Seeking for the help of the Lord,
I direct your prayer for attention to Psalm 124. It's not usual
for me, but this evening I wish to take as my text the whole
psalm, from verse 1 right through to the end. Let us just read
it again. We read it before. Song of Degrees
of David. If it had not been the Lord who
was on our side, now may Israel say, If it had not been the Lord
who was on our side, when men rose up against us, then they
had swallowed us up quick, when their wrath was kindled against
us, then the waters had overwhelmed us, the stream had gone over
our souls, then the proud waters had gone over our soul. Blessed be the Lord who hath
not given us as a prey to their teeth. Our soul is escaped as
a bird out of the snare of the fowlers. The snare is broken
and we are escaped. Our help is in the name of the
Lord who made heaven and earth. Psalm 124. On this 80th anniversary of VE
Day victory in Europe, I do desire to bring this psalm before you
and the teaching in it. You would remember that David,
the Lord said, was a man of war. And therefore he was not to build
the temple, but Solomon, his son, which was to be a man of
peace. would build that temple. Really,
in the two kingdoms, David's kingdom of war, Solomon's of
peace, united is our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. He was the one that through his
own blood and through his single-handed dealing with the enemy, brought
about peace for his people. We would always remember that
where there is peace, and right through history, and through
the history of the children of Israel, there was also to be
war. Peace came at a cost, and many
are the wars that are related in the word of God, and how the
Lord fought for his people, how he answered prayer and appeared
for them. And this, as we've heard earlier,
surely was the case with us as a nation, the Lord raising up
a king at that time that gave the honour and glory to only
one God, the true and living almighty God, not to all faiths,
as sadly our present king does. But he called the nation together
to call upon thee, the true, the Lord God of heaven and of
earth. And we would remember that. We would remember the providence,
the provision, a man for that time. And how we do desire, may
our prayers be, that the Lord would raise up again men in parliament
and in the churches that are able to read the times and to
call upon the Lord on such a times as we are in. Right through the
history of the world, there's been different, different adversaries
coming from different ways. But the greatest adversary of
the church, Satan, his ways are movable and he has destroyed
many, many more by ease, by prosperity, by peace than he has in time
of persecution or time of war. And yet we would remember the
Lord's goodness that many of us have not known war in these
shores. We certainly feel for those in
other lands that even now are in conflict and war. But at this
anniversary time, we would certainly give thanks and remember what
the Word of God tells us of the Lord and of his dealings with
his people. So I want to divide this psalm
with the Lord's help into three sections. Firstly, the verses
one through to five. If it had not been the Lord who
was on our side. Those five verses deals with
that surmising with that scenario if it had not been the Lord who
was on our side. And then secondly, we have in
verse six and seven, a blessing. Blessed be the Lord. And then lastly, in verse eight,
a declaration, our help. is in the name of the Lord who
made heaven and earth. But first, there is a looking
back. If, if it had not been the Lord
who was on our side, there is a great danger whenever we are
threatened, whenever there is something that we are an extremity
over, we cry unto the Lord, we seek for Him, to send us help,
and when it comes, we forget. We think, well, it would have
happened anyway. Or the urgency of it is gone,
and Satan comes in and minimizes the blessings so that there is
not thanksgiving unto the Lord. And so it's very good for us
to have this inquiring and this thought of this psalm, to ask
how it could have been otherwise. If the Lord was not on our side,
what would have happened? What was the alternative to answers
to prayer for the Lord's appearing in this psalm? It's repeated,
verse two, if it had not been the Lord who was on our side
when men rose up against us. What would have happened? The
psalmist puts it down here. David, he says, then, now three
times here, three verses, then they would had swallowed us up
quick when their wrath was kindled against us. The waters had overwhelmed
us, the stream had gone over our soul. Then the proud waters
had gone over our soul. And they're able to think what
would have happened. The beginning of this service,
we went over the wonderful answer to prayer concerning Dunkirk. When our armies were hemmed in
with the Germans coming from the land and backed up, by the
sea, the channel on the other side. They'd been taken, our
armies had been taken by surprise when Hitler suddenly unleashed
his fury against France and Belgium. They were unprepared for it.
And his generals even gloating that they were going to completely
finish the army off. It looked very, very hopeless
case. Now you think what would have
happened If prayer hadn't been answered, those 338,000 servicemen,
most of them our own, but there were those that were rescued
that were of France, Belgium, Dutch, Polish as well. What if
they were all destroyed? What if we had lost a third of
a million of troops? What a difference that that would
have made. Four years later, they had to return to liberate
Europe. But without that army, what a
difference. We think of other times as well,
with the Battle of Britain, other times when it seemed that the
enemy would really invade these lands. But when the Lord appeared,
when the Lord caused the Hitler to halt his armies, infuriating
his generals, when it was the Lord brought cloud cover so they
couldn't take to the air to fight, that he then stilled the sea
so that it was like a millpond for the small boats, 800 of them,
to take our troops back home. What if those things had not
happened? What if the sea was rough? What
if the sky was clear and the enemy fighters could strafe,
could bomb all the vessels and all of those on the beaches?
What if Hitler had not halted his armies and they'd have kept
going and pushed them into the sea and destroyed them all? It's
when we think of this and how that our King called for prayer,
And as he did so, these things were done and put into place.
And as David says here, the Lord was on our side. But what if? What if he wasn't? What if prayer
was not answered? It's good for us to look back
and remember as David does here. And no doubt David could not
only just think of his own life, But to go back further, we have
it right through the Word of God. Remember Abraham, when Lot
was taken in Sodom and Gomorrah, and he armed his 300 trained
servants, and he went after them, after five kings, and he destroyed
them. He rescued all, rescued Lot,
brought back great spoil. The Lord was with him, and the
Lord gave him that victory. You think then of the children
of Israel in Egypt. The Lord was on their side. Pharaoh,
who is the Lord? He defied him, resolved to keep
his people in bondage and in Egypt. But the Lord fought for
Israel and brought them out with a great deliverance, the Passover. the shedding of blood, the slaying
of the firstborn that were not sheltering beneath the blood,
and a bringing out of Israel. And then we see what happened
at the Red Sea. At first, a very similar occurrence
to what happened in the war. Not the English Channel, but
the Red Sea was in front of Israel, and behind them, not the Germans,
but the Egyptians. hemmed in, mountains either side. They thought for sure that they
would be destroyed. But the Lord put his pillar of
fire and cloud behind them, separated all nine between the Egyptians
and the children of Israel. And then he caused the Red Sea
to be divided, to make a dry way right through the Red Sea.
And that same opening He brought the children of Israel safely
through on dry land. But then when the Egyptians tried
to do it, and they got into the sea, the Lord started to take
off the chariot wheels. And the Egyptians said, the Lord
fighteth for Israel. Even the enemy could see what
the Lord was doing for Israel. And so they were all broken in
the sea, and then God brought the sea over them. and destroyed
them. And after that deliverance, they
sung the song of Moses, that song of deliverance that has
an echo right in heaven itself as a song of deliverance for
the people of God. David would have well remembered
the account of that deliverance. He would have remembered How
the Lord fought when they came into Canaan, right at the very
start. How it was that the walls of
Jericho fell down flat, another miracle. How it was that as they
went through Canaan, the Lord cast down before Joshua great
stones, and there were more died of the Canaanites by the stones
than by the army. Now that when Joshua prayed that
the sun might stand still, it did, and they lengthened out
a whole day so that they might finish their enemies. The Lord
then sent hornets before them, and they went before to chase
the enemy. He used insects. He used great
stones, hail stones from heaven. He used all sorts of things.
He used his water to fight for his people. Later on in the Judges,
we have Gideon when the Midianites came and they filled the earth
and they ate up all of the increase of the land. Now grasshoppers
upon the ground. And the Lord appeared to Gideon,
our man of valor, and he brought him to have his army reduced
down to 300 men. Why? so that they did not say
it was their own arm that got them the victory. So they gave
the honour and glory to God and not take it to themselves. Know
that we can really remember that on this anniversary day. The Gideon even did not find
the conventional weapons. They were given pictures. They
were given lamps in those pictures. They were given trumpets. They
were divided a hundred in each company, and then they cried,
the sword of the Lord and of Gideon. The Lord caused that
the Midianites, they heard this as if it were a great company
coming against them, and they turned every man his sword against
each other, and a great victory was wrought that day. These are things that David would
remember, and he would remember those things in his own lifetime,
when the Lord appeared for him, time and again delivering him
out of Saul's hand, the time when he was delivered out of
the Philistine's hand, when the Lord delivered him out of Goliath's
hand. I come to thee, he said, in the
name of the God whom thou hast defied. When there is a review of what
the Lord has done, there's also a remembering what if he hadn't,
if he hadn't fought. You know, there were times with
the children of Israel when they had sinned against the Lord that
he turned to fight against them. With Asa, he had a million Ethiopians
coming against him and he cried unto the Lord and the Lord delivered
that army into his hand. But then another company came
against him and he hired, hired another nation to come and help
him. Didn't call and didn't rely on the Lord. And the prophets
told him that because he didn't rely upon the Lord, then he would
not prosper. And so he didn't. How vital it
is that we have the Lord on our side. What a statement this is. if it had not been the Lord who
was on our side. You think of this personally
as well. In our lives, the things that
concern us, the adversaries that come against us, the trials,
the cause that is too hard for us that we bring to the Lord.
And to be able to discern that the Lord was on our side, the
Lord helped us, and to think at the same time, if it had not
been so, what would have happened? And that will heighten our thanksgiving,
our praise. It will also give us a real encouragement
that the Lord is our God. May we not go through this world
and not take stock afterwards. The Lord leave us not to just
go through and not mark his deliverances, or not ascribe the glory to him. How vital it is that we don't
say it was just chance, or we don't say it was our own efforts,
our own sword, our own ability, but be able to clearly say, this
is the Lord's doing, it is marvellous in our eyes, the Lord was on
our side, this would have happened if he wasn't, But now we have
this deliverance and this blessing that he has given us. It's one
of the greatest things for the people of God to discern that
the Lord is for us, that he is on our side, that he fights for
us, that he is our God, he is our refuge, he is our help. And it is at these times when
we are threatened. May we always remember that,
coming into fresh trials, fresh difficulties and troubles, it's
at those times that is realised mostly that the Lord is with
his people. It was so in the war years and
may it be so in our lives and in the churches as well. that
when we have those tribulations and trials coming, we may think
of this, let us pray, let us come before the Lord, let us
cry unto Him in our need. This may be that very time that
we get a very clear token that the Lord is on our side. We read together the account
of Amalang, When the children of Israel came out of Egypt,
then came Amalek. And it's very interesting to
note how the war was arranged. It wasn't all done by the sword. It wasn't all done by Moses'
rod, or we might say by prayer. But it was done by them both
together. Prayer was vital. We often speak
of holding each other's arms up in prayer, praying for one
another, encouraging one another in prayer. That is what Aaron
and Hur did with Moses holding up his arms. When his rod was
held up, then Israel prevailed. When he let his arm down, then
Amalek prevailed. There's a direct link between
the enemy prevailing and between Moses' rod being lifted up. May we notice a direct link between
our prayers and answers and deliverances. May we also notice the use of
means. It's not just prayer. It's not
just the means. It is the two working together. Perhaps in a different illustration,
one of Mr. Ransbottom's books, he speaks
of two girls that were running to catch a train. They were late. And one of them said, let us
stop here and let us pray that we might get the train. The other
one said, no, let us keep running fast and pray as we run. And so it is. It's using the
means is not just praying, but it's not just using the means
either. And Israel had to learn that
right at the start, and the Lord replicated it again and again. They took up their sword, but
they didn't rely upon their sword. We had that in Psalm 20. at the end of that psalm that
we read, and some trust in chariots, verse 7, and some in horses,
but we will remember the name of the Lord our God. We use the
means, but our trust is in the name of the Lord our God, Jehovah,
the eternal God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And so there
is the review that David here reviews and thinks what would
have been the case if the Lord was not on our side. Then in
verse six and seven, he blesses the Lord. Blessed be the Lord
who hath not given us as a prey to their teeth. Our soul is escaped
as a bird out of the snare of the fowlers. The snare is broken
and we are escaped. Blessing the Lord. Blessing the
Lord for deliverance, for escaping that certain death. We cannot help going from the
wars that David had, and going to that which the Lord accomplished
at Calvary. Our Lord Jesus Christ was promised
right at the start to bruise the serpent's head, to save a
people that were already under the sentence of death. In the
day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die, to deliver
out from that condemnation. Now a beautiful word in the beginning
of Romans 8. There is therefore now no condemnation
to them that are in Christ Jesus, to them that walk not after the
flesh but after the spirit. The Lord Jesus Christ himself
bore the wrath of God. He endured the curse. Cursed
is everyone that hangeth upon a tree. He fought on his own. You know, David going up against
Goliath. It's a beautiful time of our
Lord Jesus Christ. There was all Israel. They had
proved for 40 days there was none that would fight Goliath.
There was all of the Philistines and they could see that Israel
had no deliverer forthcoming. And then the Lord sends them
David. And what a spectacle. just Goliath and his armor bearer
and David in the valley with the two armies looking upon them. Our Lord Jesus Christ, they all
forsook him and fled. He was alone. He fought the battle
alone, that which he accomplished at Calvary. I, if I be lifted
up above the earth will draw all men unto me. David, previous
to this, had been anointed by Samuel to be the next king over
Israel. And the next thing that the Lord
did in his providence was to put David in front of Israel
and the enemy and to lift him up in providence, so that even
the women said that Saul hath slain his thousands and David
his ten thousands. It was also an occasion when
it stirred up Saul's hatred against David. But David was thrust into
the limelight of that time. And even before that, the Lord
made that when an evil spirit was with Saul, that there were
those that knew David. There's a beautiful verse where
it tells how they observed that he could play well. He was a
godly man. He had wisdom and the things
that were observed of David and he was brought then to play before
Saul. Brought like Moses was into the
king's palace to prepare him for the work that he had to do
as king of Israel. Brought from following these
sheep and brought to be in the king's palace. The Lord knows
how to prepare a people And the Lord Jesus Christ was prepared
of old as a lamb slain from the foundation of the world. And
he comes forth in the fullness of time. And throughout his life,
he works a perfect righteousness for his people. And then he comes
as a lamb to the slaughter, spotless, having fought with Satan, endured
his temptations, endured the contradiction of sinners against
himself. And then he goes to Calvary,
having had the sins of all his people laid upon him in the garden
of Gethsemane, and he bears them away, endures the wrath of God,
the sentence against himself. This is the work that we are
to bless the Lord for in the churches and to not forget what
he has done in delivering us, greater deliverance, than any
deliverance from nations, from enemies, here below. That last
enemy, it is said, is death. And the Lord Jesus Christ has
abolished death for his people. He's gone through death. He's
an empty tomb, a risen saviour. David here uses the language,
our soul. Our soul is escaped as a bird
out of the snare of the fowlers. They're already in the snare,
but the snare is broken and we are escaped. May we never give
up, never despond, dear friends. We might think that we are ensnared
by some habit, ensnared by perhaps the words of our own mouth. It
is already too late, that there is no hope. That is what Satan
will say, there is no hope. But there is hope in the Lord.
You read in Psalm 43, 42, Why art thou cast down, O my soul? Why art thou disquieted within
me? Hope thou in God, for I shall
yet praise him. Our nation, in those years of
war, it seemed hopeless. But they did go to prayer, the
Lord answered. May we remember our own case
and our own need in these things. and not say there is no hope.
You know, Israel, when they had sinned and they were walking
in ways of idolatry and evil, the prophets came with this message
to repent, to turn unto God, to stop these evil practices
and return to the God of their fathers. But their answer was
there is no hope. We will go on everyone in our
own way. Because they discerned there
was no hope, they continued on in sin, in wickedness, until
the Lord did bring them into captivity and destroyed the temple. May we never go down that track
to say there is no hope. Our hope, our help, is in the
name of the Lord. And that is what our last point
is. But may we always stop, as David
did here, to bless the Lord and to praise the Lord. So our last
point in verse 8. The testimony of David. Our help
is in the name of the Lord who made heaven and earth. He doesn't
say our help was, that would be true, it was. He's just rehearsed
that, how it was so. But this is present. Our help
is. And may we echo that in whatever
our trial, our difficulty is, whether it is an operation before
us, whether it is an illness or a medical condition, or whether
it is weakness, whether we're being brought down to the grave,
whether we've got an adversary, whether we've got our own evil
heart rising up and the corruption rising within. May there still
echo in our souls, our help is in the name of the Lord. We have
got a God to go to. We have got a source of help. We have got one whom we have
proved before and who in the pages of sacred scripture is
recorded what he has done for his people in the past. Jesus
Christ, the same yesterday, and today, and forever. Now notice, it is in the name
of the Lord, that is Jehovah, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. How many times the Lord delivered
his sinful, rebellious people, and he says that he does it not
for your sakes, but for my name's sake. His honour, says the hymn
writer, and his glory's at stake. to save me from the burning lake. The Lord always keeps his promises. And when he says that he'd bring
the children of Israel out of Egypt and into Canaan, he did
that. And when he said that he'd destroy
them, he brought Moses to plead that promise. Then will the enemy
say he was not able to bring them in, therefore he destroyed
them in the wilderness. And he pleaded for the Lord namesake. And the Lord then turned and
showed mercy, chastened them, He corrected them, but He didn't
cast them away. So may we remember this, when
we look at ourselves and we say there's nothing in us, why the
Lord should help us, why the Lord should appear for us. But
has the Lord begun with us? Has He given us tokens of being
His people? Have we those promises from the
Lord? May we plead for his namesake,
for his honour and glory saying. The second thing that is in here
is the Lord is described as who made heaven and earth. Again,
one of our hymns says, with heaven and earth at his command, he
waits to answer prayer. And we've already mentioned how
the Lord used the stones and used the hornets and used his
water, used his creation to fight for his people. What a solemn
thing that one of the great sins of this land is to have in our
schools that we cannot teach creation as a fact. That men,
women, children are indoctrinated so that when they look at creation,
they do not see it. They do not see the miracle.
They do not see the God who made it. And yet it runs right through
the Word of God. Jeremiah says, the gods that
did not make the heavens and the earth, let them perish from
under the heavens and the earth. Wherever the Word of God is sent
forth, it's always that the maker of heaven and earth is set forth
before us as the true and living God. There is only one God. And He is a God that made and
sustains the creation. It was made for Him, and it is
His work to maintain it and to do with it what He will. And
in Providence, He is doing that. Nations are rising. Nations are
being brought down. We may fear at this time the
many changes in many nations that are happening in what is
happening in our own land. the incursion in many Western
countries of the Muslims and of the Muslim faith. Yet the Lord knows these things.
We are to pray to him concerning it. We are to seek that we might
in our own generation warn concerning it. But in the end, the Lord's
will will be done. And truly as a nation, we really
deserve all that comes against us. We have not been thankful. We've not been mindful of the
Lord's goodness. His helps we have trodden underfoot. And we fear very much that many
of the services, even at this time, that they are not giving
that sole honour and glory to the God who made heaven and earth. May we be comforted and know
this, that God is in control. He is Lord of heaven and earth,
and His will is being carried out. And may this word be our
refuge and our help. Our God, our help is in the name
of the Lord, who made heaven and earth. And as we began our
worship here this evening, and we read those few verses from
Psalm 46, The psalm has helped so many of the people of God.
God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore will not we fear, though
the earth be removed and though the mountains be carried into
the midst of the sea, though the waters thereof roar and be
troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof. There is a river, the streams
were off, shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of
the tabernacles of the Most High. God is in the midst of her. She
shall not be moved. God shall help her and that right
early. May we know this psalm as a precious
psalm to us and echo these last verses well. The Lord of hosts
is with us. The God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah. May the Lord at his blessing. Amen.