"Our Help Is In The Name Of The LORD" Psalm 124

A few years ago, I think Nora was just like a toddler, so it was a while back.

! I put together a basketball team for a rec league and recruited a friend who played at the college level a few years before that.

And he said yes, he joined our team. It was incredible.

The league was well below his skill level, but he wanted to hang out with his friends.

And so he jumped on the team.

I mean, a few of us played high school ball, but really, we were rec league players, and he certainly was not.

And when he arrived, it was very clear that we would not lose.

We were blowing out teams, and because for this one individual, you can't turn off the competitive switch.

I think it was torn out years ago.

The competition got fierce, and he would just torch guys.

It became very clear how good he was for our team when he didn't play, I think, for two or three straight games, and we lost those games.

And then he came back, and we ended up winning the league, and we got a t-shirt as a trophy, which is like the worst possible trophy.

But a championship's a championship, and we wore them with a lot of glee.

It was an awesome year, and it was a great example of how having the right person on your team is really the difference between victory and defeat.

It really is.

It's the same case in a work environment.

If you have somebody who lifts everybody up, you feel like you can't lose.

You feel like victory is ever close.

I bring up that story as we get into Psalm 124.

We continue on in this series on the Psalms of Ascent.

We come to this beautiful psalm, Psalm 124.

It's a Thanksgiving psalm that David wrote as the pilgrims are, they would head up to Jerusalem, and they would sing this song,

remembering their rescue from near disaster at the hands of fierce and death-obsessed enemies.

We'll see this in a bit.

The Israelites had no hope of winning against their enemies.

But soon as God joined their team, the equation changed.

God was on their side, fighting their battle.

He would be the one who would come to their defense, and it changed everything.

This psalm provides us with a comfort and reassurance that when God is on our side,

whether or not we feel him, victory is ours.

It reminds us that God truly understands our human fragility,

for why would he join and fight for our battles if we could fight our own battles?

He knows we are small.

He knows we are weak.

He knows that we can feel overwhelmed by pressures and sicknesses and temptations, opposition.

And the wonderful and comforting thing about this is that he does not scold us for these struggles.

Instead, he's assuring us in this psalm that we can look to him, for he is on our side.

He is a part of our team.

And like, you know, like an infinitely greater way,

this is exactly the type of situation we had years ago with this basketball team.

We have the right player on the team.

The championship is ours.

The victory is ours.

It's guaranteed.

So we're going to just jump right into this psalm this morning.

If you have a Bible, turn with me to Psalm 124.

We still have a couple of Bibles at the back welcome table,

so feel free to get up at any time to grab one and follow along.

So we'll jump right into it.

And to understand this reality of having the right person on our team assuring us victory,

we're going to take a look at Psalm 124,

and we're going to break it up in the following way.

Verses 1 to 5, we're going to look at the immensity of danger.

Verses 6 to 7, the enormity of deliverance.

And finally, verse 8.

And this is really, I mean, again, write this on a cue card, put it on your wall,

on your fridge, on your bathroom mirror,

because it talks about the greatness of God.

We'll jump right into it.

Verses 1 to 5.

Let me read this section again.

A song of ascents of David.

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

Let Israel now say,

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

when the people rose up against us,

then they would have swallowed us up alive.

When their anger was kindled against us,

then the flood would have swept us away.

The torrent would have gone over us.

Then over us would have gone the raging water.

We have this picture of these pilgrims going up to Jerusalem.

They are being led in song by this cantor.

And you can picture him beginning the song,

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

And maybe the voices are a bit quiet.

So he goes,

Let Israel say,

In a booming, big cantor voice.

Let Israel say,

If it had not been for the Lord who was on our side.

The foes of Israel,

they're formidable.

Their strength is significant.

Their threat was very real.

Utter destruction seemed guaranteed.

But the Lord was on their side.

And if he had not been on our side,

then certain defeat would have happened.

And here David in this psalm

is going to use this series of if-then statements.

You'll do that three times.

If the Lord had not been on our side,

then we would have been crushed by our enemies.

You see this starting at verse 3,

really starting at verse 2,

verse 3 right at the beginning,

verse 4 and verse 5.

In addition to these if-then statements,

David uses five analogies.

Not all five are in this first section.

They continue on in verse 6 and 7.

But he uses these five descriptors,

or these five metaphors, rather,

to describe the enemies.

There's a landslide,

or a giant crack of an earthquake

that opens up,

that swallows up the nation.

There's a raging fire.

There's anger that is kindled.

There's a flood that's described.

Later on in verse 6,

David describes a wild beast

with sharp teeth

that tears and rips

and maims.

And then finally,

in verse 7,

there's a description

of a trap that is set.

The idea behind it

is that there is a hunter

that is prowling

to take the life

of God's people.

And what you have,

if you put all of these together,

is this image

of this larger-than-life problem

that completely dwarfs

Israel's ability

to fight back.

They are weak.

They are powerless.

There is a real danger.

And they lack any hope

in their own strength.

So here's the question.

If these enemies are horrific,

who are the foes of Israel?

And what should be

our stance before them?

Before we try to answer

this question,

I want to just take

a bit of an aside,

and I think it's important

for us,

important aside

for us to consider.

We're Western Christians,

okay?

We live in the West.

We enjoy

what we think

is a normal life,

but has been

like an anomaly

in human existence.

We have

unbelievable bounty.

We don't fear

for our lives.

We do not have

enemy tribes

at our doorstep

threatening our existence.

That's not the case

for other Christians.

Christians that live

in Muslim-majority countries,

not all Muslim-majority countries,

but many,

they have to be

very careful

with the way

they practice

their faith.

They can't be open

in the same way

that we are.

There's no madrasas

renting out

their gyms,

so to speak,

for churches

like we are here.

There's also

our brothers and sisters

that struggle

under communist rule.

A heavy hand

of the state

upon them.

There's also

our dear,

dear brothers

and sisters

in the northern part

of Nigeria

who live

under a constant fear

of their churches

being torched,

their women

and daughters

being kidnapped.

It is

a tough thing

to be a Christian

outside of the West.

So we can be

a bit quick

when we read this

to look for

the metaphors,

so to speak.

What are our enemies?

Who are our enemies?

What kind of things

do we struggle with?

By the way,

all really important things

to think about

as we're considering

the psalm.

But let us not move

towards that

too quickly

without first

considering that

we are the minority

of Christians

in the world

and we have dear,

dear brothers and sisters

across the world

that need our prayers

and need our support

who read this psalm

much differently

than we do.

Back to the text.

That's my little aside.

Pray for the persecuted church.

Back to the text.

So who are the enemies

that we face today?

They are enemies

of God's people

and therefore

they're enemies

of God himself.

There's even this little

clever play on words

in the original language

where David,

he talks about

those that are

against us

and God

who is for us.

There's a little

rhyming word,

a bit of an alliteration

where God

on our side

is contrasted

with those

that are not

on our side.

And what is clear

is that

there are two sides

to this battle.

Some are on

God's side,

they are called

by him

and they are calling

him Lord

and others are not.

So whether

they seek to

physically destroy

God's people

or simply oppose

them,

they are considered

enemies of God.

Generally speaking,

they include

those that practice

pagan idolatry,

those that are

godless,

polytheists,

and then heretical

distortions of

Christianity.

It can also include

powers and governments

that try to

oppress and

oppose

the worship

of God's people.

and the thing

that we can

often overlook,

the sin that

is left to

fester within

the church

that destroys

fellowship.

Suffice it to

say that

the enemies

that we face

are legion.

They come in

all sorts of

different shapes

and sizes

both outside of

the church

and within

the church.

But the common

denominator with

all of them

is that they

oppose

Jesus as

Lord

and they

seek to

disrupt the

worship

that we

engage in

on a Sunday

morning and

throughout the

weeks.

Us and

them.

You know,

this is something,

again,

generally speaking,

it's not

something that

we,

that kind of

discourse we

engage in

here in

Canada.

We won

our nationhood

at a negotiating

table,

not on a

battlefield.

All right?

Very polite

way to

make a

country.

So we

are a

country that

right in

its DNA

is generally

very conciliatory.

We look for

commonalities,

we look for

negotiations,

we don't

necessarily look

to have an

us versus

them mindset.

It can be

off-putting for

us.

And this is a

great advantage,

by the way,

I'm not trying

to disparage

this at all,

it's a great

advantage.

It's a peace

loving advantage.

It is

recognizing that

war or

disagreements can

lead to war

and war to

death.

However,

it becomes a

liability rather

than a strength

when it

causes us to

ignore real

problems and

real issues.

When we

fail to see

that there is

a threat

because we

can build

bridges no

matter what.

So building

bridges are

good,

but not

when the

threat is

so big.

Sometimes it's

a very loving

and godly

thing to

oppose people

that oppose

God or

oppose peace

or people

that oppose

the prosperity

in kind of

the biggest

sense of

the term

of the

general

public.

St.

Augustine,

this is his

kind of big

thing with

just war,

that a war

entered into

justly is a

loving act.

something that

we don't

really talk

about or

consider or

maybe we

even disagree

with.

I bring that

up to say

that sometimes

it's important

that we discuss

us versus

them.

Not from

this moral

superiority

place,

but rather

just to

recognize that

there's real

good,

there's real

evil.

But we

would be

equally foolish

if we forgot

that ultimately

our enemies

are spiritual.

for Israel

the threat

was indeed

the Philistines.

A lot of

commentators

would,

even though

it's not

specified in

Psalm 124,

they connect

it to

2 Samuel 5

right after

David is

inaugurated as

king,

the Philistines

come to

destroy Israel.

So they'll

connect it to

that,

but really

it's left

a bit

ambiguous

as to

the context.

But nevertheless,

for Israel

the threat

was indeed

the Philistines

who's also

other nations

as well.

But more

than that,

the threat

wasn't just

the people

that opposed

them,

but it was

the evil

darkness

that shaped

the Philistine

ideology and

religion.

So it was a

spiritual battle.

It always has

been a spiritual

battle against

God's people.

The Apostle Paul

reminds us as

much in his

letter to the

Ephesians in

chapter 6.

If you've been

connected to church

for any amount

of time,

this will be

familiar to you.

It's right in

the context of

Paul talking

about the

armor of

God and

he says

in verse

12

chapter 6,

For we do

not wrestle

against flesh

and blood,

but against

the rulers,

against the

authorities,

against the

cosmic powers

over the

present darkness,

against the

spiritual forces

of evil in

the heavenly

places.

Paul is saying,

listen,

there are

enemies,

but the real

enemy,

they are the

people that are

behind the

scenes,

the spiritual

forces that

look to destroy

God's people.

So our

struggle isn't

against any

specific person

in our lives

who, say,

doesn't share

our faith.

This isn't a

call to pray

imprecatory

psalms that

are psalms of

condemnation and

vengeance upon

our neighbor

who might be

Sikh or is

an atheist.

They're nice

people, but this

isn't saying,

like, listen,

go look for

enemies.

This isn't a

call for us

to break

off every

tie with a

family member

or co-worker

who is

affirming.

As if we

could just

simply avoid

such people

to remove

the threat

when the

reality is,

and we'll

get to this

in a bit,

we ourselves

are enemies,

or at least

we were,

but continue

on as enemies

of God

in ways

when we

engage with

sin and

temptation,

and we

seek to

disrupt the

worship of

God's people.

The Apostle

Paul reminds

us that

fighting flesh

and blood

is not the

real battlefield.

Instead,

the fight is

supernatural.

It's spiritual,

rather,

and our

spiritual foe

is much

stronger than

our flesh

and blood

foe.

So that is

why Paul and

David point

us toward

the Lord

as the one

who will

ensure our

victory over

our enemies.

again,

if you

continue

reading in

Ephesians

Ephesians 6 · chapter mention

chapter 6,

Paul is

saying,

listen,

put on the

whole armor

of God,

which is to

say,

put your

faith and

trust and

hope and

security in

God.

Don't try to

fight against

these spiritual

forces.

David here

is saying

essentially the

same thing.

this is a

truth that we

need to be

reminded of

often,

for we can

easily forget

that as

God's people

and therefore

either we

take credit

for our

present

fortunes

or we

fall into

despair when

the next

threat arrives.

We'll get

into the

second point,

the enormity

of the

deliverance.

So if

that is

the

immensity

of the

danger that

we face,

let's take

a look at

the enormity

of the

deliverance,

verses 6

and 7.

Blessed be

the Lord

who has

not given

us as

prey to

their teeth.

We have

escaped like

a bird from

the snare

of the

fowlers.

The snare

is broken

and we

have

escaped.

We've

already

touched on

these two

images in

the section,

that of a

ferocious

beast looking

to tear

and to

maim

and to

rip apart

and also

this cunning

hunter that

looks to

trap and

destroy.

Once again,

the imagery

is of

complete

helplessness.

In fact,

what's implied

in verse 7

is that we

were like

a bird

already in

the snare

of the

fowler.

We were

already

caught

before God

rescued us.

The image

that came to

mind in

terms of

our

hopelessness

was the

scene in

the first

Jurassic Park,

which really

is the

only Jurassic

Park,

where that

chained up

goat is

lowered into

the T-Rex

enclosure,

and that's

where I'll

end it.

The goat

stood no

chance.

It might

have had

a horn.

What's

it going

to do?

It's

like us.

This is

the imagery

that David

is communicating

to the

people.

You had

no chance.

I mean,

zero chance

of fighting

back and

getting victory.

So,

interestingly

then,

and rightly,

the focus

is not

on the

frailty

of God's

people or

even the

size of

the enemy,

but rather

on the

vastness

of God's

deliverance.

The Lord,

recalling his

promises and

his love as

a father

towards his

children,

he thwarts

the enemy's

schemes by

turning the

tables so

that the

enemy is

defeated by

the very

plans it

has

cunningly

devised.

So,

I've mentioned

2 Samuel 5

and this is

why a lot

of commentators

would connect

it and I'll

read a portion

of it briefly,

but in the

same way

that Israel's

enemies

overtake them

like a

rushing flood

or like a

torrent

overtaking

the people,

see if you

can pick up

in 2 Samuel 5,

I'm only going

to read four

verses here,

but how the

Lord then

delivers God's

people from

the Philistines

starting in

verse 17.

When the

Philistines heard

that David

had been

anointed king

over Israel,

all the

Philistines went

up to search

for David,

but David

heard of it

and went

down to

the stronghold.

Now the

Philistines had

come and spread

out in the

valley of

Rephaim,

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 David

came to

Baal

Perazim,

and David

defeated them

there,

and he

said,

quote,

here it is,

the Lord

has broken

through my

enemies before

me like a

breaking flood.

So here's

the deliverance

of God on

display.

God's enemies

are like a

flood trying to

sweep away

God's people,

and what does

God do?

He breaks

them like a

bursting flood.

God.

They try to

wipe out

God's people,

so God

defeats them

in the same

way that they

were trying to

defeat his

people.

And this

pattern appears

throughout

scripture.

The story

of,

in Judges

of Gideon

opposing the

Midianites,

the Midianites

they are

described as

locusts covering

a vast area

ready to devour

everything in

their path,

and how does

God defeat

them?

He causes

them to

consume each

other.

Or think

about how

Haman,

and I think

I might have

mentioned this

last week or

the week

before,

Haman,

evil Haman,

he sought

to destroy

the Jews

in the book

of Esther,

so he erects

this massive

gallow to

hang them,

and what

happens to

him?

He gets

hanged on

his own

gallows.

Time and

again,

scripture

shows us

that this is

how God

delivers his

people.

So it

is no

surprise

then for

the ultimate

enemy,

Christ Jesus

defeats death

through death.

He robs

hell of its

ultimate power

so that for

those that are

in Christ,

confessing their

faith and trust

and hope in

Jesus,

the only death

we will experience

is physical,

not spiritual,

because Christ

takes away the

power of death

by dying and

rising again.

He defeats

death by death.

death.

And even at

the end of

the age,

and this

really,

like all of

the Psalms

of Ascent,

they look

much past

the salvation

of the

current moment,

but to the

ultimate salvation

of the age

to come.

And even at

the end of

the age,

this cosmic

conflict will

conclude with

Satan being

cast into

eternal

torment.

it's a very

fitting punishment

for the accuser

of God's people

who seek to

torment God's

people.

He will be

tormented in

the same way

that he seeks

to torment us.

So here's the

thing, we don't

give God the

game plan for

victory.

We simply

align our lives

to trust him

to win.

Trusting in him

means not

building contingency

plans just in

case he doesn't

come through.

Alright?

That is not

trusting in God.

That's hedging

our bets.

That might be a

very good thing

for other

times and in

other situations

but not as

we engage in

a life of

faith with

Almighty God.

It means

trusting him

wholeheartedly

for the

victory and

friends, he

will win.

Why?

Because he has

won in the

past and he

is unchanging.

We can trust

that God will

deliver us because

he has been,

because it has

been the pattern

of his interaction

with his people

throughout all of

redemptive history.

He is unchanging

and therefore we

can rely on

our ultimate

teammate, so to

speak, to come

through when the

game is on the

line.

And the stakes

are very high

and they are

extremely high.

And this is not

because he is

slightly stronger

than those who

oppose us, but

because he is

infinitely greater

and strong.

And this leads us

to our third and

final point, the

greatness of God.

Look with me at

verse 8.

Our help is in

the name of the

Lord who made

heaven and

earth.

The cry even to

this day of the

Jewish people, but

all throughout the

Old Testament as

well, was something

called the Shema

or the listen.

We say it every

Sunday.

The Lord our God,

the Lord is one.

It is this

declaration of who

God is.

this is like in

verse 8, this is

kind of in this

category of

affirming who

God is and what

he is capable of

and his posture

towards us.

Our help is in

the name of the

Lord who made

heaven and earth.

In our fight

against evil,

whether it is

inside the church

or outside the

church, we must

trust in the

maker, not in

created things.

The invisible

help from the

Lord is more

reliable and

powerful than

the most advanced

equipment or

ideas that claim

to solve our

deepest human

problems.

And again, this

is something we

embrace by faith.

Okay?

The invisible

hand of God is

certainly there.

We do not see it.

And the whole

kind of MO of

the enemy is to

convince us either

that there is no

invisible hand at

work in our lives

or that the hand is

weak and frail.

And we can have

at it ourselves.

When we deny or

forget that God is

the creator of

everything, we

inevitably, what do

we do?

We inevitably try to

build our own

paradise, fix our

own problems, achieve

our own heavens by

creating something

that is not good or

beautiful.

It only is twisted

and ugly.

About a month

ago, Peter Thiel,

if you've heard

this name, he's

like an early

venture capitalist.

I think he might

have been the

first outside

investor in

Facebook.

And I think he

founded PayPal, a

few other things.

Like he's a bit of

a big deal when it

comes to venture

capitalism.

And he's become a

bit of like a

futurist, so to

speak.

And he was

interviewed by a

columnist, a man

named Ross

Douthit, to discuss

technology, medicine,

AI, post-modernity.

It was like this

long, sprawling, a

bit kind of unhinged

conversation.

Very interesting, but

like all over the

place.

And eventually, the

topic of immortality

was talked about.

But not from a

biblical point of

view, but from a

naturalistic,

evolutionary, and

technological

perspective,

completely devoid

from God.

Even though the

conversation kind of

swirled around Jesus

and God, it was

very much an

anti-God

conversation.

And really, the

conversation was

about, can we, as

human beings, do we

have the ability to

eliminate all disease

and even death

itself so that we

would live forever?

Can we achieve this

by our own

ingenuity?

I tried to pick the

pertinent bits.

Again, it's like this

sprawling conversation,

conversation, but

here, this is a

little excerpt from

the discussion.

By the way, Douthit

is a very committed,

pretty conservative

Roman Catholic.

Thiel is not.

Douthit begins,

I think you would

prefer the human race

to endure, right?

Pause.

Douthit, you're

hesitating.

Thiel, well, I don't

know, I would, I

would, and he's

mumbling at this

point.

Douthit, he goes,

this is a long

hesitation.

Thiel goes, there's

so many questions

implicit in this.

Douthit, should the

human race survive?

And he's really

pressing him if you

listen to the audio.

Should the human race

survive?

Yes.

Okay.

And then Thiel here,

but I would like us

to radically solve

these problems.

This is them just

talking about

Alzheimer's and

dementia, but a

bigger conversation.

So, but I also

would like us to

radically solve these

problems.

And so it's

always, I don't

know, yeah, a

transhumanism.

The ideal was this

radical transformation

where your human

natural body gets

transformed into an

immortal body.

Just prior to this,

we were talking

about uploading our

mind into computers

and it was a bit

bananas.

Anyways, this guy's a

futurist.

It's worth a listen

if you have an hour

to just blow and

kind of let your

mind get fried a

little bit.

But it struck me

that there's no

denying that there's

real problems at

hand, that there's

real enemies that

we're facing.

Death is one of

them.

But what happens

when God is no

longer the creator

of heaven and

earth and our

help is not in

him?

I mean, we're

still going to try

to solve these

problems.

They're still

problems.

They don't cease

to be problems.

But we're going to

try to solve them

by our own

ingenuity.

And I mean, the

best that we

have here, this

futurist, is

talking about some

kind of weird

form of a

cyborg and

uploading our

minds to a

mainframe and

transcending what

it means to be

human.

The whole idea of

transhumanism.

This is what

dystopian movies and

horror movies are

made of.

This is the plot

line of some

really crazy

dystopian novels.

The point is

this.

There is no

good, viable

second place

when it comes to

solving the real

enemies in our

lives.

There's just

nothing.

There is no

other pool of

free agents

where if God is

unavailable, we

can just pick

somebody that's not

quite God but he's

alright or she's

alright to get on

our squad and

fight our battles.

There is no

second place.

There is no

alternative.

There is no

contingency.

We try to solve

these problems by

ourselves, we will

create a hellscape,

not a heaven.

The alternative

perspective is that

God is the creator

of everything.

And because he

created from

nothing and did

not need to

create, he

created out of

eternal love

within the

Godhead, Father,

Son and Holy

Spirit.

And he loves his

creation and the

thing is you

seek to protect

and nurture and

grow and provide

for the things you

love.

That's just what you

do with things you

love and people you

love.

Therefore we can

never separate God's

creative power from

his power to save.

This is what David

and Israel are

confessing here in

verse 8.

And all of verse

124 and really the

entirety of the

Bible and salvation

and redemption.

It is all for

nothing if verse

8 does not

exist.

Such a confession

removes any false

pride and hope and

self-congratulations.

And this is for our

benefit.

It forces us to

admit that the

ultimate power in

the universe is

not us but is

God but also that

he is on our

side working and

willing to grant

us salvation from

death and the

ability to live the

life of faith he

has called us to

live.

Nothing is beyond

the reach of the

one who created

heaven and earth.

So as we wrap

this up we have to

ask the question

are we on Christ's

side?

Throughout the

Bible there is

lots of verses that

talk about assurance

of salvation but

there's also many

other verses that

say listen work out

your salvation with

fear and trembling

which is to say

do not take for

granted that just

because you go to

church and you go

through motions and

we all go through

motions at times and

we do the religious

things that you are

saved.

Have you as a

former enemy or a

current one have you

laid down your

weapons and

surrendered?

Have you seen the

gospel as a

beautiful beautiful

gift?

not as a threat

but rather do you

cry out to Christ

himself for mercy

and when you do

that it's not as

though he will

stroke his chin

and ponder is he

worthy is he not

worthy?

That's not the way

the economics of

salvation works.

Instead if we put

our faith in him

and cry out to

mercy he will give

us mercy.

He will extend

mercy.

How do we know

this?

How can we be

sure?

The beautiful

truth of the

gospel is that we

can truly switch

sides in this

cosmic war because

Jesus, God the

son of God, came

down, took on

human flesh, still

remaining fully

God and joined

team humanity.

He took on human

flesh in the

incarnation and he

fought our battle

and suffered in

our place.

So we can be

sure that when we

lay down our

weapons we will

not be utterly

crushed but instead

we will be elevated.

We will be saved.

We will be able to

sing Psalm 124 as

if it is our

psalm for it truly

is our psalm.

And then with the

church triumphant

and the church

militant we can

pray this psalm

but we also can

come to verses

passages like the

one in Romans 8

and we can see

the beauty and the

truth of it and

declare it with

such vigor and

trust.

And I'll close

with just that

Romans chapter 8

Romans 8:31–39

verse 31 to 39.

What then shall we

say to these

things?

If God is for us

who can be against

us?

He who did not

spare his own

son but gave him

up for us all

how will he not

also with him

graciously give us

all things?

Who shall bring

any charge against

God's elect?

It is God who

justifies.

Who is to

condemn?

Christ Jesus is the

one who died.

More than that he

was raised.

Who is at the

right hand of God.

Who indeed is

interceding for us.

Who shall separate

us from the love

of Christ.

Shall tribulation

or distress or

persecution or

famine, nakedness,

danger or sword.

As it is written

for your sake we

are being killed

all the day long.

We are regarded

as sheep to be

slaughtered.

Verse 37.

No in all these

things we are more

than conquerors.

Because of

ourselves?

No through him

who loved us.

For I am sure

that neither

death nor life,

angels or

rulers, nor

things present

nor things to

come, nor

powers, nor

height, nor

depth, nor

anything else in

all creation will

be able to

separate us from

the love of God

in Christ Jesus

our Lord.

Amen?

Amen.

Let us pray.

Lord, we thank

you that we are on

the victorious

side.

And this isn't

because of our

doing, our

occurring favor,

our merit,

nothing.

It is you

in your goodness

and kindness

giving us this

unbelievable gift

of victory.

Lord, we thank

you that your

son took on

human flesh

yet remained

God.

How he fights,

that he fought

our battle,

and he continues

to intercede for

us.

Lord, we thank

you that this is

our reality as

your children.

Lord, when the

next round of

enemies or

temptations or

difficulties come,

Lord, help us

to pray Psalm

124,

thankfully knowing

that what you

have done in the

past, you will

do in the future.

And let us,

Lord, put our

hope in you, the

creator of heaven

and earth.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Thank you.