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If It Had Not Been the LORD

"A Song of degrees of David.
1 If it had not been the LORD who was on our side, now may Israel say;
2 If it had not been the LORD who was on our side, when men rose up against us:
3 Then they had swallowed us up quick, when their wrath was kindled against us:
4 Then the waters had overwhelmed us, the stream had gone over our soul:
5 Then the proud waters had gone over our soul.
6 Blessed be the LORD, who hath not given us as a prey to their teeth.
7 Our soul is escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowlers: the snare is broken, and we are escaped.
8 Our help is in the name of the LORD, who made heaven and earth." Psalm 124

This 124th Psalm is a song of deliverance written by King David. He starts with a description of the misery of his situation. He describes his enemies as predators and fowlers to snatch the people of God as prey. He likens his enemies to churning, raging water moving over their souls. He takes care to provide for his readers vivid imagery of the state of his soul that we might feel and experience with David what it is this deliverance has meant to him. Secondly, His focus appropriately shifts our attention from the distress to deliverance. This is the purpose of describing any misery. We do not elaborate on details of distress as an end in itself, but rather that the deliverance (or rather the Deliverer) might be lifted up and magnified. Is it not true that the chief purpose in even the existence of present evil is that we might cleave to and love God more? Has he not ordained all tribulations for our benefit? As it is written, "…we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope: And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us." Rom 5:3-5 and again, "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose." Rom 8:28. Truly it is a glorious truth that even though men "thought evil against [us]", "God meant it unto good". Gen 50:20 That is, He devised, planned, and invented this event for the purpose of a more beautiful work and that He might receive all the glory for it's coming to pass. Let us be thankful and praise our most Holy and Wise God for all His providence brings us. May we say with Job, "the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD." Job 1:21.

v.1 "If it had not been the LORD" If our helper was one other than the maker of heaven and earth we are among men most miserable. "I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth." Ps 121:1-2 This may be the single most important tactic is this battle… Look unto the Deliverer. Just exactly who is it that has placed Himself "on your side"? Who is this God in whom you place your trust? A shield? A strong tower? The Almighty under whose wings you find refuge? Let us learn more of who our God is that we might be strengthened in this lifelong war. Consider what it would be to trust in another god. "The idols of the heathen are silver and gold, the work of men's hands. They have mouths, but they speak not; eyes have they, but they see not; They have ears, but they hear not; neither is there any breath in their mouths. They that make them are like unto them: so is every one that trusteth in them." Ps 135:15-18 What a despicable lot it would be to rely on wood and stones for safety. How does dressing up a piece of wood make your heart able to feel safe with it as your deliverer? "What profiteth the graven image that the maker thereof hath graven it; the molten image, and a teacher of lies, that the maker of his work trusteth therein, to make dumb idols?" Hab 2:18 Everything made was made by God and is no God itself. There is but one God: the LORD of heaven and earth.

"Now may Israel say" Let us proclaim His victory! Let us declare His marvellous works to the children of men! "All thy works shall praise thee, O LORD; and thy saints shall bless thee. They shall speak of the glory of thy kingdom, and talk of thy power; To make known to the sons of men his mighty acts, and the glorious majesty of his kingdom." Ps 145:10-12 This is our aim. To preach Him. To declare Him. To herald the wonders of His work! Let Christ be on our tongues to this degree. Let us be a savour of Christ to this fallen world! "For we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish: To the one we are the savour of death unto death; and to the other the savour of life unto life. And who is sufficient for these things?" 2 Cor 2:15-16 Our goal is not to please men and tickle their ears with sweet sounding vain oratory but rather to make Christ known. This brings one of two effects in natural man (1) If the Spirit of God is pleased to accompany the Word meeting a sinner, conversion is sure. God has overcome their stubbornness and He receives all the glory for their deliverance. or (2) If the Spirit determines to let that fallen creature alone, the natural man left to himself refuses the glad tidings of Christ making manifest the foolishness of the "wisdom" of man. God is glorified in the declaring of His "foolish" message of Christ and Him crucified. "For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe." 1 Cor 1:21 The first goal in gospel preaching is not "saving souls" but rather declaring God's Gospel for God's sake. The Lord will sort out the results. As the apostle Paul puts it, "I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase." 1 Cor 3:6-7 We are to be sowers of the word. What is the job of the sower? What does his duty entail? "The sower soweth the word." Mk 4:14 Watering with prayer is also important. However, my burden is to show that there is nothing in the sower nor in the plant itself that can make it grow and bear fruit unto God. It is "God that giveth the increase". Let us beseech our Sovereign Sustainer for life to be imparted.

v.2 "When men rose up against us" At the garden of Eden, God put enmity between the seed of Satan and the Seed of the Woman. Satan and His followers are at enmity with Christ and His. But "The LORD is on my side; I will not fear: what can man do unto me" Ps 118:16 and, "So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me." Heb 13:6 We are commanded of our Lord Jesus, "And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell." Mt 10:28 Fear of man is nowhere known to be a respectable trait. Some of those thrown into the lake of fire are the fearful and unbelieving ones. (Rev 21:8) Our Lord is most glorified when we fully trust in the saving strength of His right hand. Blessed be God that "he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust." Ps 103:14 He knows we are frail, but in that frailty reminds us that His strength is made perfect in weakness. (2 Cor 12:9) This truth is what inspired Paul to assert "Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me." What blessed promises! It is not our finitude that condemns us but only our unbelief in the only Infinite One. Let us receive grace to believe Him today! "Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you." 1 Pt 5:6-7

v.3 "Then they had swallowed us up quick, when their wrath was kindled against us" It is natural to the sons of Adam to be quick to wrath and bite and devour one another because these things come from within "of your lusts that war in your members" Jam 4:1. There is a wrath that is holy and there is a wrath that is unholy. God never has an unholy wrath and it is only from the pure spring of the regenerate heart that holy wrath can proceed out of man. These unbelievers are filled with hatred and unholy wrath against God's people. "There is a generation, whose teeth are as swords, and their jaw teeth as knives, to devour the poor from off the earth, and the needy from among men." Prv 30:14 Our God is a Jealous God. The Christ is a jealous husband to His bride. He says to the wicked, "As yet exaltest thou thyself against my people, that thou wilt not let them go?" Ex 9:17 It is for the church that our Lord laid down His life (Eph 5:25) and for her that He makes intercession (Heb 7:25, Jn 17:9). "And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not" Lk 20:31-32 It is the sheep that Jesus seeks after and protects. It is the bride he died for. It is all those the Father gave Him He intercedes for. God has brought He and his elect together to be wed one day at the Lamb's Marriage Supper. "What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder." Mk 10:9 Christ loves His people. The love of Christ, which passes knowledge is so immense it requires divine aid to comprehend its breadth, and length, and depth, and height. (Eph 3:18-19) This God and His Christ shall not let one of his sheep go. He will never forsake them. Any that come against them shall be surely recompensed.

v.4-5 " Then the waters had overwhelmed us, the stream had gone over our soul: Then the proud waters had gone over our soul." Here, the enemies of the people are likened to the overwhelming power of water. It is said to "go over their soul". David calls this water proud (Further possible translations being "churning, raging, or turbulent.") These waters are no sprinkling or misting. These are the waves spoken of in Ps 42:7, "Deep calleth unto deep at the noise of thy waterspouts: all thy waves and thy billows are gone over me." The people have crashing waves poured out on them. There is struggling to surface for air. It seems as if the end is in sight. No freedom. As soon as one wave hits them down another is coming. The undercurrent only pulls them deeper and deeper into this sea of distress. As the Psalmists cries, "Out of the depths have I cried unto thee, O LORD." Ps 130:1 It is appropriate to look at Psalm 18 for another account of deliverance. "The sorrows of death compassed me, and the floods of ungodly men made me afraid. The sorrows of hell compassed me about: the snares of death prevented me. In my distress I called upon the LORD, and cried unto my God: he heard my voice out of his temple, and my cry came before him, even into his ears… The LORD also thundered in the heavens, and the Highest gave his voice; hail stones and coals of fire. Yea, he sent out his arrows, and scattered them; and he shot out lightnings, and discomfited them. Then the channels of waters were seen, and the foundations of the world were discovered at thy rebuke, O LORD, at the blast of the breath of thy nostrils. He sent from above, he took me, he drew me out of many waters. He delivered me from my strong enemy, and from them which hated me: for they were too strong for me. They prevented me in the day of my calamity: but the LORD was my stay. He brought me forth also into a large place; he delivered me, because he delighted in me." Ps 18:4-6, 13-19

v.6 "Blessed be the LORD" David renders honour to whom honour is due. The LORD is our deliverer. "Help me, O LORD my God: O save me according to thy mercy: That they may know that this is thy hand; that thou, LORD, hast done it." Ps 109:26-27 Among God's people it is known that "Salvation is of the LORD." Jon 2:9 That is, salvation does not proceed out of something within man or something created, as this present evil world would have us to believe, but rather it proceeds out of the Wisdom and Grace of God. "For I will not trust in my bow, neither shall my sword save me. But thou hast saved us from our enemies, and hast put them to shame that hated us. In God we boast all the day long, and praise thy name for ever. Selah." Ps 44:6-8

"Who hath not given us as a prey to their teeth." Satan and his followers desire to have us that they may do as they will to us. They are spoken of as devouring beasts. The Devil is a beast as a lion. "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour" 1 Pet 5:8 And his children reflect his image, " I said in mine heart concerning the estate of the sons of men, that God might manifest them, and that they might see that they themselves are beasts." Ecc 3:18

It is the teeth of the enemy that will snatch and devour. This is the only means by which they may consume us. A lion with no teeth is hardly a conqueror. Therefore we cry, "Arise, O LORD; save me, O my God: for thou hast smitten all mine enemies upon the cheek bone; thou hast broken the teeth of the ungodly." Ps 3:7 and "Break their teeth, O God, in their mouth: break out the great teeth of the young lions, O LORD." Ps 58:6 What is our Lord's response to cry of His people? "Therefore all they that devour thee shall be devoured; and all thine adversaries, every one of them, shall go into captivity; and they that spoil thee shall be a spoil, and all that prey upon thee will I give for a prey." Jer 30:16 We exclaim,"Wherefore should the heathen say, Where is now their God? But our God is in the heavens: he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased." Ps 115:2-3

O dear saints, know that not only has he promised to deliver you at that final day but also he has brought daily victory to his people in this New Covenant promise of the indwelling Spirit. "This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh." Gal 5:16 Our victory as the redeemed is in Jesus' accomplishment on the cross. "Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ...." 2 Cor 2:14 "And they overcame him [Satan] by the blood of the Lamb" Rev 12:11

v.7 "Our soul is escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowlers: the snare is broken, and we are escaped." This God of Heaven is our keeper and provider. "I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust. Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence." Ps 91:2-3 Surely it is true that our enemy is Satan and all spiritual wickedness. "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." Eph 6:12 However, can it not also be said that one of our greatest enemies is ourselves? For left to himself, does man desire that which is good to keep his soul alive? Would it have been necessary then to say to man, "For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?" Mk 8:36 Man desires to live his life without God. The bible calls this sin and "the wages of sin is death" Rom 6:23 Therefore, it is true to say man is his own greatest enemy. He has forfeited his freedom to serve God to become a slave to sin. "Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin." Jn 8:34 Man is in the snare of sin and bondage. A Deliverer is necessary. It is said to evangelists, "And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth; And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will." 2 Tim 2:26 It is God granting repentance that is the greatest deliverance. For "If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed." Jn 8:36 "the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God." Rom 8:21 It is God that overcomes our stubborn wills and conquers our hearts. He makes us to become "more than conquerors through him that loved us." Rom 8:37 "O sing unto the LORD a new song; for he hath done marvellous things: his right hand, and his holy arm, hath gotten him the victory." Ps 98:1 "The LORD thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing." Zep 3:17 "Thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance." Ps 32:7

v.8 "Our help is in the name of the LORD, who made heaven and earth." Where does your help come from? Are relying on your own wisdom and strength to deliver you from the day that God has appointed for judgment? Know this. Help is only to be found in Jesus Christ. "Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved." Act 4:12

"Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." Phil 2:5-11 "…these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name." Jn 20:31

Reader, today I would have you to consider Christ, the only Saviour. "For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus" 1 Tim 2:5 God's own dear Son has come to this world bringing deliverance. At the cross, he defeated death so that it has no more sting. On that cross He satisfied the wrath of God, bearing the penalty of sin by becoming a curse. By that cross, He accomplished a full salvation for all who would believe! It is the perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ alone that is sufficient to pay your debt against God. Lay down your sin and cast yourself upon Him. May the God of Heaven so stir in your heart conviction of sin, and love toward Christ this very moment! May these words of Jesus the Lord ring in your ears from this day forward, "All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out." Jn 6:37

Grace be with you, family!

Joshua

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If It Had Not Been the LORD

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