Psalm 126: Happy face Sunday

by Peter Roxburgh

Psalm 126 (NIV)

When the Lord brought back the captives to Zion,
we were like men who dreamed.
Our mouths were filled with laughter,
our tongues with songs of joy.
Then it was said among the nations,
“The Lord has done great things for them.”
The Lord has done great things for us,
and we are filled with joy. (v1-3)
Hudson learnt how to change DVDs at a very early age. Sadly for him, his parents are not so good at remembering where the remotes last were. So there are numerous times when Hudson has put his chosen DVD in and then has to spend the next few minutes looking for the TV and DVD remote controls. 

Every time he finds them though he has a massive smile on his face and comes running to me or Priscilla with the remote in his hand shouting "FIND IT! I FIND IT!"

It is at times like that we understand why Jesus wanted us to be more like little children. I am aware that as I have grown up (no smart comments required), I have lost much of the simple joys of life. 

But I would be more worried if stopped finding joy in what God has done for me or my family. In this Psalm the Israelites are remembering how God brought the captives back. They remember all the things that God has done for them and their natural response is JOY!

Someone once commented that some Christians look so miserable that they must've been baptised in lemon juice! I find it strange that so many look so grimaced during times of worship. I know we're 'concentrating', but worship songs help us remember the amazing things God has done for us - "ransomed, healed, restored, forgiven ...oh He saved us." 

The challenge is that we can get so blasé about the songs that we sing and the rituals that we go through that we lose out on the joy in worship. If you want to know whether you have become blasé and are just going through ritual, the next time you are in a worship setting, ask your face if it is the face of someone who has been ransomed, healed, restored and forgiven. 

My challenge to myself and to us is that we be more like a little child at church. This week, if it helps you think about the words we sing, don't sing. Just listen to the words, meditate on what God has done, and allow your heart, face, hands, feet and body to respond in JOY!

Fellow worshippers, if we cannot be joyful in our worship, when we sing songs about the most amazing things that have and will ever happen to us, then where and when else will we find joy?

The Lord has done great things for us! Let us respond in joy. And remember joy is always visible and infectious! 

Psalm 125: Safe in His arms

by Chantalle Wookey

Psalm 125 (NIV)

God, I know you are like the mountains, that you surround us, protect us, and inspire us.

I pray that you make us like mountains, that you cause us to become strong, enduring, and unshakable.

Be my mountain today Lord. Make me a mountain today Lord.

This has been very much my prayer this week as I have gone back to face a really difficult situation that I have been very shaken by for a long time.

The amazing truth is that the reason Mount Zion cannot be shaken is because another hill was. Years after this psalm was written, on a Friday, on a hill called Golgotha, Jesus Christ died for us.

He bore the wrath we deserved. He suffered in our place, making atonement for our sins. It is because of this amazing act of love that God really can and will "surround his people both now and forevermore”.

In whatever we face in this life nothing can ever shake the truth that Jesus conquered our sin in His death. Then He conquered death by His resurrection. And it’s because of this that we can go about our days under the Lord‘s invincible protection. It is only in this kind of supernatural protection that we are really secure. This is a protection that is there for us no matter what. The tomb is empty, Jesus reigns, and we cannot be moved.

The key to continued peace when evil seems to abound is to trust God, to lean on his promises, to allow the Holy Spirit to keep fueling our faith.  Our God is faithful and unshakable, there seems no better reason to keep on running to him.

Psalm 124: Where'd you be?

by Andi Norton

Psalm 124 (NIV) 


If the Lord had not been on our side...... (vs 1)

Todays Psalm opens with a great statement, what if the Lord had not been on our side.

Imagine it: Where would you be, if God didn't step into your situation? If He refused your desperate cry and ultimately left you to the clutches of death?

I've been teaching Year 6 students these past two weeks about what is our identity in. This has been a great time of reflection for me also as I share my testimony of what I once was like and how God radically transformed me.

The reality for me is if the Lord had not been on my side, I would have most likely be hopelessly lost, no future ahead of me and potentially dead when 10 years ago in that hopelessness I jumped in front of a car....Woah!


If God hadn't been there for Moses?
if the Lord had not been on our side
when people attacked us,
They would have swallowed us alive
when their anger flared against us;
The flood would have engulfed us,
the torrent would have swept over us,
The raging waters
would have swept us away (vs 2-5)

The good news though, is God heard my cry, He intervened and stepped down and grabbed me out of the pit I was in.


Praise be to the Lord,
who has not let us be torn by their teeth.
We have escaped like a bird
from the fowler’s snare;
the snare has been broken,
and we have escaped. (vs 6,7)

We are so blessed to have a God who always responds to our cry, who always watches over us, who has a plan for each one of us, and those plans are to prosper us, to give us hope and a future.

Our help is in the name of the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth. (vs 8)

Why not take time to think of all He has done from you, and thank Him that He is a God who always hears and answers?

Psalm 123: Daddy, daddy, daddy

by Sean Theunissen

Psalm 123 (NIV)

"So our eyes look to the Lord our God, till he has mercy upon us." 

If you've got kids you'll know how impatient they can be and how demanding and unrelenting they are. I find this most often when you've said, 'you can have it a bit later'.

First of all hope is born, 'dad has said it's going to happen so it's going to happen'.

Next comes the persistence and relentlessness for me to fulfill the promise, 'dad, you said I can have it, can I have it now?'

A child's attitude is so often what God requires of us. Jesus referred to it in terms of how we are to enter the kingdom of heaven. Kids have a simple, uncomplicated view on life, a faith without doubt, not yet tainted by rejection and unfulfilled promises.

We so easily forget that God has promised many things and yet instead of persisting in asking for the fulfillment of what our perfect, all powerful Father has promised, we somehow lose interest or determine to gain it on our own, or lose hope in it altogether.

Our God calls us to be persistent and bold in our prayers, like little kids who just can't wait any longer and so go to the one who is able to fulfill their requests.

Lord, I know I am not persistent enough in asking you to step in and change a situation. God raise us up to be men and women who will stand in the gap and petition heaven for your cause and will. God come and do what you promised.

Psalm 122: How to prepare for a feast

by Priscilla

Psalm 122 (NIV)

I love being invited to people’s homes because it usually involves good company, lots of laughter and food! Nom nom! In our Indian culture visiting someone involves avoiding food all day – because you know there will be massive meal laid out involving a variety of dishes. In our English culture, people are just as generous with elaborate meals involving numerous courses.

Whatever it is – going to someone’s for a meal is a good occasion. We all look forward to it.

Similarly the psalmist here reminds us with great rejoicing of the invitation we have to go the house of the Lord (vs 1) where a big feast awaits us.

Sunday are like that. What a privilege it is in this country to be able to freely and openly walk into our place of worship and feast at a smorgasbord of Truth.
To sing corporately in the Spirit, to be comforted, be ministered to, get prayed for, be challenged and spurred on – I don’t know about you – but Sunday mornings are a highlight in my week.

However to truly enjoy an evening out with friends I have to get sorted beforehand – I need to make sure I have a baby-sitter organised, an outfit ironed and ready, make sure our child requiring the baby-sitter is fed, bathed and asleep before we leave etc… If I do not plan these things in, I will definitely not be having an enjoyable evening.

How much do we prepare ourselves mentally before a Sunday morning? I know clearly the mornings when I have prepared my heart and mind for God to speak to me are far, far better than the Sundays I have been running ragged trying to get to church on time.

This psalm is called the song of ascents and was used by pilgrims travelling together to Jerusalem for one of the religious feasts. (Ex 23:14-19). When preparing themselves for the festivals, the Israelites undertook many rituals to ensure they were purified to take part in the festivities.

Hebrews 4:16 says, “Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”

We no longer need to perform rituals or sacrifice animals before we can enter church because of what Jesus has done for us on the cross. Let’s not take the throne of Grace for granted but give God the honour by getting ready in our hearts and preparing for Him our offering of worship.

Psalm 121: He who keeps you will not slumber

by Andy Flood

Psalm 121 (ESV)

In this famous psalm, the psalmist kicks it off with a question, 

"I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come?" (Psalm 121:1 ESV) 

It's a question we need to ask ourselves, and a question that has come up time and time again throughout this blog.

It's a question of faith and trust, when things go wrong, are looking to the hills (the world around us) or do you find your help in the Lord.

The Psalm exhorts us to look to God, and paints a wonderful picture of our God. A God who watches over us by day and by night, and will protect is from evil.

A phrase I heard many years ago and still sticks in my heart, (mainly because this guy faced great danger on a regular basis): "Safety is not found in the absence of danger it is found in the presence of God."

This is the heart of this Psalm, it doesn't mean we will never face danger or evil, Jesus faced the greatest evil, and many christians face persecution daily. It means we find our security and safety in the presence of God, because He who keeps you will not slumber.

Psalm 120 · · · — — — · · ·

by Peter Roxburgh

Psalm 120 (NIV)

I call on the Lord in my distress and He answers me. (v1)

This is both a testimony and a promise.

At Engine Room last week everyone wrote on flipcharts on the wall one thing that they wanted to give thanks God for. We then read what other people had written. A number of them were one-line testimonies of how God had answered a call for help.

Priscilla and I testify to how just three weeks after being made redundant, God had provided me with a new job. Just recently we have had some major expenses with birthdays, anniversary, travel, parents’ visit, broken car etc. And when we most need it, a bonus comes through and we find out that Priscilla is owed a month’s salary from when she was pregnant with Hudson!

Sometimes the answer isn't so quick. Sometimes the distress is only answered in heaven, such us with long-term illnesses. But it is always answered.

We can all testify to God answering our call and we can all rest assured that He will always answer our call. He may not do so in the timescales we want, or in the way that we want but He will all always answer.

If you are crying out to God today, rest assured that He has heard and He will answer. You know you can testify to Him doing so in the past. He hasn’t changed. You will once again be able to testify to the fact that He is a God who always responds to an SOS.