Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth.
Psalm 124:8

Psalm 124:1–8 – Psalms
Ascension Day (Observed) – May 24, 2020 (am)
   

This is Memorial Day weekend in the US, the day we remember our soldiers who have lost their lives in battle. I chose our text to help us develop and exercise a uniquely Christian view of this observance.

However, since I selected Psa.124 ten days ago, our lives have been interrupted by the need for a different type of memorial. The very next day Anna DeJong was swept into the waters of the flooded DuPage River. And to this day she has not been found.

But beyond that, this tragic event has caused me to re-evaluate whether Psa.124 is the most appropriate text for us this morning. Not only is there a disturbingly vivid description there in vv.4-5, but the shared suffering we experienced with the DeJong family would surely overshadow anything we intended to say regarding a believer’s perspective on Memorial Day.

Psa.20 would have been an acceptable alternative but, after talking with the Peaching Team and then with Dave DeJong about Psa.124, we decided to stay with this passage believing that it is God’s appointed text for us this day. Let’s read it together.

A Song of Ascents. Of David.

1    If it had not been the Lord who was on our side—

let Israel now say—

2    if it had not been the Lord who was on our side

when people rose up against us,

3    then they would have swallowed us up alive,

when their anger was kindled against us;

4    then the flood would have swept us away,

the torrent would have gone over us;

5    then over us would have gone

the raging waters.

6    Blessed be the Lord,

who has not given us

as prey to their teeth!

7    We have escaped like a bird

from the snare of the fowlers;

       the snare is broken,

and we have escaped!

8    Our help is in the name of the Lord,

who made heaven and earth.

Psa.124 is part of a section in Book 5 of the Psalms known as The Songs of Ascents. These fifteen psalms (120134) may have been sung as the nation traveled to Jerusalem for the three annual feasts. While this was surely not the purpose of their composition, they were assembled and labeled for this purpose, and there’s a flow of thought in their progression. I once prepared a single sermon on Psa.120-125 where we looked at that progression: 120 David is in Danger from his enemies, 121 Hope is affirmed (1 I lift up my eyes to the hills…), 122 Refuge is found in Jerusalem, in the house of the Lord, 123 Mercy is found in the Lord Himself, 124 Relief is experienced by God’s intervention, then 125 Proclamation of that relief goes to Israel. In [Psa.124 Israel is reflecting] on the possible and real disasters from which the Lord has delivered them (vv.1-5) as the [basis] for giving thanks (vv.6-8) (VanGemeren 901). So, this is a song of thanksgiving, and these are the two stanzas of the song. We can easily see their structure and the message of each stanza (VanGemeren 901-902)—Israel’s relief.

• Stanza 1: vv.1, 2 – If, if; vv.3, 4, 5 – then, then, then. If… the Lord [hadn’t been with us], then [we] would [have been defeated].

• Stanza 2: v.6 – [praise] the Lord, v.7 – we have escaped…, we have escaped; v.8 – our help is in… the Lord. [Praise] the Lord, [He enabled our escape]; our help [comes from] the Lord.

Finally, this psalm is anchored to the name of the Lord, beginning (1-2), middle (6), and end (8). He accomplished their victory. His name, His presence, is with them. Blessed be the name of the Lord!

Israel had faced a serious threat from their enemies. It may have been the Philistines near the end of Saul’s reign as David was rising to power. And this Psalm may be describing the victory they experienced by the direct intervention of the Lord on that day when He signaled them using the sound of marching in the tops of the balsam trees (2Sa.5:24 [17-25]) (Kidner 217).

But David’s point here is not the particular historical event that may have inspired this poem. His point is that Israel would’ve been [helpless] without the Lord in this particular event. They would have been hopeless.

And the lesson is that the same is true in every battle they face: if… the Lord is not present with them as they seek to attain of some particular outcome—even one He has established—then they’re fighting a losing battle.

Israel needed to know this. They needed to remember it, to hold onto it and never forget. If it really was the 2Sa.5 victories over the Philistines that inspired David’s composition of Psa.124, then there is an important lesson here. There were two wins in that passage. The first time the Philistines went up to search for David (17), 19 [he] inquired of the Lord…. And the Lord said…, “Go up against them in battle, for I will certainly give the Philistines into your hand.” And He did. But then the Philistines came up yet again (22). So, David inquired of the Lord again (23). But this time 23 … he said, “You shall not go up; go around to their rear, and come against them opposite the balsam trees. 24 And when you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the balsam trees, then rouse yourself, for then the Lord has gone out before you to strike down the army of the Philistines.” I have a note here (2Sa.5:23) in my Bible that reads: We cannot always be certain of what to do this time based simply on what we did last time. Such an approach is somewhere between presumptuous and self-sufficient, but it is always faithless (cf. Davis 70). David didn’t make that mistake. He sought the Lord in two back-to-back situations that were virtually identical, and God led him differently in each. This was a lesson to them. So, he affirmed that with Israel: 1 If it had not been the Lord who was on our side—[then he had them say it with him]—2 if it had not been the Lord who was on our side when people rose up against us, 3 then they would have swallowed us up alive, when their anger was kindled against us.

Therefore, they [bless] the Lord for this victory! (6) They affirm that [their] help [comes from Him]! (8) Because of His presence and power alone [they] have escaped (7) from the hands of their enemy! Their God is sovereign over all! (8)

And their God is our God! He remains sovereign over all! And it’s still His will and purpose that prevail today, just as they did back then. Even though our nation is not His covenant people like Israel was, we still read in His most holy Word that He rules over all the nations. In the words of the prophet Daniel, [God] sets up kings and deposes them (Dan.2:21 niv). Nations rise and fall under His sovereign hand. Wars are won and lost as His eternal plan is being worked out on this earth. Even godless dictators ascend to power only as He grants permission.

This doesn’t make God the Author of evil. Evil entered this world when the man and woman He created (8) were tempted by His enemy to pursue their own desires, and they did so.

No, God is not the Author of evil. Rather, what we’re learning here is that our God is so great not even the evils of this fallen, selfish world can thwart His plan or alter His purpose!

But that leaves us with a problem doesn’t it? Psa.124 can give us the impression that victory happens when the Lord is on our side. And when He’s not, we lose. But that doesn’t explain this world very well, does it? We just admitted that sometimes—far too often, in fact—evil wins in this world. That can give us the impression that when good wins God’s plan and purpose are prevailing, and when evil wins His plan and purpose are being thwarted. But that’s not really what we read in Scripture, is it? That’s not even true for Israel, or for the church, God’s old and new covenant people.

Following their supernatural victory at Jericho, Israel’s initial victory as they were entering the land when the priests and people marched around the city for seven days with the ark of the Lord and trumpets and the city walls fell down (Jos.6), Israel’s very next battle was a defeat at Ai because one man, Achan, had stolen some things at Jericho (Jos.7) and God wouldn’t have that! So, even His covenant people taking possession of the land He had promised to them could lose in battle due to the incessant interference and intrusions of sin in this fallen world.

So, Psa.124 is not just telling us that when God is with us, we win, and when He’s not, we lose. Sometimes in this world, when God is ultimately against us, we still win, and when He is for us, we still lose. But that fact shouldn’t lead us to the conclusion that all things are random in this world, and that the ultimate outcome of it is uncertain. Quite the contrary!

This insight leads us to three reliable conclusions that magnify the greatness of God’s glory and the reliability of His rule.

• In a sinful world, bad things happen. There’s no denying this. We’ve seen it to be true here in Scripture this morning, but even apart from that we would know it by experience.

• Bad things cannot thwart God’s good purpose. We know this to be true also, those of us who have trusted Christ as Savior and receive Scripture as God’s authoritative Word, but it’s good to be reminded of it from Scripture. God can still accomplish His purpose even when bad things happen. But the whole truth is actually even better than that!

• God will work all things together for His good. He doesn’t just allow bad things, tolerate bad things, even judge bad things. He folds them into His plan and works them together for good (Rom.8:28). He uses them for good. He accomplishes good through them. That is really the only way to explain the cross: the ultimate bad used for the ultimate good. In his sermon at Pentecost (Act.2:23), Peter said it best: 23 this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. Jesus passed through death ahead of us. The flood [has] already swept [Him] away (4), so that now, when it happens to us, we need not fear. We need not conclude that He is not with us, is not on our side. Our trust is in Him and the faithfulness of His promise to work even this together for good.

That is the hope we embrace this day. That is the good news we believe. That is the shelter where we find rest even when the evidences of the fallenness of this world seem to outnumber the evidences of God’s presence with us. It is our sovereign God Who is at work in this world to accomplish His perfect plan. So, it is He Whom we [bless] in the victories we enjoy and He to Whom we cling to in the defeats we endure. He made this world (8) and He knows precisely where it is headed. He’s steering it to His intended destination where we will finally know with full assurance that He has not given us as prey to [the] teeth (6) of our enemies—that He has been our help (8).

So, how is this good news on Memorial Day weekend? How is this good news to the DeJong family, and to this body?

On this Memorial Day we are reminded by Psa.124 that the protection of our freedom does not rest on the backs of our soldiers. That’s too great a burden for any mortal to bear. Our trust is not in chariots or in horses, in armies or equipment, nor should it be. [Our] trust is in the name of the Lord our God (Psa.20:7). So that means…

• We can honor the courage of our fallen soldiers to step into harm’s way on behalf of others, to lay down their lives in pursuit of the priority at hand, and to take on their duties knowing that all this was entirely possible. Their names get listed alongside others who have paid this price in their bold expressions of gifting and service—forerunners in medical research and treatment, first-responders in times of crisis, explorers of dangerous new frontiers—we honor the courage and the sacrifice of such servants, heroes, and pioneers.

• We can grieve our fallen soldiers as one more testimony to the brokenness of this world—a world that will one day be free of all war and death and destruction.

• We can comfort their families with the good news of God’s Word that this painful, bloodstained life is not all there is—that there is a God Who made heaven and earth (8) and He’s making both of them new through the life and work and reign of our Lord Jesus Christ!

• And we can thank God that He still raises up and gifts some to serve in these roles on behalf of others.

And as we’re still waiting for closure with regard to Anna DeJong, we can draw comfort from Psa.124, with its disturbingly vivid description (4-5), knowing now that, even when God doesn’t deliver us from the raging waters (5), from the snare of the fowlers (7) in this life, His ultimate act of deliverance still awaits all those who place their trust in Him.

The raging waters (5) are an image of death with good reason. And Scripture uses them that way. They epitomize uncontrollable chaos and grave danger.

But that is not the only way that Scripture speaks of waters. Israel passed through the sea and was saved by the grace of God—saved from the very waters that swept over the army of Egypt (Exo.14). Paul picked up on that scene with the Corinthians (1Co.10:1-4) and used it as an image of salvation, both then and now.

Well before that, Noah was saved from the waters of the flood in the ark (Gen.6-8). Peter picked up on that event (1Pe.3:18-22) and used it as an image of our baptism, which is itself an image of our salvation. We’re saved through the waters of death by the grace of God in Christ.

The disturbing image of death and defeat in Psa.124 can provide the context in which the glorious salvation of God is made all the more real and personal. Almost certainly Anna DeJong has been lost to this world. And that pains us deeply, inexpressibly. But the fact of the matter is that, because of the amazing, saving grace of God, her life is not over! She is a child of God! She knew Jesus as her Savior and Lord! And He knows precisely where she is, spirit and body! If she is truly gone from this world then she is now in His very presence (2Co.5:8), continuing to await the day of resurrection with us when her body will be raised from the waters of death and made anew like the heaven and earth (8). And until then Rom.8:38 [we can be absolutely] sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate [Anna, or any who believe,] from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.