Psalm 124

The verses of the Psalm describe Israel’s trouble- vs. 3-5- deliverance- vs. 1-2, 6b, 7- praise- vs. 6a, 8. The psalm shows us “how serious the threat was, and how little confidence David placed in his own power to survive it” Kidner, 436.

124:1 Had it not been the LORD who was on our side- 118:6; vs. 1-2 provide the protasis, the ifs clause to a conditional sentence, to the stanza and vs. 3-5 the apodosis, the then clause of the conditional sentence- Miller, 402. The word if actually begins both vss. 1 and 2 (Gen. 31:42; Deut. 32:37; I Sam. 25:34; II Kings 3:14; Psalm 94:17; 106:23; 119:92; 124:1, 2; Isaiah 1:9). 

Let Israel now say- 118:2-4; 129:1. This “indicates that this psalm aims to encourage the congregation to give voice to their gratitude” Broyles, 453.

124:2 Had it not been the LORD who was on our side- This psalm has “abundant use of incremental repetition” Alter, 443. “To dwell on what might have been is often an unrealistic, fruitless exercise. Here it is used to good effect” Laymen, 688. “His presence has protected Israel from destruction on many occasions” VanGemeren, 785.

When men rose up against us- Ps. 2:1-3 

124:3 Then they would have swallowed us alive- Swallowed is used in Num. 16:30; Ps. 55:15; Prov. 1:12; Isaiah 5:14; Jer. 51:34; Jonah 1:17.

124:4 Then the waters would have engulfed us- Verses 4-5 “are an especially effective use of the emphatic structure of incremental repetition. Verse 4 displays semantic parallelism with verbal repetition in its two halves (waters/ torrent, swept us us/ come up past our necks” Alter, 444. Psalms 18:4-5; 42:7; 69:1-2, 15; 88:3-7; Isaiah 8:7-8; 43:2; Lam. 3:54; Jonah 2:3, 5 

124:5 Then the raging waters would have swept over our soul- Psalm 74:12-15; 89:9-10; 93:3-4 The LORD’s sovereignty over the raging waters.

124:6 Who has not given us to be torn by their teeth- The enemy is compared to 3. “A hungry lion that would have seized them as prey (vs.6)” Willis, 64-65. 

124:7 Our soul has escaped as a bird out of the snare of the trapper- Ps. 91:3 

The snare is broken, and we have escaped- 119:110; 140:5 

124:8 Our help is in the name of the LORD- Ps. 20:7 The name of the LORD in I Sam. 17:45; Ps. 118:10, 11, 12; Prov. 18:10. 

Who made heaven and earth- 115:15; 121:2; 134:3; 146:6 I Peter 4:19

Psalm 124 and Jesus
124:1 The LORD is for us- Romans 8:31-39.

124:3 The word swallowed as used in the LXX is used in I Peter 5:8 of Satan going about as a roaring lion seeking who he can devour (or swallow, same word). Death and Satan may be great monsters seeking to swallow us, but Jesus swallows up death- I Cor. 15:54; II Cor. 5:4. 

124:6 Blessed in the LXX is the same word used in Eph. 1:3; I Peter 1:3 which Blessed God for the great salvation He accomplished in Christ. 

124:7 The word translated escaped in the LXX is used in Col. 1:13; I Thess. 1:10; II Tim. 4:17-18 to speak of salvation in Christ. 

124:8 The word help is used in Hebrews 4:16 of how we seek help for Jesus. 

124:8 The name of Jesus is the name on which we must call- Acts 2:21, 38; 4:12.

124:8 Jesus is Maker of heaven and earth- John 1:1-3, 10.