The Christian Online Magazine - 
Email ConnieWho do you turn to
when you are in trouble? Your Family? Friends?
Church? Job? Banker? What about God? In Psalm 25:15 King David declared, "Mine
eyes are ever toward the LORD..." In other words, his eyes were always,
continuously, perpetually, and daily looking unto the Lord Jesus.
In Psalm 121:1-2 the Psalmist said, "...I will lift up mine eyes unto
the hills, from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the LORD, Which
made heaven and earth." Again, in Psalm 123:1 he said, "Unto Thee lift
I up mine eyes..." His hope, trust, and confidence were in the Lord
Jesus. Hence, he lifted his eyes toward the Lord.
To whom have you lifted your eyes? In whom have you set your
confidence? Where does your help come from? Is it a reliable source of help?
Remember the Scriptures tell us that we will all need "HELP FROM TROUBLE"(Psalm
60:11) at some time in our lives. We must also consider the fact that
the Scriptures tell us - "VAIN IS THE HELP OF MAN".
Notice that the Psalmist in Psalm 121:2 said, "My help cometh from the
LORD, Which made heaven and earth." Do you suppose it would make much
difference if the words "Which made heaven and earth" were omitted out
of this verse or any verse for that matter? ABSOLUTELY! Here the writer is
emphasizing God as His Creator! Why not! He understood that the Creator
of heaven and earth was ALL-POWERFUL and could do any thing. He had ALL
power in heaven and earth as displayed by His creation.
Read what the Prophet Jeremiah had said in Jeremiah 32:17 - "Ah Lord
GOD! behold, Thou hast made the heaven and the earth by Thy great power and
stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for Thee."
That is why he could freely say in Psalm 121:2 - "My help cometh from
the LORD, Which made heaven and earth." David recognized that this Mighty
Creator was the source of all blessing for His people when he prayed in
Psalm 115:15 - "Ye are blessed of the LORD Which made heaven and
earth." This makes a world of difference! There is no limit to this God. Since
He is the Creator and Resultant Ruler of all, He has an endless supply at
His disposal.
With the emergence of the "religion" of Evolution and the New Age
Movement, God is supposedly stripped of His might and rendered
powerless to help in time of need. What a diabolical assignment of Satan! He
knows that if man would look unto the LORD Who made heaven and earth, he
would tap into a Realm of Supernatural Power unknown to himself. Oh! How we
need such Power today amidst the strong bondages of SIN, the
strongholds in people's lives, and the devastating circumstances and situations
facing some. They need a Power greater than man, despite what the New
Age Movement advocates.
Everyone faces devastating circumstances sometime in life where danger
is so great, utter ruin seems inevitable, and helplessness is so manifest.
No human help can rescue from such troubles. What do people do at this
point? What do you do?
In Psalm 124 King David gave us one of the most inspiring depictions of
God's deliverance for His people facing troubles and dangers of all
sorts
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Psalm 124:1-5 - "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...Then the
waters had overwhelmed us, the stream had gone over our soul: Then the
proud waters had gone over our soul."
David said, "If it had not been...Then..." What words would you use to
fill in the blanks for this statement? Would you say something like
this- "If it had not been for my family..If it had not been for my
church...If it had not been for my job..."? These sources may have been
instruments in the hand of God to supply your need, but ultimately,
your help came from the Lord. There are times even in life where these
sources cannot and will not be able to deliver you.
David described such a situation in Psalm 142:4-5 - "I looked on my
right hand, and beheld, but there was no man that would know me: refuge
failed me; no man cared for my soul. I cried unto Thee, O LORD: I said, Thou
art my refuge and my portion in the land of the living."
"If it had not been the LORD Who was on our side...Then..." Some time
in the walk of every believer in the Lord Jesus, he or she will say these
very words - "If it had not been the LORD Who was on my side...Then..."
In this particular Psalm, David pictures the various overwhelming
circumstances facing each Child of God. "...when men rose up against
us..." - Men become powerful, stir up themselves against you, and
persist in their attack to bring you down. "Then they had swallowed us up
quick..." - At that time and in that case, they are seemingly said to
make away with you, destroy, devour, or swallow you up.
"Then the waters had overwhelmed us, the stream had gone over our soul:
Then the proud waters had gone over our soul" - Here the waters,
figuratively speaking, are dangers and violence which seek to inundate,
overflow, sweep away, or conquer you. Like a flood, they seek to
overtake you. The "proud waters" are the continuous waves of trouble and
devastating circumstances. They are the churning, raging, turbulent
troubles that seem to hit from all sides.
Have you had an experience with enemies rising up against you, desiring
to swallow you up? Have you experienced those overwhelming waters -
those circumstances meant to drown you? What about those "proud waters" which
make you feel like you are in a pot of boiling, churning water? What
did you do in such a place? Who did you run to?
David faced it all. He encountered every imaginable circumstance
intended to bring him down or destroy him.
Yet in Psalm 124:6 he proclaimed, "Blessed be the LORD, Who hath not
given us as a prey to their teeth." He worshipped and praised the LORD
for His glorious intervention.
In Psalm 41:11 he said to the LORD, "By this I know that Thou favourest
me, because mine enemy doth not triumph over me."
Psalm 124:7 - "Our soul is escaped as a bird out of the snare of the
fowler: the snare is broken, and we are escaped." The fowler - the
hunter of your soul - may have laid snares, traps, gins, calamities, and plots
against you, intending to bring you down or destroy you. Nonetheless,
God has a wonderful promise for you today, O Child of God! God will have
you leap out, slip out, and be delivered form every snare of your enemies.
He will break in pieces any trap and cause you to GO FREE.
There is one stipulation for VICTORY.
Can you say like David did in Psalm 124:8 - "Our help is in the name of
the LORD, Who made heaven and earth"?
Does your aid and rescue come from the Maker of heaven and earth Who
said in Matthew 28:18 - "All power is given unto Me in heaven and earth"?
If so, then in the face of men rising up against you to swallow you up;
overwhelming circumstances like turbulent waters passing over your
soul;snares, traps, gins, and plots of your enemy to entrap you; you can
exclaim with all assurance of VICTORY -
Psalm 124:1-3 - "If it had not been the Lord Who was on our
side...Then..."
Psalm 124:6- "Blessed be the LORD, Who hath not given us as a prey to
their teeth..."
Psalm 124:8 - "Our help is in the name of the LORD, Who made heaven and
earth."
Copyright 2001 by Connie Giordano
