 Happy New Year! I really thank the Lord for being good to us. I felt that all of us went to the village when I reached here in the morning because the numbers were too small, but I'm seeing the church is full, people have come to bless the name of the Lord because the Lord has been so good to us throughout the year. We have had challenges, we have had long journeys throughout the year, but we still claim, we still testify that if it were not for the Lord, our enemy would have consumed us. We thank the Lord. I want to at least recognize the presence of my dear friend, pastor Tirup and family. I know you have started the year well. May you at least, I see madam is having a baby, but you can at least rise and wave to us, pastor. She had greeted. Thank you so much, feel at the field of Jesus, the whole family. God bless you. I want to welcome all of you and I'm happy that you are here. I was very happy to see how the testimonies were really telling us how God is so good to us and God is doing miracles. By the way, and I thank you elder for noting that, that that is the miraculous escape. When you look at Sister Opea when she was giving that kind of testimony, when you look at Alvi Nogonda and being overwhelmed, that was a miraculous escape. When you look at my dear friend Ashley, your mom did the wall for Alvi and we were praying every morning. But you find she is praying but at home, tests that are not heading anywhere. But God is a God of miracles. We thank the Lord. And all of us in your own way, you have seen the hand of the Lord. I wanted us this morning to thank the Lord for the year 2023 that has passed and hope to be with him for the year 2024 using the book of Psalms and a song of Psalm 124. So our text today is Psalm 124. Psalm 124 is one of the pilgrims or psalms of ascents or psalms of degrees. When you look at your Bible you may find those titles written up there. Song of degrees, song of ascents, song of steps, pilgrimage song. What it means that 15 songs starting from Psalm 120 to Psalm 134, 15 in number, they are called some of degrees or some of ascents, some of pilgrimage, some of steps. Israelites after the captivity in Babylon in the around 500 BC or so or after they used to sing them when they are going for the three festivals in a year that the Israelites had to attend to. So as they were sending to Jerusalem, sending on the hill, that is why they were singing those songs. That is why they are called song of ascents or song of pilgrimage. They were on a pilgrimage and singing those songs or songs of degrees or song of steps as they do their steps to Jerusalem which is surrounded by seven hills. So that is why they are called that. Again this Psalm 124 has been given a title that it is a song of David which means it has been ascribed to David that David composed it or there might be a reason if he didn't compose it why it is ascribed to him but let us just believe that it was composed by David. Some of the pilgrimage songs were composed after the captivity some were even before the captivity but they fitted him into the captivity because you can see if it was composed by David David would have lived around 1000 BC and you see pilgrimage was around 500 years later so after the captivity is about 500 years later that is a small introduction you need to know before we read Psalm 124 so as David composed it and as the Israelites were singing it after the captivity in Babylon they sing and say we read Psalm 124 and it reads if it had not been the Lord who was on our side now Israel I say if it had not been the Lord who was on our side when men rose up against us then they had swallowed us quick when their wrath was killed against us then the waters had overwhelmed us the stream had gone over our soul then the proud waters had gone over our soul blessed be the Lord who hath not given us a prey to their teeth our soul is escaped as a bud out of the snare of the folas the snare is broken and we are escaped our help is in the name of the Lord who made heaven and earth that is our song this morning and this is our song for the beginning of the year probably if David really composed this song as the title is telling us there must have been something that moved him to write this message and it says that if it had not been the Lord who was on our side there is something that is moving him it must have been a situation that was seemingly deadly there was no way out in that situation and then he starts by saying oh if it had not been the Lord who was on our side then he realizes that I don't need to say this alone let all Israelites proclaim and say sure each of us is testifying in verse 2 that is why he is saying let all Israel say in verse 1 that if it had not been the Lord who was on our side when men rose up against us then they would have swallowed us alive probably it's not very definite but some scholars do think that what moved David to write this song is the circumstance that is in the book of second Samuel we will read it second Samuel chapter 5 from verse 17 we will look at it then we will come back to our book of Sam a book in Sam Sam 124 but second Samuel chapter 5 from verse 17 the Bible is saying now when the Philistines heard that they had anointed David king of Israel all the Philistines all the Philistines went up to search for David and David heard of it and went down to the stronghold when the Philistines heard of it and went down to the stronghold when the Philistines also went and deployed themselves in the valley of Refe so David inquired of the Lord saying shall I go up against the Philistines will you deliver them into my hands God said to David go up for I will doubtless deliver the Philistines into your hand and verse 20 we continue so David went to Balperazim and David defeated them there and he said the Lord has broken through my enemies before me like a breakthrough of water therefore he called the name of the place Balperazim and when they left their images there and David and his men carried them away verse 22 then the Philistines went up once again they are still wanting to fight so they are continuing they are not giving up but get a situation where God had decided and now David has been crowned the king it means the ground is very shaky for the new king but Philistines who are powerful enemies are coming to war all of them to war to have a war with David so in verse 22 we continue then after the first one then the Philistines went up once again and deployed themselves in the valley of Refin therefore David inquired of the Lord and he said you shall not sorry then David inquired of the Lord and he said you shall not go up God told him you shall not go up sako around behind them and come upon them in front of the mulberry tree and it shall be when you shall hear the sound of marching in the tops of the mulberry trees then you shall advance quickly for then the Lord will go before you to strike the camp of the Philistines and David did so and the Lord commanded him sorry as the Lord commanded him and he drove back the Philistines from Geba as far as Gezer what I learned in that statement is that David is asking the Lord they have come again the second time you helped me the first time and I defeated them Lord what am I going to do this time can I go again then the Lord told don't go but just be at the back but when you hear the sound of marching on top of the tree then go quickly who do you think was marching on top of the tree it means that the battle was not for David but the battle was the Lord the Lord was telling him the sign that I will show you is that my angels will march with you and they are going to fight for you just wait for the angels to go and march for you that you know that the Lord is going with you then after such kind of a miraculous defeat of the Philistines David must have come to write this song in Psalm 122 124 and he says if it had not been the Lord who was on our side let Israel now say verse 2 if it had not been for the Lord who was on our side when men rose up against us then they would have swallowed us alive if we were to fight it ourselves surely we would have been swallowed if we were to go with our soldiers they would have swallowed us alive they would have killed all of us by the way look at this verse 2 again and put the word what at the beginning what if it had not been the Lord who was on our side just try to imagine you have passed through some conditions in life like the testimonies that you have heard like your own testimony that you have not given unto us and then ask yourself that question what if it had not been the Lord who was on my side what could have happened this is the question what if the Lord left us to fight our own battles where would we be the answer is very simple the answer is coming from the text and is saying the wrath would have blazed against us like a blazing fire and some imagery have been used here like a blazing fire something that can burn all of us and we are all gone the situations that we have faced in life all of us we could have been burned by the blazing fire then if not so verse 4 is saying if it were not so again the waters would have overwhelmed us and when I was reading at the waters like the same way even verse 5 is saying then the swollen waters would have gone over our soul I was seeing the El Nino rains that have just I don't know whether they have just it has just passed but you can remember two, three months down the line we have been experiencing some heavy rains and I can I remember some clips I saw of the coast how the floods were raging in coast and you would see some people hidden somewhere walls have been covered with the flood if it was not the Lord who was on our side then the raging waters could have overwhelmed us I was also thinking of what Israelites what made Israelites choose this song as one of the pilgrimage songs because they were taken to captivity in Babylon for 70 years and when they are coming back you know sometimes you come back and hit the Lord because of the tough experiences that you have gone through by the way do you know sometimes you become so sick and for too long sometimes financial crisis that is never ending sometimes family problems that are never ending until you ask why would you even serve the Lord if your worst situation is persisting but I find the Israelites after coming out of the captivity in 70 years they come and use this song when they are going to worship the Lord in Jerusalem they are going and they are saying and they are singing if it were not the Lord who was on our side then they would have swallowed us alive they are thinking of those ruthless Babylonians who are torturing them sometimes they torture them they put them there then they tell them that can you sing for us the songs that those things those useless things that you used to sing in Jerusalem then they look at the way they are being treated then they are asking themselves how can we sing the Lord's song in a foreign land they are being tortured and asking and they feel it is so bad it means the Babylonian captivity was very cruel and they feel that this text is really explaining their situation to say even in Babylon and the way that the three captivity the first one was on 6 of 5 second one 597 where a king and prophet Ezekiel was taken to captivity second captivity third captivity 587 stoke 586 where everything was destroyed including the temple of Jerusalem was destroyed and they were punished there thoroughly when they were in Babylon and that is when they are crying how can we sing the Lord's song in a foreign land then after coming back after 70 years they are thinking of that captivity and they are going to worship the Lord and they are saying it was not that the Lord was with us the Babylonians would have swallowed us alive if it was not the Lord who was protecting us that tough situation could have swallowed us that fire would have burnt us those raging floods would have swept us but one good thing the Lord was on our side please take this one home I have not finished preaching but take this one home that the Lord is on our side that is why they confidently sing and say if it had not been the Lord who was on our side then they would have swallowed us alive look at the economic situation of our nation today the global economic situation today by the way how do you see it very tough do you think you escaped because you have a good job do you think you escaped because maybe you went to school do you think you escaped because there was somebody who was caring for you no you did not escape because of that you escaped because the Lord was on your side by the way the reason you will be able to succeed in 2024 is not because you have something that you can depend on it's not because you have some brains to use it's not because you have somewhere where you go every morning no you will escape this year because the Lord is on your side that is why that verse 1 is very sweet when the writer of the song is just starting it by saying if the Lord had not been on our side our enemies would have swallowed us alive by the way you see that family where you are in it can turn up to be something that is very hot but do you know the reason why sometimes you are very comfortable to be in that family to be in that house it is because the Lord is on your side and you know what it means for the Lord to be on your side it means you are going for war and the enemy is prepared to fight you by the way to destroy you the enemy is armed with powerful arms the devil is seriously armed to finish you but on your side you may have very weak weapons or very less powerful weapons but the good thing is that the Lord is ready to fight the enemies for you that is what it means when the Bible is saying that the Lord is on your side it means the enemy is furious the fire is from the enemy it is glazing but you have someone on your side which is not just someone the Lord is on your side to fight that battle for you and let me read verse 6 and 7 and it says because of that blessed be the Lord has not given us as a prey to their teeth the enemy is radiant prepared but the Lord has not allowed us to be a prey to their teeth that they can be able to finish us we thank the Lord blessed be the name of the Lord and then verse 7 says and because the Lord has been on our side and then our soul has escaped as a bird from the snare of the flawless then the snare is broken and we have escaped our title of the sermon is saying miraculous escape it is saying we have escaped when I was young I was home this week by the way I came past midnight today is when I reached town I was at home and I saw maize is drying up and I saw there are some birds I used to see when we were young they love eating maize they are not big birds and they are yellow here I don't know their name so sogo in my language Hilda is reminding me we used to trap them when I was young by the way you know when you are coming from a humble family and you always try to get those bitter herbs as vegetables it is a very good delicious meal when you change to such kind of soup so we used to trap them and the way to trap them is when they open up a maize cob which is green you go there with a small string and tie it there and put a kind of a hole that when they come the head may get in and be trapped or the leg may touch it and be trapped and when it is trapped no escape until the enemy comes to take it as a prey and I saw those birds and I remembered those days and I remembered this verse when it says our soul escaped as a bird out of the snare the devil would have wanted to swallow us alive do you know how many times in 2023 how many times the devil would have wanted you to get an accident and die do you know how many times the devil would have wanted you to lose your job like my brother Hamman was giving a testimony that you even start asking that could it be that I am not competent in my career but if it had not been the Lord who was on our side the devil would have swallowed us alive but we had a miraculous escape and escaped like a bird we escaped the snare and we escaped we have escaped like a bird out of the fall snare the snare has been broken and we have escaped all of us whatever thing you went through whatever situation we have escaped and we thank the Lord glory to His name that is why verse 80 saying our help is in the name of the Lord the maker of heaven and earth may God bless you may God keep you I just want to tell you as we are preparing to sing our last song 103 we will sing last song then we will have a prayer team that will leave us lead us in prayers then after those prayers I will also offer a final prayer and we will also pray for the boxes that are here so if you had not brought your prayer requests you can be bringing them we will be singing song 103 but remember as all those are happening and choristers are coming remember that what we are talking about is that it is because of the Lord because of Him we have escaped because of Him we contrast tomorrow because our help is the name of the Lord we are just entering in with the name of the Lord we can do nothing by ourselves but the Lord will be able to help us the Lord will keep us our keeper is God