If It Had Not Been

“A Song of Ascents. Of David. "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, When men rose up against us, Then they would have swallowed us alive, When their wrath was kindled against us; Then the waters would have overwhelmed us, The stream would have gone over our soul; Then the swollen waters Would have gone over our soul." Blessed [be] the LORD, Who has not given us [as] prey to their teeth. Our soul has escaped as a bird from the snare of the fowlers; The snare is broken, and we have escaped. Our help [is] in the name of the LORD, Who made heaven and earth.” (Psalms 124:1-8 NKJV)

“If it had not been,” are the words that echoed through David’s mind as he remembers how God had delivered him and his people. If it had not been that the Lord was on his side the people would have been consumed by their adversaries.

Do you recognize how precarious your path is today? There are physical and spiritual pitfalls all along the way. However, believers can take comfort in knowing that the Lord keeps their steps (Ps 37:23). How many times have you escaped some danger? How many times has the Lord kept you from temptation? No one knows for sure, but surely you have seen His hand move here and there.

What about the devil; had it not been that the Lord protected you he would have sifted you like wheat. “. . . Your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.” (1 Peter 5:8 NKJV)

Therefore, thank the Lord today, tonight and tomorrow for if it had not been for Him you surely would have fallen. “As you have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving.” (Colossians 2:6-7 NKJV)