Psalm 124. As we said at the beginning of worship, this is the fifth of the Songs of Ascent. We covered the first four in one sermon. I'm sorry we're just going to do one psalm this time. Please hear the Word of God as we read Psalm 124. If it had not been the Lord who is on our side, let Israel now say, If it had not been the Lord who is on our side, When men rose up against us, then they would have swallowed us alive. When the wrath was kindled against us, then the waters would have overwhelmed us. The stream would have gone over our soul. Then the swollen waters would have gone over our soul. Blessed be the Lord who has not given us as prey to their teeth. Our soul has escaped as 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. This is the Word of God. May God, by His Spirit, teach us and convict us according to His will this morning. You may be seated. As we've said before, and maybe too many times, the songs of ascents of Psalm 120 through 134, they are pilgrim songs. Songs sung by Jewish pilgrims making their way to Jerusalem for the three annual feasts of Passover and Pentecost and the Day of Atonement. And they're marked by a plaintive note, a mild sadness which would be appropriate for those who are on the way to God's city, but they've not reached it yet, and there's a journey to take. And these songs are descriptive of the Christians' similarly joyful yet difficult pilgrimage upward as strangers in this dark world for Christ's sake, but whose citizenship is in heaven, desiring to represent our Savior here, but to be with our Savior who is there. And James Boyce rightly sees the Songs of Ascent as discipleship songs, which are useful for the Christian in the New Covenant, as he pursues Christ and a long obedience in the same direction. I like that phrase, a long obedience in the same direction. They should be looked to for their teaching about discipleship or a pilgrim mentality, because Christianity is a long obedience religion. And we did see in the first four songs of ascent that they flow together. They don't all 15 flow together so nicely and neatly, but they do have common themes. But certainly the first four flow together, climbing upward from the beginning of the journey to God Himself in a very rich way. Psalm 120 begins the journey, and the psalmist, the pilgrim, is distressed and crying for deliverance from the falsehood and the harshness of the opposing world through which he must pass. In Psalm 121, he's now journeying forward to the city, and he looks up from the despair to the hills that surround Jerusalem. Jerusalem was on hills, so it was always up to Jerusalem, whatever direction you came from. So he sees the hills that surround Jerusalem, and he says, I will lift up my eyes to the hills, from whence comes my help. And ultimately he looks to the maker of the hills. In fact, the maker of the hills is the maker of the heavens and earth, he says in Psalm 121. And he sees his God as his keeper, his preserver, his protector, because he needs keeping, preserving, and protecting along this journey. Psalm 122 then is more of a happy psalm. He further looks and he sees the temple, the place where the saints gather to worship their Lord. And he says, I was glad when they said to me, let us go into the house of the Lord. And he prays for Jerusalem, the church. But then in Psalm 123, which was the last Psalm we covered in the last sermon, he then looks to God Himself for God's mercy and for God's strength to endure the journey. And he says, unto you I lift up my eyes, O you who dwell in the heavens. And we can see even from that very brief description of the four prior Psalms, There's both a joy, but there are difficulties in this journey. In Psalm 120, he was distressed because of the harshness and the falsehood of the world. In Psalm 121, he was looking to his God to be his preserver and keeper and protector. In Psalm 123, I didn't mention it here, but you might remember in Psalm 123, we started with yay, but we ended with ooh. He says, I'm feeling the contempt and the scorn of the world. Please have mercy because of the contempt and the scorn of the world. And so because of that, there's a connection between Psalm 123 and 124. Psalm 123 began with our eyes fixed upon the hand of God, knowing that it's the hand of God that provides for us, that protects us, reminds us that He is all we should really be caring about and focusing on. But it ended with a cry for mercy, Psalm 123 did, due to the contempt and scorn of the proud. It ended with negativity, even. It ended as a lament. And so Psalm 124, which we're looking at today and we just read, is looking back and remembering what God has done for His people in the past difficulties and trials. And the point is that the same God is still on our side now, and so the pilgrim and we can then move forward and trust in and praise Him regardless of the difficulties and opposition now or those we will face in the future. Psalm 123 to Psalm 124 goes from calling on God's mercy to reflecting on and resting in God's experienced mercy, and knowing that this mercy exists now and it will be offered in the future. So Psalm 124 is basically a song of remembering and thanksgiving for pilgrim people. And that would be us. It's a psalm of remembering and thanksgiving for a pilgrim people. The God who has been with us to persevere with us is still with us now. And He will continue with us. And He perseveres with His pilgrims, saints, and their journey. We can look back and see who He is and what He has done and trust He will be with us forever. And the simplest way of looking at this psalm would be cut up into two parts. Verses 1-5 If God was not on our side, which obviously was repeated. That's a key phrase to remember this psalm. If God were not on our side, then we would have been doomed. In the last half, verses 6-8, but God is on our side. So we praise and trust in Him that we are not doomed. That would be the simplest outline. That's actually probably the most often outline you have in this psalm. to hear Stephan Lindblad preach on this, and he used a chiastic structure to go through the psalm, which I think was marvelous. a chiastic structure of ABCBA, where you have a repetition of certain sections. So you have an A section building up to a B section to the high point of C, and that's actually the focus of the whole psalm. Then going back with a repeat of the B section and back a repeat of the A section. And if you look in your bulletin, I've actually divided the psalm in those sections. I think what we have here I think this is a wonderful way to look at this psalm. We have the presence and the person of our Lord in verses 1 and 2. If it had not been the Lord who is on our side, let Israel now say, if it had not been the Lord who is on our side, we focus on and start at the person and the presence of our Lord. That's the starting and the ending point of this psalm, which is how it should be. That's the A part. But then what flows out of the person and the presence of our Lord is the protection of our Lord. When men rose up against us, then they would have swallowed us alive. When their wrath was kindled against us, then the waters would have overwhelmed us. The stream would have gone over our soul. Then the swollen waters would have gone over our soul. It's the protection that flows out of His presence. That's the B part. And all of this is meant to build up to the high point of the psalm. Blessed be the Lord. So it's a psalm of remembrance, but it's a psalm of thanksgiving. He has done this. And then we go back down to the B part. Because of His protection, who has not given us to the prey of their teeth, our souls escaped as a bird from the snare of the fowlers. The snare is broken, we have escaped. Which then we end where we started with the person and the presence of our God. Our help then is in the name of the Lord who made heaven and earth. So the idea of the A sections being the presence and person of our Lord, the B sections being the protection of our Lord, and the C section in the middle, the praise of our Lord. rising up to praising our God and thanksgiving and going back down to the presence of our Lord. So that's our outline for what we'll see today. So let's look at the presence and person of our Lord. Part 1 in verses 1 through the first part of verse 2. And the focus then is on the presence and the person of our Lord, if it had not been the Lord who is on our side. Let Israel now say, if it had not been the Lord who is on our side. The psalm opens with David remembering and reflecting on God's presence with His people to protect and deliver them from great danger and enemies who are determined to destroy them. David is saying, if God had not been on our side, if He had not been with us, we would have been destroyed. But with God on our side, who can be against us? And with God with us, why must we fear what keeps us from depending on Him? I keep emphasizing the presence of God. Why do you say the presence of God? Well, I think one thing that's subtle in here, the phrase, who is on our side, that's repeated. We see that twice. Who is on our side, that's actually from the Hebrew, that's the past tense that we translate as Immanuel. And Immanuel means what? God with us. And so when David is saying, if it had not been the Lord who is on our side, that phrase, who is on our side, means, if it had not been our Lord who was Immanuel in the past, who is with us, then we'd be doomed. If God had not been with us, His presence and His person with us, we would have been doomed. And again, that's repeated for emphasis to both amplify and to get our attention that this is the key point that he's beginning with. I think there's something that this psalm is reminding us, and you see this in the Psalms, that David is reflecting and remembering who God is and what he has done in the past so he can lay his Ebenezer down as something to look back on and gain strength from. We should be doing the same thing when God takes us through difficult times. There's purposes for the difficult trials we go through. Oftentimes, the next trial comes up and we just kind of forget what happened. We even forget to thank God for bringing us through these. But these trials are meant to have us have strength in Him and to be able to look back at these things. When we talk about the Ebenezer, we sing that in Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing. Sometimes we don't know what that is. And even some of the modern versions of Come Thou Fount have actually changed it. Don't do that. It's fun to sing Ebenezer. It's a nice word to sing. But in 1 Samuel 7, God powerfully had delivered Israel from the Philistines. And remember this, Samuel then placed a large stone on the spot to remember God's help for them. And he called the stone Ebenezer, which means stone of help. And Samuel said, when he laid it, till now the Lord has helped us. It was something to look back on and remember what God had done, how He had helped. He had been their helper. And so we sing, here I raise my Ebenezer, hither by thy help I'm come, and I hope by thy good pleasure safely to arrive at home. We look back to see what he has done, and we can move forward trusting that the same God exists now to continue to be our helper. And so we should lay our Ebenezers, if you will, applying the past providences of God to our present predicaments. remembering God's faithfulness in past trials, so we can rest in Him today and be strengthened for tomorrow. I think that's one of the key things of this particular psalm. So we're talking about the presence and the person of our Lord in these first two verses, and in the ending verses as well. Why the person of God? Well, the emphasis here in both the first two verses and the last verse is on His covenantal character. He's a God who makes covenants. We learned about that, John. John Nesbitt paid a visit to us yesterday in a Reformation celebration. I see he lost his suspenders and bow tie today. But our God is a covenantal God. And the word for Lord there you might see in some of your versions that it's in all caps. It means it's the Yahweh term for God. It says the name of the covenantal God of God. He's the God who covenants with His people. He agrees and makes promises to them that He will keep with His people to be with them and to keep those promises and to keep His people. He's promised in covenanted to do this. And so God by definition of His name and His person is to be trusted by His people. And we are called to remember His person and His past faithfulness to carry on in the present. And we know in the new covenant on this side of the cross, that God's personal covenantal faithfulness is seen most of all in Christ. We rest in what Christ has done to establish the new covenant in His blood, which is the greatest proof and promise that He will continue with us even now and forever. I think also to notice in these first two verses, the emphasis is certainly on the person and the presence of God, but it's also on the church. It's also in the Church, because the Church is the covenant people of God, whom He has purchased to Himself, and who are nothing without Him, but can do all things in Him. Throughout this psalm, you see the words, we, and us, and our. We're 21st century American Christians. We see everything in the Bible be just me and my God, and it's just all these are things are written to me. We're missing the covenantal aspect and the church aspect of the New Testament. It's a we and us and our. And so you see that in this Psalm. It's not just a pilgrim, but these are pilgrims. And then he says, let Israel now say. That's a call for all of God's covenant people to this, to these promises. It does make us remember the first Israel. Who was the first Israel? Well, it was Jacob. And first of all, Jacob was called Jacob. What does Jacob mean? Deceiver. What was Jacob? He was a deceiver. He was weak on his own. He could do very little on his own. But then there's that instance where God came to him as the angel of the Lord and wrestled with him. Jacob wrestled with God, and God allowed him to hold his own, to teach him, and to change him. Jacob, that is. He would not give up until he had the blessing. And God tested him and changed him, and he gave Jacob a new name. That's when he gave him the name of Israel, which no longer was he to be called deceiver, but now he'd be called Prince of God. But what else did God give Jacob during that wrestling match? A name, yes, but what else? A limp. He touched his hip, and he had forever a limp. And that limp then was a reminder to now Israel that God was with him. It was a reminder of what God had done with him. It was a reminder of his dependence on God's grace. It was a reminder that God would never leave him or forsake him. And so as he walked away, and every time after that when he noticed his limp, he'd be reminded of these things. In the same way, through Christ Jesus, the Emmanuel, God with us, we are changed. And because of what he has done, we know that he continues with us and we can depend on his grace and he will never leave us and forsake us. As Christ came as God with us and he suffered trials and scars for us, he takes us through trials, earning our scars that we might reflect and remember on who he is and who he is with us and that Christ is on our side and we can face all that he brings into our lives with security and confidence. And so the first step at this chiasm of building up, we have the presence and the person of our Lord in verses 1 and the first part of verse 2. And then born out of the presence and the person of our Lord is in verses 2 through 5, the protection of our Lord. When men rose up against us, then they would have swallowed us alive when their wrath was kindled against us. Then the waters would have overwhelmed us, the stream would have gone over our soul, then the swollen waters would have gone over our soul. We have the context of God's covenantal protection for his covenantal people, so we can see these pictures of overwhelming dangers and distresses as pictures of the trials of God's people for his sake. David may be referring to specific circumstances that he sees now, or likely he's reflecting on past circumstances and deliverances. But when you see the phrase, men rising up against us, it reminds us that opposition to Christ will always rise up against His people just as they did against Him. And they're representative of the greater dangers from Satan, the world, our own sin, and our flesh. I think these examples of persecution and dangers both in the first Part B and the second Part B, ultimately represent the spiritual warfare that we're under as Christ's people in a world that's opposed to Him. And to really heighten it here in verses 2 through 5, the terminology here of wrath kindled against us, almost swallowed alive, the waters going over our souls, those are terms of death. Perhaps the greatest fear we have on earth, but there's a greater fear than just physical death. It's spiritual death. So these are difficult. trials and tribulations made more general to whatever trials and tribulations that you go through in the name of Christ. And what you have in the first Part B, you have two general pictures, and in the second Part B, which we'll get to, are two more general pictures of these kinds of dangers and persecutions. And in verses 3 and then 4 and 5, we have two things. We have, first of all, the dangers and persecutions are like a fierce animal that's ready to swallow us as a prey. And then we have the floodwaters that are swallowing and sweeping us away. A fierce animal ready to swallow us as prey, but then floodwaters that are swallowing and seemingly sweeping us away. So first of all, in verse 3, if God had not been on our side, then they would have swallowed us alive when their wrath was kindled against us. Without God's presence and intervention and protection, we would have been stalked and swallowed up, is what David is saying. And you cannot help but see the New Testament description of Satan and the spiritual warfare we have here. Satan is a roaring lion who seeks to prowl about and to devour who he will. It reminds us of Peter's dilemma. Remember in Luke chapter 22? After Jesus had both spoken of and displayed His suffering to come in the Lord's Supper in Luke chapter 22, He spoke then to His disciples, spoke to them as those who had continued with Him in His trials, and He spoke to them about the kingdom to come. So you have both, you're going to suffer with me in trials, but there's a kingdom to come that's on the other side. And then at that point, He warns Peter of the spiritual warfare that he would particularly have to face. So in Luke 22, starting in verse 31, I think you're probably familiar with this, but in Luke 22, verse 31, Jesus said, Simon, Simon, indeed Satan has asked for you that he may sift you as wheat, but I have prayed for you. And keep in mind, our Lord continues to intercede on our behalf even now. That's part of the protection of Him being with us and Him being on our side. But He says, I have prayed for you that your faith should not fail. And when you return to Me, which means you will fail, but your faith will not fail. And when you've returned to Me, strengthen your brethren from what you have learned from this, from My strengthening you through great trial, that even you will fail. but not completely, return and strengthen your brethren as a result." And of course Peter said, okay, I'll humbly accept what you've had to say. No, Peter says, but he said to them, Lord, I am ready to go with you both to prison and to death. In other words, no, may it never be that I would fall and need to return. And Jesus said, I tell you, Peter, the rooster shall crow this day before you will deny three times that you know me, which had to be a shock to Peter's system. So if we move forward to 1 Peter 5, starting in verse 6, we know the story that with Christ on his side, with Christ with him interceding, he may have fallen, but he was not swallowed up. And he was restored, even instilled as a leader. And through what he learned, we know from Peter's writings, that he learned humility, and he learned the strength of Christ. And so he writes in 1 Peter 5, starting in verse 6, he says, Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God. He learned to humble himself under the mighty hand of God. That he may exalt you in due time. It's God who props you up. He's on your side. Casting all your care upon God, for God cares for you. He learned who was on his side and who he would trust. But he goes on, he says then, Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Just like Psalm 124. Resist him steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world. But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you." And in there is the exact same word that Jesus used in Luke 22, that when you return, strengthen your brethren. Now Jesus is making the same point and carrying the same message on to the brethren. Be strengthened. To Him be the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. So the lesson is, if the Lord would not be on our side, the devil would surely swallow us up. But the Lord is on our side. So you have the fierce animal ready to swallow us as prey in verse 3. Then in verses 4 and 5, you have the floodwaters swallowing and sweeping us away. In the Old Testament, the waters and the sea represent chaos and danger and destruction. You had a sea-faring group of people. We even saw that in Matthew, the storm that came up on the Sea of Galilee. It seemed disastrous. You have pictures in the Psalms and elsewhere speaking about the great dangers of the waters. I think that's why in the book of Revelation there's no sea. It's calm. It's not dangerous here anymore. And here there's a progression in verses 4 and 5. I think you can take these together. First of all, in verse 3, These dangers and persecutions are pictured as floodwaters quickly rising up. And think about it in your own life, whether it be spiritual persecution or whether just the trials of life because of sin, maybe even your own sin, but there's circumstances you're in where there's just this feeling of a slow rising of the water and there's nothing you can do about it and it gets harder and harder to breathe because you feel helpless. There seems like an impending feeling of doom. How am I going to deal with this? It seems to get worse, not better. Then the second point of verse four, it moves from the floodwaters rising up with that danger to then a torrent stream that just quickly rushes over us like a broadside of a trial that just hits you out of nowhere. Boom, where did that come from? And now it's not just the situation points getting harder to breathe. It's like, I can't breathe. I wasn't expecting this. In the last part, in verse 5, you have the final aspect of this, the raging waters, the sweeping of everything away, not just hitting you broadsided, but now sweeping you away where nothing is left, the sense of, I've lost everything. The point is this total despair that should come from such a thing. So the total picture is of floodwaters engulfing and streams rushing over and pummeling you, and then raging waters sweeping everything away and leaving you completely alone and by yourself. But, with the Lord with us, and the Lord on our side, is what David is saying here, we're not doomed. With the Lord with us and with the Lord on our side, He leads us to the rock that is higher than I. Psalm 61. We can rest on the rock Himself for safety and as a firm foundation, which we've already sung. With the Lord with us and on our side, we're given shelter in the cleft of the rock to withstand the torrent stream. In fact, the rock Himself takes the torrent stream for us. With the Lord with us and on our side, we cannot be separated from the love of God in Christ, nor can His care and promises be swept away. And when we do fall, when we are wounded, when we do have loss, the one who knows wounds and loss and even death in our place is with us and on our side. to lift us up, to bind us up, to establish and strengthen us in Him and upon Him. Turn to Matthew chapter 7, verses 24 through 27. We think about rushing waters hitting us, shaking our foundations, sweeping us away. You might think of Matthew chapter 7 at the end of the Sermon on the Mount in verses 24 and 27. We have a comparison, what it means to have God on your side, to be founded on Christ. But remember, there's only two choices. God is either for you, or He's against you. He's either on your side, or He's against you. You're either with Him, or you're against Him. There's no in-between. And so we see that in Matthew chapter 7, starting verse 24, Therefore, whoever hears these sayings of mine and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain descended. Notice, by the way, both with Psalm 124 and all these examples, these promises of God being with you and on your side does not mean that He's going to keep these trials from coming. In fact, there might be more trials than before, but He's with you in the midst of them. And so the rain does descend, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, and it did not fall. Why? For it was founded on the rock. God is on his side, in Christ Jesus. But then, the second part of this, in verse 26, But everyone who hears these sayings of mine and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain descended, yup, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, and it fell. And great was its fall. In the context of the Sermon on the Mount especially, great was its fall. We're speaking about eternal damnation, eternal judgment. You can lose your physical life anytime. That's not a big deal if you're a Christian. It's your spiritual life that matters. Take my life, that's fine, but you can't take Christ away from me and the eternal life that he has won for me. So you notice with the Lord on your side, He does not keep the trials and the dangers from you, not at all, but He doesn't even promise that death will be averted, but He will be with you, and you cannot be separated from Him. But notice as well, if the Lord is not on your side, there is a great fall, even eternal judgment, and there are only two sides. God is either with you or He's against you. And Christ is that fork in the road, and you must bow before Him in repentance and faith, Not just remembering Him, but receiving Him, and what He has done to redeem sinners to Himself, to be with them and to be for them. With Christ as your Savior, if Christ is your rock, then you may hear what God tells Isaiah in Isaiah 43, in the first two verses. Isaiah writes, But now, says the Lord, who created you, O Jacob, and who formed you, O Israel, Fear not, for I have redeemed you. I have called you by your name. You are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you. And through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, nor shall the flame scorch you." So that leads us then to 6, verse 6, the very first part, which is the C part of our A, B, C, B, A structure. Blessed be the Lord, because of the person and the presence of the Lord. Born out of that is His protection. And then we say, blessed be the Lord. We praise our Lord because of His person and His protection that flow out of that. Blessed be the Lord. The word blessed, Baruch, it's the idea of worship and praise. It's the idea of kneeling before an adoration. It's the idea of giving thankful praise to bless the God who has undeservedly and unbelievably blessed His people so You think of Psalm 34, verse 1, where David's in a cave by himself, seemingly alone, and going through such great trial and embarrassment, yet he breaks out in song. He says, I will bless the Lord at all times. His praise shall continually be in my mouth. You think of the first part of 1 Peter, in 1 Peter 1, verses 3 and 4, and Peter says, And we're reminded of Ephesians 1, verse 3, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. It is Reformation Day, so you feel like you should at least be part of Psalm 46 on such a day. So in Psalm 46 we have an accumulation of what we're talking about here. In Psalm 46, God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, even though the earth be moved, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea, though its waters roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with its dwelling, There's a river whose stream shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacle of the Most High. God is in the midst of her, speaking of the church, his people. She shall not be moved, speaking of the church, his people. God shall help her just at the break of dawn. So we say, blessed be the Lord for who He is, and what He has done for us, and the protection He promises for us as well. So then we hit the high point of verse 6, part A. We can now start going back down to finish with the presence and person of God eventually. But first, we have two more examples of the protection of the Lord. In verses 6 and 7, who has not given us His prey to their teeth, Our soul has escaped as a bird from the snare of the fowlers. The snare is broken and we have escaped. And on the way back down, if you will, the emphasis is even more so on our helplessness and God's sovereignty. Since God is on our side, since God is with us, and only because of God being on our side and God being with us, we in our weakness and sin are protected by Him. So we have two examples. First we have the helpless prey who are in the snare of the fierce animal's teeth. And then we have the helpless bird in the snare of the fowler, the fowler being a trapper. So verse 6, the helpless prey that's actually now not just being pursued and trying to be devoured, now we're helpless prey in the snare of the fierce animal's teeth. Yet God protects us and rescues us. We're even more helpless in this. in the snare of the lion's teeth, ready to be torn to bits. Perhaps it reminds us again of Satan prowling and wanting to devour us, but now we're in his grasp, if you will. Perhaps it reminds us of King Darius. Recently, for some of us, we've read through Daniel in our reading schedule. I think of King Darius in Daniel chapter 5, and he sent Daniel into a lion's den, and he regretted it. And he was worried, and so that next morning he goes, oh Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to rescue you? And Daniel could have replied, if the Lord had not been on my side, I would have been torn into pieces in their teeth. But he actually says, my God sent an angel, and he shut the mouths of the lion, and I was rescued. Of course, you might remember earlier when the others were put in the fiery furnace, they said, basically, God can save us from this if he chooses to, but if he doesn't, praise be to God, which is the attitude of the believer as well. But if the Lord is not with us, if he's not on our side, Satan, sin, and the world would tear us into pieces, swallowing us up and spitting out the bones. But God is with us, and Christ is with us. And then lastly, in verse 7, we have the helpless bird in the snare of the fowler. Here it's even more weak and helpless. Understand the psalmist is comparing us as helpless little birds caught in a trap. Wouldn't you like to be described as something better? But we're helpless little birds caught in a trap. It still reflects, even in the New Testament, we have reflections of this, that we're to be obedient and following after the Lord so we not be caught up in the snares of the devil. I think this example also shows us the example of 1 Corinthians 10, that even in the midst of trials and persecution and tribulation, God is there to make us able to bear with the troubles and even give us a way out. Sometimes He releases us from the snare so we can have a way out. So in 1 Corinthians 10, Therefore let him who thinks, he stands, take heed, lest he fall. No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man. For God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation He will also make the way of escape that you may be able to bear it. I think all of these examples in Psalm 124 reflected in the spiritual warfare we face in the New Testament. And so we bless the Lord, and we come back down and recognize again the protection of the Lord, and then we get to end properly, I think. We begin and end with the presence and the person of our Lord. So in verse 8, our help is in the name of the Lord who made heaven and earth. We return to the source of our protection and the reason for praise, the person in the presence of our God who's with us and who's on our side. His help. He's the one who is with us. Who is on our side. He is our help. He doesn't just help us. He is our help. We saw it in Psalm 46. And really we saw it in Psalm 121 where the psalmist says, Where is my help from the Lord? And it is actually Him. He is our help. We see His name. Not just His help. His name. And His name represents His covenant. And His character. And His authority. And so He promises. His promises are made with power to back them up. In fact, we see His power here, that He's the one who made heaven and earth. He's the maker of the heavens and the earth, just as He said in Psalm 121. He's the creator of all things and the re-creator of His people. And the maker of the heavens and the earth can make all things right for His people in the end. And all of this points to Christ. You knew we had to go there when we speak about God with us. All of this points to Christ. The God with us. Emmanuel. Because Christ has been with us. and for us in our place. And men rose up against Him. And God's wrath was kindled against Him in our place. And He was willfully swallowed up into death. The waters of death overwhelmed Him. And His flesh was torn by the fierce teeth of the enemy on the cross. Before He escaped the snare of the grave to be raised to new life and ascended to His throne." Of course, He's coming again. Conquering death, sin, and hell, and Satan for His people who would kneel before Him to bless Him. He's coming again to recreate His creation, if you will, and to glorify the recreation of His people that they will be glorified in Him when He returns. So because of Christ's person, and presence, and protection, we are His people forever, and we can rest in Him during our sojourning here, and without fear, We mentioned Ephesians 1, blessed be the God who has given us such great blessings. We know it. The rest of that big long sentence in Greek goes on to say, why are we blessed by God? And what are these blessings? We have the unbreakable love of the Father who chose us. We have an unbreakable blood of Christ who saved us. We have an unbreakable seal of the Spirit who keeps us in Him. God is with us and He's on our side forever as our help. And even in 1 Peter 1 verses 4 and 5 when we mentioned, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, it was mentioned that we have an incorruptible salvation. We're kept by the power of heaven. God is on our side in Christ Jesus. Turn to Romans chapter 5. I want us to end by looking at Romans chapter 5 and Romans chapter 8. So we can end with Christ and who we have in Christ. Christ is on our side. and nothing can separate us from Him. Romans 5, starting verse 6. And the problem with reading parts of Romans 5 and Romans 8 is you've heard these verses oodles and oodles of time. Try to listen to these verses for the first time as we close with Christ here. In Romans 5, starting verse 6, for when we were still without strength, notice we're little birds. We're in the snare of the teeth. We have no strength in ourselves, for when we were still without strength in due time, Christ died for really good people and handsome people. No, for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die, yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more than which means, if God has done this for us, won't He then do all other things to complete our salvation and to keep us in Him? Much more than having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if when we are enemies, there's nothing good in us, and we are helpless, we are reconciled to God through the death of His Son. Much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. If a dead Savior saves us, A live Savior will keep us, and He'll forever be on our side and with us. Look to Romans 8. We could read the whole chapter 8, but we won't do that. Romans 8, the whole theme of Psalm 124 is repeated with a whole lot more detail and centered on Christ in Romans 8. It begins by saying there's no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. Romans 8. God is on our side. Who can be against us? And Romans 8 goes on to say that we're sons of the Father. We have the permanent inheritance of Christ and we have the intercession of the Spirit. We are completely taken in by God in all three Persons. And Romans 8 goes on to say that the suffering of this life does not compare to the glory that is promised to come. The glory of Christ that will be revealed in us. And when Christ returns, all creation will be redeemed The crowning aspect of that is that the sons of glory, God's people, His church, will be glorified and be made like Christ. And even creation longs to see that. In verse 25 of Romans chapter 8 it says, If we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance. That's a picture of the pilgrimage of the Songs of Ascent. We're here, there's trials, but we hope for what we do not see and we eagerly wait for it with perseverance. the long obedience forward. So look at Romans chapter 8 and read with me. Well, listen while I read. Read with me in verse 28 in Romans chapter 8. You've heard these things before, but hear it again. And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called, the called according to His purpose. For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son. That's why we are saved. It's a promise. to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, whom he predestined, these he also called. Whom he called, these he also justified. Whom he justified, these he also glorified. Past tense, which means it will happen. You will be glorified in Christ Jesus in the end. Take heart in the midst of whatever trials go on, even if your life is taken. And then verse 31. What then shall we say to these things? Here you have the New Testament version of Psalm 124. If God is for us, who can be against us? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? If our God has given the greatest gift at the greatest cost for us, And also then given not just his Son, but his Spirit to seal us, will he not do all other things to keep us and to glorify us and to conform us in the image of his Son in eternity? The answer is yes. So he who did not spare his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? Who shall bring a charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died and furthermore is also risen. Look back and count on that fact. so you can face whatever's going on today or tomorrow, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or peril or sword? As it is written, for your sake, we are killed all day long. We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Yet in all things, we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height or depth, nor any other created thing shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." And if you're Baptist at this point you could say, Amen! We'll work on that. So we do take heart as Christians that God is on your side. Christ has come and has been with us and He's with us now. The Spirit seals us and intercedes for us and He strengthens us. God has given the greatest gift at the greatest cost in His Son. To be on our side, to be with us, nothing can separate us from Him or His purposes. If you're not a Christian, again I'll remind you there's only two sides. If God is not on your side, He's against you. If God is not with you, He's against you. If you're not with God, you're against Him. And then your soul will be overwhelmed, and the waters will flood and go over your soul. And there's no escaping the teeth of the lion. There's no escaping the snare of the evil and sin and hell. And you'll be like the chaff in Psalm 1, blown and burned. You'll be like the nations in Psalm 2, who are wanting to break free from God's will and rule, but they will be broken to pieces. And unless you kiss the Son, He will be angry. and you will perish, and His wrath will be upon you. Come, dear Lord Jesus Christ, that He might be with you. Let us pray. Dear Holy Father, I do thank You for Your Word. I thank You for the consistency of Your Word that we look in Psalm 124 and we can see all of the parallels and the elaborations of it in the New Testament. And we can see the fulfillment in Christ Jesus. We praise You and thank You that You are with us through Christ Jesus. You're with us through Your Spirit. You've poured Your love upon us by choosing us. You've poured Your love upon us by the blood of Christ to save us and the application of Christ's work in person by Your Spirit to seal us and to strengthen us and to guarantee as a down payment that You indeed will always be on our side and we will be on Your side. You are with us and we know we deserve nothing of it for we're merely sinful, helpless birds caught in the teeth of a lion, but you snatch us out and you promise to glorify us and to make us like your son. Oh, encourage us all the more then to follow after you as pilgrims in this world, loving you and loving our neighbor and representing our Lord and Savior Christ Jesus as we make our pilgrimage to finally be with you and to be made like Christ fully in our final destination. We do pray for those who are outside of Christ, that today would be the day of salvation for them. There's only two sides. There's only one choice. We pray, Lord, that you move upon their souls, that they would come and kneel before the Lord Jesus Christ in repentance and faith. It's in Jesus' name we pray these things. Amen.