Victory Belongs To The Lord

Transcription

1 Rock Valley Bible Church ( # May 26, 2013 by Steve Brandon Victory Belongs To The Lord Psalm What if God was not for us? (verses 1-5) 2. Praise the LORD! He is for us. (verses 6-8). This is Memorial Day weekend. Some of our folks are away on a camping trip enjoying the extended holiday weekend. Tomorrow is "Memorial Day." It is the day each year that our nation remembers those who have died in defending our country. It's a day when we remember the sacrifice that others have made to give us a free nation. And let us never underestimate the sacrifice of others to obtain our freedom. Let us honor those who have given their lives for us. As many have noted, freedom is not free. We enjoy the freedom that we have today because many gave up their freedom and died to obtain that freedom for us. It is only right that we remember them this day and give thanks to the Lord for them. The parallel to Christianity can't be more obvious. We are called to "remember Jesus Christ" (2 Timothy 2:8) because He died to give us freedom from the bondage of our sin. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. (Romans 8:2-4) At the end of my message, we will indeed remember the death of Christ that set us free as we celebrate the Lord's Supper together. On this Memorial Day weekend, when thoughts are turned to military victories and the sacrifices they have meant, I thought that it would be appropriate for us to look at Psalm 124. If you haven't done so already, I invite you to open your Bibles to Psalm 124. This Psalm reflects upon the military victories that Israel experienced. Without a doubt, their victories came from the LORD. The call of this Psalm is for Israel never to forget that fact. And the message isn't only for Israel. We too should remember and reflect upon the military victories of our nation. They too have been won because of the gracious hand of the LORD. Psalm 124 is identified as a "Song of Ascents." As most of you recall, these were the songs that Israel would sing as they traveled up to Jerusalem to worship. The LORD required that all of the males would come to Jerusalem to worship three times each year, during the three main, national feasts--passover, Pentecost, and the Feast of the Harvest. There are fifteen of these Psalms (from 120 to 134). We have been working our way through them, looking at three of them already (122, 120, 127). We haven't been taking them in order, because they weren't sung in order. Rather, they were like hymns in a hymnal, which we don't sing in order, either. Psalm 122 is THE Song of Ascents, as it describes the call to go and worship the LORD. Psalm 120 describes those who are far from God and far from the people of God, creating a longing to be with God and with His people. Psalm 127 shows how God is the one who builds our houses and blesses us. These Psalms helped to prepare the hearts of Jews to worship the LORD. My hope in going through them is that they might help us to prepare our hearts to worship the LORD as well. They range in how they do this. Psalm 122 clearly reflects upon the joy that ought to enter our hearts when we consider going to the house of the LORD. We should follow David's example, entering His house with joy! Psalm 120 shows how hard it is to be away from the people of God. Our hearts should crave the blessing of being near to God and His people. Psalm 127 should help us trust in the LORD's faithfulness to continue His work in building our homes. He is worthy of our praise! And there is something about Memorial Day that can help us to prepare our hearts for worship as well. If we remember the role that the LORDplayed in our military victories, we will come with thankful hearts, realizing that the battle belongs to the Lord. Proverbs 21:31 says this, "The horse is prepared for the day of battle, But the victory belongs to the LORD." Indeed, this is the theme of Psalm 124. This is the title of my message this morning. "Victory Belongs to the Lord." Listen for this theme as I read our Psalm. Psalm 124 A Song of Ascents, of David. "Had it not been the LORD who was on our side," Let Israel now say, "Had it not been the Lord who was on our side When men rose up against us, Then they would have swallowed us alive, When their anger was kindled against us; Then the waters would have engulfed us, The stream would have swept over our soul;

2 Then the raging waters would have swept over our soul." Blessed be the LORD, Who has not given us to be torn by their teeth. Our soul has escaped as a bird out of the snare of the trapper; The snare is broken and we have escaped. Our help is in the name of the LORD, Who made heaven and earth. The first thing we notice in this Psalm is its ascription, "A Song of Ascents, of David." This is one of four Psalms ascribed to him (122, 131, 133). Naturally, people have sought to find a specific time in his life where the events in this Psalm line up with his life. This is a good thing to do. It might shed a bit of light on the Psalm itself. But, with this Psalm, it is incredibly difficult to identify any one event about which he writes. The Psalm is simply too broad. It speaks of how God is the one who has delivered the Israelites from defeat. David knew and experienced several times during his life when the hand of the LORD was upon him and so experienced some great military victories. But so did Israel in all her history before David experience great deliverances by the hand of God. And even after David's day, Israel continued to experience God's mighty hand in their victories. Such has continued to this present day. The very existence of the nation of Israel today is a testimony to the mighty hand of God in winning the victory over their enemies. What David may have experienced himself was a principle that carried long after David's time. Indeed, it carries even into our time. Here's the principle of the Psalm: "Victory Belongs to the Lord." Let's look at my first point, What if God was not for us? (verses 1-5) This is the big question asked in verses 1 and 2. Psalm 124:1-2 "Had it not been the LORD who was on our side," Let Israel now say, "Had it not been the LORD who was on our side When men rose up against us, "What if God was not for us? What if God was not on our side?" In verse 1, we see how important it is to ask such a question. David is calling all Israel to ask this question when he says, "Let Israel now say." Psalm 124:2 "Had it not been the LORD who was on our side When men rose up against us, In other words, when under attack from the enemy, let us just suppose that God was not on our side. What would have happened? Such a question is often helpful to ask. It helps you to realize some things that you never thought about before. Some questions are easy to answer. What if there was no gravity? If gravity were somehow "turned off," all planets and stars would explode outwards due to high pressure within their cores. There would be no attraction between masses, and solar systems and galaxies would break apart. The universe would turn into a giant soup of matter. What if there was no moon? It would be darker at night. The tides would be a lot less (although not entirely gone, as the sun still has a tidal effect upon the earth). And Neil Armstrong's life would not have been nearly as exciting as it was. Other questions are more difficult to answer. And there are plenty of questions like this that we don't know the answer to. What if we had lost the Revolutionary War? What if our Civil War had no winner and our nation divided right down the Mason-Dixon line? What if we had never fought the war in Iraq? We can only imagine the answers to these questions. The question here in Psalm 124, however, is this. "What if God was not for us? What if God was not on our side?" This question fall into the "easy" category. Israel knew the answer. The answer comes in verses Psalm 124:3-5 Then they would have swallowed us alive, When their anger was kindled against us; Then the waters would have engulfed us, The stream would have swept over our soul; Then the raging waters would have swept over our soul."

3 In other words, we would have been sunk (pun intended). David describes Israel without the Lord as deep in the waters. Notice the pictures of flooding waters. Verse 4 says, "the waters would have engulfed us." That is, the waters would have fully surrounded us and enveloped us. Continuing in verse 4 we read, "the stream would have swept over our soul." Here the picture is extended. Rather than merely being surrounded by the waters, now we are underneath them. They sweep over our soul; they take our very lives. And in verse 5, "the raging waters would have swept over our soul." Again, the picture is extended. The waters are now more violent. They are "raging" or (as the KJV translates literally), they are "proud waters." That's it -- they gain the victory! If God had not been for Israel, such would have been their fate! They would have been drowned into the sea. One of the greatest pictures of this took place in the days of the Exodus. Do you remember the days when Israel was in slavery in Egypt? They were oppressed by the Egyptians. They were forced to do hard labor for the Egyptians. They felt their bondage. We read in Exodus 2, "... the sons of Israel sighed because of the bondage, and they cried out; and their cry for help because of their bondage rose up to God. So God heard their groaning; and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. God saw the sons of Israel, and God took notice of them" (Ex. 2:23-25). The entire story of the Exodus is a story of God's hand delivering the Jews from slavery in Egypt. God brought 10 plagues upon the Egyptians. Each of them were unique and a demonstration of His power. God stopped the plagues at the exact time when Moses said that it would stop. God "made a mockery of the Egyptians" (Ex. 10:2). Ultimately God delivered the Jews from slavery. He did so in such a way that it was obvious that it was the LORD who gained the victory. But one scene in particular comes as close to Psalm 124 than any place in the rest of the Bible. It came at the Red Sea. Because of the death of his son, Pharaoh told Israel to leave the land. But, "The LORDhardened the heart of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and he chased after the sons of Israel" (Ex. 14:8). Now, it happened, that Israel was camping in front of Baal-zephon, by the sea (Ex. 14:2). The LORD had led them there (Ex. 14:1-2). And when Pharaoh and his army came to Israel, Israel was trapped. Pharaoh's army was in front of them. The Red Sea was behind them. But, God was on their side. Let me read the story from Exodus 14: Exodus 14:19-31 The angel of God, who had been going before the camp of Israel, moved and went behind them; and the pillar of cloud moved from before them and stood behind them. So it came between the camp of Egypt and the camp of Israel; and there was the cloud along with the darkness, yet it gave light at night. Thus the one did not come near the other all night. Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the Lord swept the sea back by a strong east wind all night and turned the sea into dry land, so the waters were divided. The sons of Israel went through the midst of the sea on the dry land, and the waters were like a wall to them on their right hand and on their left. Then the Egyptians took up the pursuit, and all Pharaoh's horses, his chariots and his horsemen went in after them into the midst of the sea. At the morning watch, the Lord looked down on the army of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and cloud and brought the army of the Egyptians into confusion. He caused their chariot wheels to swerve, and He made them drive with difficulty; so the Egyptians said, "Let us flee from Israel, for the Lord is fighting for them against the Egyptians." Then the Lord said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand over the sea so that the waters may come back over the Egyptians, over their chariots and their horsemen." So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to its normal state at daybreak, while the Egyptians were fleeing right into it; then the Lord overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea. The waters returned and covered the chariots and the horsemen, even Pharaoh's entire army that had gone into the sea after them; not even one of them remained. But the sons of Israel walked on dry land through the midst of the sea, and the waters were like a wall to them on their right hand and on their left. Thus the Lord saved Israel that day from the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. When Israel saw the great power which the Lord had used against the Egyptians, the people feared the Lord, and they believed in the Lord and in His servant Moses. Clearly, the LORD was for Israel. Now, I ask you, what would have happened if the LORD was not on Israel's side? We don't know exactly what would have happened, but all of the results would have been bad. The Egyptians would have captured them, or the Egyptians would have killed them, or they would have drowned in the Red Sea. Sounds a lot like verses 3-5, doesn't it? Psalm 124:3-5 Then they would have swallowed us alive, When their anger was kindled against us; Then the waters would have engulfed us, The stream would have swept over our soul; Then the raging waters would have swept over our soul." David may have been referring to this event with this Psalm. But, I think that David's view in this Psalm was much larger than merely the onetime rescue from the Red Sea.

4 From the beginning of David's life, until the end, David knew that "Victory Belongs to the Lord". Do you remember when David defeated Goliath? (1 Samuel 17). How did he do it? On his own strength? Or, was it God's sovereign hand? Listen to David's own testimony when he prepared to fight Goliath, "The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of the Philistine" (1 Samuel 17:37). Indeed, that's what happened. The LORD gave David the victory. Don't ever think that when David slung that first stone, he was lucky to hit Golaith upon the forehead. God's hand was upon David. God's hand was upon the sling. God's hand was upon the trajectory of the stone. And it hit right where God had intended it to hit! As David had anticipated, the LORD delivered Israel that day (1 Sam. 17:37). That was the first of many military victories in David's life. Listen to David's testimony near the end of his life. 2 Samuel 22:1-7, And David spoke the words of this song to the Lord in the day that the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. He said, "The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold and my refuge; My savior, You save me from violence. "I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised, And I am saved from my enemies. "For the waves of death encompassed me; The torrents of destruction overwhelmed me; The cords of Sheol surrounded me; The snares of death confronted me. "In my distress I called upon the Lord, Yes, I cried to my God; And from His temple He heard my voice, And my cry for help came into His ears.... "He sent from on high, He took me; He drew me out of many waters. "He delivered me from my strong enemy, From those who hated me, for they were too strong for me. All of David's victories came by the hand of the Lord. Do you hear the flood language? (verses 5, 17). It shows us that David has far more in mind in Psalm 124 than merely being saved from drowning. When he thought of the wicked coming up against Him, He knew that the wicked came upon him like waters. Isaiah says, "The wicked are like the tossing sea, For it cannot be quiet, And its waters toss up refuse and mud. 'There is no peace,' says my God, 'for the wicked.'" (Isaiah 57:20-21). The wicked come to ambush and flood their enemies. David used this flooding metaphor to describe how the enemies came upon him. David also used this flooding metaphor to describe how he won victories as well. In 2 Samuel 5, the story is recorded of how David had just taken Jerusalem and was anointed king over Israel (2 Samuel 5:17). So "the Philistines came and spread themselves out in the valley of Rephaim" as a display of their military strength (2 Samuel 5:18). 2 Samuel 5:19 And David inquired of the LORD, "Shall I go up against the Philistines? Will you give them into my hand?" And the LORD said to David, "Go up, for I will certainly give the Philistines into your hand." And with the LORD on his side,... 2 Samuel 5:20 David came to Baal-perazim, and David defeated them there. Then, listen to what David said, "The LORD has broken through my enemies before me like a breaking flood" (2 Samuel 5:20). In other words, David felt as if he flooded his enemies. This imagery shows that these verses in Psalm 124 don't merely need to be taken literally. You will search your Bibles in vain for a time in which David was near the sea and close to being physically drowned. Remember, Psalm 124 is poetry. These words can be taken figuratively, just as we see David speaking figuratively of a flood in 2 Samuel 5. In fact, you even get the sense from these words, that it should be metaphorical. You have water sweeping over your soul in verses 4 and 5. Water sweeps over your body, not your soul. And the question this morning is this, What if God was not for us? (verses 1-5) David says, "We would have been defeated!" But, things change in verse 6. This is the great reality for Israel. This is the great reality for us

5 as well. Look at verse 6,... Psalm 124:6-8 Blessed be the LORD, Who has not given us to be torn by their teeth. Our soul has escaped as a bird out of the snare of the trapper; The snare is broken and we have escaped. Our help is in the name of the Lord, Who made heaven and earth. These verses are a call to praise the LORD for his delivering mercies. 2. Praise the LORD! He is for us. (verses 6-8). This is the great reason why we come here each Sunday -- to celebrate this fact. Paul said it this way in Romans 8:31-32,... Romans 8:31-32 If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things? This is the hope that we have in Jesus! God is for us! God gave His son to us. Thereby, will he not freely give us all things? Indeed, "Victory Belongs to the Lord." Israel knew this. There were many times when Israel was under threat of being torn asunder (verse 6). And there were many times throughout Israel's history in which they were trapped like a bird (verse 7). There were many times throughout Israel's history in which the LORD helped them to gain the victory (verse 8). These pictures in verses 6 and 7 are pictures of desperation. The lion is about to pounce and rip you to shreds with his teeth. The trapper has laid his trap, and you are in it like a caged bird, awaiting the hunter's return! But, the LORD comes and breaks the snare (verse 7b). The LORD comes and sets us free (verse 7b). This is the story of the history of Israel. Do you remember when Israel fought against Amalek? (Exodus 17) Things were not looking well. But, when Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed (Ex. 17:11). But, when Moses let his hand down, Amalek prevailed (Ex. 17:11). It wasn't some magical power in Moses' hands. It was the LORD demonstrating that the victory was the LORD's. Do you remember Jericho? (Joshua 2). The Israelites merely marched around the city for seven days. Afterwards, they blew trumpets and the wall came down. Clearly, the victory was the LORD's. Do you remember when Joshua led the Israelites to Gibeon to fight against the Amorites? As the Amorites fled before Israel, "the LORDthrew large stones from heaven on them,... and they died. [In fact] there were more who died from the hailstones than those whom the sons of Israel killed with the sword" (Joshua 10:11). The victory was the LORD's. Do you remember when the sun stood still in the valley of Aijalon? (Joshua 10:12-13). God lengthened the day and so, we read that "the LORDfought for Israel" (Joshua 10:14). The victory was the LORD's. Do you remember the days of the judges? Whenever Israel forsook the LORD, they were defeated by their enemies. But, whenever Israel repented and returned to the LORD, "then the LORD raised up judges who delivered them from the hands of those who plundered them" (Judges 2:16). Over and over again this happened. When the sons of Israel cried to the LORD, He raised up Othniel to deliver them (Judges 3:9). But, when Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD, their enemies prevailed (Judges 3:12-14). When the sons of Israel cried to the LORD, He raised up Ehud, who delivered Israel from the Eglon king of Moab (Judges 3:15-30). Quickly on his heals was Shamgar, "who struck down six hundred Philistines with an oxgoad; and he also saved Israel" (Judges 3:31). But, soon afterwards, "the sons of Israel again did evil in the sight of the LORD, after Ehud died" (Judges 4:1). When the sons of Israel cried out to the LORD, he sent Deborah and Barak to deliver them from their enemies (Judges 4-5). But, again, "the sons of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the LORD; and the LORD gave them into the hands of Midian" (Judges 6:1). When the sons of Israel cried out to the LORD, God raised up Gideon to deliver them from the hands of the Midianites (Judges 6:7ff). The same thing happened with the other judges, Tola and Jair and Jephthah and Ibzan and Elon and Abdon and Samson (Judges 10-16). The book of Judges is about this theme: The victory is the LORD's. David knew of all of these things. And he calls Israel to praise the LORD. But, there would be victories in the future of which David knew nothing. On Mount Carmel, Elijah was up against 450 prophets of Baal and 400 prophets of the Asherah (1 Kings 18:19). He was trapped. But, the LORDgained the victory of Mount Carmel, by bringing down fire upon Elijah's altar (1 Kings 18). The LORD protected Elijah from Jezebel, by

6 providing a hiding place in Horeb for 40 days (1 Kings 19) Or, how about the days when Sennacherib came up against Israel. Hezekiah was saying, "The LORD will deliver us!" (2 Kings 18:32). But, Rabshakeh, Sennacherib's messenger, came and cried out to the to those in Judah,... 2 Kings 18:28-35 "Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria. Thus says the king, 'Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he will not be able to deliver you from my hand; nor let Hezekiah make you trust in the Lord, saying, "The Lord will surely deliver us, and this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria."... Has any one of the gods of the nations delivered his land from the hand of the king of Assyria? Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena and Ivvah? Have they delivered Samaria from my hand? Who among all the gods of the lands have delivered their land from my hand, that the Lord should deliver Jerusalem from my hand?'" In other words, "You are trapped! Your God can't deliver you! We are coming to destroy you. So surrender." But, the LORDdelivered Judah from Sennacherib, by slaying 185,000 warriors in one night (2 Kings 19:35ff). "Victory Belongs to the Lord!" And you may not always see it. Do you remember when the king of Aram came against Israel? "An army with horses and chariot was circling Samaria" (2 Kings 6:15). Elisha's servant was filled with fear. He said to Elisha, "Alas, my master! What shall we do?" (2 Kings 6:15). Elisha said, "Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them" (2 Kings 6:16). And then he prayed, "O LORD, I pray, open his eyes that he may see" (2 Kings 6:17). "... and the LORD opened the servant's eyes and he saw; and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha" (2 Kings 6:17). "When they came down to him, Elisha prayed to the Lord and said, 'Strike this people with blindness, I pray.' So He struck them with blindness according to the word of Elisha" (2 Kings 6:18). Who won the victory that day? Was it not the LORD? Why did Elisha have no fear? Because he knew that "Victory Belongs to the Lord." Now, what about you? What was true of Israel is also true for every believer in Jesus Christ. Are you worshiping the Lord this morning? Can you say, "Praise the LORD! He is for us" (verses 6-8)? Do you remember what took place in the early church? Peter and John were speaking boldly to all the people in Jerusalem. Thousands were repenting of their sins and coming to Christ. "The Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved" (Acts 2:47). At one point, Peter and John were arrested. They stood before the unbelieving Jewish council, who was trying to figure out what to know what to do with these two "preachers." The council had already told them "speak no longer to any man in [the] name [of Jesus]" (Acts 4:18). But, Peter and John said, "We cannot stop speaking about the things that we have seen and heard" (Acts 4:20). Gamaliel stood up and spoke better than he knew. He said,... Acts 5:35-39 "Men of Israel, take care what you propose to do with these men. For some time ago Theudas rose up, claiming to be somebody, and a group of about four hundred men joined up with him. But he was killed, and all who followed him were dispersed and came to nothing. After this man, Judas of Galilee rose up in the days of the census and drew away some people after him; he too perished, and all those who followed him were scattered. So in the present case, I say to you, stay away from these men and let them alone, for if this plan or action is of men, it will be overthrown; but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them; or else you may even be found fighting against God." And the counsel followed Gamaliel's advice. They flogged them. They ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus. And then they released them (Acts 5:40). And what happened? You read through the book of Acts, and you come across statements like this: "The word of God kept on spreading; and the number of the disciples continued to increase greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were becoming obedient to the faith" (Acts 6:7). "The word of the Lord continued to grow and to be multiplied" (Acts 12:24). "The churches were being strengthened in the faith and were increasing in number daily" (Acts 16:5). "The word of the Lord was growing mightily and prevailing" (Acts 19:20). Why did God's word have such an impact upon the society in that day? Because God was with the church. This is the great reality that we have in Psalm "God is for us." And if He wasn't, we would be sunk! We read of God being for us in Ephesians, chapter 2,... Ephesians 2:1-5 And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), See it in verse 4? "But God"! God is for us!

7 Do you remember what Paul wrote to the Corinthians (in chapter 15)? 1 Corinthians 15:12-19 Now if Christ is preached, that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, not even Christ has been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain. Moreover we are even found to be false witnesses of God, because we testified against God that He raised Christ, whom He did not raise, if in fact the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied. "Had it not been the Lord who was on our side", then Christ Jesus would never have been raised from the dead. And if Christ Jesus had never been raised from the dead, then we are of all men most to be pitied. But, the good news comes in 1 Corinthians 15:20: "But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep." And this is the hope that we have as believers in Christ. As Christ was raised from the dead, so too will we be raised from the dead. Listen, church family, God is for us! He is Emmanuel. He is with us. He died in our place. He is for us! He is worthy of our praise. Praise the LORD! He is for us. (verses 6-8). This sermon was delivered to Rock Valley Bible Church on May 26, 2013 by Steve Brandon. For more information see