ASCENDING TO THE HOUSE OF GOD

(Our Acknowledgement - Psalm 124)

Pastor Don Fortner
Grace Baptist Church of Danville
2734 Old Stanford Road
Danville, Kentucky 40422-9438


In Psalm 124 the tried, tempted, slandered pilgrim acknowledges, “God my Savior, is my Keeper.”—“By the grace of God I am what I am.” Because Christ is the Captain of our salvation (Josh. 5:14; Heb. 2:10), God’s elect are always secure. That is the sweet theme of this Psalm. Well may Zion ’s pilgrims sing it throughout their pilgrimage, and sing it with distinct joy as we ascend to the house of God to hear the good news and worship God our Savior!

Our Divine Protector

The Lord himself is our Protector. Our enemies would swallow us up like lions do their prey; but our God will never allow it. — “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:Then they had swallowed us up quick, when their wrath was kindled against us:Then the waters had overwhelmed us, the stream had gone over our soul:Then the proud waters had gone over our soul ” (vv. 1-5). Satan is a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour, but our mighty Savior has conquered him. The old lion has no teeth to devour God’s elect. He does not even have claws to injure us. In fact, he can never even come near to harm us, because he who is the Captain of our Salvation holds him by the chain of omnipotence (Rev. 20:1-2).

Grateful Praise

All who experience such deliverance, knowing our own weakness, ascribe the praise to Christ alone, with grateful hearts of thanksgiving. — “Blessed be the Lord, who hath not given us as a prey to their teeth. Our soul is escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowlers: the snare is broken, and we are escaped” (vv. 6-7).

God’s people are like little birds, singing forth his praises because of his goodness to us. Like worthless, insignificant sparrows, weak and unable to resist their foes, we are often fearful and timid at the apprehension of danger; but there is no reason for such fear. The snares laid before us are broken by our God as easily as a snare laid for a bird.

Our Confidence

“Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth” (v. 8). — This is our confidence and joy. He who has delivered us will yet deliver us. He who is our Creator has power to deliver us. And he who loved us and gave himself for us is our Creator. He will deliver us. Oh, that he may give us grace to trust him, and ever run unto his name as our high tower and refuge (Pro. 18:1).

For All Ages

“The Lord was on our side,” in the past. "The snare is broken," in the present. "Our help is in the name of the Lord," in all the days yet before us. Let us therefore “fear not,” though Satan roars against us, or the world assaults us, or our own evil hearts assail us. “If God be for us, Who can be against us?”

This is a psalm for all ages. The church of God is still in hostile territory. Traitors are in the camp; and there are numerous foes without. The church would soon be exterminated, if the malice and might of our adversaries were not overruled and overturned by God our Savior. The year of God’s redeemed must come. The salvation of Christ shall extend to the utmost parts of the earth. And when our final emancipation comes, God’s elect out of all the nations of the earth will shout for joy and praise Christ our Savior. Let us do so now in psalms, and hymns, and spiritual songs.