It Could’ve Been Another Way (Gethsemane)

Pray

To do: Youth Back to School Party - 2024 January 16th

Text Psalms 124:1-8

Psalm 124:1–8 (NKJV)

1 “If it had not been the Lord who was on our side,” Let Israel now say— 2 “If it had not been the Lord who was on our side, When men rose up against us, 3 Then they would have swallowed us alive, When their wrath was kindled against us; 4 Then the waters would have overwhelmed us, The stream would have gone over our soul; 5 Then the swollen waters Would have gone over our soul.” 6 Blessed be the Lord, Who has not given us as prey to their teeth. 7 Our soul has escaped as a bird from the snare of the fowlers; The snare is broken, and we have escaped. 8 Our help is in the name of the Lord, Who made heaven and earth.

Beloved, as we stand on the threshold of a new year,

there's a collective anticipation in the air—

a shared hope that permeates our hearts and fuels our expectations.

At this age and stage of our year,

our eyes are fixed forward,

not merely on the calendar pages turning, but on the unwritten chapters that await us in the days and months ahead.

In these late days of December,

We stand in the midst of a whirlwind of resolutions, blueprints for the future, and rekindled commitments.

New year, new ME

A sentiment that shows up in the promises we've made to ourselves,

the healthy meals we've planned for ourselves,

and the gym memberships we've renewed, in hopes of a fresh start.

Church we’re ready.

To take on new endeavors,

To enhance new Ideas

To cultivate new relationships

To grow and create a new us.

It's a clean slate

A blank canvas

and A readiness to go onward and upward.

And while looking forward is necessary

I think it is equally necessary to look backwards.

Join me on a journey this morning,

not forward, but backward

—a reflection on where you've been and what you've overcome.

Look back at the challenges and pains you've conquered,

Look back at the issues in your life you've navigated with resilience.

Look back on the moments when you stood strong in the face of adversity,

Look back into rearview mirror of your past and remember what you’ve overcome.

Pause for a moment.

How did you even get to this day?

Surely, there was help along the way.

Beloved if you’re confused about how you made it let me make it simple for you.

IT WAS GOD.

God was the help WE needed.

God was the unseen hand guiding you through the toils and snares of you.

It is God’s divine assistance that played a crucial role in bringing you to this moment.

and I believe this is what this psalm is all about.

Listen to what the psalmist says,

Psalm 124:1–8 (NKJV)

“If it had not been the Lord who was on our side,” Let Israel now say— “If it had not been the Lord who was on our side, When men rose up against us, Then they would have swallowed us alive, When their wrath was kindled against us; Then the waters would have overwhelmed us, The stream would have gone over our soul; Then the swollen waters Would have gone over our soul.” Blessed be the Lord, Who has not given us as prey to their teeth. Our soul has escaped as a bird from the snare of the fowlers; The snare is broken, and we have escaped. Our help is in the name of the Lord, Who made heaven and earth.

This Psalm, is a song of Ascents, of David.

This song is one of 15 songs ranging from Psalms 120-134

These songs were sang as the people of God journeyed to Jerusalem for the feast,

When they get to Jerusalem, There were 15 steps that led into the temple.

and legend has it,

it was at each step, that they sung one song after the other, Praising God on the way to the temple.

This Psalm, is not just a song that would simply become a cleche, no,

This song means something,

This psalm serves as a reminder and even a testament, that without God on our side, it really could’ve been another way…..…

It was God. Who saved us from our circumstances.

and the question that I would like to try to answer as we look back for a moment, is

What is that God possess, that woudl help us saved us from our circumstances.

it was

God’s Presence…that saved us from our circumstances…

Here’s what v. 1 and 2 says.

Psalm 124:1–2 (NKJV)

“If it had not been the Lord who was on our side,” Let Israel now say— “If it had not been the Lord who was on our side,

It was God’s presence, that saved us from our circumstances.

This was a call and response from David to Israel.

David in this portion would charge the people to recognize that it was God and God alone who was present with them.

David, does not just charge a few of them who may have gone through a problem or issue to sing with them.

but David charges Israel AS A WHOLE,

TO ACKNOWLEDGE THE FACT THAT IT WAS GOD WHO WAS ON THEIR SIDE IN THE PRESENCE OF ADVERSITY.

This is one of my favorite texts of scripture, and to fully appreciate this scripture, you must look at it in the original language,

The phrase, “Had been on our side”, in the hebrew, is Past tense for “Immanuel” which is God with us.

So when they shout and sing this song, they are acknowledging the fact, that God had been with them the whole time.

I can only imagine what David could have been thinking about when singing this Particular verse,

was he thinking about the time when he had a sling and a few stones and used that weaponry to kill goliath of Gath.

Was he thinking about the time, when he was on the run from Saul, who was seemingly the most powerful person in the land, Who never had a chance to even touch him,

Was he thinking about the time he entered ziglag, it was at a place of ruins, his wives and children had been kidnapped, his men were ready to turn on him,

but God said YOU SHALL RECOVER ALL.

I can’t tell you what situation or circumstance that DAVID was thinking about, but what I can tell you is that David understood

That in the good, and in the bad, in the ugly and the pretty,

God was with him the whole time.

God, never left his side.

God was actively present and working on David’s behalf.

and I don’t know about you,

but when I look back on the year that I’ve had,

the good,

the Bad,

the ugly

the pretty,

THE GRIEF

the mess ups,

the slips,

the mis steps,

AND THE LOW MOMENTS

I can truly say that THROUGH IT ALL, GOD WAS WITH ME THE WHOLE TIME.

YE THOUGH I WALK THROUGH THE VALLEY OF THE SHADOW OF DEATH I SHALL FEAR NO EVIL FOR THOUGH ART WITH ME

God’s presence can saved 3 hebrew boys in a firey furnace

God’s presence can turn a lions den into a motel 6

God’s presence can make a pathway in the middle of the sea

God presence can shake the foundations of a jail cell and loosen everyones chains

Thy presence is fullness of joy; at Thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.

God’s presence can keep you from January to December.

God’s Presence… can save YOU from YOUR circumstances

not only was it God’s presence they shouted about.

But then they said

God’s Power……Saved me from my circumstances…

here’s what the word says

Psalm 124:3–5 (NKJV)

Then they would have swallowed us alive, When their wrath was kindled against us; Then the waters would have overwhelmed us, The stream would have gone over our soul; Then the swollen waters Would have gone over our soul.”

These verses,

Paint a graphic picture, of what it would have looked like, if God allowed our enemies to have their way over us.

He says, if God allowed our enemies to have their way over us, it wouldn’t even be a fight.

That our enemies would swallow us whole.

They would not rip us apart bit by bit

no they will swallow us WHOLE.

He say then the waters would have overwhelemed us, or the swolen waters would have gone over our soul.

This part of the text, speaks to the power of our enemies and the oververwhelming wave of our situations.

When I look at the power of our enemies, I see that our enemies would have swallowed us whole a

We would have been swallowed in our mess.

This almost speaks to a beast, swallowing it’s pray. Eating it in one bite. not playing with it.

but it also speaks to the waves beating up against us, so much so that it would've overtaken and drowned us.

This piece reminds me of how Pastor and I were at the ocean front in Virginia Beach, baptizing the students.

I didn’t realize it, but we had just come off of a tropical storm, so the waves were beating up against us left and right.

at one point I look up and I thought Pastor was drowning, because the waves had beat him so, that he falling left and right to the point where he got out of the water,

the waves were so strong that even 300 pound me, was tossed to and fro in the waters.

and Just like the waves tossed pastor and I back and fourth in the waters, so does the situations in our lives.

That we are tossed to and fro with Grief,

tossed to and fro with low self esteem

Tossed to and from with depression

Tossed to and from with messiness.

But because of the POWER of the Lord, we dont have to worried about getting knocked down.

Because of the power of the LORD, our enemies can’t devour us,

Because of the power of the LORD, the situations of our lives wont overwhelm us,

The power of the LORD fights off the beast on our behalf

The power of the LORD, tells the winds and waves that try to knock us down, to be still,

The power of the LORD, helps us to withstand what should have overtaken us….

THE POWER OF THE LORD …

It could have been another way, but

The presence of the LORD saved us from our circumstances

The POWER of the Lord saved us from our circumstances

but then

The PROTECTION of the LORD… saved us from our circumstances…

The word of the LORD SAYS Psalms 124:6-7

Psalm 124:6–7 (KJV 1900)

Blessed be the Lord, Who hath not given us as a prey to their teeth. Our soul is escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowlers: The snare is broken, and we are escaped.

The PROTECTION of the LORD… saved us from our circumstances…

they says BLESSED be the LORD. who has not given us a prey to their teeth.

David again uses the analogy of prey and predator to describe what would happen if God was not on our side.

This analogy of being trapped in the snare of the fowler is one that speaks of God’s protection

You see a Fowler is someone who hunts wild birds for food and Fowlers have many methods of taking small birds,

You see the Fowler would set snares or traps for the bird and cover them with Grain,

The Fowler would use the grain, which is something that the bird liked, to lure them to the snare,

When the bird would go to grab the grain, there would be a chord attached to the snare that the fowler would use to trap the bird in it’s feet.

and Because the bird went after something he liked, it would cost him his life….…

and that’s what the enemy would try and do to us and almost did to us this year,

He used something we liked,

Gosip, he used something we liked

Alcohol, he used something we liked

arrogance he used something we liked

procrastination he used something we like

laziness..he used something we liked

to lure us in….but because our GoD IS A PROTECTOR,

he Broke the very snare that the enemy would use to try and attack us!!!!!!

and is there anybody in here who knows something about the PROTECTION OF GOD”?

Psalm 27 (KJV 1900)

A Psalm of David. The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, They stumbled and fell

He’s a protector I tell you.

PREACH!!!!!!

It couldve been another way,

but

1. His Presence…saved me from my circumstance…

2. His POWER….saved me from my circumstance…

3. His Protection….saved me from my circumstance…

but lastly,

HIS PERSISTENCE…WILL SAVE ME FROM MY CIRCUMSTANCE…

Psalm 124:8 (KJV 1900)

Our help is in the name of the Lord, Who made heaven and earth.

Our help is in the name of the Lord, Who made heaven and earth.

YOU see when you look back you’re able to see what God did,

Which gives you confidence in what God can do.

When the writer says “Our help is in the name of the LORD”

The writer has gone from past, to present and future.

The writer has gone from looking at what God, did to look forward to what God will do

and I don’t have anything big to say right here

I’ll just end with this,

GOD WILL DO IT AGAIN.

HE’s the same God yesterday, to day and forever more.

Seasons may change,

situations may change

But God will not Change

HE IS PERSISTENT>

He will KEEP being present

He will KEEP being powerful

and He will KEEP being protective HE’s persistent.

I’m not gone tell you that you won’t have problem, pains, ups , downs, disappointment, or disaster.

But one thing you can rest assured,

is that GOD IS A PERSISTENT GOD!!!!!!

HE WILL BE PRESENT

HE will be POWERFUL and

He will be PROTECTING

SO BE NOT DISMAYED!!!!! WHAT EVER BE TIED