Psalm 124
Notes
Transcript
Being in youth ministry, one of the tendencies that many youth pastors would fight every summer was the mountain high experience that youth will go through whenever they will go through camps or mission trips.
It’s this thought of them going to camp, getting caught up into this high emotion with their friends (teenagers tend to be emotional), and letting this emotion drive them rather than there being this authentic working of the Holy Spirit.
Because of this, they can tend to go home, the emotion wears off, and so does their desire to be close to God.
So, it’s always been a youth ministry fight against that of the mountain top experience.
I heard one youth pastor though, who had been in youth ministry for years, he’s one of the OG’s in youth ministry say that there can be a good side of the mountain top experience. It’s not ALL BAD.
Because it’s in the midst of a genuine moving of God in a teens life, many times in the middle of camp experiences (they get rid of all distractions and focus on the Word of God); it’s in these experiences where God affords them this opportunity where while being on this mountain top, they are able to see where God has brought them from through this valley, and they’re also able to see where God is taking them in the next valley.
I think of this as I think of Psalm 124. During this song of Ascents, David writes this Psalm for the people of Israel, while going up the mountain, to show this gratitude and marvel at the works that God has performed for their nation.
Gratitude, thanksgiving, marveling at what God has done is something that is often used in the scriptures by God’s people to prepare themselves for trials that lay ahead.
It can remind you of WHO God is and WHAT He has done for you.
This reminds your soul of WHO He will continue to be and WHAT He will continue to do in your life.
It is unclear of what specific trails David is speaking of here. Each of the trials he brings up are very vague.
It could be…
Attacks of the Philistines (Psalm 73-150; 2 Sam 5:17-25)
And it could have been a song sang by the nation of Israel during…
Hezekiah’s day,
during exile
Or during Nehemiah’s day.
This is a relevant Psalm for any of God’s people who have suffered in any age only for the Lord our God to come to their rescue.
The Psalm shows this obvious progression that we see in the Nation of Israel and in God’s people today…
It is when we praise God for His past deliverances, that He strengthens us for future times of need.
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.
INTRODUCTION (VERSE 1)
INTRODUCTION (VERSE 1)
The Choir Master calling his people to song in unison by singing the first verse of the song he wanted to be sung.
Then, at his invitation, the people would then join together and sing with him.
He begins a song with the beginning lyric that voices a reality that we all should dwell on multiple times a day… “If the Lord had not been by my side…”—->
Oh what a thought that is.
Notice the focus on the LORD, and NOTHING of what the people of Israel did.
Everything that has happened for the people of Israel has been nothing of their own power.
Nothing of the people’s own strength
Nothing of their own strategy.
It’s the Lord that deserves this song. The focus is on HIM. NOT US.
You can hear an echo of what Paul was saying of the Lord in Rom. 8:31
31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?
There is no doubt that many of the Lord’s people’s testimonies would be drastically different if it hadn’t been for the Lord being by our side.
I know mine would have been. If the Lord had not drawn me to Himself as a 13 year old boy… there’s no telling where my life would have ended up.
As well as so many times of smaller deliverance’s in my life, to look back and to be thankful for the Lord being by my side in each of life’s big moments and small moments.
Apart from the Lord, the Nation of Israel, first off… wouldn’t exist.
It was Him who chose Abram to be the head of a nation. AND, apart from the Lord, the nation would have experienced disaster on multiple occasions.
In a way… the choir master is beginning with a lyric that reflects that of Psalm 46:1-2
God is our refuge and strength,
a very present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way,
though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea,
I can only imagine, as they are ascending to the City of David, for the nation to sing this song directly opposing the statements from their enemies who would often ask them, “Where is your God?”
The answer of the Nation of Israel and for the one who know Jesus… is that He is right by my side.
Vv. 2-5 (Gratitude Toward Deliverance)
Vv. 2-5 (Gratitude Toward Deliverance)
We are now informed about these word pictures where the writer explains the situations in which the Lord has delivered the people of Israel.
First we see this time when people “rose up against” them.
Verb (qwm:”rose”) often indicates going into battle. (Josh 8:3; 24:9; 2 Sam 21:4.)
——>>This was always a total mismatch for anyone going up against the people of Yahweh.
Joshua 24:8–12 (ESV)
Then I brought you to the land of the Amorites, who lived on the other side of the Jordan. They fought with you, and I gave them into your hand, and you took possession of their land, and I destroyed them before you. Then Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, arose and fought against Israel. And he sent and invited Balaam the son of Beor to curse you, but I would not listen to Balaam. Indeed, he blessed you. So I delivered you out of his hand. And you went over the Jordan and came to Jericho, and the leaders of Jericho fought against you, and also the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. And I gave them into your hand. And I sent the hornet before you, which drove them out before you, the two kings of the Amorites; it was not by your sword or by your bow.
This is the reason the writer of Psalm 118 can say…
The Lord is on my side; I will not fear.
What can man do to me?
We as Christians undertstand that there is safety in the arms of our Lord.
If it weren’t for the Lord. This situation would be a lot different in all the times when others tried to rise up against them.
We are given two other very distinct pictures without the Lord’s protection.
V. 3: “They would have swallowed us up alive when their angered was kindled against us.” (Jer. 51:34)
34 “Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon has devoured me; he has crushed me; he has made me an empty vessel; he has swallowed me like a monster; he has filled his stomach with my delicacies; he has rinsed me out.
V. 4:… “then the flood would have swept us away, the torrent would have gone over us; then over us would have gone the raging waters.”
The second is much like a WADI that would sweep away its victims in Israel. Streambeds that were dry for most of the year that would become these death traps when the rain would transform them into raging flood beds.
The flood would have swept Israel away with no chance of coming back up for air because of the torrent and force of the raging waters of our enemies would have gone over them and overpowered them.
Sometimes we like to think that we could get ourselves out of the water to get a breath of air and fight on… this is underestimating the power of the water and the power that we think we have.
Without help to raise up from the waters… you will continually be pushed deeper and deeper into the stream.
(Story of Weston as we went white water rafting (cat. 4 rapids)
The fact of the matter is… WE NEED GOD to PICK US UP OUT OF THE RAGING WATER. We do not have the strength in our own to help ourselves.
This was the case for Israel in the face of her enemies and this is the same for us.
NOTICE here the if/then pattern we see throughout this Psalm.
IF it had not been the Lord who was on our side…
THEN they would have swallowed us up alive,…
THEN the flood would have swept us away,…
THEN over us would have gone the raging waters…
We see here the Psalmist revealing through song that apart from the Lord’s gracious activity… DISASTER would have struck.
The people of Israel would have been destroyed.
All of this, WHAT WOULD HAVE BEEN, if it hadn’t been for the Lord being by their side.
IF THE LORD HADN”T OF BEEN BY OUR SIDE…
DEATH WOULD REIGN.
SIN WOULD HAVE ALL IN CHAINS.
We would all still be stuck in the muck of our inability to help ourselves.
BUT PRAISE GOD THAT THIS IS NOT THE CASE!
One of my favorite phrase in the Bible… BUT GOD…
Ephesians 2:1–7 (ESV)
1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.
4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
Vv. 6-7 (Praise)
Vv. 6-7 (Praise)
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!
Verse 6 transitions into PRAISE for the Lord’s deliverance in magnifying again the instances where the Lord has come through for the Nation.
“BLESSED BE THE LORD.”
V. 6: “…who has not given us as prey to their teeth.”
We see here that the Lord KEEPS US.
The Lord will keep you from all evil;
he will keep your life.
VERSE 7: Psalm 124:7
pictures them as vulnerable and defenseless. A bird who has been caught in a net.
Just as a bird cannot free themselves from a snare, so Israel was beyond hope of saving themselves from traps that had been set on multiple occasions.
It is so often that the fear of man, our own selfish desires will find us in such traps. The same was for Israel.
25 The fear of man lays a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is safe.
THE LORD, YAHWEH, in His power freed Israel and us from this trap And He keeps them safe.
He broke the snare so that His people could be liberated from their trapper and they were set free to praise His name.
Praise His name For this reality in the lives of the people of Israel and
Praise His name for the reality of what He has done in our own lives.
Freeing us from the trap of sin so that we ourselves can praise His name. No longer are we slaves of sin, we are now slaves of righteousness.
11 For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the holy places by the high priest as a sacrifice for sin are burned outside the camp. 12 So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood. 13 Therefore let us go to him outside the camp and bear the reproach he endured. 14 For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come. 15 Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name.
“BLESSED BE THE LORD FOR HIS WORK.”
It is these events where David is getting his people to REMEMBER.
REMEMBER WHAT THE LORD HAS DONE FOR YOU. Look back into the valley to see where God has brought them from.
AS WE REMEMBER, THIS BURST US INTO PRAISE FOR WHO HE IS.
C.S. Lewis said this about the Psalms
“The most valuable thing the Psalms do for me is to express the same delight in God which made David dance.”
Are you aware of particular events in which the Lord has delivered you - from dangers, concerns, fears?
ALLOW THESE TO FEED YOUR FAITH.
ALLOW THESE TO BUILD OUR TRUST
ALLOW THESE PUSH US TO PRAISE
V. 8 (Confession of Trust because of who God is)
V. 8 (Confession of Trust because of who God is)
We come to verse 8 which is the climax on which this Psalm has been built.
The Lord (YAHWEH) has saved His people from
being swallowed up,
from being drowned beneath the waters,
falling as prey,
and from being trapped by the Fowlers.
The Lord has been able to do all of this because of the fact that HE IS YAHWEH: The Creator of Heaven and Earth!
He summarizes Israel’s experience by saying…
8 Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth.
This same declaration is in Psalm 121:1-2
1 I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? 2 My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.
It’s been said that Calvin would use this verse to open the worship services in Geneva Switzerland.
There is a simple, timeless truth here for the people of God.
Yes, we should look back and marvel at what God has done. Let this build our trust and faith in the Lord.
Let it spring us into praise for the Lord in our lives.
BUT LET THESE REALITIES MOVES US INTO A “READY POSTOR” for whatever comes up in life next.
Let us use these mountain top experiences in our lives to see where we have come from and where the Lord has us going.
Commentary on the Book of Psalms Psalm 124
David here extends to the state of the Church in all ages that which the faithful had already experienced. As I interpret the verse, he not only gives thanks to God for one benefit, but affirms that the Church cannot continue safe except in so far as she is protected by the hand of God. His object is to animate the children of God with the assured hope, that their life is in perfect safety under the divine guardianship.
Listen dear Christian…
Christ has won the ultimate victory for us through the death and resurrection.
AND SO… We have this assured hope.
We are kept and protected by His hand.
We can trust God in present and future trials.
7 Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.
He is the creator of the UNIVERSE! And so we trust HIS name.
