Psa 123:1-3 “If God be for us, who can be against us?” – Part 1

Psa 124:1  A Song of degrees of David. If it had not been the LORD who was on our side, now may Israel say; 
Psa 124:2  If it had not been the LORD who was on our side, when men rose up against us: 
Psa 124:3  Then they had swallowed us up quick, when their wrath was kindled against us:

This “Song of degrees of David” reminds us of our vulnerability in the flesh that is a shadow of our vulnerability in the spirit (Rom 1:20) where “men [rise] rose up against us”. There is no doubt we would be destroyed spiritually if the Lord did not protect us, and that is the great lesson in this Psalm. He is our stronghold (Psa 61:3, Pro 18:10-11) and the one who is preventing us from being “swallowed up quick, when their wrath was kindled against us” (Luk 22:31-32). “Our help is in the name of the LORD [His voice, His words], who made heaven and earth” (Jer 51:15-18).

Rom 1:20  For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:

Psa 61:3  For thou hast been a shelter for me, and a strong tower from the enemy.

Pro 18:10  The name of the LORD is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe.
Pro 18:11  The rich man’s wealth is his strong city (Rev 3:17), and as an high wall in his own conceit.

[The conceited and arrogant heart within man is “the enemy” of the cross within us (Rom 11:18-21) highminded,^G5309] that is not able to say “Our help is in the name of the LORD [his voice, his words], who made heaven and earth”. The yet carnal heart of the religious man in me wants His name and to be able to eat my own bread and wear my own clothing (Isa 4:1, Php 3:9)]. The solution to this problem is in these verses – Joh 6:44, Joh 21:18).

Luk 22:31  And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat:
Luk 22:32 But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.

Jer 51:15  He hath made the earth by his power, he hath established the world by his wisdom, and hath stretched out the heaven by his understanding [thinking within].
Jer 51:16  When he uttereth his voice, there is a multitude of waters in the heavens; and he causeth the vapours to ascend from the ends of the earth: he maketh lightnings with rain, and bringeth forth the wind out of his treasures [Job 38:22, Isa 28:17].

Job 38:22  Hast thou entered into the treasures of the snow? or hast thou seen the treasures of the hail,

Isa 28:17  Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place.

Jer 51:17  Every man is brutish by his knowledge; every founder is confounded by the graven image: for his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them. (Gen 2:7, Rom 8:9)

Gen 2:7  And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

Rom 8:9  But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.

Jer 51:18  They are vanity, the work of errors: in the time of their visitation they shall perish [Our time of visitation is our time of judgment which wipes away the refuge of lies and sees the old man perish (1Pe 4:17)].

The verses preceding our title “If God be for us, who can be against us?” tell us the degree to which God has gone for all the world to see all men will be saved (Rom 8:31-33), with the emphasis on “God’s elect” who are the first to trust God as the first fruits who are first saved and the first to have this arrogance or high-mindedness burned out of us (Joh 3:16, Eph 1:12, Jas 1:18-19, Mat 23:12, Luk 14:10).

Rom 8:31  What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?
Rom 8:32  He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?
Rom 8:33  Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth.

Joh 3:16  For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Eph 1:12  That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.

Jas 1:18  Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.
Jas 1:19  Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath:

Mat 23:12 And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.

Luk 14:10  But when thou art bidden [Rev 19:9], go and sit down in the lowest room; that when he that bade thee cometh, he may say unto thee, Friend, go up higher: then shalt thou have worship in the presence of them that sit at meat with thee.

The word “maybe” is not used in this Psalm, where it says, “Then the waters had overwhelmed us, the stream had gone over our soul: Then the proud waters had gone over our soul”, all to remind us that it is only because of our Lord whom we bless “who hath not given us as a prey to their teeth”, and is the reason “Our soul is escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowlers: the snare is broken, and we are escaped”. He is “our help” (Rom 8:31), and “Our help is in the name of the LORD, who made heaven and earth” who created the light and darkness and the heaven and the earth and uses all things to bring about the new creation that He is forming within us through Christ (Eph 6:12, Isa 45:7, Rom 8:28).

Eph 6:12  For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

Isa 45:7  I form the light, and create darkness (Eph 6:12): I make peace, and create evil (Eph 6:12): I the LORD do all these things.

Rom 8:28  And we know that all things work together for good (Eph 6:12) to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

God’s elect are likened to “two candlesticks” in Revelation 11:4 as well as “two olive trees”, which simply remind us that it is by the power of God’s holy spirit (Col 1:27) we can be those two witnesses or “two candlesticks” that “shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts” (2Pe 1:19).

We recently lit a candle and put it on our balcony. I noticed how vulnerable this little flame was to the wind around us, so I made a little aluminum shield around it to protect it from the wind. It worked for awhile, but because I had wrapped it too close to the candle there was not enough oxygen to keep the flame burning even though it was protected from the wind. It also overheated and the candle burned too quickly and with a lot of smoke. The analogy seems very amazing to me that I worked to protect that flame, and I was actually working against myself. Gale took the foil and made a half shield protecting it against the wind and giving it proper oxygen and the ability to shine back at us more brightly. The Lord showed me in this simple example of how we are to know we can’t understand our errors, and that it takes the Lord to cleanse us from our secret sins (Psa 19:12-14). So, we rejoice because “The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations” how to create the proper form and function in our lives so we can glorify our Father in heaven (1Co 10:31). It is the church who is Christ’s body (Gale in my type and shadow story) which is given the manifest knowledge that shapes our experience in Christ [form] and allows us to be a light to the world [function] (Eph 3:10, Mat 5:14).

Psa 19:12  Who can understand his errors? cleanse thou me from secret faults.
Psa 19:13  Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me: then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great transgression.
Psa 19:14  Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer.

2Pe 2:9  The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished:
2Pe 2:10  But chiefly them that walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness, and despise government. Presumptuous are they, selfwilled, they are not afraid to speak evil of dignities.

Eph 3:10  To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places  might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God,
Eph 3:11  According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord:

Mat 5:14  Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.
Mat 5:15  Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.
Mat 5:16  Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

The time is come for us to trim our lamps (Mat 25:3-10, Rom 13:12-14), and to know that judgment is upon the house of God (1Pe 4:17). We must be found with His righteousness and abide in the doctrines of Christ and acknowledge the commandments of the Lord (Joh 8:32, 1Co 14:37) who we come to know after we are shown the error of our ways (Rom 2:4). If we trim our lamps, as I tried to do with this little candle on our balcony, and leave it like that, our righteousness will not exceed that of the Pharisees (Mat 25:7). However, if we are granted the humility to be that entreatable child who is being fashioned “According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord”, then we will be that city set on a hill, regardless of how much comes up against that candle, which is also analogous of the house being spoken of in these verses below:

Mat 25:3 They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them:
Mat 25:4 But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.
Mat 25:5 While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept.
Mat 25:6 And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him.
Mat 25:7 Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps.
Mat 25:8 And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out.
Mat 25:9 But the wise answered, saying, Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you: but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves.
Mat 25:10. And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut.

Rom 13:12  The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.
Rom 13:13  Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying.
Rom 13:14  But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.

Php 3:9  And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:
Php 3:10  That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;

Like that little candle and like Noah’s ark, they were both kept upright by the grace and faith of God. I tried to shape the tin foil at first to protect the candle, representing my own works, and it burned very dirty and created a lot of wax. Our many wonderful works are like that, where we fashion those works according to the idol of our own hearts; and then through the church where God provides the manifest knowledge of Christ, we learn of the better form and temple of the Lord, which we are.

1Co 3:16  Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?

The candle is still a candle, still vulnerable and easily blown out (Luk 22:31-32), however, by the faith Christ provides, having done all, we stand (Eph 6:13). The shape that protected the wick and created just the right amount of oxygen and protection (it is the shape of a hand) was the design God gave us through the church, the little flock whose pleasure it is for God to give the kingdom (Luk 12:32); but we did not figure that out by ourselves. Rather the Lord guided us, and through repentance and holding fast to those things that we proved, we begin to see the Lord is truly sovereign over all things and was preparing a way through the body of Christ to demonstrate His mercy and love to all mankind (1Co 15:22-24).

Luk 22:31  And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat:
Luk 22:32  But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.

Eph 6:13  Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

Luk 12:32  Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.

1Co 15:22  For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
1Co 15:23  But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.
1Co 15:24  Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power.

Like the candle in this analogy which was poorly trimmed, and like the house build first on sand and then on a rock, and like all of God’s elect who are the weak of the world through whom God makes His strength perfect (2Co 12:8-10), we must come to see ourselves as the chief of sinners and extremely vulnerable. At the same time we must know in our hearts that “If God be for us, who can be against us” as He founds us upon the Rock of our salvation (Mat 16:18-19) who allows the hedge to come down in the life of His children so that we cry out and are delivered (Psa 107:19) from “men who rose up against us”, and “their wrath [that] was kindled against us” and the false doctrines that are likened unto “the waters had overwhelmed us, the stream had gone over our soul” but “Blessed be the LORD, who hath not given us as a prey to their teeth” delivering us through the trial and taking us “out of the snare of the fowlers: the snare is broken, and we are escaped” (1Co 10:13).

2Co 12:8  For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me.
2Co 12:9  And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
2Co 12:10  Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.

Mat 16:18  And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
Mat 16:19 And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

Psa 107:19  Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he saveth them out of their distresses.

1Co 10:13  There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.

Psa 124:1  A Song of degrees of David. If it had not been the LORD who was on our side, now may Israel say; 

Just because Christ, or the LORD, is “on our side” (Rom 8:31) does not mean that we won’t feel vulnerable throughout this life. We are continually in need of crying out to our LORD and praying for His mercy which will deliver us today in our time of need because flesh is vulnerable and likened unto weak wheat that can be sifted (Heb 4:16, Heb 5:7).

Rom 8:31  What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?

Heb 4:16  Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

Heb 5:7  Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death [spiritual death (Mat 20:23)], and was heard in that he feared;

This is after all another “song of degrees” telling us that there is a step-by-step and little and by little process through which we go that is given to the entire body of Christ to keep us humble in His service (Deu 7:22).

Deu 7:22  And the LORD thy God will put out those nations before thee by little and little: thou mayest not consume them at once, lest the beasts of the field increase upon thee.

With these things in mind, “now may Israel say”, the Israel of God, “If it had not been the LORD who was on our side“, we would be swallowed up quickly.

Luk 22:31  And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat:
Luk 22:32  But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.

Psa 124:2  If it had not been the LORD who was on our side, when men rose up against us:
Psa 124:3  Then they had swallowed us up quick, when their wrath was kindled against us:

If God is “on our side” or if God “is our helper”, we will learn that nothing can separate us from His love “when men rose up against us“, and He will allow “the kings of the earth” to rise up against us to demonstrate his power within us that is able to give us what we need to overcome and drink the cup indeed (Act 4:27-30, 1Jn 4:17, Rev 12:10-12).

Act 4:26  The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against his Christ.
Act 4:27  For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together,
Act 4:28  For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done.
Act 4:29  And now, Lord, behold their threatenings: and grant unto thy servants, that with all boldness they may speak thy word,
Act 4:30  By stretching forth thine hand to heal [Psa 16:8, Joh 1:1]; and that signs and wonders may be done by the name of thy holy child Jesus.

1Jn 4:17  Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.

Rev 12:10  And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down (2Th 2:4), which accused them before our God day and night.
Rev 12:11  And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony (Luk 22:32); and they loved not their lives unto the death. [The undefiled blood of the lamb is the word of our testimony with which we are being sanctified in this age (1Pe 1:17-19>, Joh 6:55, Joh 17:17)]
Rev 12:12  Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.

Our prayer is that God would “grant unto thy servants, that with all boldness they may speak thy word, By stretching forth thine hand to heal; and that signs and wonders may be done by the name of thy holy child Jesus.” We are that manchild whom God grants to send forth His word to heal (Psa 107:20, Joh 20:21) and do greater works than Christ did (Joh 14:12). Those works of Christ typify the overcomer in this age whose deadly wound was healed, and now through a lifetime of signs and wonders of which Christ spoke to John the baptist (Luk 7:22), we come to understand how the eighth is of the seven, the new man is being born out of the old man, light is coming out of darkness, the old man is decreasing through judgment, and the new man is being formed through Jesus Christ (Rev 17:11, 2Th 2:3-10).

Psa 107:20  He sent his word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions.

Joh 20:21  Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.

Joh 14:12  Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.

Luk 7:22  Then Jesus answering said unto them, Go your way, and tell John what things ye have seen and heard; how that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, to the poor the gospel is preached.

Rev 17:11  And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition.

2Th 2:3  Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
2Th 2:4  Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.
2Th 2:5  Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things?
2Th 2:6  And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time.
2Th 2:7  For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.
2Th 2:8  And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:
2Th 2:9  Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,
2Th 2:10  And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.

These verses we just read in 2 Thessalonians 2:3-10 explain how it is not possible for anything to separate us from the love of God [because of judgment], and that although it is true that Satan continues to try to sift us like wheat and even deceive the very elect if it were possible (Mat 24:24), we are reminded  with this verse that “Then they had swallowed us up quick, when their wrath was kindled against us” is not possible if it has been written in our books in this age to be overcomers through Christ.

Mat 24:24  For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.

2Ti 2:19  Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.

Mat 16:18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

Next week, Lord willing, we will look at our second part to this Psalm entitled “If God be for us, who can be against us?” as we look at these confirming verses that once again point to our Father who loves us and commands us to commit our ways unto him as unto a faithful Creator so we can be strengthened settled and established in the Lord “after that ye have suffered a while”.

Psa 37:5  Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.

Pro 16:3  Commit thy works unto the LORD, and thy thoughts shall be established.

1Pe 4:19  Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator.

1Pe 5:10  But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.

Here are those verses for next week’s study:

Psa 124:4  Then the waters had overwhelmed us, the stream had gone over our soul:
Psa 124:5  Then the proud waters had gone over our soul. 
Psa 124:6  Blessed be the LORD, who hath not given us as a prey to their teeth. 
Psa 124:7  Our soul is escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowlers: the snare is broken, and we are escaped. 
Psa 124:8  Our help is in the name of the LORD, who made heaven and earth.