I've entitled this message, A
Consideration of God's Favor and Preservation. A Consideration of God's Favor
and Preservation. Let's read this short psalm. It's a psalm of eight verses.
Let's read this together. The psalm begins with the title,
A 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 is 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
soul. Then the proud waves 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. Now here we have another one
of these songs of degrees. As the children of God marched
to Zion to worship God, Remember, they would sing these songs as
they went up by steps, as they went up by degrees. They would
sing these songs in order to encourage themselves. They would
sing these songs to find comfort, to find joy, to find strength,
so as to finish their journey to Jerusalem. They were surrounded
by enemies. They were in danger all the way. They were in constant need of
God's strength, His help, and His protection. They needed God's
preservation. They needed God to keep them
in the way. And even so, these songs are
not only intended for the nation of Israel as they went to worship
God at physical Zion, but this is intended for every child of
God who is marching to spiritual Zion, to us who believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ. If you believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ, these songs are for you. These songs are our songs as
we go up to Jerusalem, as we go up to worship God. These are
meant for our comfort. They're meant to strengthen and
encourage us as we worship God along the way. And all along
our journeys, we are often crying to God for deliverance. We are
often looking to Jesus Christ, who was crucified for our sins,
raised again for our justification, constantly, perpetually looking
to Him. And I tell you, the more we look
to Him, the more encouraged we might be, the more strengthened
we might be, the more we look by faith to Him. He who loved
us and gave Himself for us is now risen and ascended on high,
seated on the throne of God. Your brother, your friend, your
near kinsman Redeemer is seated on the throne of heaven and all
power is given unto Him in heaven and earth so that He might save
you, deliver you, and keep you. But even when we do these things,
how often are we still confronted with troubles and sorrows and
difficulties? I tell you, believing on Christ
does not eliminate trouble, does it? It does not give us an exemption
for sorrow. You may have the strongest of
faith, but that does not exempt us from any difficulty, any trial,
or trouble. And how often are these troubles,
when they seem to contradict God's promises, are we not cast
out? How much does it take for you
and I to become discouraged? You remember Peter on the water,
It only took a little wind and a little wave for Him to fail. Even so it is with us. Even so
it is with us. Our God has promised us good,
hasn't He? He's promised us good. He said,
all things work together for good to them that love God, to
them who are the called according to His purpose. God said, I know
my thoughts towards you. What are His thoughts towards
you? Thoughts of peace and not of evil. Yet how often are we
void of peace? How often are we cast down because
our souls of some grievous providence? God's people are poor and afflicted
both in body and spirit. It's then in these times of pain
and sorrow and trouble Our faith is tried, isn't it? Peter tells
us of this, that your faith needs to be tried. And the trying of
your faith is much more precious than gold that perisheth, though
it be tried with fire. We often are found in great despair. Our sin is so great and our faith
is so low that we begin to even doubt our salvation. Tis a point I long to know. Oft
it causes anxious thoughts. Do I love the Lord or no? Am
I His or am I not? If I am, why am I thus? Why this
dull and lifeless frame? Could hardly they be worse who
never knew the Savior's name? Even so, those that are of the
strongest of faith are often brought to the depths of doubt
and unbelief. So then, for such doubting souls. For such doubting souls, this
psalm was written. It was for those who were faint,
for those who were weary and well-doing. It is surely for
those who doubt of God's care and love for our souls when in
the teeth of our enemies." Now, the psalmist here begins very
abruptly. Now, if you read this, the sentence
structure doesn't quite sound right. No matter what you do
with this, it's a fragment. These words, it says this. Read
the first verse with me. 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." Now, our
translators did the best they could to patch that up. You see
those words in italics is not there. The words, it had been, are not in the translation. And I think it best if we read
it without this, Read it without those words, "'If not the Lord
who was on our side.' Now may Israel say, "'If not
the Lord who was on our side.'" You see, it's a fragment. It's
an abrupt statement. It is something as though he
were making an outburst. It was something that come up
abruptly. The psalmist gives us no introduction,
but rather an abrupt outburst in order for this, to stir up
the weary travelers, to stir up those who are weary in the
journey. He breaks up the weariness by
this fragment, this fragment of ascendance. Though they prayed, though they
looked to the hills for help, though they looked to God, yet
they still became weary. They had sought for power, but
now their faith and strength were at their lowest, and so
the psalmist breaks the silence. He breaks the silence and shouts,
if not the Lord had been on our side. Let Israel say if the Lord had
not been on our side. And so this abrupt question here
is to make those who heard start to consider and think on the
past care, the past care of God, so that to give them hope of
present care and future preservation. If Jehovah if not the Lord, if not Jehovah
who was on our side. Let us now say if Jehovah had
not been on our side, when our foes had assaulted us, now listen,
this is a consideration, what would have happened to us? That's
a thoughtful question, isn't it? Had Jehovah before this,
not been on our side, if He had not been with us, if He had not
favored us, if He had not chosen us, if He had not delivered us,
then consider this. What would have happened to us?
What would have happened to us? What would be our condition?
What would be our standing if Jehovah had not been on our side?
What do you suppose would have happened to that small little
nation had Jehovah not been on their side? Do you suppose that they ever
would have freed themselves from Egypt? Do you suppose they ever
would have survived the wilderness journey had God not provided
their food and their water and every provision? Do you suppose
that they would have ever conquered Jericho, much less the whole
nation of Canaan, had God not been on their side? No. That nation surely would have
never left Egypt. They would have surely died in
the wilderness. They surely would have been conquered
by every tribe in the world. They were the smallest, most
insignificant people on the face of God's earth. They were the
weakest people. They were the most stiff-necked
people. They were the most rebellious
people on the face of the earth. Had God not made a covenant with
their father Abraham, they surely would have been destroyed. They
surely would have been destroyed. Had Jehovah not promised to bless
them and keep them and preserve them, they most surely would
have not been able to live. That nation would have ceased
to exist long ago. But now then, if this is true
concerning national Israel, consider this. How much more true is it
concerning you, who are spiritual Israel? Can you not truly apply
this question to yourself? Had Jehovah not been on my side,
where, where would I be? Where would I have gone? surely
could I have survived had Jehovah not been on my side the answer
is still the same no you and I could not have lived we could
not have believed we could not have trusted Christ had Jehovah
not been on our side are you weary I just know this, no matter how
much strong your faith is, if God doesn't keep us, our faith
would cease to exist. If God is not on our side, our
faith is vain, our religion is vain, and we are dead in our
sins. But you pilgrims, you weary pilgrims
of Israel, you living children of God, you who do believe on
the Lord Jesus Christ, let us then consider the care and provision
of our God. We should take time to search
these things out, to look into these things so as to remember
what great things God hath done for us. What great things God
has done for us. Where would we be had God not
been on our side? What a question. What a question. If God not made a covenant with
us, where would we be right now? We would have been swallowed
up by our enemies. That's what the psalmist says, isn't it?
That's his answer. Look at his answer. He said,
when the men rose up against us, they would have swallowed
us up quick. Their wrath was kindled against
us. Then the waters had overwhelmed us, and the stream had gone over
our soul, and the proud waters had gone over our soul. They would have swept through
us like a flood. I remember watching a video of
that tsunami many years ago over there. I believe it was Taiwan
can't remember exactly which one it was but I remember seeing
that that video of that that wave just Looking this man looking
At this wave it was just coming. There was no way to stop it If
God had not been for us surely our sins our enemies everything
the wrath of God surely would have overcome us and If Jesus Christ had not undertaken,
had not taken you to be His own and died in your stead, would
you have anything to offer God? Would you have anything to please
or satisfy the justice of God for your sins? No. We would have
nothing to offer if God had not been on our side, if Christ had
not died for our sins. We would have nothing. Nothing. If the Holy Spirit had not quickened
us, and given us faith in Christ, where would we be? We would be
without faith. We would be without life. We could have never come to Christ.
We were dead in our sins. We would have continued to trust
in our works and our free will and our religion, trying to please
God, but to no avail. Yet consider now the goodness
of God. Consider the grace of God. I
tell you this, we are prone to murmur, aren't we? Especially
when we're weary. Especially when we're... When
we're weary, we should be the most prayerful, but I tell you,
it seems the opposite. We are the most murmuring people
when we are weary. We murmur and complain of our
lot. We're so inclined to complain
against God and doubt His love, doubt His care for us because
of some present momentary circumstance. Isn't all your circumstances
just momentary? Isn't that right? They're just
a moment. They don't last long. They're momentary circumstances.
But consider. I want you to see this. These
two ifs in this passage are no ifs at all. They're more rhetorical
in their nature. He's meaning to stir you up as
to remembrance of this. God is on your side. Now, if God had not been on your
side, surely you would have been destroyed. But look, here we
are. Here we are. Surely God must have been on
our side. Otherwise, we would have already
been carried away. These ifs are no ifs at all. They are intended not to cast
doubt on God's preservation and His goodness, but rather to enforce
it by way of remembrance. These two ifs are rhetorical
questions for this very simple reason. God has always been on the side
of Israel. Now, if you don't get anything
else, please get that. You who are believers in Christ, I want
you to know this. God is completely on your side. He is completely, all in, on
your side. He has always been on the side
of Israel. Believer, tonight I want us to
consider the favor and preservation of all the saints, all of us
who believe on Christ, that Jehovah is for us and continually with
us. Now, how do we know this? First
of all, God is with us because He chose us. Isn't that why He
was with Israel? He was with Israel because He
had chosen Israel. Behold how the sovereign God
chose Abram out of Ur of the Chaldees. There it was, everything
had gone just like it had centuries before. And all of a sudden,
God breaks the silence, calls out this man of ambiguity, obscurity,
calls him out by name, and makes a covenant with this man, Abram. And in a promise, he said to
Abraham, I am thy shield and thy exceeding great reward. And
God swore to Abraham, remember that promise, he swore to him,
in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed. in thy seed." Now that was speaking
of Christ, wasn't it? We know that, speaking of the
Lord Jesus Christ, that He should come from the seed of Abraham,
the seed of Isaac, the seed of Jacob, and the seed of David. We know that's true. Now let
me ask you this. Was it ever possible that Israel
should be removed until Christ comes? Could it be possible? that any way they'd be destroyed.
No. Why? Because God chose them so
as Christ should come from that lineage. There was no possibility
that that would be ruined. God was for them all the way. Because he chose them, he manifested
his presence in them. He went with them wherever they
went. He led them wherever they went. God set up his gospel as of how
men are to be justified and redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. So
then it was not possible for Israel to be destroyed because
it was not possible for them to be overcome or be destroyed
because Christ should come from them. Therefore, in all your
troubles, you believers in Christ, in all your troubles, in all
your sorrows, let this question ring in your ears and may it
stir your heart to remembrance. You who are the elect of the
Father, by the great power of Jesus Christ been redeemed, had
God not been for you, What would have happened when your foes
rose up against you? You would have been destroyed.
Every believer in Jesus Christ must confess if left to ourselves
for one moment, one second, we would surely fail of all faith
and love. We would not be able to sustain
our life anymore if left to ourselves for one moment. We have no strength,
we have no power to keep our faith. Our own wisdom is that
wisdom that only comes from God. I could not understand this book
and neither could you had God not revealed it to us. And surely if God doesn't keep
us, we would be lost forever. But here is your joy and peace.
God is for you because God hath chosen you. This is evidence
that God is for you. Because God hath from the beginning
chosen you to salvation. Notice that the psalmist says,
let Israel say. He said, if it had not been the
Lord who is on our side, now may Israel say. He doesn't say
let everyone say, just Israel. The only one who can say that
God is on their side is Israel. And Israel, listen to what God
says about Israel. He said, for thou art a holy
people unto the Lord thy God. The Lord thy God hath chosen
thee to be a special people unto himself. above all the people
that are upon the face of the earth. The Lord did not set His
love on you, nor choose you because you were more in number than
any people, for you were fewest of all people, but because the
Lord loved you, and because He would keep His oath which He
swore to your fathers, hath the Lord brought you out with a mighty
hand, and redeemed you out of the house of the bondman from
the hand of Pharaoh, king of Egypt." Now look, if the Lord was so
loved and so was with that nation of Israel, how much more spiritual
Israel you who are believers. It was God that chose you to
be a holy people. It was God that chose you to
be a special people above all other people. God set His love
upon you. He chose you, not because of
anything in you. You were not mighty. You were
not noble. You were unable and incapable
of ever saving yourself or pleasing God in any fashion. And yet God
chose you. Look at this in Ephesians, and
we'll run through this in Ephesians, but you can see this plainly
and clearly. Ephesians 1. What a blessed passage of Scripture
this is. Ephesians 1, verse 3. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all spiritual
blessings. You get that? He has blessed
you with all spiritual blessings. You, believer, you have all spiritual
blessings. Every one of them, you're not
missing one spiritual blessing. All spiritual blessings. And
where are your spiritual blessings found? They are found in Christ
Jesus, according as He had... I'm sorry, with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places in Christ. Now why should you
receive all spiritual blessings according as He had chosen us
in Christ before the foundation of the world? Here's His purpose
for you, that you should be holy. that you should be without sin,
that you should be blameless before Him. This is His motivation
in love, having predestinated us under the adoption of children.
This is how, by Jesus Christ, God purposed to make us holy
children. And this is the reason, according
to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of
His grace, wherein He hath made us accepted in the Beloved. Behold the glory of God's sovereign
election towards us that He purposed, purposed to save us. He purposed to save us and give
us all blessing. And this is the glory of it,
that He purposed all of these blessings to be stored up in
His Son. The most beloved thing to the
Father was the Son, and everything about the Son was acceptable. Everything about the Son was
glorious. And God says, I'm putting all
your blessings in Him, and that I purpose that all those blessings
should flow from Him to you. Jesus said, I am the vine and
you are the branches. Isn't this how the blessings
flow? It flows to us from the Son of God, from our union with
Him. God puts you in Christ. He purposed
that you should have these blessings. Therefore, the Father purposed
that the elect should be made holy and without blame, and that
this should be accomplished not by them, but by Christ alone.
Therefore, in verse 7, Paul says this, "...in whom?" In Christ,
the Beloved. We have redemption through His
blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of His
glory. Behold how greatly God is with
His people. God the Father is so with His
people that He put them in union with Christ, His Son. He is so
for you that He gave you all spiritual blessings, not based
on any merit of your own. And then He sent His Son Do you need evidence that God
is with you? Do you need proof that God is with you? John said this, "...in this was
manifest the love of God toward us, because that God sent His
only begotten Son into the world that we might live through Him."
Herein is love. Not that we love God. Don't look to your love as proof
God is with you. That God is for you. Don't look
to your faith as proof that God is with you or God is for you. Here it is, that God sent His
only Son here in His love, not that we love God, but that He
loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. God was so for His people that
He sent His Son in a covenant of love and grace and purpose
that the Son should die for His people. Listen, if God had not chosen
us, where would we be? What did Paul say about relection? He said, if God had not set aside
a remnant, we would have all been as Sodom and like unto Gomorrah. Now, the second reason you can
know God is with you is because of the work of Christ. God is with you because of the
success of the work of Christ. The eternal Son of God was made
flesh. He was sent of the Father in
love for one purpose, to do one work, and that is to obtain righteousness
by His obedience, and obtain redemption by His
spotless, sinless offering of Himself. In Matthew's Gospel, you know
the Scripture very well. Thou shalt call His name Jesus,
for He shall save His people from their sins. And so then, when Christ had
obtained our righteousness by His own obedience, it's then
that He was lifted up. He was lifted up on the cross. That righteous, sinless, spotless
Son of God That holy, harmless, undefiled
man was lifted up and crucified and it was there that God made
him to be sin for us who knew no sin. That we might be made the righteousness
of God in him. How can we ever ask if God is
for us, seeing what God did for us at Calvary? How can we ever
doubt God's care and love for us, seeing what great sacrifice
it was to Him? He offered His Son. Christ died
in our stead. It was there God imputed our
sins to Him. It was there that they were made
to be His so much that the prophecy in Isaiah 69, you remember the
prophecy, saved me, for the waters have come into my soul. I restored
that which I took not away. Christ didn't sin. Sin removed
us from God, and Christ said, I didn't do that. Yet I restored
that which I took not away. And how should He do that? In
Psalm 69, verse 5, O God, thou knowest my foolishness, and my
sin is not hid from thee." See the love of Christ for Israel,
that He took our sins in His own body on the tree and suffered. Now listen, you pay attention,
we have never suffered like this man. No man has ever suffered
like this man. He bore the wrath of God in full
measure, nakedly open wrath, without mercy. And what was the result of this?
What was the finished product of what Christ's work was for
Israel? What was the result of His righteousness
and death? Paul says, in whom? We have redemption. You got that? We have redemption.
He's saying you're not getting redemption. He's not in whom
you shall receive redemption. No, it's in whom you have already
redemption. You have it. It's yours. It's
already yours. If God is not on your side, I'll
tell you this, you've not been redeemed. But you who believe,
I'm telling you, God is on your side because you are redeemed.
Christ had put away your sin. What then would keep God from
caring for you and loving you, seeing you have no more sin? He put it away. He atoned for
our sins through His own blood. And what do we have? The forgiveness
of sin. All right, you weary travelers, who
needs forgiveness of sin? if god not been on your side
you wouldn't have forgiveness but now you know god is on your
side what do you have if we confess our city he is faithful and just
to forgive us what all cleanse us from all our unrighteousness
all the time you have forgiveness all the time i don't need to
go to a priest at forgiveness do i I go to my high priest,
which is Christ, my high priest. And there's forgiveness always.
Perpetual, constant forgiveness and pardon for sin. Why? Because
it's paid for. It's already paid for. In Hebrews chapter 10, Paul says,
every priest stand a daily ministering offering, the same sacrifice
that could never take away sin, but this man. This man who's
for us. This representative man who was
for us. This man, after he had offered
one sacrifice for sins, forever sat down at the right hand of
God, expecting to his enemies be made his footstool. Therefore,
for by his one offering he hath perfected forever them that are
sanctified." I'll tell you the truth. Listen. God is for Israel. He chose them. He redeemed them. And I'll tell you this, He is
for them. And Jesus tells us plainly, all
that the Father giveth me, I should lose nothing. Not one of them. Not one of them. Jesus Christ
agreed to be the surety of the elect and made an high priest,
offered the gift of righteousness to cover our nakedness and the
blood of His cross to redeem us and reconcile us to God. Who
then can ever dispute the favor of God toward Israel? Who? Who
will ever be able to do that? Now listen, tonight you may be
asking this question, Preacher, I know this, God is good to Israel.
God, I understand that God is good to all of His elect. God is good to everyone that
Christ redeemed. But what about me? Is God for
me? How can you know? How can you know? Friends, there is only one evidence
of the favor of God. It's very simple, very plain.
Faith in Jesus Christ alone. A lot of people have so-called
faith in Jesus. But I tell you this, they don't
have faith in Christ alone. This is a work of God the Holy
Spirit. Everyone the Father redeemed.
Everyone that the Father chose. Everyone the Son redeemed. You
mark this down. God has sworn that He will call
every one of them to faith in His Son. This is the work of
God the Holy Spirit. To produce this evidence called
faith. It is something that God must
do. All of the elect by nature are no different than anyone
else. We're dead and trespassing, incapable of ever pleasing God,
unwilling and unable to come to Jesus Christ. Except what? Except God come to us. Except
God is for us and He comes to us and gives us life. Look what
Paul says in this Ephesians. We're still there in Ephesians
1 and verse 8. Look at this. He said, wherein
He hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence, here's
the evidence, having made known unto us the mystery of His will. According to the good pleasure
which he had purposed in himself. That's the same thing Paul is
going to say in the second chapter of this book. He's going to say,
and you hath he quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins. By nature we were blind to this
gospel until God revealed it. And what happened when God revealed
this gospel to He revealed your need. He exposed our sin. And He sent someone to preach
the gospel to us. How many times did you hear this
gospel before the light shined in your hearts? How many times
has it been spoken? And yet, we were oblivious to
it until the day God spoke to our hearts and we began to feel
our guilt and know our need of Him. And I'll tell you this,
we've never stopped needing Him since. We've never stopped needing
His presence, His preserving power, His keeping grace. And when He came to us, we believed. We believed. But I want you to
know this was not by accident. If you believe on Jesus Christ,
it is because God has always been for you. God has always been for you.
All that the Father giveth me, here's the promise. All the Father
giveth me shall come to me. And here's the promise to you
who come. Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out."
Why? This is the Father's will. This
is the Father's will that I lose none of them. This is the will of Him that
sent me that everyone that seeth the Son and believeth on Him
may have everlasting life. You know what that believeth
is? That's continual faith. Continual faith. Now consider
what would have happened had we not been on our side. I'll tell you this, Satan would
have sifted you like wheat. Isn't that what he said to Peter
when he was tempted? He said, Satan desires to sift
you as wheat. But, here's the difference, I
have prayed for thee. I am on your side. Surely Satan would have destroyed
us by now. But remember the woman who was
brought into the wilderness and made provisions in Revelation,
and the dragon opened his mouth, and the floods came after her.
And what did God do? God opened the earth and swallowed
the floods. You see, His accusations cannot
come near you. Why? God is on your side. Christ
ever liveth to make intercession for us. What about this world
and the hatred of the men of this world? I'll tell you that. They're like the flames of hell
that can't be quenched. No matter what you do, you will
never appease them. The only thing that will appease
them is your utter destruction. And I'll tell you this, they
would have overcome us long ago had the Lord not been on our
side. What about your sin? Had the
Lord not been on your side, what about your sin? Do you suppose
you could have kept yourself? Do you suppose you could sustain
yourself? Do you suppose you could just pick yourself up by
your bootstraps and just keep on going with your own strength?
No! No! Like the floods, he said, the
floods would have rolled over our souls. But notice this. Go back to your
text. I want you to see this and we'll close. Our soul has
escaped, verse 7, as the bird out of the snare of the fowlers.
Listen to this. The snare is broken. Don't you
get that? It ain't going to be rebuilt. There's nothing that can trap
you. There's nothing that can keep
you. What happens to a bird that's
free from a snare? Does he stay on the ground? You
suppose he just wanders around the ground. No, he flies into
the heavens. That's where we go. Our souls
are lifted up before God. And what does he say? He says,
verse 6, "'Blessed be the Lord who hath not given us a prey
to their teeth, who has broken the snare of the fowler. Our
help is in the name of the Lord that made heaven and earth.'"
Oh, may God stir our hearts this evening to comfort. These questions
aren't ifs, they're just rhetorical. God is on your side. Consider
what would happen if he wasn't. But because he is, the snare's
broken. You are free. And what do we
do? We bless God. We bless God. The name of Christ is our only
help and our only hope. May God give us comfort in the
midst of our weary travels. Keep us in the faith. And He
will, because He's on your side. If God be for us, who can be
against us? I pray God will bless this. Let's
stand and be dismissed in prayer.