Our Help Is in the Name of the Lord

Devotional

Day 1: If the Lord Had Not Been on Our Side

Psalm 124 invites a holy “what if.” Not to stir regret or fear, but to awaken gratitude and worship. When you look back, you can see places where the story would have unraveled if God had not stood with you. Narrow escapes, unexpected provision, strength you didn’t have—grace threads the whole tapestry. Let your memory become a sanctuary where praise rises. Together we learn to say with confidence: God has been with us. [29:50]

Psalm 124:1-5 — If the Lord had not been for us—let all His people say it—if the Lord had not stood beside us when others rose against us, we would have been gulped down while still breathing. The surge would have rolled over us; a torrent would have swept us away; the raging waters would have covered our heads.

Reflection: What is one moment this past year that would likely have ended differently if the Lord had not stood by you, and how could you memorialize that mercy this week so you don’t forget it?

Day 2: Rescued from Flood, Teeth, and Snare

Trouble can feel like three enemies at once: a predator’s bite, a flash flood, and a hidden trap. Grief, control, worry, and illness can consume, sweep away, or imprison the heart. Yet God has a record of stepping in when escape is impossible on our own. He pulls us from jaws that won’t let go, shatters cages we cannot break, and sets our feet on solid ground. Your story is not defined by the trap, but by the One who breaks it. Praise rises from people who have been carried, not crushed. [35:50]

Psalm 124:6-8 — Praise the Lord who did not let us become food for their jaws. Like a bird slipping free when the snare snaps, we got away because the trap was broken. Our help is found in the name of the Lord, the One who shaped heaven and earth.

Reflection: Which image best names your present struggle—teeth, flood, or snare—and what is one honest prayer or conversation you can initiate today to invite God’s rescue into it?

Day 3: Our Help Is the Maker of Heaven and Earth

There is a defiant hope in saying, “Our help is in the Lord.” Experience breeds confidence: again and again He has met you in places you could not fix. We are not rescued by a calendar flip, a better system, or a shinier tool; we are rescued by Jesus. He stepped into the torrent, was swallowed by death, and broke the snare through His resurrection. Because He lives, you can walk forward with peace. Lift your eyes; your Help holds sky and soil in His hands. [39:37]

Psalm 121:1-2 — I look up toward the heights and ask, “Where will my help come from?” My help comes from the Lord—the Maker who crafted sky and land.

Reflection: Where are you tempted to trust a plan or tool to save you, and how will you declare in that exact place, “My help is in the Lord,” through one practical act of dependence?

Day 4: Keep Your Lamps Burning: Ready with Hope

Readiness in Jesus’ kingdom is not anxious striving; it is steady trust that keeps the lamp lit. Like servants awaiting their master’s return, you open the door at once because you live in expectation. Astonishingly, He promises to seat the watchful and serve them Himself. Watchfulness looks like prayerful attention, unhurried repentance, and love expressed in ordinary faithfulness. Stay awake to His presence today, and tomorrow won’t catch you off guard. Hope keeps the flame from going out. [20:36]

Luke 12:35-40 — Be ready for service and keep your lamps lit, like servants waiting for their master to return from a wedding feast so they can open the door the moment he knocks. Blessed are the ones he finds awake; truly, the master will put on the servant’s apron, seat them, and serve them. Whether he comes late at night or near dawn, blessed are the ready. If a homeowner knew when a thief would arrive, he would not allow a break-in. So be ready, for the Son of Man will come when you are not expecting Him.

Reflection: What small, concrete practice—five minutes of evening prayer, a planned act of kindness, or a needed apology—will help keep your lamp trimmed and burning this week?

Day 5: Selah in the In-Between: Emmanuel With Us Now

Between what was and what will be, God invites a pause—selah. Look back for the thread of grace, breathe, and then step forward knowing you are not alone. We are not saved by rushing into the next thing but by the Presence who meets us here. The Lord who was and is and will be is with you in this very moment. Exhale; let His peace steady your next step. Your help is not behind you or ahead of you—it is here. [42:56]

Matthew 28:20 — Be sure of this: I am with you every day, right up to the final day.

Reflection: Before you set new goals, where could you pause today for a selah and name the thread of grace you see—and how might that awareness gently shape your very next step?

Sermon Summary

At the quiet hinge between Christmas and a new year, the call is to pause and remember where real help comes from. Psalm 124 invites a purposeful “what if” exercise: “If it had not been the Lord who was on our side.” This communal memory summons God’s people to consider how differently life would look without God’s intervention. The imagery is vivid—enemies devouring, floods sweeping away, torrents carrying off—capturing how grief, fear, illness, and uncertainty can overwhelm. Yet the testimony is just as strong: God has been with his people. He has not delivered them into the teeth of their troubles; he has broken the snare and provided escape. This is Emmanuel in the past tense—God has been with us—forming a faithful memory that fuels present courage.

The reflection resists the false hope that a calendar flip, a tighter plan, or a more efficient app can save. Experience breeds confidence, not in self-improvement, but in the character of the Maker of heaven and earth who has acted before and promises to act again. The line, “Our help is in the name of the Lord,” is a defiant declaration over all chaos. Luke 12’s call to keep the lamps burning reframes readiness not as anxious striving but as watchful trust in the Master who returns and serves his servants at the table.

All of this finds its center in Jesus. He entered the flood, was swallowed by death, and in the resurrection shattered the trap none of us could open. Because he is victorious and present, help is neither nostalgia for the past nor anxiety about the future—it is the Lord’s nearness now. Looking back, one can trace a thread of grace through mountains and valleys. Looking ahead, one can admit the unknown without pretending life will be easy. The Lord who was, who is, and who will be is with his people, delivering, guiding, rejoicing, and sustaining. So step forward—unhurried, unafraid, and not alone—because the One who made heaven and earth keeps vigil over every step.

Key Takeaways

1. Practice a year-end Selah Pause on purpose to let God reorder your loves and restore perspective. Reflection is not passivity; it is a decisive act of trust that creates space for clarity. Without pausing, the “what ifs” of regret and anxiety set the agenda. With Selah, Scripture and prayer steady the soul for faithful readiness. [25:52]
2. Remember who stood beside you “If it had not been the Lord…” turns fear into worship by naming God’s past faithfulness. Emmanuel in the past tense—God has been with us—anchors identity more deeply than success or failure. Recounting deliverance reshapes the imagination for what God can do now. Memory becomes fuel for hope. [30:45]
3. Name your floods and snares David’s images make trouble specific: devouring teeth, sweeping floods, unbreakable traps. Vague fears multiply, but named threats can be brought under Christ’s rule. God’s rescues often arrive where self-rescue is impossible, breaking what holds us and pulling us from the jaws of despair. Honesty opens the door to deliverance. [34:52]
4. Confidence grows from experienced deliverance Hope is not naïve optimism; it rests on a track record of God’s action. Like a team that has “been there,” the heart remembers how God has shepherded through previous valleys. This breeds humble confidence—not arrogance—that the Maker of heaven and earth remains faithful. Past grace forms durable courage for the future. [38:04]
5. Your help is present, not postponed The calendar cannot save; Jesus does. He entered the flood, was swallowed by death, and broke the snare so we could walk free. Because he is with us now, courage flows from communion, not from control. Trust today’s presence more than tomorrow’s plans. [42:56]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[10:01] - Connection and prayer requests
[15:12] - Confession and Absolution
[20:36] - Gospel reading: Be ready
[25:52] - Selah: pause between years
[27:55] - Psalm 124: If not for the Lord
[31:57] - Troubles that devour and flood
[34:52] - The snare is broken
[37:36] - Our help: Maker of heaven and earth
[38:50] - Not rescued by plans or apps
[39:18] - Christ enters the flood and wins
[40:25] - A thread of grace
[42:56] - Help is here, right now
[49:02] - Communion: Words of Institution
[58:18] - Final blessing and sending

Bible Study Guide

Bible reading
- Psalm 124

Observation questions

In Psalm 124, what repeated phrase does the community say together, and what is it calling God’s people to do?
What three images does David use to describe danger and overwhelm in Psalm 124 (think: swallowed, flood/torrent, snare)?
How does Psalm 124 end, and what does that closing line declare about where help comes from?
Name some of the specific troubles identified that mirror David’s images (e.g., grief, fear, illness, uncertainty). Which ones stood out and why? [33:46]

Interpretation questions

“If it had not been the Lord who was on our side” invites a purposeful “what if” about life without God. How can communal memory (Let Israel say…) shape a person’s courage today? [29:50]
What is the significance of saying “God has been with us” (Emmanuel in the past tense)? How does remembering God’s past nearness build present trust? [30:45]
David names floods, teeth, and snares. Why might naming threats specifically help bring them under Christ’s rule rather than letting vague fears multiply? [31:57]
Readiness language (keep your lamps burning) reframes waiting as watchful trust, not anxious striving. How does that change the way someone prepares for an unknown future? [20:36]

Application questions

Practice a year-end Selah. When and how will you pause on purpose this week—phone down, Bible open, heart quiet—to let God reorder your loves? What tends to rush you past this pause? [25:52]
Remember who stood beside you. Share one moment from this past year when “if it had not been the Lord,” the outcome would have been very different. What did God do, seen or unseen? [29:12]
Name your floods and snares. What two threats feel like devouring teeth, sweeping waters, or a trap you can’t break? What honest step could open the door for God’s deliverance—sharing with a friend, asking for prayer, setting a boundary, seeking counsel? [34:52]
Build humble confidence from experienced deliverance. Write down three times God made a way for you. How does that track record shape the way you approach one big decision or fear you’re facing right now? [38:04]
Your help is present, not postponed. Where are you tempted to trust the calendar flip, a tighter plan, or a new app more than Jesus’ nearness? What is one concrete way you will lean into his presence today (not tomorrow)? [42:56]
Keep the lamp burning without hurry. What one small habit will help you keep watch in trust this week—five minutes of Scripture, a daily breath prayer, a call to a brother/sister in Christ, an act of generosity? [20:36]
Because Jesus “broke the snare,” what step into freedom is in front of you—offering forgiveness, asking for forgiveness, confessing a secret, making a doctor’s appointment, taking a day of rest? What support do you need to take it? [39:18]

Sermon Clips

But either way, today what I wanted to do is, this idea of taking a break. Selah, it's this word that you see in Scripture in the book of Psalms, it's kind of off to the right of some parts of Psalms, and it's this reminder for the reader to pause. To hang out a moment, because what you just read was important, was impactful, was meaningful, and don't just brush past it, but sit there for a minute. And that's what we're going to do today. [00:25:52] (31 seconds) #PauseAndReflect

And yet today, as we look at Psalm 124, that is exactly what we're doing. We're kind of playing this what if game. But for a purpose. Psalm 124 was written by King David. It's part of this collection within the book of Psalms known as the Song of Ascent. It's a Song of Ascent, which would have been used by the ancient Jewish people, and still today even, on their journey up to the temple during the pilgrimage. [00:27:50] (34 seconds) #Psalm124Reflection

We're not sure exactly when, but if you look at King David's life, there's a lot of moments that could fit. Moments where annihilation was standing at his doorstep. Whether for him personally, as he's being chased down by King Saul, or his family is trying to take over the throne, or whether they're facing opposition from enemy armies like the Philistines. These moments where, if God had not stepped in, the story would have been very different. [00:28:45] (34 seconds) #GodSteppedIn

David is describing three different ways in which our troubles or the difficulties and circumstances of life can take us over. The water is a symbol in Bible for chaos and disorder. And so we get this picture that had it not been for the Lord, these things, whether it's enemies attacking us, whether it's people going against us, whether it's circumstances overwhelming us. They would have consumed us. They could have been the end of us. The flood could have taken us away. [00:32:14] (35 seconds) #SavedFromTheFlood

And we see that for us today in this kind of crossroads area. Where we're looking forward with maybe plans in a new year. And the hope that the next year is going to be good. And yet we have to understand that we aren't rescued by the calendar turning a page. By a better plan, a better system, or a better app or tool that promises us to fix everything. It might help to a certain degree. [00:38:41] (28 seconds) #RescueBeyondPlans

Where we're looking forward with maybe plans in a new year. And the hope that the next year is going to be good. And yet we have to understand that we aren't rescued by the calendar turning a page. By a better plan, a better system, or a better app or tool that promises us to fix everything. It might help to a certain degree. [00:38:46] (23 seconds) #MoreThanANewYear

And that is the story of our life. That life truly would look a lot different for each and every one of us. If the Lord who is was not by our side. And so today as we look forward from Christmas and into the next year. And before we rush into it too fast. We can remember two very important things. We may not know what this next year holds. And that's okay. [00:41:51] (35 seconds) #TrustTheUnknown

And we may not be able to experience an easy and perfect life. And we don't even have to pretend it is. Because we can confidently say. That the Lord who was. The Lord who is. And the Lord whoever will be. Is going to be right there with us. Showing up. Delivering us out of these situations and circumstances that we find ourselves in. Celebrating the joys with us. Helping us navigate through the pains. And so we can step forward knowing that we are not alone. [00:42:25] (36 seconds) #GodIsWithUs

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