Psalm 124: Against

Things do not always go our way. We do not always get what we want. We sometimes get treated in ways we did not deserve. Occasionally, we get exactly what we do deserve, whether we are willing to admit to it or not. There are times when we have to lie down in the bed we made and then there are times when we wonder if we will ever get a chance to lie down at all. We all have moments, even seasons when we feel like Jacob in Genesis 42:36, “everything is against me!” (NIV)

Jacob was not being dramatic; his situation was serious, and his grief was real. The wife he loved, Rachel, had died while giving birth to their second son. Rachel’s oldest son, Jacob’s favorite son, Joseph, had been killed by wild animals (at least that is what Jacob’s other sons had told him). The entire region was experiencing a famine, so he sent 10 of his sons to Egypt to buy food. His sons returned to tell him that the ruler of Egypt, the man in charge of the sale of food, accused them of being spies, he demanded that they come back with their youngest brother Benjamin (the younger son of Rachel) to prove that they were not lying about their identity. In the meantime, another of the brothers, Simeon was held in prison in Egypt until they returned. Jacob had no way of knowing that the ruler of Egypt was actually his son Joseph and that this was his plan to reunite the family. All he knew was that he had suffered disappointment after disappointment, loss after loss, pain after pain and this was just too much for him, he cried out, “everything is against me!” 

Jacob did something that I do often, something that you might do also, but something that David, in Psalm 124, would not allow Israel to do, he forgot that the One that was for him was always greater than anyone or anything that seemed to be against him. Jacob, along with his mother Rebekah, had deceived his father and stolen from his brother and yet long before any of that, he had been chosen by God. God protected him when he deserved vengeance, He blessed him when he deserved rejection, He remained with him and for him when Jacob seemed too only be out for himself. In his disappointment, his grief, and his fear, Jacob forgot that his trouble was real, but God had always been near. Everything had never been against him because God had always been for him. He had suffered loss, he had endured pain, he had known disappointment, but he had also been held, kept, and loved by God. 

David did not just ask Israel to remember what God had done for them, he led them to consider what would have happened had God not been with them: “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 . . .” David was not saying, “it could have been worse”, he was reminding them that when enemies rose up against them, God had remained with and for them, that when battles raged, God protected, that when waters rose, God became their dam, that when famine or drought struck, God was their provision. He wanted them to remember that no matter what had ever been against them, God had always been for them. 

Many of us can quote Romans 8:31b, “If God is for us, who can be against us?” This rhetorical question is not a promise to be protected from trouble, from fear, anxiety, worry, disappointment, or even enemies, but it is a promise to be protected in those things. It is a question meant to be answered, meant to create courage, and to build our faith. It is a question meant to remind us not only that God is with us, but of who God is. 

Earlier in the chapter, the author wrote, “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.” He wrote of hope, salvation, and patience. He wrote that our weakness is often that we do not know what to pray for “as we ought” but that the Holy Spirit lives in us and intercedes for us. He then wrote these famous words, “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” Before the question was answered a point was being made, God is for us. God is for me, He is for you, He is for us. 

We tend to ask, “If God is for me, then why is (insert disappointment, difficulty or dissatisfaction here) against me?” David would not allow for that, he took the difficulty as a given because we live in a sinful world and are sinners ourselves, his focus was not on what was against them in that moment but the One who was always for them. Jeremiah had the same outlook in Lamentations 3:22, “Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed”. (NIV) As Judah was taken captive, as Jerusalem was being destroyed, Jeremiah lamented, he mourned, he hurt, and ached, but he also reminded himself and anyone that would listen that the presence of trouble is not evidence of the absence of God. Again, he was not saying, “It could be worse”, he was declaring, “God is good, He is present, and His love will not fail!” 

As Moses prepared Joshua to take over as the leader of Israel, the one that would not only take them into the Promised Land, but also face their enemies, lead their wars and defeat the giants, he told him, “Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the LORD your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.” If I may paraphrase, nothing that comes against you will ever remove God from you. Trust Him. Follow Him. Obey Him. He will fight for you. 

David reminded Israel, there had been enemies and anger, floods and torrents, disappointments and failures, and yet God had been with them, had been for them, and would never leave them. He reminded them in this poetic verse, “We have escaped like a bird from the snare of the fowlers; the snare is broken, and we have escaped!” How many nations had come against Israel and yet, here they were, making their way to Zion to once again worship their God? Joshua would face walled cities, large armies and giants in the land, but they would have to face the one true living God. Jeremiah and Judah had to face 70 years of captivity, but they carried the promise that the God who went with them would also bring them back. Jacob had lost so much that he could not bear the thought of losing the little bit he thought he had left. He was so focused on his hurt that he had lost any thought of joy, losing one son had caused him to live in fear of losing his youngest son and to reject the 10 older ones. He had lost sight of the God he met at Bethel, the God who had prospered him in a foreign land, the God of his father and grandfather, all he could see was “everything is against me!” It is not that he should have known that Joseph was alive or that God was about to give him his son back plus grandsons and a place of prominence in Egypt, but by losing sight of God’s nearness, he also lost sight of God’s character. 

I teach often that Romans 8:28 should not be talked about without Romans 8:29. The first verse tells us that God works everything for good for those that love Him, but the second verse tells us what that good is, “For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son . . .” The good that God is doing in all our lives is making us like Jesus. All things work together to make us like Jesus, to conform our character to His, to renew our minds until we have the mind of Christ, to transform our hearts until we have the heart of God, to reconcile us to the Father as God’s children and to restore our image to the very image of God. I also believe that Romans 8:31 should only be shared with Romans 8:32. The two verses are a question and an answer: “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?” God is for us, to give us His Son and in the Son is everything needed for life and godliness, all the fullness of God. 

David was reminding Israel and I pray that we are reminding each other that no matter what comes against us, God is for us. That does not simply mean He is with us, but that He has given us His Son, He has filled us with His Spirit, He has not only prepared a place for us, but He has prepared us to be His place. God is for us, He is not just on our side, but He has written our names in His book, He has given us a seat at His table, He has included us in His plan, as I John 3:1 so powerfully proclaims, He has called us His children. There may be many things that come against you. There may be many things that disappoint you, distract or dissatisfy you, but just as David reminded Israel, I hope to remind you today, the LORD is on your side.