Morning Repost- Psalm 124 A song of ascents. Of David.
1 “If it had not been Yahweh who was on our side,” Let Israel now say— 2 “If it had not been Yahweh who was on our side, 3 then they would have swallowed us alive, when their wrath was kindled against us; 4 then the waters would have overwhelmed us, the stream would have gone over our soul; 5 then the swollen waters would have gone over our soul.” 6 Blessed be Yahweh, who has not given us as prey to their teeth. 7 Our soul has escaped as a bird from the snare of the fowlers; the snare is broken, and we have escaped. 8 Our help is in the name of Yahweh, who made heaven and earth.
“’A song of ascents. Of David’— perhaps re-ascent. “The most dramatic scene associated with the Kidron [brook] is that recorded in connection with its earliest Scriptural mention (2 Samuel 15:23), when David, flying before his rebellious son Absalom, here stood on the Jerusalem side of the valley while all his adherents passed over. ‘And all the country wept with a loud voice, and all the people passed over: the king also himself passed over the brook Kidron .... toward the way of the wilderness.’ The passing over this brook appears to have been viewed as the solemn abandonment of the Jerusalem territory (compare 1 Kings 2:37).” (E. W. G. Masterman) “’The title informs us that this sacred march was composed by king David; and we learn very clearly from the subject, that the progression referred to was the triumphant return of the king and his loyal army to Jerusalem, upon the overthrow of the dangerous rebellion to which the great mass of the people had been excited by Absalom and his powerful band of confederates.” (John Mason Good) He then crossed back over the brook returning to his throne in Jerusalem.
“David [then] reminded the people that God had been on their side in the battles that might have resulted in Israel’s extinction. If He had not been, they would have perished. He used several graphic images to picture the total annihilation of the chosen people.” (Dr. Thomas Constable)
“‘If it had not been Yahweh who was on our side,’ This verse “inspired Martin Luther's great hymn in the second verse, ‘Were not the right man on our side, the man of God's own choosing; Dost ask who that may be? Christ Jesus it is He’!” (Burton Coffman) "There is a delightful universality in the language, which suits it admirably for an anthem of the redeemed, in every age and in every clime. The people of God still live in a hostile territory. Traitors are in the camp, and there are numerous foes without. And the church would soon be exterminated, if the malice and might of her adversaries were not restrained and defeated by a higher power. Hence this ode of praise has never become obsolete. How frequently have its strains of adoring gratitude floated on the breeze! What land is there, in which its outbursting gladness has not been heard! It has been sung upon the banks of the Jordan and the Nile, the Euphrates and the Tigris. It has been sung upon the banks of the Tiber and the Rhine, the Thames and the Forth. It has been sung upon the banks of the Ganges and the Indus, the Mississippi and the Irrawady.” (N. McMichael)
"'Let Israel now say,' for we expect it not from others: “If it had not been Yahweh who was on our side,” etc. Israel's God “may far better say than our Henry VIII… ‘He whose part I take is sure to prevail.’ But Christ hath ever been the Church’s champion, and hence she is insuperable. The Captain of the LORD’s’s hosts is Captain of our salvation, Joshua 5:14, Hebrews 2:10." (John Trapp)— “‘then they would have swallowed us alive,’ or “quickly” “as the fish swallowed up Jonah; or rather as ravenous beasts swallow their prey.” (John Gill) “This is a common expression for sudden and complete destruction (comp. Psalms 56:2; Psalms 57:3; Proverbs 1:12; Lamentations 2:2, Lamentations 2:5, Lamentations 2:8, etc.).” (The Pulpit Commentary) “It was a hostile army, not an earthquake, a monster, or a flood. Evil, hostile men were the problem.” (Burton Coffman) — “’when their wrath was kindled against us;’ (3) The comparison of anger to fire is an almost universal commonplace.— ‘then the waters had overwhelmed us.’ A sudden and startling change of metaphor… In the quick transition…, the fire becomes a flood—an irresistible torrent-stream, carrying all before it (cp. Psalms 18:4).” (The Pulpit Commentary) “This was an often used figure for a conquering army. Isaiah compared the ravaging armies of the Assyrians to the Euphrates river at flood stage (Isaiah 8:5-8).” (Burton Coffman) — ‘the stream had gone over our soul’; (4) i.e. had mounted up over our heads, and stifled our breath of life.— ‘then the swollen (literally proud) waters would have gone over our soul.’ (5)— 'proud' of effecting our destruction." (The Pulpit Commentary)
"'Blessed be Yahweh, who has not given us as prey to their teeth.’ (7) "We anticipate a period when the church, surmounting all her difficulties, and victory waving over her banners, shall sing this psalm of praise in every island and continent of our globe. The year of God's redeemed must come. The salvation of Christ shall extend to the utmost extremities of earth. And when this final emancipation takes place, the nations will shout for joy, and praise their Deliverer in psalms, and hymns, and spiritual songs."(N. McMichael) “’Our help is in the name of Yahweh,’ in reliance upon His glorious essence and all His attributes, as they are revealed and proclaimed in His Word, ‘who made heaven and earth,’ (8) for the almighty Sovereign of the universe is, at the same time, our merciful Father in Jesus, our Redeemer, whose deliverance and assistance we enjoy.” (Paul E. Kretzmann) “David here extends to the state of the Church in all ages that which the faithful had already experienced. As I interpret the verse, he not only gives thanks to God for one benefit, but affirms that the Church cannot continue safe except in so far as she is protected by the hand of God. His object is to animate the children of God with the assured hope, that their life is in perfect safety under the divine guardianship.” (John Calvin) "‘Blessed, forever blessed be God for Jesus Christ! And henceforth our help, and hope, and strength, shall only be in him. He that hath delivered, doth deliver, and in whom we trust he will yet deliver,’ 2 Corinthians 1:10.” (Robert Hawker)
Let us sing the the song of Moses (Exo 15) and of the Lamb (Rev 5:8-14). “One thought runs through it all, that the sole actor in their deliverance has been Jehovah. No human arm has been bared for them; no created might could have rescued them from the rush of the swelling deluge. Like a bird in a net panting with fear and helplessness, they waited the fowler’s grasp; but, lo, by an unseen Power the net was broken, and they are free to wing their flight to their nest. So. triumphantly they ring out at last the Name which has been their help, abjuring any share in their own rescue, and content to owe it all to Him.” (Expositor's Bible Commentary) This psalm "foretells the future, full, and final destruction of all her enemies, [as the earth swallowed up Korah and his company]. It reechoes the song sung on the shores of the Red Sea. In it are heard the notes of the new song before the great white throne. The praise and thanksgiving are to [Jesus]… whose ‘eternal power and Godhead are understood by the things that are made’ ...whom the fathers knew as the Almighty, from the great things which He did for them…” (Edward Gibson)