If It Had Not Been For the Lord

We are blessed at Trinity Church of the Nazarene to have many gifted writers who share their gifts with us throughout the Advent season with daily devotionals. We invite you to reflect on these insightful readings and prepare your heart for celebrating this special season.

Psalm 124

¹What if the Lord had not been on our side? Let all Israel repeat:
²What if the Lord had not been on our side when people attacked us?
³They would have swallowed us alive in their burning anger.
⁴The waters would have engulfed us; a torrent would have overwhelmed us.
⁵Yes, the raging waters of their fury would have overwhelmed our very lives.

⁶Praise the Lord, who did not let their teeth tear us apart!
⁷We escaped like a bird from a hunter’s trap. The trap is broken, and we are free!
⁸Our help is from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.

If It Had Not Been For the Lord

Advent presents us with an opportunity to reassess the way God is at work in our lives. Times of waiting will do this for us if we are honest. If it had not been for the Lord…This refrain repeats over and over as a reminder that no matter what the calamity was that set the stage for the Psalmist’s writing, the Lord was the answer. I am reminded that even though this is a beautiful and wonderful time of year, many people are still struggling. No matter what the calamity is (health, finance, relationships, isolation, fear, etc…), the Psalmist wants to remind us that if we have chosen God’s kingdom then God is with us.

—Let all Trinity now say—

Had it not been for the Lord who was on our side,

When the enemy attacked our marriage and tried to separate us,

Divorce would have engulfed us and swallowed us whole.

When the enemy attacked our health through disease, accident, or violence…

Our bodies would have withered, and our health failed prematurely.

When death, the enemy of our peace, prowled our lives by taking our loved ones…

Then despair, confusion, and unimaginable pain could have held us captive,

like we were caught in the teeth of a hungry lion ready to devour us.

Our lives could have felt like a series of difficult circumstances providing only heartache and questions without answers,

But, blessed be the Lord who gives help in our struggles and comfort in our pain.

He has provided a means of escape from a life of endless questions without peace.

Peace itself has become our way of escape,

Giving us grace to live each day free from sin’s endless trap.

The Lord is our answer, our helper, and our strength. He is greater!

May this thought guide your day and all your life.

Author: John Prichard

Other Scriptures for Today:

Isaiah 54:1-10
Matthew 24:23-35

More Advent Devotionals

The Branch Made Strong

“Look down from heaven and see the branch that You made strong for yourself.” (vss.14-15 NKJV)

Psalm 42

I have been thirsty–long hikes, limited water, and miles before the next source. I read the map, looking for the blue water drops printed next to the known sources of water.

Jude 1:17-25

Advent keeps us mindful that we are a people of waiting. This season mirrors the time God’s people endured waiting for the promise of redemption and reconciliation to be fulfilled. We wait, but we do not wait passively.

I Will Yet Praise Him

Near my home is a trench drain that collects water during the rainy season. If you live in Colorado, you well know that an abundance of collected water is not typical.

Isaiah 35:1-10

God is at work around us, the smells from the heavenly kitchen are wafting our way like the aromas from grandmother’s kitchen. God is calling us this advent to start setting the table.

1 Samuel 2:1-10

This is the Messiah for whom we eagerly await at Advent. This is the one we celebrate each Christmas as God’s gift to the world: the Messiah whose kingdom is established for eternity! God’s power, concern for the needy, justice, and eternal reign are manifest in the Christ child, our Lord and Savior.