Today’s featured psalm, Psalm 124 is the third “psalm of ascent” that we have looked at during our summer series on the Psalms. This psalm, along with thirteen other “psalms of ascent” were the hymns that would have been sung by the Jewish people during their long festival pilgrimages to the city of Jerusalem three times each year.
These psalms not only helped to make the time go faster, the lyrics of these songs also reminded them of God’s faithfulness and would have helped them to remember the reason why they were making this long pilgrimage which was to gather from all parts of the world and worship together.
Notice that Psalm 124 is a very communal psalm. It calls upon Israel to recount God’s faithfulness and the psalm ends with that powerful verse that proclaims, “Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth.” “Our help,” not just “my help.”
In addition to this being one of Israel’s traveling psalms, it has also been known as a psalm of thanksgiving. It is known as a psalm of thanksgiving because it begins by talking about an event in the past in which Israel had been threatened by an enemy. It then goes on to celebrate how God saved them from their time of trouble, helping them to escape.
This is why this psalm is paired with our Exodus scripture reading for this morning. Our Exodus reading is the story of how the new king of Egypt started to oppress the Jewish people because they were becoming too numerous. We are told that Pharaoh became increasingly ruthless in how he treated them and forced them to do hard labor.
The Pharaoh went so far as to instruct the Egyptian midwives who helped the Hebrew women who were giving birth to kill all the newborn male children at birth. But as we are told in our Exodus scripture reading, the midwives feared God and did not do as they were commanded. They spared the Hebrew newborns.
And this leads to the story of how Moses was spared when the daughter of Pharaoh noticed a basket in the river containing a baby and she saved the child. This is how our Exodus scripture reading ends, but we know that Moses would be the one God would use to deliver the Israelites from slavery in Egypt to the Promised Land.
As I said, this story about Moses is paired with our Psalm reading for today because the Psalm begins by saying if it had not been the Lord who was on our side, we wouldn’t have been saved. But this Psalm isn’t only about that big event when the Lord called upon Moses to deliver his people from Egypt into the Promised Land. This psalm could refer to many other events as well. And it can also speak to us on a more personal level in how God has rescued us from times of adversity.
Which brings me to this thought about the Psalms and any scripture reading for that matter. When we approach any scripture passage, I think its helpful for us to remember two things. The first thing is to think about what that scripture reading meant in its original context to the people who first heard it. And the second thing that I think is important is to think about how God might be using this text to speak to us.
So when we read Psalm 124, it’s good to keep in mind that this psalm is probably thinking about Moses and the Exodus story or maybe even another story in which Israel was threatened by a surrounding enemy, maybe a situation that happened to them well after they made it into the Promised Land. That’s why bible study is so important. We need to think of what was in the mind of the Psalmist when he or she was writing these words.
But it’s also important for us to realize that the scriptures are a living word and is an important way in how God communicates with us today. And in the case of Psalm 124, it’s good to ask ourselves, what challenges and adversities have I faced in my life that have led me to say like the Psalmist, “If it had not been the Lord who was on my side…” And you fill in the blank from there.
This is how the Psalms, ancient as they are can still speak to us today, where we first think what they most likely meant in their original context and how they might speak to our own day and age. That approach to the Bible helps us to not take the scriptures out of context and it also reminds us that God has a word for us today as well.
How would you fill in that first line of this psalm? “If it had not been the Lord who was on my side…I don’t know how I would have made it through college.”
“If it had not been the Lord who was on my side…I don’t know how our church would have remained strong during a global pandemic.”
“If it had not been the Lord who was on my side…I don’t know how I would have cared for my elderly mother.”
“If it had not been the Lord who was on my side…I don’t know how I would have made it through the divorce.”
“If it had not been the Lord who was on my side…I don’t know how I would have survived my job loss.”
What comes to mind when you think about completing that sentence which is really a statement of faith?
This is how we make the psalms our prayers. We respect what it might have meant to the original author and then we allow that psalm to become our prayer as well.
Several years ago, I was standing with my associate pastor in a hallway of one of the top floors of Dayton Children’s Hospital. We were there to visit a family in our church whose young child was there as a patient.
As we were waiting to go into the hospital room to make our pastoral visit, my associate pastor was standing over by the large window that was overlooking the city of Dayton. And he was staring out that window. I said, “Mark, everything OK?”
He said, “This was the same window I was looking out about 18 years ago when our daughter was a month old.”
He went on to tell me that when she was a month old, she developed a really high fever and couldn’t keep any formula down, so they took her to Children’s Hospital. They took tests and discovered that when she was born, her organs were not in the right places. She was now experiencing a bad infection from all of this. They needed to do a risky surgery because she was just a month old.
And my friend said that when they took his baby into surgery, he went by that window where he was now standing to call his parents to give them an update. And as he was on the phone with his parents, that’s when he experienced a God moment, or what we call, a “thin place” moment.
As he was looking out that window on that cold February day, he noticed the beautiful Ukrainian Church there in the city of Dayton. And just then in that moment, the sun came out and hit the gold cross of that steeple in such a way that it was breathtaking. He felt God’s presence in such a powerful way. He said, it was in that moment that he knew that Allie would be OK.
And then he said that during the surgery, his wife stayed in the room while he went down to the cafeteria to get something to eat. And while his wife was in the room, a little girl who was a patient came into the room with a balloon on a stick. She handed it to her and said, “You’re baby will be OK.”
Their baby made it through the surgery and recovered completely. When my friend and his wife went to look for that little girl who had brought them the balloon, they couldn’t find her. His wife to this day believes that that little girl was sent from God just for her.
It was this incredible challenge that led my friend and his wife to begin attending church again. They joined the United Methodist Church in their neighborhood and it was through that church that my friend ended up receiving a calling to go into the pastoral ministry.
To add one more detail to the story, I had the honor of officiating at his daughter’s wedding several years later and our families stay in touch.
If it had not been for the Lord who opened up the skies to shine upon that Ukrainian church steeple and who sent that little girl with a balloon into the room, and who used the skills of that surgeon…they would probably not have been led to a deeper faith and trust in God.
No wonder my friend was looking out that window that day there at Children’s Hospital. He was remembering how the Lord was by their side during a very challenging time in their lives. I don’t know what was going through his mind in that moment. But my guess is that it had some kind of connection with how Psalm 124 concludes.
“Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth.”
I love how the Psalmists invite us to look back on our lives so we can remember how God got us through some troubling times. That’s what helps us to face new challenges. We look back and see how God has guided us through the storms and the floods that we have experienced.
Whether it would be starting a new semester. Learning new ways of adapting to the coronavirus. Beginning a new job. Facing a medical challenge. Experiencing stress in a relationship. Being fearful of the future. These are all challenges we face from time to time.
Psalm 124 might be a prayer for you. Remember the story of Moses and how God rescued his people from slavery and led them into the Promised Land. Look out that window and remember how the sun lit up that church steeple at just the right time. Remember the little girl who gave you the balloon and said, “everything’s going to be alright.”
And remember, whatever you may be facing, our help is in the name of the Lord.
A Psummer of Psalms: Psalm 124
Sermon Discussion Questions
Exodus 1:8-2:10 & Psalm 124
August 23, 2020
Psalm 124 is known as a “psalm of ascent.” These psalms were used by the Israelites when they made the long journey from their homes three times a year to celebrate religious festivals in Jerusalem. Notice that Psalm 124 is a communal psalm. The psalmist says, “Our help is in the name of the Lord.”
What helps you to remember that our faith isn’t just about our personal relationship with God? How do other Christians remind you that “our” help is in the name of the Lord?
The psalm is paired with our Genesis scripture reading which describes the time when Pharaoh sought to have all the male Hebrew children killed. Thanks to the daughter of Pharaoh, one of those Hebrew children who would eventually lead the Hebrews out of slavery was spared. Psalm 124 invites us to reflect on times when God has rescued us and helped us overcome a difficult challenge we were facing.
Share a time when the Lord helped you through a difficult challenge you were facing.
Pastor Robert shared the story of his friend who’s one month baby needed surgery several years ago. He and his wife weren’t church goers at the time, but they still prayed for their little girl. They ended up experiencing God’s presence during that very difficult time through several “thin place” moments at the hospital. Their baby ended up having successful surgery. That experience led them to start attending a United Methodist Church in their neighborhood and they continue to grow in their faith.
Share a “thin place” moment where you experienced God’s presence.
How would you complete this first part of the psalmist’s prayer? “If it had not been the Lord who was on our side...”
Close by offering this prayer of thanksgiving:
Maker of heaven and earth, we come today from different places along our faith journey. Some of us are feeling settled and secure while others are facing fear and uncertainty. Thank you for this place of haven and peace where all are welcome here. Forgive us for those times when we have not turned to you in times of need and for when we have forgotten to give you thanks and praise for guiding us through the storms of life. Today, we join the Psalmist in exclaiming, “Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth.” Amen.
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