Our Help Is in the Name of the Lord
A Song of Ascents. Of David.
124:1 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
We have a tendency for self preservation. God made us that way. We will do whatever we have to do (most of the time) to make sure that we survive. Unfortunately, we also have a tendency, not placed there by God, to rely upon ourselves to make sure that we fulfill that need for self preservation. Instead, He desires that we place our faith in Him for our survival.
As a parent, I so often see times when my own children feel they are more capable than I to make the decisions necessary to make sure they survive. They make these decisions because they believe they are capable, not because they know they are capable. For, there is no way they could come to that conclusion, at least not yet. As the parent, I am capable, because I see the pitfalls of decisions that must be made, not because I am omniscient, but because I have been down the road before.
God, however, is omniscient. He knows exactly what we need, and He is the only one who is capable of actually providing it. The world will lead us astray, only to attack and “swallow us up alive.” As we seek to provide for ourselves we have a tendency to follow the world, because we have not seen everything that can go wrong. We only know what we want, and will follow down unwise paths to get it.
The Father will give us everything we need. He will protect us from the dangers of this world. He will not give us over to the predators, who seek to devour us. He can because He is maker of heaven and earth. He can because only He has made a way through Christ. He can because He is God and we are not.
