Psalms Chapter 124 A Song of Ascents. By David.
1 If it had not been the LORD who was on our side, let Israel now say,
2 if it had not been the LORD who was on our side, when men rose up against us;
3 then they would have swallowed us up alive, when their wrath was kindled against us;
4 then the waters would have overwhelmed us, the stream would have gone over our soul;
5 then the proud waters would have gone over our soul.
6 Blessed be the LORD, who has not given us as a prey to their teeth.
7 Our soul has escaped like a bird out of the fowler's snare. The snare is broken, and we have escaped.
8 Our help is in the LORD's name, who made heaven and earth.
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Psalms Chapter 124 A Song of Ascents. By David. Guide
The journey from the place of exile to the city and Temple of Jehovah has now commenced. The heart of the song is in the words:
Our soul is escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowlers.
Escape brings a sense of the dangers left behind, and therefore a keen appreciation of the fact that Jehovah has been acting as Deliverer:
If it had not been the Lord!
What a tone of joy is in that sigh. We often speak of a sigh of relief, and here is one indeed. The thunder of the threatening flood is heard behind. It was a strong tide against which these pilgrims could have had no might. If Jehovah had not helped, how great would have been the calamity! But He has helped, and the sigh which trembles with the consciousness of past peril, merges into the glad song:
Blessed be Jehovah.
This first experience of escape is ever one of great delight. There stretches before the pilgrim a long road yet, and there will be much searching of heart before the final rest is won; but "the snare is broken, and we are escaped" is a song full of rapture, one that prepares the kart for all that waits for it on the way.
From "An Exposition of the Whole Bible" by G. Campbell Morgan.
Psalms Chapter 124 Commentary
Chapter Outline
- The deliverance of the church. -- (1-5)
- Thankfulness for the deliverance. -- (6-8)
Verses 1-5
God suffers the enemies of his people sometimes to prevail very far against them, that his power may be seen the more in their deliverance. Happy the people whose God is Jehovah, a God all-sufficient. Besides applying this to any particular deliverance wrought in our days and the ancient times, we should have in our thoughts the great work of redemption by Jesus Christ, by which believers were rescued from Satan.
Verses 6-8
God is the Author of all our deliverances, and he must have the glory. The enemies lay snares for God's people, to bring them into sin and trouble, and to hold them there. Sometimes they seem to prevail; but in the Lord let us put our trust, and we shall not be put to confusion. The believer will ascribe all the honour of his salvation, to the power, mercy, and truth of God, and look back with wonder and thanksgiving on the way in which the Lord has led him. Let us rejoice that our help for the time to come is in him who made heaven and earth.
From the "Concise Commentary on the Bible" by Matthew Henry.