Psalm 124 God on our side

seekeroftruth

Well-Known Member
Psalm 124 A song of ascents. Of David.

1 If the Lord had not been on our side—
let Israel say—
2 if the Lord had not been on our side
when people attacked us,
3 they would have swallowed us alive
when their anger flared against us;
4 the flood would have engulfed us,
the torrent would have swept over us,
5 the raging waters
would have swept us away.
6 Praise be to the Lord,
who has not let us be torn by their teeth.
7 We have escaped like a bird
from the fowler’s snare;
the snare has been broken,
and we have escaped.
8 Our help is in the name of the Lord,
the Maker of heaven and earth.
This is from enduringword.com.

“In the year 1582, this Psalm was sung on a remarkable occasion in Edinburgh. An imprisoned minister, John Durie, had been set free, and was met and welcomed on entering the town by two hundred of his friends. The number increased till he found himself in the midst of a company of two thousand, who began to sing, as they moved up the long High Street, ‘Now Israel may say,’ etc. They sang in four parts with deep solemnity, all joining in the well-known tune and Psalm. They were much moved themselves, and so were all who heard; and one of the chief persecutors is said to have been more alarmed at this sight and song than at anything he had seen in Scotland.” (Bonar, cited in Spurgeon)
This is from the easy English site.

Some Bible students think that David wrote this psalm when he was fighting the Philistines. The Philistines lived west of David’s people, Israel. David thought that the Philistines would win, but they did not. God gave David and his people help. Later, Hezekiah and Nehemiah may have used this psalm. God gave them all help to beat their enemies. The psalm says that if God had not given his people help, the enemy would have destroyed them.
This is how the Jews said the psalm: A man at the front said the beginning of verse 1. He then said, "Now Israel say it". And they repeated what he said, and then the rest of the psalm.​


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