‘If not for God…’ — Angus Buchan

A monthly column by farmer, preacher and writer for Jesus, Angus Buchan

Psalm 124 is one of the most beautiful of all the psalms. When I read my Agricultural Manual early this morning, the Lord reminded me very clearly yet once again, in verse 2-3 “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, when their wrath was kindled against us.” My dear friend, we cannot farm effectively and efficiently without God.

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The Lord reminds us so clearly in Psalm 124 that He has set us free from the snare of the fowler, the snare is broken, and we have escaped.

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I remember a beautiful story that was told many years ago to me of some farmers who were burning fire breaks in the foothills of the Drakensberg Mountains just before winter set in, and as you know the grass is extremely volatile because of the “rooigras” which burns with great speed and intensity.

As some of the firefighters were doing a mopping-up operation they came upon a partridge lying on the ground with its wings fully spread out. The fire had gone over it and scorched it and burned it alive.

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As they picked up the dead bird, underneath her was a clutch of little babies, and as the story was told to me, I thought of the Lord Jesus Christ in our beloved South Africa, who is stretching His wings over us — His farmers — and He is protecting us.

Psalm 124:8 (NKJV), “Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth.” Let us continue daily to call upon the name of the Lord and He will set us free from the snares of the evil one and protect us on our farms and indeed in our homes, all over this beloved nation of South Africa.

Whether there be floods or whether there be droughts, whether the economy would fail, or prosper, this should make no difference to our relationship with God. The peace that you and I have in our hearts should not be dependent on the size of the crop that we are going to harvest this year, or the price of our animals that we will market. No, the peace that we will experience will be in the knowledge that Jesus Christ, “will never leave us nor forsake us,” Hebrews 13:5.

We remember those very beautiful scriptures written in the Book of Habakkuk 3:17-18 (NKJV), “Though the fig tree may not blossom, Nor fruit be on the vines; Though the labour of the olive may fail, And the fields yield no food; Though the flock may be cut off from the fold, And there be no herd in the stalls, Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation.”

God bless you richly as you keep on farming and enjoy it.