“WHEN YOU FEEL IMPRISONED ON THE JOURNEY”
Psalm 124
June 22, 2008
SERIES: “SONGS FOR THE JOURNEY”
Church life can become so routine at times, we can miss the drama of calling out to God and seeing him actually open himself to his people and intervene. I’ve got some great news for you this morning from this Psalm of Ascent. We know that God is WITH us. That’s what Christmas is all about - Emmanuel, the Word became flesh, etc. But I was to be reminded that God is not only WITH us. He is FOR us. “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31, English Standard Version) This is another Psalm of David. Twice at the beginning of his reign, the Philistines attacked, and twice God delivered his people. You can read about it in 2 Samuel 5. This also can be seen as a sequel to Psalm 123. There the writer cried out to God for mercy. Now, praise is given for the mercy that has come. And it was probably meant to be read antiphonally. Note the words, “Let Israel say…” One more thing to note: We have been talking about how God is with us and can deliver us in difficult circumstances, yet each Psalm seems to address it in a slightly different way. This Psalm, I believe, speaks about our struggles against our true enemy, the Devil. But God can and will deliver. Knowing this, we have two basic responses when Satan attacks.
CRY OUT TO GOD FOR DELIVERANCE.
Cry out to God WHEN SATAN SEEKS TO DEVOUR. He will do this through people, using them to attack. Look at the verbs in verses 1-3: “attacked,” “swallowed,” “anger flared.” The word attacked, specifically, has the idea of an ambush, a sneak attack. The context of this Psalm was a literal attack by enemies of Israel. But our enemy attacks, too, through verbal assault and abuse, ridicule, persecution, slander, and more. He stalks us and waits until our guard is down, and then he pounces. The words, “torn by their teeth,” in verse 6 form a word picture of persecution against the people of God. But we know the good news, which John gives us in 1 John 4:4. You are from God, little children, and you have conquered them, because the One who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. (Holman Christian Standard Bible). If we will abide in Christ, we can and will win. So the New Testament reminds us:
Keep your mind clear and be alert. Your opponent the devil is prowling around like a roaring lion as he looks for someone to devour. Be firm in the faith and resist him. (1 Peter 5:8-9, God’s Word Translation)
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. (Ephesians 6:10-13, English Standard Version)
Resist the devil and he will flee from you. (James 4:7, New International Version) And I love how Peterson’s The Message says it: Yell a loud no to the devil and watch him scamper.
Stand firm, Resist him. Be alert. And add to that, much prayer. You can defeat the Devourer. But you also need to cry out WHEN SATAN SEEKS TO DISCOURAGE. He tries to devour through people. He tries to discourage through circumstances – sickness, financial hardship, disaster and loss. Sometimes it feels like life is drowning us, and we are sinking as the waters rush over our souls. See verses 4 and 5, which speak of the flood, the torrent, and the raging waters. David would have in mind here the rainy season when the rains, coupled with melting snows from the mountains could suddenly turn dry wadis into “raging torrents.” This is how life is sometimes. And we just feel like we can do nothing but stand helpless as the situation gets worse. But if we remember that God is not only WITH us, and as our last Scriptures said, IN us, but FOR us, the circumstances cannot drown us. God will use them to make us stronger, he will provide for us within the storms, and again we can win.
But when attack through people or through circumstances fails, Satan still has one more card up his sleeve. So we need to cry out to God for deliverance WHEN SATAN SEEKS TO DECEIVE. Now the image switches to that of a trap, and of a helpless bird that walks into it to eat. The devil tried direct persecution early on against the church in the book of Acts. But instead, God used the persecution to push the church out from Jerusalem so that she could continue her mission to Judea, to Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. So it wasn’t long after that false teachings began to filter in – Judaism and Gnosticism being the ones addressed most in the New Testament. In other cases, he will use sin to tempt us, appearing, as Paul says it, as “an angel of light.” And he has some fascinating bait. Now we can usually recognize people’s anger, and we can certainly feel it when circumstances overwhelm, but his traps can catch us if we’re not careful. And while Satan is evil, he is not stupid. He never tempts us with something g that is obviously harmful or vile. The Bible says that there is pleasure in sin – for a season. Sooner or later, it will come back to bite us, but it always appears pleasurable at first. We would not bite, if the fruit were obviously rotten. So we must know the Word of God and seek wisdom to be discerning, not only with sinful practices, but with truth and error. But again, because God is for us and gave us his word to train us in righteousness, we can overcome.
Knowing all this, then, when we trust the Lord and see him come to our aid, our response is obvious:
GIVE PRAISE TO GOD FOR DELIVERANCE.
Note verse 7. He doesn’t just free us. He breaks the snare. The devil need never trap us again – unless we let him. We can be free as a bird and use our wings of faith to live in the heavenlies. Praise God, we are not helpless. See how this Psalm is connected to Psalm 123, which we studied last week? Mercy has come. All has changed. We CAN turn to our Creator in our time of need. He is on our side. He will provide a way out. As the song says, “God will make a way when there seems to be no way.” There is no problem beyond his ability to solve. There are no circumstances too difficult for him. Therefore, we can declare, with David, “Our help is in the name of the Lord, the Make of Heaven and Earth.” This is the same title given to God in Psalm 121, and it reminds us that if he can oversee all of the universes, with all of their solar systems and galaxies, he can handle our problems – if we’ll just trust him - which leads us to several points of application.
First, TRUST GOD. It is no natural and so easy to fear that he won’t come through. But our security is found in his character. This is why it is so important to know God, to make it our aim to know him, as Paul did. We trust who we really know – our loved ones and dearest friends, as well as our doctor and our mechanic. The primary reason to study Scriptures is to know the character and attributes of God, so that our trust in him can grow. It is because of who he is that we can trust him in every situation. I often pray in difficult situations that God will bring his power, his wisdom, and his love to bear on that situation as only he perfectly can. For example, if it’s a sickness or an impending surgery, we need to know that God is capable of healing us and often does – but that he is also wise and may see a greater good in letting us suffer for a while. But whatever the case, he never stops loving us. He’s already proved that once and for all at Calvary. Therefore, we can trust him.
Second, DEPEND ON GOD. We so often smugly think that the church and the ministry depend on us. We may not even realize it, but we do. We appeal for funds or for workers by saying, “If you don’t give, if you don’t volunteer, this whole thing goes down the tubes.” Really? Now don’t get me wrong, we do have a duty to give and to serve the mission and cause of Christ. But brothers and sisters, God is not dependent us to accomplish his purposes. Remember Esther? She did not know if she could rise to the challenger given to her by Mordecai to go to the king and appeal to him on behalf of her people. Mordecai did not mince words. He said, in essence, “You are the loser if you do not choose to participate, not God. He’ll find relief for us somewhere else. He doesn’t need you. But maybe, just maybe, he raised you up to this position for such a time as this. And you become the winner, along with all of your people, if you respond. It’s your choice.” God is not up in heaven biting his nails or wiping sweat off his upper lip, waiting to see if you’ll answer his call. Jesus said that if we don’t praise him, the rocks will cry out. Never forget that the ministry is HIS. It is accomplished, not by us, but by divine effort and energy IN and THROUGH us. He never needs to depend on us. We always need to depend on him.
The good news is that Jesus has already defeated the devil at the cross where it counts the most – in regard to our eternal souls. Listen to the Word of God.
The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work. (1 John 3:8, New International Version)
He did this so that, by dying, he could destroy (literally “nullify, make void, remove the sting from”) the one who has the power of death – the devil – and free those who were like slaves all their lives because of their fear of death. (Hebrews 2:14-15, New Century Version)
Freed from the power of sin through his death; freed from the fear of death through his resurrection; freed from anxiety over the future through his ascension and reign and the promise of his soon return. How can we lose? God is WITH us in Christ. God is IN us through the Holy Spirit. God is FOR us. So who can be against us? Once more, I close with the words of Isaac Watts, who turned this Psalm into a hymn.
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 overwhelmed 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 saints with watchful eyes.
Let’s pray.