Psalms124
New Living Translation
1 What if the Lord had not been on our side? Let all Israel repeat:
2 What if the Lord had not been on our side when people attacked us?
3 They would have swallowed us alive in their burning anger.
4 The waters would have engulfed us; a torrent would have overwhelmed us.
5 Yes, the raging waters of their fury would have overwhelmed our very lives.
6 Praise the Lord, who did not let their teeth tear us apart!
7 We escaped like a bird from a hunter’s trap. The trap is broken, and we are free!
8 Our help is from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.
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Psalms 124Public-domain commentary and original-language notes for Psalms 124. The full AI study guide (summary, themes, context) has its own page.
Chapter Summary
In this chapter: The deliverance of the church. (1–5). Thankfulness for the deliverance. (6–8).
vv1-5
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.
vv6-8
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.
Key Words
שִׁיר: a song; abstractly, singing
מַעֲלָה: elevation, i.e. the act (literally, a journey to a higher place, figuratively, a thought arising), or (concretely) the condition (literally, a step or grademark, figuratively, a superiority of station); specifically a climactic progression (in certain Psalms)
דָּוִד: David, the youngest son of Jesse
לוּלֵא: if not
נָא: 'I pray', 'now', or 'then'; added mostly to verbs (in the Imperative or Future), or to interjections, occasionally to an adverb or conjunction
יִשְׂרָאֵל: Jisrael, a symbolical name of Jacob; also (typically) of his posterity
אָמַר: to say (used with great latitude)
אָדָם: ruddy i.e. a human being (an individual or the species, mankind, etc.)
קוּם: to rise (in various applications, literal, figurative, intensive and causative)
עַל: above, over, upon, or against (yet always in this last relation with a downward aspect) in a great variety of applications
Cross References
Psalms 124Alludes to the destruction of Korah swallowing men up quick (alive) in their fierce wrath.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Repeats the precise theological formula: help is in the name of the Lord who made heaven and earth.
Supported by JFB
Echoes the central theme and phrase that God is 'for us' or 'on our side.'
Supported by JFB
Matches the metaphorical imagery of overwhelming floods and torrents representing deadly enemies.
Supported by JFB
Shares the distinctive metaphor of escaping from the snare of the fowler.
Supported by JFB
The ultimate New Testament realization of 'If God be for us, who can be against us?'
Uses the identical terrifying image of wicked enemies desiring to swallow up the righteous alive.
Asserts trust in the Creator of heaven and earth as the only true source of help.