124Psalm Steps> “Help is on the Way”, Psalm 124 Pastor Bob Leroe, Cliftondale Congregational Church, Saugus, Massachusetts
Each of these pilgrim Psalms of Ascent have themes. The theme of Psalm 124 is deliverance. As the people of Israel journeyed to Jerusalem, they sang of how God helped them in ages past. Sometimes we need to remind ourselves how God intervened in the past. What a mess we would be in, were it not for God’s involvement in our lives! We’re invited to think what might have happened, if God hadn’t stepped in. “There, but for the grace of God, go I.”
The psalm begins as a call-and-response, with David the singer inviting the congregation to join in. It’s like he’s asking, “Can I get a witness?” The consequences of what might have been are then detailed poetically in a series of word pictures.
We may not think much about deliverance when our lives are comfortable; it’s only when we’re thrust by events out of our comfort zone that we begin to see our need for divine help. C.S. Lewis aptly pointed out that God’s voice appears as a whisper when we’re at ease, but loud-and-clear when we’re enduring trials.
A Pastor went to give blood, and was asked several questions to determine his eligibility. The last item on the questionnaire was, “Do you engage in any hazardous work?” He smiled and answered “Yes.” He was wearing a clerical collar. The Red Cross worker looked up, marked NO on the sheet, then with a trace of a smile said, “I don’t mean that kind of hazardous.”
Life is hazardous. All followers of Christ are engaged in hazardous duty. Every day we put our faith on the line. We’ve never seen God, yet we trust Him. We don’t know a thing about the future, except that nothing can separate us from God’s love. We live on the edge, daring to trust God’s promises.
Life is hazardous, but the hazards of life are not the subject of Psalm 124. They provide the setting, but the theme is deliverance. God promises to help us. How He does this may not line up with how we might order things, yet God does what’s best for us. Our spiritual prosperity is more important than our health or bank account. For the early Puritans, material prosperity was not automatically seen as a sign of God’s blessing. The things our secular culture regard as signs of success aren’t necessarily what God’s deems as successful. We may need to redefine what the “good life” is.
The first impression from reading this psalm is that it appears like a gasp uttered by someone who’s just barely escaped from danger, is now in a safe place and is relieved to be alive: “If the Lord had not been on our side when men attacked us, when their anger flared against us, they would have swallowed us alive” (vss 2-3). Nations form alliances for protection. Whose side are we on?
Danger is described in three metaphors: a wild beast, flood waters, and a fowler’s net…
Other than when my cat tries to bite me, I can’t think of ever being attacked by a wild beast. In the Middle East wild animals were a common danger. In Babylon, King Darius figured that Daniel would be torn apart and devoured in the lions’ den, but God had other plans. Daniel could have responded to the king with the words of this psalm, “If the Lord had not been on my side, I would have been swallowed alive.” David may be referring here to enemy nations or even the devil, described in the New Testament as one who “prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour” (I Peter 5:8).
Flash floods are common in Israel. Rainstorms fill cracks and gullies which feed into one another. The waters can cause unexpected catastrophes. Travelers can be suddenly swept away. The Lord provides us with a solid foundation to keep us from being engulfed by troubles. We may at times be tossed about, but not submerged.
Birdcatchers set traps, hoping to snare wildfowl for dinner. The bird is trapped and there seems no way out…but the snare breaks and the bird escapes. This is not “good fortune”, it is divine intervention. Fowlers have many methods of trapping birds, and the devil has many methods of ensnaring souls. When we feel caged in, when it seems there’s no way to break out, we seek God’s deliverance. He will break every snare.
David declares that if it weren’t for the Lord’s involvement the Jewish nation would have been utterly destroyed. Israel was threatened in two ways—by annihilation and assimilation. Enemies sought to destroy Israel, and pagan cultures posed a threat to Israel’s distinctive monotheism, culture, traditions, values; their ethnic and spiritual heritage. Intermarriage with pagans posed as much of a threat to Israel’s sacred identity as was invading armies. The people we live with have an influence on us. David sings his thanksgiving to God for preserving the nation.
Note that David does not defend God; he doesn’t try to prove anything. He simply offers a testimony: “This is what God has done for me.” A testimony is simply telling about the mess we were in, and how God lifted us out of that mess. When we let it be known that we’re followers of Christ, we’re put on the defense. Eugene Peterson writes, “I am expected to explain God to His disappointed clients. I am thrust into the role of a clerk in the complaints department of humanity…If I accept this role I misunderstand my proper work, for God doesn’t need me to defend Him. He doesn’t need me for a press secretary.” We don’t have to defend God; we simply get out of His way. The Holy Spirit convinces, convicts, and calls people to the Cross.
The Washington Wizards won only 19 of 82 games last season. If you were playing basketball for the Wizards, how would you respond to the news that Michael Jordan is going to suit up and play with the team? Help is on the way! We should feel the same encouragement knowing that Jesus is the Captain of our team.
Before we can assume God is on our side, we need to ask ourselves whether we’re on His side. Are we depending on His help, asking Him to guide our steps? If we’ve moved away from God, He may still help us, if only to convince us to trust Him…or He may let us experience what it feels like to live apart from Him.
When we narrowly escape from a dicey situation how do we feel? Lucky, or blessed? David isn’t thanking his “lucky stars”; he’s giving credit where credit is due. The psalm begins, “If the Lord had not been on our side…we would have perished”, and concludes, “but the Lord has been on our side…therefore we will praise Him!”
I’ve been focusing on deliverance from physical danger, but that’s only part of the picture. God delivers us from sin; He saves us from that which seeks to destroy our souls. He did so by sending His only, unique Son to take our punishment. The Father put His Son in danger to deliver us from the penalty of sin. We’ve been hearing a lot about Islam in the news. Muslims teach that Jesus was a virgin-born messiah and prophet, but they do not believe His death on the Cross was a sacrifice for sin—and that is the crucial heart of the Gospel. Without atonement we can’t be forgiven. The blood of Christ is what secures our pardon. Muslims seek to find favor with God by submission, by total obedience to God’s Law…but because no one is perfect, we cannot hope to live sinless lives. The sacrifice of Christ, God-the-Son, is our only hope for forgiveness.
We obtain help by recognizing our helplessness and by admitting we need God’s help; only then we can experience what God can do in our lives. Isaiah urges, “Seek the Lord while He may be found; call on Him now while He is near” (55:6).
The song ends in affirmation: “Our help is in the Name of the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth” (vs 8). In the 18th Century, persecuted French Protestants used this verse to begin their worship services. What I find remarkable is that the God who formed the universe has time for us. He’s involved in our lives—in times of comfort and times of conflict. He does not abandon us to the forces of nature or to our foes. When we’re tempted to question God we need to remember that faith develops out of the most difficult aspects of life, not the easiest. David praises God in a world that is hellish, because it is the help he’s experienced, not the hazards he’s faced, that defines him.
We know this psalm best when we’ve tested it and used it. We find it to be credible because we’ve experienced the helping hand of God. In the living of this psalm we discover that God is with us and for us.
Prayer: Lord God, our help in ages past, our hope for days to come—we need reminders and reassurance that our deliverance comes not from within, but from Above. As we observe Communion, give us an appreciation for what it cost Jesus to secure our pardon. We confess our guilt, and claim the blood of Christ as our eternal remedy for sin. We approach Your table with awe, and with hope. Amen.
