Psalms 124:3

3 then they would have swallowed us alive in their furious anger against us;

Psalms 124:3 Meaning and Commentary

Psalms 124:3

Then they had swallowed us up quick
Or "alive"; as the earth swallowed up Korah and his company; or as the fish swallowed up Jonah; or rather as ravenous beasts swallow their prey; to which the allusion is. The people of God are comparable to sheep and lambs, and such like innocent creatures: and the wicked to lions, tigers, wolves, bears, and such like beasts of prey that devour living creatures;

when their wrath was kindled against us;
which is cruel and outrageous; there is no standing against it, nor before it; it is like a fierce flame of fire that burns furiously, and there is no stopping it; none but God can restrain it.

Psalms 124:3 In-Context

1 What if the Lord had not been on our side? Answer, O Israel!
2 "If the Lord had not been on our side when our enemies attacked us,
3 then they would have swallowed us alive in their furious anger against us;
4 then the flood would have carried us away, the water would have covered us,
5 the raging torrent would have drowned us."
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.