By Guest Columnist, Spencer Sullivan, Pastor, Pelahatchie Baptist
In college, I played baseball one season with a guy named Adam Huddleston. He transferred to Belhaven for his senior year. Before coming to Belhaven, he had played two years at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College and was actually drafted by the New York Yankees after his second year there. However, he didn’t sign a pro contract and instead played the next season at the University of South Alabama, a D1 school. In 2000, the one year he played with us, he was the Conference and Region Player of the Year. He batted well over .400 and hit over 20 homeruns. In scrimmages, I can remember pitching to Hud four times. I actually struck him out twice, but the other two times, he hit absolute moonshot homeruns off of me. Even before our season started that year, I can remember thinking, man, I’m glad he’s on our side.
Have you ever thought about whether God is on your side?
In Psalm 124, King David started this psalm by really leaning into this question. He led the people of God to consider what would have happened to them if the Lord had not been on their side. He began: “If it had not been the Lord who was on our side…” To really get their attention, he immediately followed up with: “let Israel now say— if it had not been the Lord who was on our side…” He called the whole nation, each person, to consider what would have been the outcome in their time of tremendous need if the Lord had not been on their side.
Who knows the specific occasion that inspired David to write these words, but there were many times (Exodus from Egypt, Goliath/Philistines, etc.) in the Old Testament that would have ended in their complete destruction if God had not delivered them. If God had not been on their side, David suggested that their enemies would have swallowed them up, overwhelmed them like a flood, or swept them away like a torrent. He uses powerful imagery here in this psalm, but do you resonate? Can you think of a time in your life when you felt hopeless and helpless only for God to do what only He could have done to deliver you?
Upon personal reflection, there are multiple situations in my life that could have led me to write as David did here. If it had not been the Lord who was on my side, I would not be here today. However, there is certainly one situation that we all have in common that could lead us to write or say words like David used to begin this psalm. We are all dead in our sin against God and we are helpless to save ourselves. One of my favorite preachers, H.B. Charles Jr., likes to tell this story. In the middle of the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln was asked: “Do you think God is on our side?” To which President Lincoln replied: “It does not matter if the Lord is on our side. It only matters if we are on the Lord’s side.” God has shown His great love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. He endured punishment for sin that was not His so that we can gain a righteousness that is not ours. But, while our salvation has been paid for, we must receive this free gift through repentance and faith. So, I ask you, are you on the Lord’s side? By grace have you repented of your sin and believed upon what Jesus did for you? Have you taken up your cross to follow Him?
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