Psalms 124
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“Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.” — John 5:39
1If it had not been the LORD who was on our side, now may Israel say;
PSALM 124
Psa 124:1-8. The writer, for the Church, praises God for past, and expresses trust for future, deliverance from foes.
1-2. on our side--for us (Psa 56:9).
now--or, "oh! let Israel"
2If it had not been the LORD who was on our side, when men rose up against us:
3Then they had swallowed us up quick, when their wrath was kindled against us:
3. Then--that is, the time of our danger.
quick--literally, "living" (Nu 16:32, 33), description of ferocity.
4Then the waters had overwhelmed us, the stream had gone over our soul:
4-5. (Compare Psa 18:4, 16).
5Then the proud waters had gone over our soul.
6Blessed be the LORD, who hath not given us as a prey to their teeth.
6-7. The figure is changed to that of a rapacious wild beast (Psa 3:7), and then of a fowler (Psa 91:3), and complete escape is denoted by breaking the net.
7Our soul is escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowlers: the snare is broken, and we are escaped.
8Our help is in the name of the LORD, who made heaven and earth.
8. (Compare Psa 121:2).
name--in the usual sense (Psa 5:11; 20:1). He thus places over against the great danger the omnipotent God, and drowns, as it were in an anthem, the wickedness of the whole world and of hell, just as a great fire consumes a little drop of water [Luther].
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