Peter Misselbrook's Blog

Oct 27 2019 - Psalm 124 – If the Lord had not been on our side

Israel's history recorded in the Scriptures is full of instances where God had come to the aid of his people when they were facing serious threats and had rescued them.

In Egypt, Pharaoh had been intent on genocide as a solution to the growing numbers of the children of Israel. He saw them as a threat. He commanded that all the baby boys should be thrown into the Nile at birth and left to drown. He subjected all the men to cruel slave labour to break their spirits and send them to an early grave. Had he succeeded in his plans, the entire nation of Israel would have died out in a generation. But he did not succeed. God heard the cry of his people and waded into their conflict on their side. He broke the power of Pharaoh using a baby who had been deposited in the river and who had grown to manhood in Pharaoh's own household. He rescued his people from slavery in Egypt so that they "escaped like a bird from the fowler’s snare; the snare has been broken, and we have escaped" (v. 7).

When the Israelites got to the shores of the Red Sea, there was a vast body of water before them and the pursuing army of Pharaoh behind them. They feared that they would be driven into the sea and be drowned – that the flood would have engulfed them (v. 4). But the Lord had intervened on their side and had dried up the waters of the sea so that the Israelites could walk across on dry ground. It was the pursuing Egyptians who were engulfed by the flood and swept away by the torrent of raging waters.

Later, when they arrived at the land the Lord had promised to give them they found great walled cities like Jericho shut up against them. But the Lord had fought with them and for them; he had shown himself to be on their side and the walls had come crashing down before them.

In the days of Gideon, when the Midianites threatened to steal the harvest of the land and destroy the young nation, the Lord had fought on their side and defeated the great Midianite army with just 300 men.

This story could be repeated again and again as we review the pages of the Old Testament. If the Lord had not been on the side of his people – his all too often rebellious and disobedient people – they would have been destroyed. So this "Song of Ascents", calls pilgrims making their way to Jerusalem to begin their celebration as they journey and as they remember all that the Lord has done for them. The psalm ends with an echo of Psalm 121: "Our help is in the name of the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth (Psalm 124:8).

We can echo the theme of this psalm, but perhaps with an added note of surprise. We are, by nature, rebels against God and deserving of his judgment. But in Christ, the living God has shown himself to be on our side. So much so that in Jesus, God became incarnate – identified himself fully with us. He came to be with us that he might save us – that he might rescue us from all those forces that threatened to destroy us. In his death he endures all that those forces could do to destroy him. By his resurrection he has defeated them and has broken their power over us: "the snare has been broken, and we have escaped."

The apostle Paul speaks with wonder of these things when he asks, "If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all – how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?" (Romans 8:31-32). Jesus is the proof that God is on our side and will not allow us to be swept away in our own weakness and folly but has come to rescue us. We also have much cause to praise him as we make our pilgrim way to glory.

Father God, thank you that in the Lord Jesus you have shown yourself to be on our side. Help us to come alongside those who fear that they will be overwhelmed by all that they feel is opposed to them and set to destroy them. Help us to tell them the good news that there is one who can rescue them and give them the sure hope of victory now and for eternity.

Oct 27 2020 - James 5:1-20 – The power of prayer

We spoke yesterday of the overruling providence of God. We may make our plans, but things may not turn out as we intended. We are not in control of every detail of our lives; but God is in control of all things.

God’s sovereign power over all that he has made should be a great encouragement to prayer. James encourages us to pray for those in trouble (James 5:13 – though the call there is for the person in trouble to pray), and to pray for those who are sick. He encourages prayer with the assurance that, “The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective” (5:16), and reminds us of Elijah who prayed for drought and it did not rain for three and a half years and then prayed again for rain and the rains returned. The prayer of God’s people is effective because it taps into the power that created and sustains the universe.

But, for most of us, prayer is a great mystery. We have prayed for the healing of those who are sick and they have not been healed; children and the parents of young children have died. We have prayed for those in deep trouble and their troubles have not come to an end, they may even have worsened. For years, we have prayed for dear members of our own family who have yet to come to trust in Christ, and still they are not saved. And it will not do to turn the words of James into an accusation that there was something lacking in the one who prayed – they did not have enough faith; they did not pray long enough… We know from hard experience that prayer, even the most earnest prayer, is no guarantee that our petition will be answered as we wish. Nor will it do to affirm that we need, in effect, to add “God willing” to our prayers. To sanctify unanswered prayer with the assertion that what happened (and happens) is always God’s will is a form of fatalism that robs the promises of God’s Word of both substance and comfort.

So we are left with a deep mystery which I cannot resolve but which I have to live with in an attitude of faith and biblical hope. Unanswered prayer does not stop me praying nor does it destroy my faith in God. I believe that, "He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all … will …, along with him, graciously give us all things" (Romans 8:32). I believe this despite the painful mystery of unanswered prayer. And because I believe it, I am driven again and again to prayer in the confidence that God does hear the cry of his people and that he will answer them.

And I believe that, in the end, the love and goodness of God will have the last word. I believe this because God’s love and goodness have appeared in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. He died for us, and is now risen from the dead. He has conquered all the powers of darkness. The day will come when he will return and the pain of unanswered prayer will be removed as he wipes every tear from our eyes. In the meantime, I pray that his kingdom may come and his will be done on earth as it is in heaven. And I pray that I might be used to answer prayer. The triumph of Christ promotes not triumphalism but confidence both in prayer and in the work of the kingdom. Oh, and by the way, at times we do see remarkable answers to prayer.

Lord, teach us to pray – to pray continually, to pray confidently, to pray fervently, to pray in all circumstances. Help us to rejoice in answered payer as evidence of your power and love. Help us to trust you when the prayers of our hearts seem to go unanswered knowing that your redeeming love shall have the last word. As we have ability, help us to be the answer to our prayers, and the prayers of others, as we bring encouragement and blessing to those whose lives we touch.

Peter Misselbrook