Daily Worship

God is for us

Linda Pollock August 22, 2023 3 5
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Psalm 124 (NRSVA)

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 our enemies attacked 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.

Pilgrims most likely would have sung this psalm either en route to the Temple in Jerusalem or on the steps leading up to the Temple.

The song gives thanks to God for deliverance from enemies. Now, it may be that this is a song King David composed after a specific battle or it may have been composed to commemorate diverse occasions. It doesn’t matter either way, because the point of the song is that God does not abandon us.

We may have specific enemies, or we may not, I’ve no doubt that we have lived with sensing hostility from another, and we have experienced the overwhelming feelings associated with grief and loss. I think too, that we know what it feels like to be in a place we would rather leave, that sense of being trapped and caged without any power to move.                            

This psalm is for anybody who needs to be reminded that God is for us, that no matter what we face, God faces it with us. Because of this knowledge we are bold to say that regardless of our circumstances, our habitat of hope is God. But! As the Body of Christ, that habitat of hope experience is affected by our brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus… we each have a responsibility to create, shape and live in unity with each other in this habitat. Otherwise, the “enemies,” will be victorious and our habitat of hope is cheap talk.

 

PRAYER:

 

Loving God, grant us compassion to create hope in Your Name by our actions, and bless us with graceful love for one another. In the Name of Christ Jesus, Amen.