Sunday, March 6, 2016 pm
STUDIES IN PSALMS
If it had Not Been the Lord On our Side
Psalm 124
We
continue to examine the psalms of ascents (120-134), believed to have
been sung as Israelites journeyed toward Jerusalem for the various
feasts. Some interesting features
of this psalm are:
1) We know it was written by David.
It seems like many of these psalms were written much later (dates
unknown) and they were adapted for the purpose of the journey – some new
and some old (like the songs we sing).
They selected a few psalms of David in this group.
2) Vs. 1 & 2 repeat. Two
possibilities to me – 1) Vs. 1 is the title of the psalm or 2) The
leader sang and the audience responded.
It
is a psalm of deliverance for God’s people.
Only 8 verses and 2 thoughts.
a.
The LORD is on our side
– this is the declaration the psalmist begins with.
i.
What does that expression mean? God is with us.
In its fullest extent it means there is nothing God cannot do for
His people.
ONE of the benefits in studying the Old Testament (cf. Romans 15:4), is
how we see the power of God at work.
It is found throughout scripture.
He was with Abraham always – from the promise in Genesis 12:1-3 where He
promised to bless those who blessed him and curse those who cursed him.
Joseph in Egypt – studying his life in the latter part of Genesis you
find a series of events that saved Israel’s heritage and protected
Joseph.
Moses – Exodus 3:12 – He told Moses, “I will certainly be with you…”
Joshua and Caleb – Num. 14:9, as the people listened to the cowardly
majority of spies (10 of them), Joshua and Caleb strive to encourage the
people to go forward. They
say of the land, “their protection
has departed from the, and the LORD is with us.
Do not fear them.”
David vs. Goliath,
Elijah vs. the 850 prophets of Baal and Asherah – 1 Kings 18.
Numerous times in the prophets where the LORD promises deliverance of
those who turn to Him – Isaiah 41:10 - “Fear
not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you…”
Haggai 1:14 – speaking as the LORD’s messenger, Haggai told the people,
“I am with you, says the LORD.”
Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego – Daniel 3:16-18, “our God is able to deliver us from the fiery furnace, and He will
deliver us from you hand, O king.
But if not, let it be known to you, O King, that we do not serve
your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set us.”
Daniel delivered from the lion’s den – Daniel 6.
Realizing his rash edict, the king commands Daniel to be put in
the lion’s den but he says, “Your God, whom you serve continually, He
will deliver you.” (Dan. 6:16)
And He did!
Even in the New Testament - Peter was delivered from death by an angel –
Acts 12.
All these are spectacular deliverances.
While God may not intervene today in the same way (not because He
can’t, but because of His will) do not underestimate His ability to
deliver us.
ii.
From time to time we need to remind ourselves that God is for us:
1.
Romans 8:31 – if God is
for us, who can be against us?
2.
Romans 8:37 tells us,
“Yet in all things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved
us.”
3.
Matthew 28:20 – Jesus,
“I am with you always…”
4.
Hebrews 13:5-6, the
assurance that He will never leave nor forsake us.
Therefore with boldness we can say, “the
Lord is my helper; I will not fear.
What can man do to me?” (Psalm 118:6)
5.
1 John 4:4, He who is in
you is greater than He who is in the world (cf. John 14:30 – where Jesus
said of Satan, “he has nothing in
Me.”
iii.
Beware of false assumptions. Consider this:
How many today – nationally or in some given situation say that the
reason things worked out in their favor was “the Lord is on our side”?
Like the idolatrous nations of old, they thought that victory
in battle or good crops meant their gods showed favor on them.
They were wrong!
There is only ONE TRUE God.
He lets His sun shine on the good and evil alike – Matthew 5:45.
LISTEN, America is NOT a “Christian nation”!
Such does not exist!
Sometimes as individuals,
we may see prosperity and whatever good happens and the hand of God in
our favor. That IS the
message of the FALSE health & wealth gospel of Joel Osteen, Kenneth
Copeland, Benny Hinn and myriads of other charlatans.
The godly have always wondered why the wicked prosper (cf. Psalm
2:1-3, Acts 4:24-25).
Perhaps there are times we can look back and see the hand of God at
work, but at other times we are just not sure.
My point is that just because you are doing well materially,
does NOT mean that God is on your side!
Consider the rich, young ruler!
iv.
But who IS on His side? He who obey His
will.
Psalm 24:3-4 – who will
ascend to the presence of God? Also consider Psalm 15.
1 John 3:24, “Now he who keeps His
commandments abides in Him, and He in him. And by this we know that He
abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us.”
He denies himself, takes up his cross and follows Him – Luke 9:23.
He seeks first the kingdom of God – Matthew 6:33
In summary, it is he who is on the Lord’s side!
v.
Regardless we still give
Him the glory. Cf.
Shadrach,… Dan. 3:18 – we will NOT bow down to your gods.
b.
When men rose up they
would have been overwhelmed (2b-5) – swallowed alive with their wrath
kindled “against us.”
Waters would flood over our souls – perhaps meaning we perish (in
this life) or our spirits and will and our hopes are crushed.
There are several descriptions in these verses of complete
devastation. The
exact events addressed we don’t know – some see it as God’s deliverance
through the Red Sea or other similar occasions.
Pra
Written by David, some see it as David overcoming the Philistines (2
Samuel 5:17-25). After being
anointed king, the Philistines seek to attack Israel (recall that prior
to this David had fled to the land of the Philistines for shelter).
As the LORD permits, David goes against them and defeats them.
He specifically asks, “Will You deliver them into my hand?”
The LORD responds, “Go up, for I will doubtless deliver the
Philistines into your hand.”
c.
Let us remember this when we feel overwhelmed.
We are clearly living in uncertain times.
It seems the world is against God and the godly – and they are.
Things could continue to get worse and worse and make it so that
it seems impossible for us to be delivered.
BUT, we must not forget that God is in control!
As God’s word tells us, we find many who are enemies of the cross
of Christ (Phil. 3:18-20, but our citizenship is in heaven. (21)
2 Tim. 3:13 warns that evil men and imposters will grow worse and
worse.
TRUE faith is a calm spirit when
faced with the most troubling of circumstances.
Proverbs 29:25, “The fear of man brings a snare, But whoever trusts in the Lord shall be
safe.”
a.
BUT, blessed be the LORD
– praise Him – always.
A recurring theme in the psalms is one’s desire to praise God regardless
of the times.
Snares are traps – the
devil lays snares before us – 2 Cor. 2:11. Just as Satan tempted Jesus,
so we face temptations.
But we can face up to the temptations and troubles and become
stronger in defeating them – James 1:2-4, Romans 5:3-5.
We must use the word of God as Jesus did.
Floods are things that
overwhelm us – sometimes it is the enemy (nations, person enemies, etc.)
as we have seen in this lesson.
But other times we are overwhelmed with negative emotions –
depression, discouragement, doubt, fear, guilt, sadness, etc.
This can overwhelm us if we are not careful and if we do not
address them.
While the answer to such things is not always easy, the answer is NOT to
give up! We have to press on
(Phil. 3:12-14).
b.
He has delivered us –
not given
us as prey to the teeth of the enemy.
Our soul escaped as a bird from the trap, having broken the snare.
While the term “deliver” is not used, we find that when we put
our trust in God we find true deliverance!
It may not be a deliverance from troubles in this life, but in
the end God will deliver His people.
AND at times, even in this world we find victory.
Consider the following passages:
i.
Matt. 6:13 we pray to
Him for deliverance from the evil one
ii.
Rom. 6:17 – we have been
delivered from sin
iii.
2 Co. 1:9-10 – Paul
trusted in God who had delivered them from so great a death and still
delivers us
iv.
Colossians 1:13 –
delivered from the powers of darkness
v.
2 Thess. 3:1-2 Paul
requests prayers that they be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men
vi.
2 Timothy 3:10-11 – Paul
delivered him out of various persecutions
vii.
2 Tim. 4:17-18 – even
when alone, Paul knew the Lord stood with him and he was delivered out
of the mouth of the lion.
viii.
2 Peter 2:9 – He knows
how to deliver the godly out of temptation
c.
Our help is in the name of the LORD who made heaven and earth
– this is a concluding declaration.
It is a declaration of trust in Him!
And
thus we see another psalm.
We are again reminded of the deliverance we find when we put our trust
in Him. What about you?
Where is your trust?