Psalms 124:2-8

2 "If the LORD had not been on our side when people attacked us,

3 then they would have swallowed us alive when their anger exploded against us.

4 Then the floodwaters would have swept us away. An [overflowing] stream would have washed us away.

5 Then raging water would have washed us away."

6 Thank the LORD, who did not let them sink their teeth into us.

7 We escaped like a bird caught in a hunter's trap. The trap was broken, and we escaped.

8 Our help is in the name of the LORD, the maker of heaven and earth.

Psalms 124:2-8 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO PSALM 124

\\<>\\. Some think this psalm was written by David, after the conquest of the Philistines and Ammonites, and other nations that rose up against him and Israel, like the proud waves of the sea, and spread themselves like a flood; and whose destruction was like the breach of many waters, 2Sa 5:18,20, 10:19. Others, after his deliverance from the persecution of Saul, or from the conspiracy of Absalom. Theodoret is of opinion that David wrote this by a prophetic spirit, concerning the enemies of the Jews, upon their return to their own land, from the Babylonish captivity; who envied them, and rose up against them, but the Lord delivered them. And others apply it to the times of Antiochus, when the Jewish church and state were threatened with ruin; but the Lord appeared for them, in raising up the Maccabees. Kimchi interprets it of the Jews in captivity; and drama of the deliverance of the children of Israel at the Red sea. It may be applied to any time of distress the church and people of God have been in, and he has wrought salvation for them.