A SONG
WORTH SINGING!
Psalm 124
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 people
rose up against us,
then they
would have swallowed us up alive,
when their
anger was kindled against us;
then the
flood would have swept us away,
the torrent
would have gone over us;
then over
us would have gone
the raging
waters.
Blessed be
the LORD,
who has not
given us
as prey to
their teeth!
We have
escaped like 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.
“If it had
not been the LORD who was on our side…” Can you imagine walking back to
Jerusalem singing and rejoicing, remembering what God had done? It sounds like
a victory song, and one that Paul was to repeat in a different way, as he wrote
to the Romans.
Romans
8:31-39
What
then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He
who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also
with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against
God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the
one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God,
who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of
Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or
nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written,
“For
your sake we are being killed all the day long;
we
are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”
No,
in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I
am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present
nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all
creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our
Lord.
David
writes: “Blessed be the LORD” and at the end: “Our help is in the name of the
LORD, who made heaven and earth”.
In Exodus
3:14, when Moses asked the Creator of
the universe what His name was, God said
to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel, ‘I
AM has sent me to you.’”
It was good
for the Israelites to rehearse these truths as they returned to Jerusalem.
Difficulty and enemies were all around them, but so was their God: I AM, the
One who had brought them out of Egypt and had walked with them and blessed them
and cared for them.
What does
our song sound like, as we go about our day? Is God walking with us? Are we
discouraged and defeated? Have we lost sight of the One who is in control? If
God did not spare His Son and gave us eternal life by grace, will He not take
care of our daily needs?
The reason
God inspired David to pen the words of this psalm was certainly because He
knows that human beings tend to forget what God has done, is doing, and has
promised to do.
Shall tribulation, or
distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?
Why do we
worry? Why do we get discouraged? Why do we ever feel alone? Why are we so
easily upset? I know why I am… because I lose sight of the presence of God, I
forget His promises, and I don’t have an eternal perspective.
Nothing can separate us from the love of
God. God has set His affection upon us from eternity past and will continue to
love us, because of His grace and His ongoing faithfulness.
The Creator
of the universe cares about me! He has chosen me! I don’t know why, but I know
it’s true because He has given me the gift of saving faith in His Son!
What will
your song look like today? What will people hear me sing today?
For I am sure that
neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to
come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will
be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
THIS IS A
SONG WORTH SINGING ALL DAY LONG!
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