Be With Me: 7 Minutes of Biblical Wonder
Be With Me is a daily 7 minute chronological walk through the New Testament hosted by Michael Smith. It is for everyone who is curious about what Jesus actually said and did in the gospels. Most episodes will leave you with at least one good thought to chew on for the rest of the day. We start with the Bible and hopefully end with Awe. We are walking through the chronological events of Jesus' life and then thoughtfully considering them. It is meant to spur the devotional life of the Christian and the not-yet-Christian. We occasionally venture into the Old Testament when it helps our understanding of the New Testament events. Everybody has 7 minutes. Everybody needs to wonder. Be With Me is hosted by Michael Smith who has absolutely no special qualifications to do a podcast. He is not a pastor. He has not been to seminary. He does not lead a mega-church. He is not a professional and he has no more credentials than you do. He does, however, follow a great God with an observant eye and a curious heart. Each day, he starts with a study bible and aims for astonishment. ‘be with him’ for 7 minutes as he sets out daily to discover the God who invites us to ‘Be With Me.’
Be With Me: 7 Minutes of Biblical Wonder
If the Lord was not on my side…S30e14 Psalm 124
If the Lord was not on my side..
I was in big trouble and the Lord was at my side. If He had NOT been at my side, I would have still been in the troubles, but I would have been there ALONE.
The presence of bad circumstances and bad people does not indicate the absence of the presence of God. Join me for 7 minutes to think about this. Then subscribe.
https://youtu.be/F1FgIVyzv0w
Psalms of My Friends
If the Lord was not on my side…S30e13 Psalm 124
124 A Song of Ascents. Of David.
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 people rose up against 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.
Our help is in the name of the Lord
Again, Life as a Christian, as a follower of God is exciting. Yes it is in peril.
If you are in peril, it does not mean you are not in His family.
All your troubles don’t go away, but the companionship changes.
Being in the family of God is not boring. Here are people rising up, trying to catch us, trying to fowl us, entrap us.
The appropriate mark of God’s children is not the absence of trouble.
Remember in Ps 23, also of David there were enemies, evil, and the shadow of death. The Lord allowed enemies to be near enough to see the setting of a table.
****the presence of these bad things, and bad circumstances and bad people does not indicate the absence of the presence of God***
There too was not the absence of trouble, but the absence of aloneness.
The Lord who was and is on our side
And if it were not for Him, and His presence, in the time of others rising up against us, we would have been swallowed up alive.
Imagine a problem so big that it could swallow you figuratively in 1 bite
There you are, potentially consumed catastrophically, in a whale of woe, and in the belly of the t-rex of trouble
BUT NO: The Lord is on our side, specifically when we have PEOPLETROUBLE
People rose up against us
Their anger was kindled against us: tended anger, anger that is given attention and coddling
People with teeth that seek us as PREY
People that seek to trap us like a fowler
Yet we escape like a bird from the snare
The snare is broken
And we have excaped
OUR HELP is in the NAME OF THE LORD, who made heaven & earth
David credits the Lord for the escape from enfouling people that seek us as prey, who angrily plot, kindled the anger,
Their anger is actually encouraged.
IS THE LORD of a strength to battle kindled anger of people? Yes.
Does He always allow escape? No. Does He promise ULTIMATEescape? Redemption from the troubles of this world? Yes.
How? What is the critical element? IF it had not been the Lord who was on our side. If it had not been the Lord AT OUR side as the conflict went on
Maybe you are in a conflict with another human today. Maybe your bigtrouble is with a person. Could be a circumstance or other trouble.
Is the Lord on your side. If you are in His family and you are representing His interests obediently then He is on your side. Not promising painlessness. Not promising happy worldly outcome. What am I promising?
Just the Lord God Himself. Him being alongside
He is there. Himself. My response: BLESSED BE THE LORD
If it had not been for the Lord the situation would have been different.
If it had not been for the Lord, The circumstances may have changed. OR MAY NOT HAVE CHANGE, but the COMPANY would not have.
Psalmist here credits the “Company of the Lord with the change in circumstance
The full counsel of scripture, let’s just say ps 23 alone, does not guarantee this change positively in circumstance. It does however promise the presence of the Lord in those circumstance. Oh my goodness, there is suffering in the New Testament. Misunderstandings, pursuit, hunger, beatings, being left for dead.
What the NT does NOT have is the absence of the Lord.
Ps 124 has escape AND the presence of the Lord, the Lord on our side, the Lord at our side.
Perhaps the Lord will give you escape, but if He does not, the Lord is still at your side. And He is still Lord. And He is going to make all things right, for all time, in all ways.
Our Help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth.
Our help is in the Lord, whether that help comes here and now, or comes later.