Psalm 124: 1 “If it had not been for the Lord who was on our side, now may Israel say;
(124:2) “If it had not been the Lord who was on our side, when men rose up against us”.
(124:3) “When they had swallowed us up quick, when their wrath was kindled against us;
(124:4) “Then the waters had overwhelmed us, the stream had gone over our soul.”
(124:5) “Then the proud waters had gone over our soul.”
(124:6) Blessed be the Lord, who hath not given us as prey to their teeth.”
(124:7) Our soul escaped as a bird out of a snare of fowlers: the snare is broken, and we are escaped.”
(124:8) Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made the heaven and Earth…
Now go to Psalm 125: 1 were it says: Say it with me
They that trust in the Lord shall be as mount Zion, which cannot be removed, but abideth forever…
Turn to your neighbor this morning and tell them…
Do you know…? That Just when we think we are down and out… God says…
The Snare is Broken…
Tell Somebody else: The Snare Is Broken…
The snare is broken…
Yes you see, some of us have been dealing with some snares…
Some us have been dealing with life’s pitfalls…
We stumbled and we fell…
We have dealt with some stuff …
And some of us are just trying to get back up…
We are dealing with some situations… Some feelings of helplessness and hopelessness… We are dealing with feelings of lack and feelings of loneliness…
We are dealing with financial issues, physical issues and yes even spiritual issues in our lives and it is these issues that are messing with our minds… Messing with our character and messing with our relationship with the Lord…
And as we look at this passage of scripture,we can look to a man like David… David was a man of God that God had ordained to do great things…
God and David had a covenant relationship that could not be broken…
God and David had a closeness that was not just religious, not just a relationship, but David had fellowship with the Lord in His prayers and His desires…
David knew that He could go to God with anything He needed and with anything he had to talk about…
And David had a confidence in the Lord…
Because not only had God promised David great things in his life and in his kingdom but David knew that through all of his imperfections on this good earth…
Through all of his wrong doings…
Thorough every failure… And through every challenge… through every snare… David believed that God would honor His promise to him…
And because of that Faith… Because of that confidence… And because of his belief in God… David went on the do great things for the Lord…
And the scripture lays out my first point this morning for me because somebody in this house can relate to what David is saying when he said:
(124:2) If it had not been (for) the Lord who was on my side…
I think you know what I’m talking about… If it had not been for the Lord when I was going through…
If it hadn’t been for the Lord when I lost my Job…
If it hadn’t been for the Lord when I was mamma died…
If it hadn’t been for the Lord when I was dealing with that addiction…
If it hadn’t been for the Lord when I was all alone…
When my Child was sick…When I didn’t know where I was going to lay my head…When I didn’t have food on my table…when they were going to turn my heat off…
If it had not been for the Lord…
When those men came against us… It was the Lord…
When they tried to swallow us…. It was the Lord…
When their wrath was against us… it was the Lord…
When we were overwhelmed with it all (help me somebody)… It was the Lord…
That’s why David said: I will look toward the Hills were my help comes from…
That the Lord is my light and my salvation;
My strong tower
My heart fixer…
My Rock and My Refuge…
And that in time of Trouble…
God will set me upon a rock…
God will lift me up…
God will be my light at the end of the tunnel…
My guiding path…
And God will Deliver in my due season…
Tell somebody: the SNARE is BROKEN…
Tell somebody else: I refuse to look back… Because God Says: the Snare is Broken…
You see, a snare is like a pitfall or a strong hold… IN the Hebrew the word means to have trapped… In fact, it means to be trapped with a noose…
In other words, when you have been entrapped by some of the snares of life you have been held back from your progress…
Held back from your freedoms… And held back from what God has for you…
Yes the snare is broken… What ever your issue… If you have the confidence in God… If you believe in the power of Christ Jesus… If you know the provision and Power of God in our lives and how God wants us so desperately to know his love and delivering power…
And when you look back on your life… When you look back on the tough times… When you look back on the times when the Devil was seeking to kill and destroy…
When the devil was trying to hold you back…
When the world was coming against you…
When life was turned upside down…
And sometimes you wondered if it was all worth it...
There were times when you felt like giving up…giving in and checking out…
But God told you there was more to life than that…
God told you, you have a purpose… And that purpose is greater than the obstacle you are about to hurdle…
I met a brother a couple of weeks ago that had given His life to the Lord… And we were talking about the protection of God and he talked about how when ever he gets a little weak or when ever he feels the pressures of the world upon he thinks back to a time when He ran the streets…
And the brother said there was a time when he was in the street and his life was a hustle…
He went from here there… and from there to here… But He always will remember that day when I all went in the wrong direction…
When the deal went bad… He was in the mix… and there was no turning back…
He said that when the hustle went bad he found himself in a dark room with a pistol to his head and the motivated killer ready to pull the trigger…
He said that the man tried to pull that trigger… Tried to take his life… Tried to destroy what God had created…
He said that when that trigger jammed … and he was able to walk way with His life…
That’s when he knew that God had stepped in 20 some odd years ago for his purpose in life and in the church today…
Somebody out there has gone through a similar situation. The Gun of the world has been placed at the temple of your life and has tried pulled the trigger…
They have pulled the trigger on your family…
They have pulled the trigger on your relationships…
They have pulled the trigger on your finances…
And they have even tried to kill your relationship and fellowship with the Lord…
But every time the world tried to pull the trigger… God just kept stepping in….
Everytime they had their finger on the trigger… God just laid his hand on the weapon…
Everytime they cock the barrel of that gun and aimed for you heart… God just stepped in and said … Trust in me…
You’ve been dealing with some problems and all the sudden you have stopped coming to bible study… God says trust in me…
You’ve had an attack on your finances, and you start staying home from church... God says trust in me…
When you look back on the times when conflict had arisen in your home…
When that man wasn’t treating you right…
When your son had gone astray… When you couldn’t reach your child anymore…
God says, trust in me and the snare that has been holding you back… Will be broken…
The devil thought He had a hold on you…
He thought he was gonna take you down…
He thought he was gonna mess up your life…
He thought he was gonna keep you in prison…
He thought he was gonna make you fail God…
But God said, even in the basement of your life… Trust in me and I will make a way for you … I’ll carry you through the storm… I’ll place you on my shoulders and walk with you when you are without… And I’ll deliver you from that problem… But you have to trust in me…
When you look back on your life… And you think about the storms he’s covered you from…
How He has protected you from those that had you as prey…
All the times those raging waters had gone over your soul… God covered you
When that man tried to knock you off track…God covered you..
When they tried to attack you…
When they tried to violate you…
When they tried to assault you…God covered you and consoled you…
There was a time when you didn’t know what to do…
Didn’t know where to go…
You were feeling weak and the tears started to stream down your face…
Didn’t know what to do… Didn’t know how you are going to make it… I’ve got to make this work out somehow so you grab the word of God and run into room to cry some more…
And usually you would just think about what is going on in your life and cry...
But when you looked in the mirror… When you looked in the mirror
When you looked in that mirror this time you saw something different…
This time you felt something different taking over..
This time you felt something new and fresh being born inside of you…
You felt a rush of inspiration coming on…
Because this time you had your word with you…
And this time, as youlooked in that mirror you saw something that made you stand a little taller…
You saw something great! You saw someone who is going to be somebody…
And all of the sudden, that problem didn’t seem so big any more…
That Argument you had with your friend seemed so insignificant…
All of the sudden, the headache went away and the soreness disappeared and you started to feel your energy coming back…
And something told you that the Giant you were dealing that was consuming your thoughts and devastating your life… That Giant that was bringing you down… That Giant that was messing with your mind… all of the sudden felt conquered…
And then something in your spirit told you to open your Bible… And when you opened the pages of the your bible God pointed you to a scripture that said:
“No weapon formed against you shall prosper”
“And every tongue that rises against thee shall be condemned.”
And you knew right then and there that no weapon formed against you will succeed…
You had the confidence of David knowing that No attack against you will prosper…
That No weapon will prevail against what God has promised you in your life...
And that your faith will come by hearing… And hearing the word of God…
And then you looked a little further and the Bible Said: (Psalm 48:1) Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised…
And so you start praising Him...
And you don’t care who hears you…
You start praising Him in your house…
You start praising Him in the shower…
You start praising Him in your car…
You start praising Him in the elevator…
Somebody says, I don’t have nothing… Well even if I don’t have nothing… I’m gonna praise Him…
If I don’t have a car… I’ll praise him at the bus stop…
If I don’t have a house … Praise in the shelter…
If I don’t have a job… I’m gonna praise Him at the unemployment line…
Because the Bible says that: (Luke 9:62) “No man, putting his hand on the Plough, and looking back it fit for the Kingdom of Heaven”
So when the Bible says that the snare is broken…
That my enemies will fall…
That His grace and mercy will endure…
I can feel like David when He said I will bless the Lord at all times… His Praise shall continually be in my mouth…
My soul shall make her boast in the Lord the humble shall hear thereof and be glad…
Oh magnify the Lord with me…
Magnify Him because He is worthy to be praised…
He is worthy of the praise in the morning time…
He is worthy of the praise in the noonday…
He is worthy of the praise in the midnight hour…
I can lift up my hands in thy name…
I can shout hallelujah in His name…
Because God says… I’m an overcomer…
I can bless His name…
Because God says we are more than a conqueror…
I can give Him the Highest praise because greater is He that is in me than He that is in the world…
And all things come together for the Good of them who love the Lord who are called according to His purpose.
If it hadn’t been for the Lord…
If it hadn’t been for Jesus…
If it hadn’t been for the Doors that you have opened…
If it hadn’t been for the decisions you’ve helped me make…
If it hadn’t been for your protection and mercy…
If it hadn’t been for you’re healing power…
If it hadn’t been for your love…
If it hadn’t been for you bringing me faith… Rather than fear…
And Lord… I am still here…
Through everything that God has done and when we look back on our lives. One thing we will have to learn how to do if we are going to remain conquerors and if we are going to be released from strongholds that are keeping us from the fullness of God’s provision, God’s power and God’s preservation of His people…
We are going to have to be among those the scripture is directed toward in psalm 125 when the scripture said: (Psalm 125:1) They that trust in the Lord shall be as Mount Zion, which cannot be removed, but abideth forever…”
The Bible is very clear when it says that through it all we must trust in the Lord, and lean not unto thine own understanding…
But before we finish up I want you to turn to 50th chapter of the Book of Isaiah Verse 10. Maybe this is special word for someone today.
(Isaiah 50:10) Who is among you that feareth the Lord? You have seen what he has done in your life. You have seen Him perform supernatural miracles in the lives of family and friends and you have heard the word of God.
God is asking you. Do you respect my power in your life?
That obeyeth the voice of his servant that walketh in darkness and have no light? Even thought you have witnessed the power, the protection and the provision of God in your life, you (or somebody you know) are still walking in darkness. You are still focusing on the world’s view of success and not God’s view… And because of this, you have not been received God’s greatest gift… The Gift of salvation…
You have lit your own fire with thoughts that you may not need God right now but at the same time you are wondering why things are not complete in your life…
1st Samuel 15:23 says that” Rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft and stubbornness is an iniquity and Idolatry. And that because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he hath rejected you from being king.”
God says the Word of God is near you even now…
Then this scripture closes by saying that if you have heard what God is saying today that it’s time to trust in Him…
Trust in His name and stay upon his God…
This is God’s plea to the resistant child of God that has not come forward and said God, receive me just the way I am…
You see, when I think about how the devil has tried to Rob me…
How he has tried to destroy me.
Break my Covenant…
And Fracture My Dreams…
I can look back on my life…
I can look back on my problems…
I can look back on those uncertainties…
And say… If it hadn’t been for the Lord…
If it hadn’t been for the Lord…
If it hadn’t been for the paths you have created…
For the new life you given me…
For your grace and mercy…
For you’re Deliverance power
If it hadn’t been for the snares you’ve broken
And the words you’ve spoken…
The times you cared for me…
And the solutions you have prepared for me …
Lord Jesus…
If it hadn’t been for you…
I couldn’t climb the walls of lack…
I couldn’t overcome the giants in my life…
I couldn’t find salvation…
You are the great provider…
You are the most high…
You are El Shaddai…
You are Jehovah Jerah….
He’s a God of Deliverance…
He is a God of Compassion…
He is a God of Forgiveness
He’ll make a way out of know way…
He is the first and the Last
Alpha and omega…
The Beginning and the End…
And He is the way, the truth and the life… And no one comes unto the Father but by Him…
Lord… If it hadn’t been for you how would I have made this far…
If it hadn’t been for you bringing me faith… Rather than fear…
If it hadn’t been for you bringing you son Jesus to Die for the remission of my sins…
If it hadn’t been for your unconditional forgiveness…
If it hadn’t been for your people…
Lord… If it hadn’t been for your love…
Lord if it wasn’t for you I couldn’t be here today… Lord I am still here… And I chose you today and forever…
I read a story about two distressed believers that who was meeting with a Christian counselor…
The Believer said to the counselor, “ It’s hard for me to trust God when everything looks so dark in my life. The man replied by saying, Well my brother and sister, if you can’t trust in someone when he’s out of sight, he isn’t worth much. So too, if you can’t trust in God in the Dark seasons of your life, you really don’t consider Him trustworthy.
Then He pointed toward a small baby chick that had just taken shelter under a large Hen…
He pointed to the baby chick and said: “See that little chick hiding under the wing of its mother?
They said Yeah…
Well As long as it’s there, it can’t see anything, But even though it can’t see anything… It is still protected and secure…
As he spoke, He opened his bible to psalm 91:4. And if you look at that with me, you’ll notice what they noticed…
The counselor said to them: “notice it doesn’t say “under His wings shalt thou see, but under His wings shalt thou trust.”
My God Richly Bless you today. Thank You.
Reverend Robert W. Parker
E-mail: bparker@courier-journal.com
Southern Mission Baptist Church
Reverend John Mitchell Jr. Senior Teacher and Pastor
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