Psalms
Chapter 124
1
If the Lord Had Not Been On Our Side
Had not the Lord been on our side— let Israel say—
2
had not the Lord been on our side, when people rose up against us,
3
then, they would have swallowed us alive; such was their anger against us.
4
A bit more, and the flood would have engulfed us; the torrent would have swept over us;
5
the raging waters would have swept us away.
6
Blessed be the Lord, who did not let us be devoured.
7
Like a bird, our soul escaped from the snare of the fowler; the snare was broken and we were freed.
8
Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth.
Commentaries
124
Our adversary, the devil, roars around like a lion: like a man swept away by a flood, like a child caught in a trap. How helpless we are, how lost—except for God!
‘If God is for us, who can be against us?’ Paul asks (Rom 8:31). When we reach the limits of our own weakness, God, our helper, rises up as our liberator. He sustains us. We give thanks to him.
With admiration and gratitude, the people of God remember how they overcame their trials because God was with them. An invitation to give thanks! If we lack the heart to thank God, we struggle to see the wonders in our lives and the world. Strangely, the prayers of thanksgiving are never-ending in communities of the poor and persecuted.