Always Faithful

Playlist

This past week, Laura and I went to Green Bay. While we were in the car we started thinking back to our childhood and teen years. We mostly talked about the type of music we listened to and what it meant to us. It didn’t take long for us to start making a playlist of all the songs that were popular and resonated with us.

Quite honestly, it was an odd age for the music industry. It was in that time where Garage Rock Bands were fading, Rap music and R&B were on the rise, Rock had grown so vast that it started splitting in different directions like pop rock and punk rock. But then some needed a newer version that blended the two and we called it pop punk. But then there was a newer version of music called emo. It was a blend of each of these, yet distinctly its own.

Teenagers were reached by mainstream artists that carried messages revolving around things like:

Self-discovery which focused on individuality and self-acceptance.

Rebellion against anyone in authority

Heartbreak and emotional turmoil.

The brokenness of feeling less than and not measuring up or simply being different. Carrying apathetic undertones of “I’m sorry, I can’t be perfect.”

And of course there were also songs about love and sex.

I am sure, that with the mixed messages of music, it was a frustrating time to be a parent.

During mine and Laura’s discussion, the question was asked, “What song deeply connected with you?”

We both took some time to think about the question. At first we struggled to answer the question.

As soon as we hit play on our new playlist, the memories came flooding back. With just the opening notes and a few lines of the lyerics, we were transported back to high school. A wave of familiar emotions washed over me, each song rekindling the attitudes and feelings I had during those formative years.

I found myself readily able to explain what some of those songs meant to me, realizing just how much these songs shaped my identity.

As I thought about it a little more, it hit me, how profoundly music can influence our sense of self. We often turn to songs to express our emotions, sometimes adopting more from them than we realize.

In reflections, I could see the naive impressions those songs left on me. As we sat down for dinner, I offered a simple prayer: “Lord, thank you for growth. Thank you that I am not in the same place emotionally or spiritually that I was back then.”

I am grateful that those songs no longer define me and that I don’t need to rely on them to navigate me emotions.

While music can offer misguided expressions of emotions, it also holds immens value. Throughout history, songs and poems have been an aide to human expression and understanding. Both have a way of capturing our emotional attention as they express what we have experienced. They can help us articulate our innermost thoughts, often in ways that we struggle to convey or process on our own. It’s why people who are emotionally mature and deep processors of emotion are drawn to write and sing. It takes diligent, careful work to compile music that speaks volumes to people.

As we work through these Psalms of Ascent, we need to remember that this is a carefully selected playlist designed to resonate with both the

grief and joy

Rage and Peace

Fear and courage

Anxiety and hope

You might say that they are unflinchingly honest about the fact that much of what we face in life is rugged and raw. At the same time recognizing that the Lord delivers, Provides, shields for His people. That life isn't just rugged, but it is also full of joy and love. They speak to the human experience with a sincerity and depth that validate our struggles and our celebrations - offering both solace and solidarity.

At the same time, these Psalms bring us back to the throne of God again and again. Teaching us that weather we are in seasons of joy or seasons of suffering, we can still recognize and worship the hand of the Lord in our lives.

Lets take a look at this Psalm together.

Psalm 124 ESV

A Song of Ascents. Of David. 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 people rose up against us, 3 then they would have swallowed us up alive, when their anger was kindled against us; 4 then the flood would have swept us away, the torrent would have gone over us; 5 then over us would have gone the raging waters. 6 Blessed be the Lord, who has not given us as prey to their teeth! 7 We have escaped like 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.

Last week the title of the sermon was “Personally, We Need You.” As we considered the expectant cry of the author for God to have mercy on him. Today, in Psalm 124, we find what appears to be a continuation of Psalm 123. Not in the sense that it is the same author who is speaking of the same situation. We know that it is a different author and likely written at a later date. But this Psalm was purposely placed in the playlist after 123 as a way to reveal the type of progression we often see in our lives. The progression tells a story of movement from the depths of despair to God’s deliverance.

Just as the cadence of Psalm 123 seemed to be in rhythm with walking up the stairs to the temple, so we find movement along the pilgrims stairway as he draws closer to the temple.

The title of the sermon this morning is “Always Faithful.”

We see this promised to us in scripture.

Hebrews 13:5–6 “5 Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” 6 So we can confidently say, “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?””

Joshua 1:9 “9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.””

Its a promise we see re-iterated throughout the Bible. A beautiful promise of God’s protection and care over our lives.

But there are many who don’t see it. They don’t see how the Lord watches over them. How he provides for their needs. How He builds strength in them through their challenges.

We find ourselves in the midst of great challenges and think, “God where are you in this?” It’s question that sometimes comes from a place of anger. Other times, it comes from the depths of our soul.

Yet the promise is that God is always faithful, that He will not leave you nor forsake you. You might forsake Him but He will not forsake you.

I think the reason we don’t see it, is because there is a difference between the past and the present. Have you considered that in the present God wants you to have faith. He wants you to trust Him. He wants to see you humble yourself before Him and take an attitudinal posture of surrender.

Lord, I don’t see you at work here. In my pain, in my suffering, as I stand at a loss for the tragedies that are happening around me. But Lord, I will cling to you because I know you are faithful.

In the present, God is always calling us into faithfully trusting Him.

Its when we look at the past that we see God’s hand.

Soren Kierkegaard was a Danish Christian Philosopher who said,

“Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.”

It’s when we reflect on the specifics of our life experience that we begin to see how the hand of the Lord was there the whole time.

This is why having a faith journal is so valuable. Taking time to stop and reflect on how the Lord has brought you through again and again. Writing it down and coming back to read it from time to time. Eventually, you will be so versed in seeing God’s hand as you look back, that you will be willing to take steps of faith in the present.

So David experiences as he recalls the hand of the Lord in Psalm 124. He opens by saying,

“If it had not bee the Lord who was on our side”

Then there is a slight pause. It is almost as if in the moment of writing David recognized with even deeper conviction that the Lord wasn’t just on his side, not just on his families side, or his military’s side.

“Psalm 124:1–2 “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 people rose up against us,”

This Psalm is emphatic from the first line that God is with us. God is not only with us but He is on our side!

How do we know God is on our side? Because through the blood of Jesus, He invites us into a relationship with Him. Anyone who chooses to put their faith and trust in Jesus is invited over to God’s side.

I don’t know what you are facing today. But weather you are in a place of struggle or a place of joy, know that as believers we get to receive a tremendous gift. The gift is that God is present with us and He is on our side.

I want to pause for a moment and ask everyone in this room to consider a time in your life where you felt trapped.

Perhaps you felt trapped in some form of physical danger.

Maybe it was a relational situation where no matter what you did next you were going to hurt or offend someone close to you.

Maybe it was that your secret sin was coming into the light and there was nothing you could do to hide it any longer.

When is a time in your journey that you felt trapped?

Consider what David writes, again starting in verse 1.

Psalm 124:1–7 “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 people rose up against us, 3 then they would have swallowed us up alive, when their anger was kindled against us; 4 then the flood would have swept us away, the torrent would have gone over us; 5 then over us would have gone the raging waters. 6 Blessed be the Lord, who has not given us as prey to their teeth! 7 We have escaped like a bird from the snare of the fowlers; the snare is broken, and we have escaped!”

David recalls feeling trapped. In his case, it was the peoples coming against him. David was a conqueror. A king who vastly expanded the boarders of Israel. But along the way there were significant battles fought. Over time, David had a long list of enemies who wished to come against him.

No doubt, from time to time, David and his men felt trapped.

The images he paints reveal a sense of awe. The people who rose up would have “Swallowed us,” they would have come just as a “Flood would have swept us away, the torrent would have gone over us, then the raging waters would follow.

Apart from God, the situation was hopeless. Like a bird trapped in a snare.

It’s sobering when we find ourselves feeling like the trapped bird. It’s in those times that we lose our pride, our bravado, our self-confidence. It’s moments like this that we are reminded of our profound weakness. Our profound sense of need for a savior.

The unfortunate reality is we have all been trapped at one point or another. Perhaps the worst trap that we have ever known is the most subtle. A trap where we are all guilty of having fallen into patterns of self-sufficiency. Believing that we can do enough, say enough, be enough. Proving to ourselves that we have a handle on life and we know what we are doing.

One of the most notable traps ever set caused all of humanity to fall into a type of rebellion from God where we came to believe in our own ability. Where we came to trust our own instincts. Where we started playing God in our own life - believing as we choose, doing what feels good to us, and living independent from the Lord.

At one point or another, every person in this room has been caught in that trap. We were born into it.

So God sent Jesus, to come and to set us free. Free from our sin and free from ourselves. Perhaps that is you today. You have found it to be true, that you are trapped, separated from God, in need of help. Scripture tells us if you are willing to confess with your mouth and believe in your heart that Jesus is Lord, and that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.

You see, Jesus freely offered Himself for us. He took our punishment for our sin and placed it on Himself. In doing so, He set us free from the trap.

If that is you today, please tell someone. Someone who can help you begin your journey with Jesus.

I will be up here after the service for anyone who would like to learn more.

Sin is the greatest trap to be set free from. In 1605, relations between protestants and catholics was growing tense. The government in England shifted from a catholic state to a protestant state. In 1605, Guy Fawkes and several others planned what has become known as the “gun powder plot. Guy and his team aimed to blow up Parliament, killing King James i and attempt to bring an end to a protestant state. The attempt failed and in 1719, Isaac Watts wrote a poem to commemorate deliverance from the gunpowder plot on the 5th of November and he based it on Psalm 124. He wrote:

A Song for the Fifth of November.

Had not the Lord, may Israel say,

Had not the Lord maintained our side,

When men, to make our lives a prey,

Rose like the swelling of the tide;

The swelling tide had stopped our breath,

So fiercely did the waters roll,

We had been swallowed deep in death;

Proud waters had o’erwhelmed our soul.

We leap for joy, we shout and sing,

Who just escaped the fatal stroke;

So flies the bird with cheerful wing,

When once the fowler’s snare is broke.

For ever blessed be the Lord,

Who broke the fowler’s cursed snare,

Who saved us from the murdering sword,

And made our lives and souls his care.

Our help is in Jehovah’s name,

Who formed the earth and built the skies:

He that upholds that wondrous frame

Guards His own church with watchful eyes.

Whether you see the hand of God or not, know that He is here with us. Know that we can celebrate in His providential protection and care. David knew it and circled back to it at the end of the Psalm in verse 8

Psalm 124:8 “8 Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth.”

Perhaps you noticed the structure of the Psalm. If you didn’t, you need to note that it carries great importance.

The Psalm has some chiastic features, meaning that it goes

A, B, C, B, A

A comes in verses 1,2, and 8. Focusing on the presence and help of God.

B comes in verses 3-5 and again in 6-7. Focusing on God’s deliverance from pending disaster.

C is short, yet the center argument of the entire Psalm. It is the central divide. It’s almost as if it is designed so that verses 1-5 look forward to it while verses 6-8 look back and depend up on it.

It’s the simple phrase that opens verse 6,

Psalm 124:6 “6 Blessed be the Lord”

This Psalm is designed to have everything point at this one line. It an attempt to draw our attention to how desperately weak and helpless we are apart from God.

If it had not been for the Lord, we would not be here. We would not be able to come into His presence. We would not be able to look forward to eternity together.

Blessed be the Lord.