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"God the Protector of His People"
Psalm 124
Good News Translation (GNT)
"Hebrew Title:
A psalm by David"
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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."
6 Let us thank the Lord,
who has not let our enemies destroy us.
7 We have escaped like a bird from a hunter's
trap;
the trap is broken, and we are free!
8 Our help comes from the Lord,
who made heaven and earth.
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Commentary taken from 'word-on-the-web'
supplied by Scripture Union
'He is for us!'
Psalm 124
I am not keen on the translation, 'If the Lord had not been on our side'.
It seems to suppose that God, conveniently, approves of 'us' but opposes 'them'.
In reality, the psalm evinces a more nuanced approach.
Like Hosea, the psalmist knows that to be for us, God must sometimes take sides against us!
What is more, God being with us in no way precludes God being with others.
The translation could have read, 'If the Lord had not been for us' or 'if the Lord had not been ours'.
The psalm does not celebrate ease but rescue.
It reflects on dire circumstances that have not, finally, overwhelmed the psalmist and the people he represents.
God's people are not immune from suffering, but there is an assertion that suffering will not have the last word.
Further, the psalmist emphasises not the people but their God.
'If it had been an imagined god or an idol that was ours', the psalmist seems to say, 'then we would not have been rescued'.
This is very much in keeping with what we have learned from Hosea.
Gods of our own making, of silver and gold, or of military might, are powerless to save us.
'Our help is in the name of the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.' (v 8).
Finally, the astounding imagery of the bird set free from the snare reminds me that Sunday is the weekly anniversary of the resurrection of Jesus.
On the dark Friday of Christ's crucifixion, it looked to all the world that God was not 'for' Jesus.
Yet on Sunday morning, Jesus came bounding from the grave.
This is glorious good news, for he who was raised from death offers eternal rescue for all who put their trust in him
(see, for example, Romans 6:4).
Robert Parkinson
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