Psalms · Chapter 124

Verse 1. If it had not been the Lord] If God had not, in a very especial manner, supported and defended us, we had all been swallowed up alive, and destroyed by a sudden destruction, so that not one would have been left. This might refer to the plot against the whole nation of the Jews by Haman, in the days of Mordecai and Esther; when by his treacherous schemes the Jews, wheresoever dispersed in the provinces of Babylon, were all to have been put to death in one day. This may here be represented under the figure of an earthquake, when a chasm is formed, and a whole city and its inhabitants are in a moment swallowed up alive.

1. If it had not been—The Hebrew is abrupt and elliptical, If not, or unless, Jehovah was for us. Alexander proposes, as tantamount, “What if the Lord had not been for us?” leaving the answer to the imagination of the reader. Now may Israel say—The particle an, (nah,) is intensive of the imperative, as, Israel, say I pray. It is an urgent call to confession of Jehovah’s timely aid.

2. When men rose up against—The idea is that of a sudden rising, an open and hostile uprising.

Verses 3-6. They had swallowed us up quick — They had speedily and utterly destroyed us, as Korah and his company were, Numbers 16. The proud waters had gone over, &c. — Our enemies, compared to proud waters for their great multitude, swelling rage, and mighty force. The Lord hath not given us a prey to their teeth — A metaphor taken from wild beasts, which tear and devour their prey with their teeth. It is here intimated that the enemies of God’s people have no power whatever against them, but what is given them from above. God, however, sometimes suffers them to prevail very far against them, that his own power may appear the more illustrious in their deliverance.

3. Swallowed us up quick—Literally, Swallowed us up alive. The allusion seems to be to Korah and his company, (Numbers 16:30,) “If the Lord make a new thing, and the earth open her mouth and swallow them up… and they go down alive into the pit.” See also Psalm 55:15; 69:15.

Verses 3-6. They had swallowed us up quick — They had speedily and utterly destroyed us, as Korah and his company were, Numbers 16. The proud waters had gone over, &c. — Our enemies, compared to proud waters for their great multitude, swelling rage, and mighty force. The Lord hath not given us a prey to their teeth — A metaphor taken from wild beasts, which tear and devour their prey with their teeth. It is here intimated that the enemies of God’s people have no power whatever against them, but what is given them from above. God, however, sometimes suffers them to prevail very far against them, that his own power may appear the more illustrious in their deliverance.

4. The waters… overwhelmed us—Probably an allusion to Exodus 14:27, 28. The stream—The mountain torrent. These, in the rainy season, are terrible, and against them no art or power of man can prevail. A single thunder storm of rain will often suffice to create a flood which sweeps away habitations and families and animals. Such a seil, or flood, in the Wady Solaf, Mount Sinai, in 1867, swept away an Arab encampment, and forty persons, with many camels, sheep, and cattle, perished in the waters. Palmer and his company saw trunks of large palm trees which had been carried thirty miles down the valley by this flood. See Psalm 18:13, 15. The description of Isaiah 8:7, 8, refers to the excessive overflow of the Nile or of the Euphrates, which, though more rare and gradual, is yet far more terrible. These perils from the great forces of nature are a fit emblem of the dangers, often as sudden as overwhelming, to which the militant Church is exposed.

V. 5. The proud-Our enemies, compared to proud waters, for their great multitude and swelling rage.

Verse 5. Then the proud waters] The proud Haman had nearly brought the flood of desolation over our lives.

Verses 3-6. They had swallowed us up quick — They had speedily and utterly destroyed us, as Korah and his company were, Numbers 16. The proud waters had gone over, &c. — Our enemies, compared to proud waters for their great multitude, swelling rage, and mighty force. The Lord hath not given us a prey to their teeth — A metaphor taken from wild beasts, which tear and devour their prey with their teeth. It is here intimated that the enemies of God’s people have no power whatever against them, but what is given them from above. God, however, sometimes suffers them to prevail very far against them, that his own power may appear the more illustrious in their deliverance.

Verses 3-6. They had swallowed us up quick — They had speedily and utterly destroyed us, as Korah and his company were, Numbers 16. The proud waters had gone over, &c. — Our enemies, compared to proud waters for their great multitude, swelling rage, and mighty force. The Lord hath not given us a prey to their teeth — A metaphor taken from wild beasts, which tear and devour their prey with their teeth. It is here intimated that the enemies of God’s people have no power whatever against them, but what is given them from above. God, however, sometimes suffers them to prevail very far against them, that his own power may appear the more illustrious in their deliverance.

Verse 7. Our soul is escaped as a bird out of the snare] This is a fine image; and at once shows the weakness of the Jews, and the cunning of their adversaries. Haman had laid the snare completely for them; humanly speaking there was no prospect of their escape: but the Lord was on their side; and the providence that induced Ahasuerus to call for the book of the records of the kingdom to be read to him, as well indeed as the once very improbable advancement of Esther to the throne of Persia, was the means used by the Lord for the preservation of the whole Jewish people from extermination. God thus broke the snare, and the bird escaped; while the poacher was caught in his own trap, and executed. See the Book of Esther, which is probably the best comment on this Psalm.

Verses 7, 8. Our soul is escaped as a bird, &c. — This is the third image by which the marvellous deliverance of Israel is illustrated. Having compared it to that of a person snatched, by a miracle, from the fury of surrounding and overwhelming torrents, and to that of a lamb rescued from the jaws of a wolf or lion, he here illustrates it by the escape of a bird, through breaking the snare, before the fowler came to seize and kill it. Our help is in the name of the Lord — David, who had directed us (Psalm 121:2) to depend upon God for help, as to our personal concerns, saying, My help is in the name of the Lord, here directs us to the same dependance as to the concerns of the public, observing, Our help is so. It is a comfort to all that have the good of God’s Israel at heart, that Israel’s God is he that made the world, and therefore will have a church in it, which he can secure in times of the greatest danger and distress. In him therefore let the church’s friends place their confidence, and they shall not be put to confusion.

7. Snare is broken, and we are escaped—Both snare and fowler are in God’s hands, and he will not only deliver his people, but crush the power of the enemy. The figure applies only to such an escape as is from the very teeth of death. They were already in the snare—the watchful fowler had only to take his prey.

Verse 8. Our help is in the name of the Lord] דיי armym בשום beshum meywra depai, Chaldee, “In the name of the WORD of the LORD.” So in the second verse, “Unless the WORD of the LORD had been our Helper:” the substantial WORD; not a word spoken, or a prophecy delivered, but the person who was afterwards termed JO Logov tou Qeou, the WORD OF GOD. This deliverance of the Jews appears to me the most natural interpretation of this Psalm: and probably Mordecai was the author.

Verses 7, 8. Our soul is escaped as a bird, &c. — This is the third image by which the marvellous deliverance of Israel is illustrated. Having compared it to that of a person snatched, by a miracle, from the fury of surrounding and overwhelming torrents, and to that of a lamb rescued from the jaws of a wolf or lion, he here illustrates it by the escape of a bird, through breaking the snare, before the fowler came to seize and kill it. Our help is in the name of the Lord — David, who had directed us (Psalm 121:2) to depend upon God for help, as to our personal concerns, saying, My help is in the name of the Lord, here directs us to the same dependance as to the concerns of the public, observing, Our help is so. It is a comfort to all that have the good of God’s Israel at heart, that Israel’s God is he that made the world, and therefore will have a church in it, which he can secure in times of the greatest danger and distress. In him therefore let the church’s friends place their confidence, and they shall not be put to confusion.

8. Our help is in the… Lord—Thus the psalm closes with a repetition of the opening statement, not now with the “If not Jehovah was on our side,” but, “our help is in… Jehovah.” The lesson is complete. The creator of all worlds alone can redeem and protect his Church from all forms of assault in all the ages.