(It Couldve been Another Way)
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Pray
Pray
Give Honor
Give Honor
Text:
Text:
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.
Journey with me if you will, to a moment and time in history. In a place called Jerusalem. We are not, now, in Piney Grove of West Monroe, Louisiana, We are not now, Church members, yet we are pilgrims singing songs of praise and thanksgiving Unto God.
Journey with me now to a time of celebration, The feast of the Jews.
We are now on the steps, Headed to the temple to Praise the name of the Lord.
Journey with me now. As we go onward and upward, the 15 steps to get to the temple.
We do not go up these steps Haphazardly, eager to get to the temple without first,
acknowledging, the fact that we made it another step.
Allow me, to pause and take you back to 2021, Here at Piney Missionary Baptist Church,
As we are not eager, to move on with Sunday service as usual, but we have paused, taken a day to acknowledge the fact that we as a church, have made it, another year.
And there aught be somebody in this church, who like these pilgrims, should be excited at the fact, that we made it, another step.
another chance to get it right.
another mountain, he brought us over,
Another valley, he’s seen us through,
another blessing, we say Hallelujah. and at this moment we pause, and praise the name of Jesus for all he’s done.
Because the fact remains, that it could’ve been another way.
We’ve landed now, on the fifth step, Psalms 124. Such an amazing passage of scripture. A scripture that teaches us the value, of having God on your side.
This Psalm, is a psalm of ascent, Pinned to David.
There is in fact, not a particular story that this psalm is attached to, yet the very story of David, is enough to praise God about.
A boy who was overlooked,
a boy who was under valued,
a boy who’s life was threatened,
a boy who fell over and over again
a boy who was a cheater,
and boy who was a liar,
a boy who was a killer,
Ended up being a king, Still living, Forgiven for killing, Forgiven for cheating, forgiven for lying,
This man David has a testimony that it could’ve gone bad soon, but God Kept him and covered him.
They say “If it had not been for the Lord who was on our side, Let Israel now say, If it had not been for the Lord who was on our side.”
The first thing that they do is
1. Reflect on God’s Presence.
The Bible says that they say If it had not been for the Lord who was on our side. Let Israel now say.
In other words, This is not just a Psalm about David nor tells a story about David, but this was a call and response song.
In other words The same testimony that David, or the leader had, is the same testimony that the other pilgrims have.
Y’all still ain’t feeling me, let me try and explain it better.
“Guide me o thou, great Jehova pilgrim through this barren land....”
If it had not been for the Lord who was on our side, LET ISRAEL SAY.
As they are sitting on the steps of Temple they realize that the only reason they made it as far as they did is because God was with them.
And how many of you can testify that the only reason you made it as far as you did, is simply because God was on your side.
not only do they reflect on God’s presence,
but they say He brought us this far,
because
we
2. Rely on his Power
in the 2 and 3rd stanzas its stated how MEN AND WATER WOULD HAVE OVERTAKEN US.
Which shows me that God does not just have power over PEOPLE. But God has power over everything
and when we put our trust in him, he would handle the very thing that we thought we had no control over
This is not the first time God’s Power has brought
it was the power of God that helped David Kill goliath
it was the power of God that helped shadrack meshack and abednigo live in the firee
it was the power of God that helped Joseph go from a pit to the palace back to the pit back to the palace
it was the power of God that saved paul from a ship wreck
it was the power of God..
and we dont have to look in the old or new testiment, but we can just look back over our lives and we will see, that it was the power of God, that helped us out.
They say Blessed be the name of the Lord who has not given us as prey to their teeth.
When we are prey to their teeth speaks of us in a helpless and hopeless state,
and sometimes our God will allow us to get to a helpless and hopeless place so that we can fully rely on him.
There are some things your pastor can’t get you out of.
There are some things that your parents can’t get you out of.
There are some things that your friends can not get you out of, but there are some things that only God can do.
Only God can heal your body,
ONLY GOD can make a way out of no way
ONLY GOD can open doors that no man can shut
ONLY GOD can do it.
and there are sometimes that we get in helpless or hopeless situations so that God can show us where our help comes from.
Our help is not in the bottles,
our help is not in the weed,
our help is not in people,
but our help is in the LORD.
They Reflect on his Presence and Rely on his power,
but they then
3. Respond with a Praise
They say BLESSED be the LORD and they say OUR HELP IS IN THE NAME OF THE LORD.
They say BLESSED be the Lord and they say OUR HELP IS IN THE NAME OF THE LORD.
and
I want to tell you that there’s no way you can think about what God has done for you and it not result in a praise.
The bible declares enter into his gates with thanksgiving and into his courts with praise.
Why do we praise him,
because it couldve, been another way.
We are healed but it couldve been another way
we have money but it couldve been another way
we have breath in our body, but it couldve been another way.