If It Had Not Been For The Lord

“If It Had Not Been For The Lord”

Psalms 124:1-2 If it had not been the Lord who was on our side, now may Israel say; If it had not been the Lord who was on our side, when men rose up against us:

God is calling His people right here, right now. Has He been good to you? Has He done anything for you? If He has, how can you sit down on Him? How can you not praise Him? You ought to stand on your feet and praise Him in here today! You ought to praise Him, you ought to acknowledge Him, you ought to thank Him! If He’s ever brought you out of anything, you ought to praise Him! Do it now, don’t wait! He’s worthy! He’s worthy to be praised! Look, I know it’s early in the message and I haven’t had time to work you up or prime you up to shout, but if you can’t shout about what God has done for you, if you can’t shout about where He has brought you from, if you ain’t excited about how God has kept you…….then keep your seat! You ought not to have to have a jump start to get stirred up! Nobody ought to have to fill you with Holy helium like a balloon in order for you to thank God! You should’ve left all your negativity at the door, put on your happy face, skipped-to-my-Lou-my-darling your way in here and got your praise on, if for no other reason than God!!! I don’t care what church folk have done to you, but baby I see what God has done for you! I don’t care how they look at you…b/c His eye is on the sparrow and you know He watches over you! I know what folks do to you, mistreat you, drag and scandalize your good name, lie on you, laugh at you, and look over you, hit

you in the front and stab you in the back! But you gotta know that God has your back! I think David said it best….”surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life!”! Although I might not be what I ought to be, I thank God I’m not what I used to be! I know it’s somebody in here that knows IF IT HAD NOT BEEN FOR THE LORD!!! His goodness, His mercy, His peace, His longsuffering, His patience, His love, His grace, His amazing grace, and His guidance! If it had not been for the Lord, you would have been undone or become undone a long time ago. Thank you Lord for your grace, your goodness, and your guidance!

David was determined to give his message to listening ears, and I’m also here today to tell you that you should not be ashamed to tell somebody just how good God has been to you! In David’s time, Israel was on the brink of total destruction, and I came across this poem the other day. It reads:

Mirror, mirror, on the wall,

Can you see our nation fall?

Headlines scream of our decay,

Is there any hope today?

Welfare numbers are soaring high,

Drugs are causing our kids to die.

Villains are heroes on TV,

While legal loopholes set them free.

Morality is a foreign word,

Love with marriage is unheard.

Hijacked planes, and negative press,

Schools are in an awful mess.

Mirror, mirror, on the wall,

Is there any hope at all?

In a world so crooked and perverse, we ought to all be saying, “IF IT HAD NOT BEEN FOR THE LORD”. I feel safe saying that everybody in here has been through something. I also feel comfortable in saying that most of us have been on the brink of some type of disaster in our life. You ever been on the brink of:

Bankruptcy?

Losing your mind?

Not making it from check to check?

Not making ends meet?

Total frustration?

Giving up and getting out?

I feel obligated to tell you that when you’ve tried everything and nothing seems to work, I’ve got a friend you ought to try. Oh, what a friend we have in Jesus! He’s always been and always will be the one cure-all! Even if your troubles seem more complex and more profound than anything you’ve ever faced, and even if everything you’ve ever dealt with in your life has seemed like you were walking a tightrope, you still ought to know and understand you can depend on Jesus! As you look back over your life and it seemed to be trial after trial, tribulation after tribulation, and trouble after trouble, you made it. Just like the Williams Brothers’ song I Made It Through! You ought to be able to say: IF IT HAD NOT BEEN FOR THE LORD!!!