Psalms 124:1

If it had not been the LORD who was on our side, now may Israel say; Psalms 124:1.-Israel declares how inevitably she must have been swallowed up if the Lord had not been on our side (Psalms 124:1); she blesses Him for escape frown the snare, His name being her sole help (Psalms 124:6). David was the author, as the title declares. The occasion in his reign when Israel was in extreme jeopardy, was in the Aramaic or Syrian and Edomite war, (Psalms 44:1; Psalms 60:1.) The mild air of the psalms after the captivity doe...

1._But for Jehovah, who was on our side. _Some expositors think that this Psalm describes the very sad and calamitous condition of the Church when the, residue of the people were carried away into Babylon. This opinion is, however, without any good foundation for the complaints made, apply with equal propriety to the persecutions which the Church suffered under the tyranny of Antiochus Epiphanes. It is another objection to this interpretation, that the Psalm bears in its inscription the name of David, and historically recounts the deliverance which the people had obtained from extreme danger by the power of God. To get quit of this difficulty they observe, that what had not yet come to pass is described prophetically; but this is a forced conjecture, for the Prophets usually speak of things to come in a different manner. It is more probable that David here sets forth a known history, and...

1-5 God suffers the enemies of his people sometimes to prevail very far against them, that his power may be seen the more in their deliverance. Happy the people whose God is Jehovah, a God all-sufficient. Besides applying this to any particular deliverance wrought in our days and the ancient times, we should have in our thoughts the great work of redemption by Jesus Christ, by which believers were rescued from Satan....

PSALM CXXIV _A thanksgiving of the godly for extraordinary deliverances_, 1-4. _The great danger they were in_, 7. _Their confidence in God_, 8. NOTES ON PSALM CXXIV In our present Hebrew copies this Psalm is attributed to _David_, לדוד ledavid; but this inscription is wanting in _three_ of _Kennicott's_ and _De Rossi's_ MSS., as also in the _Septuagint,_ _Syriac, Vulgate, AEthiopic_, and _Arabic_; and in most of the ancient _fathers_, Greek and Latin, who found no other inscription in their copies of the text than _A Psalm of degrees_. It was composed long after David's days; and appears to be either a thanksgiving for their deliverance from the Babylonish captivit

IF IT HAD NOT BEEN THE LORD WHO WAS ON OUR SIDE - Unless it was Yahweh who was with us. The idea is, that someone had been with them, and had delivered them, and that such was the nature of the interposition that it could be ascribed to no one but Yahweh. It bore unmistakeable evidence that it was his work. The deliverance was of such a kind that it could have been accomplished by him only. Such things often occur in life, when the intervention in our behalf is so remarkable that we can ascribe it to no one else but God. NOW MAY ISRAEL SAY - May well and truly say. The danger was so great, their helplessness was so manifest, and the deliverance was so clearly the work of God, that it was proper to say that if this had not occurred, ruin would have been inevitable and entire....

EXPOSITION "A FRESH, bright lyric" (Cheyne), composed of two stanzas—the first part (Psalms 124:1) recounting a danger and a deliverance; the second (Psalms 124:6), praising God for the latter. This is another of the psalms in this "Little Psalter," ascribed by its title to David. There is nothing in the style, or in the contents, that is inconsistent with the ascription. PSALMS 124:1 IF 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 124:2

IF [IT HAD NOT BEEN] THE LORD WHO WAS ON OUR SIDE,.... Or, "was for us" h. The Syriac version is, "that rose up for us"; against their enemies, that rose up against them, as in Psalms 123:2: or, "was with us", as Kimchi and Ben Melech; to help and assist, support and supply, strengthen and defend: or, "was among us", as the Arabic version; as their King, Protector, and Saviour. This implies that he was on their side; was for them, with them, and among them, and took their part against their enemies; see Psalms 118:6; which if he had not done, their case would have been miserable and deplorable; or if any other had took their part, and not he, let them be who they would, angels or men. If God is on the side of us, it matters not who is against us; but if he is not on our side, or against us, it signifies not

Psalms 124:1. _If it had not been the LORD who was on our side, now may Israel say;_ There is a break here, the sentence is not finished, so finish it for yourselves. If the Lord had not been on your side, what then? You would have been condemned on account of sin. If the Lord had not been on your side as the Redeemer, you would have been left to perish through the natural depravity of your own heart. If he who is «mighty to save» had not been your Helper, just think, Christians, you who are today filled with joy, whose feet are treading Mount Tabor, think what you would have been if the Lord had not been on your side, and then praise and magnify that grace to which you owe so much. Psalms 124:2. If it had not been the LORD who was on our side, when men rose up against us: then

A SONG OF DEGREES Literally, "of ascents." Perhaps chanted by the people as they went up to Jerusalem to the feasts. See, for example (Psalms 112:1); (Psalms 112:2)....

PSALM 120-134 The Psalms of Degrees Fifteen brief Psalms follow, called songs of degrees, or, ascents. They were in all probability used by Israel going up to Jerusalem three times a year to celebrate the feasts of the Lord--”Whither the tribes go up, the tribes of the LORD, a testimony for Israel, to give thanks unto the name of the LORD.” They are indeed Psalms of “the goings-up” for we rise higher and higher as we read through them. Prophetically they give us again the steps from trial and suffering to the glorious consummation. As they are so simple in language and construction no lengthy annotations are needed. Psalms 120:1 begins with distress, picturing again the suffering of the righteous godly remnant. In Psalms 121:1 the Keeper of Israel, the Covenant Keeping God, is revealed