Consecration to be Separated from the World


	PSALM 124: Consecration to be Separated from the World - Standing against the World's Opposition The Lord is on Our Side for the Sake of His Testimony Psalm 124 is actually a continuation of Psalm 123, but there is a key difference between them. The psalm begins, "If it had not been Jehovah who was on our side, Oh, let Israel say& " (v. 1). The most important word in this verse is the word "Israel." This marks a spiritual advancing, an ascent in our Christian experience. We advance from "I" to "Israel." In Psalm 123, the psalmist said, "To You do I lift up my eyes." The psalmist had an individual stand for the Lord, and this led to his experience of being despised in the world. On one hand, when we are despised because of our stand for the Lord, then the Lord is "on our side." However, the Lord is not actually on the side of one person. As we see in Psalm 124, the Lord is on the side of Israel. "Israel" represents God's chosen people who bear His testimony. As those who are bearing God's testimony today we can boldly declare, "The Lord is on our side." We have advanced from an individual stand for the Lord to a corporate stand for the Lord's testimony. The World Rises Up against Us in Three Ways The psalmist continues, "If it had not been Jehovah who was on our side when men rose up against us" (v. 2). This thought is a continuation from the previous psalm. In Psalm 123 the world had nothing but contempt for us. In Psalm 124 the whole world rises up again us. The rest of Psalm 124 shows us the different ways that the world rises up. "Then they [the ones rising up] would have swallowed us up alive when their anger burned against us; then the waters would have washed us away; the stream would have passed over our soul; then the proud waters would have passed over our soul. Blessed be Jehovah, who has not given us as prey to their teeth. Our soul has escaped like a bird, out of the snare of the fowlers; the snare is broken, and we have escaped" (v. 3-7). First, the world comes like a beast to swallow us up quickly (v. 3). Next, the world tries to overwhelm us as a flood of waters (v. 4-5). Third, the world desires to ensnare us as a bird (v. 7). For the psalmist to characterize the world in such a way shows us that he was filled with experience. The description of the world in Psalm 124 is even stronger than in the previous psalm. Here we see three categories of the world's opposition after we give ourselves to Christ. The world is like a beast to swallow us up, a flood to carry us away, and a trap to ensnare us. We should never think that the world is lovely. The world is our enemy, and is always trying to defeat us in one of these three ways. The World Comes as a Beast to Devour Us The world first comes like a beast to swallow us up alive. This means that the world comes by force to scare us and threaten us. For example, the world often tells us, "You had better love me! If you do not love me, you will have no future! You will be hopeless!" Haven't we all heard this voice? The world seeks to terrorize us. Sometimes the world speaks to us through our own family members. When members of our family are so worried about our future and so bothered that we are for the Lord, their words can cut deeply. This is how the world operates. It threatens us with noise. "If you do not love me, you will become nothing! If you give yourself to me, you can be so hopeful! You can be the president of a company!" The world lies to us: "If you give yourself to me, you can make a lot of money for the church! You can support the church!" Do not believe this. This is just the speaking of the beast which wants to swallow us up. To be swallowed up means to disappear. Once we take the beast's word, we will be gone. Once we follow the world we will disappear. There have been many dear brothers and sisters who loved the Lord but could not overcome the world's voice. We must be aware. The world is always coming to us like a beast. "Give your life to me! I promise you everything!" This is the same as Satan's promise to the Lord. Satan showed the Lord all the kingdoms of the world and said, "All these will I give You if You will fall down and worship me" (Matt. 4:8-9). The principle is the same for us today. Satan comes as a beast ready to swallow us up and devour us. He comes by tempting us through the world. The World Comes as a Flood to Overwhelm Us Sometimes we can overcome the world when it comes to us as a beast. We can say, "I don't care about the world! I am here for the church life! I am here for the Lord's testimony!" But then the world comes in a different form, as a flood to overwhelm us. A beast is easier to handle because it is so obvious. A flood is more subtle than a beast and therefore much harder to resist. The first stages of a flood may even be quite pleasant. At first there may be just a pleasant sound of water flowing, but eventually it builds into an overwhelming flood. The psalmist says, "Then the waters would have washed us away; the stream would have passed over our soul" (v. 4). The word "stream" can also be translated "torrent." A flood may start out very small. It may begin as just a stream, but gradually it turns into a torrent. The world may come to us with something small, but gradually it overwhelms us until we feel we have no choice but to give in. Suppose you begin a new job. After a short time, it is your turn to be promoted. However, this promotion causes you to travel more. Eventually another promotion comes, and the only requirement is to work overtime. When these promotions first come, they are enjoyable. But these promotions can also be the beginning of a flood. You may think, "What is wrong with getting a promotion?" There may be nothing wrong. Sometimes a promotion can be very healthy. But promotions can also be very dangerous. Such things can carry you away like a flood until you are completely outside of God's economy. Then all of a sudden you find yourself out of the church life. You are out of the Lord's presence, and you don't even know how you got there. You can remember one year earlier, how much you loved the Lord and the church life. Now you wonder why, just a year later, you are going to parties instead of church meetings. How could this happen? Because the world came as a flood. At first the world came to you as a beast, but you recognized it. But then the world changed its form. It came as a flood without warning. It began with some very small and subtle changes in your life which built up over time. Then it eventually came so fast that it was impossible to escape. For this reason the Bible warns us not to love the world nor the things in the world (1 John 2:15). The whole world is a flood that moves strongly and quickly. When we love the world or give into it only a little, we are in danger of being suddenly overwhelmed. Before we even know it the world will carry us away. This is why we must be careful. The World Comes as a Snare to Trap Us The world can also come as a snare. "Our soul has escaped like a bird, out of the snare of the fowlers; the snare is broken, and we have escaped" (v. 7). A snare is a trap which is filled with bait. When a bird goes after some bait and flies into a trap, it has no idea what it has gotten into. The bird doesn't realize what danger it is in. We may go after some bait in the world, yet we don't realize the seriousness of it. The bait of the world is quite attractive, but before we know it we can be trapped in a snare. We should never think, "I have been following the Lord for a long time now. I know how to handle the world." No, we don't know how to handle it. The world is still a snare that can trap us. There are so many things in the world that act as bait to us. We may have the purest motives, but we can still be ensnared. Once we touch it we don't know what will happen next. Even when we look for a new job, that job can be filled with bait. A new job may include all sorts of promising things. Then we fly in like a bird, and before we know it we're trapped in a snare. All of a sudden we don't belong to the Lord anymore. We are no longer free. The Lord Can Break the Snare of the World But praise the Lord, He always has a way with us. Even when we become ensnared in the world, the Lord still has a way. The psalm tells us, "Blessed be Jehovah, who has not given us as prey to their teeth. Our soul has escaped like a bird, out of the snare of the fowlers; the snare is broken, and we have escaped" (v. 6-7). There are times when we are in danger of being caught by the world, yet we are somehow able to fly away. We seem to be captured, yet somehow we escape. No matter how the world attracts us and ensnares us, the Lord always has a way to break the snare. Our Help to Overcome the World is in the Name of the Lord When we first follow the Lord, then the world comes in to despise us. But when we are for His testimony, the world rises up against us. The world attacks us in three ways: as a beast to devour us, as a flood to overwhelm us, and as a trap to ensnare us. How can we escape the world? The psalmist declares, "Our help is in the name of Jehovah, who made heaven and earth" (v. 8). This is the conclusion not only of this psalm but the previous one. Psalm 123 had no conclusion. It ended with our being despised by the world. Psalm 124 is the continuation of Psalm 123, and it ends with this wonderful verse. When the world despises us, threatens us or compels us, where does our help come from? The One who made heaven and earth. Praise the Lord, He helps us. Our help is in the name of the Lord. Because of His help we can escape and overcome the world. This is our second consecration. After our first consecration to the Lord Himself, we need the further consecration of being separated from the world so that we can be His testimony. To purchase the book Journey of Life; the Psalms of Ascent and Song of Songs