If It Had Not Been For The Lord Who Was On My Side

Psalm 124

As we near the end of another year we can look back and say with the old saints, “If it had not been for the Lord who was on our side tell me where would I be, where would I be?” Sometimes it’s easier to see God looking back than it is looking forward. Hindsight is always 20/20. Some people may say it’s not good to look back but the people of Ghana would disagree. They believe that we should be like the Sankofa bird, who looks back to get an egg which represents the future. You must reach back to go forward. In our case, we must reach back for inspiration to go forward.

If it had not been for the Lord who was on our side we would not have made it through the atrocities of slavery, we would not have made it through the grueling poverty of the great depression, we would not have made it through the murderous injustices of Jim Crow laws, we would not have made it through the bloody streets of the civil rights struggle, we would not have made it through the horrific assassinations of our leaders President John F. Kennedy, our prophets Malcolm X and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. If God can bring us through all of that and be able to see us through the election of our first African-American President surely He will see us through a trillion dollar deficit and a global Recession.

God is able to do just what He said He would do, don’t give up on God, because He won't give up on you. He’s able!

If God were not on our side then:

1. Our enemies would have swallowed us up. Verse 3. Look back over your life at all the people who were against you and how God blocked the plans of your enemies. In fact, what they meant for evil God worked it out for your good.

2. The storm would have swept us away. Verse 4. God has been a shelter in the time of storm and a bridge over troubled water.

3. The enemy would have caught us in his trap. There was a story of a little boy that had some birds trapped in a cage. He had a sharp stick just poking at the birds. A man passed by and saw the boy and asked him what he was going to do with the birds in the cage. He said I’m going to take them in the woods and kill them. The man asked, “If I give you some money for the birds will you let me have them?” the boys asked, “these old birds? Sure!” He took the money and the man took the birds. The man opened the door of the cage and said, “Go free little birds I paid for you to go free.” That’s what Jesus did for us when the devil had us in his trap. We were on our way to hell to be killed and Jesus paid the price with His blood and He opened the doors of hell to set the captives free.

Verse 7 says we have escaped like a bird from the snare of the fowlers, the snare is broken, and we have escaped.

God, I thank you for I am like one who has escaped with my life still intact. You kept me from dangers seen and unseen. Thank you for seeing me through. Father, give us the strength to make it through our present trials so that we may come forth as pure gold. Thank you for being on our side and for opening doors that no man could have opened.

In Jesus Name,
Amen.