Psalms 124:1-8 | DiscipleDeck

Bible Commentary

Psalms 124:1-8

The Pulpit Commentary · Joseph S. Exell and contributors · Public Domain

The believer's safeguard.

"If Jehovah had not been on our side," etc. The last psalm was the sigh of an exile in Babylon waiting upon God for deliverance. This psalm is the joyful acknowledgment that the deliverance has been accomplished. The next (125.) describes the safety of the exiles restored to their native land, and girt round by the protection of Jehovah.

I. GOD IS ON OUR SIDE WHEN HE SEEMS MOST AGAINST US. As he was on the side of the Israelites both in delivering them over to the Captivity and in breaking their bonds. Punishment and pardon have the same end in view—the redemption of the sinner.

II. GOD IS ON OUR SIDE WHEN MEN ARE MOST AGAINST US. When the angry and destructive passions of men most threaten to overwhelm us (Psalms 124:2-5). He takes our side always inwardly, if not always outwardly. God is always on the side of the weakest, to help them to become strong.

III. GOD HELPS US TO ESCAPE FROM THE SUBTLEST SNARES WHICH CIRCUMSTANCES HAVE WOVEN AROUND us—if we are the victims and not the constructors of those snares. God will have no deceit in saint or sinner.

IV. BUT THOUGH GOD IS THE CREATOR OF ALL THINGS, HE IS THE HELP, AND NOT THE SUBSTITUTE, OF MEN. (Psalms 124:8.) The psalmists and prophets saw the Divine side of the moral work done in the world, but saw the human side also.—S.

Psalms 123

Psalms

Psalms 125

Psalms 124 - psalms-124 - worlddic.com

The Daily Devotional

One devotional. Every morning.

The full reading, the passage behind it, and where to go deeper — in your inbox before the day starts. No ads, ever.

We'll send one email to confirm it's really you. Unsubscribe in one tap, any time.

Continue tomorrow

Turn Bible study into a daily habit

Read today's devotional, save your progress, and receive a gentle daily reminder.

Read today's devotional Save my progress

More for Psalms 124:1-8

Continue with other commentaries and DiscipleDeck content connected to this verse, chapter, or topic.

Other commentaries

Psalms 124 — OverviewPsalms 124 · Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole BibleDavid penned this psalm (we suppose) upon occasion of some great deliverance which God wrought for him and his people from some very threatening danger, which was likely to have involved them all in ruin,…Psalms 124 — OverviewPsalms 124 · Treasury of Scripture KnowledgePsalms 124:1, The church blesses God for a miraculous deliverance. It is uncertain what the particular deliverance was which is celebrated in this Psalm. Some refer it to the deliverance of Hezekiah from Sennacherib;…Psalms 124 — OverviewPsalms 124 · John Gill's Exposition of the Entire BibleSong of degrees of David. 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…Psalms 124:1-5Psalms 124:1-5 · Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole BibleThe people of God, being here called upon to praise God for their deliverance, are to take notice, I. Of the malice of men, by which they were reduced to the very brink of ruin. Let Israel say that there was but…Psalms 124:1Psalms 124:1 · The Pulpit CommentaryIf it had not been the Lord who was on our side, now may Israel say; rather, now let Israel say (Kay, Cheyne, Revised Version).Psalms 124:1Psalms 124:1 · The Pulpit CommentaryJehovah for us. "The Lord who was on our side." It is well to bear in mind that, usually, in the Old Testament, the term "the Lord" would be better rendered "Jehovah," the covenant name for God. Many passages in which…