe wickedness in power?
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