Psalms 124:4

Then the waters had overwhelmed us, the stream had gone over our soul: THEN THE WATERS HAD OVERWHELMED US. So in David's psalm, ; , THE STREAM HAD GONE OVER OUR SOUL - rather, 'the flood,' as in : cf. ....

4._The waters had then overwhelmed us. _He embellishes by an elegant metaphor the preceding sentiment, comparing the dreadful impetuosity of the enemies of the Jews to an inundation, which swallows up whatever it meets with in its overflowing course. And he continues to preserve the character of a man affrighted. He names _the waters, _next _the torrent, _thirdly, _the proud _or _impetuous waters. _He says, _over us, _and _over our soul, _as if, by presenting the thing to the eye, he intended to strike terror into the people. And certainly this impassioned language ought to have all the effect of a graphic representation, that the faithful might the better feel from what a profound gulf they had been rescued by the hand of God. He only truly attributes his deliverance to God, who acknowledges himself to have been lost before he was delivered. The adverb _them _is here either demonstrativ...

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....

THEN THE WATERS HAD OVERWHELMED US - Our destruction would have been as if the waves of the ocean had overwhelmed us. THE STREAM HAD GONE OVER OUR SOUL - The torrent would have swept us away. Compare Psalms 18:4, Psalms 18:16....

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

THEN THE WATERS HAD OVERWHELMED US,.... People, comparable to waters for their multitude, Strength, force, and impetuosity; which bear down all before them, and against which there is no standing; which, like the waters of the flood, overflow and destroy all they pass over. These are the floods of ungodly men, which are very destructive and terrible; see Revelation 17:15; together with all those reproaches, afflictions, and persecutions, which come along with them; which the presence of God only can bear up his people under, and carry them through, Song of Solomon 8:7; THE STREAM HAD GONE OVER OUR SOUL; and so deprived them of life; the whole force of the enemy; which, like a stream, flows in with great strength and rapidity, when a breach is made and spreads itself,

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

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

CXXIV. A SONG OF DELIVERANCE FROM FOREIGN FOES....

STREAM. torrent, or flood. Hebrew. _nahal._ See App-67. OUR SOUL. us. Hebrew. _nephesh._ App-13. Note the Figure of speech _Epistrophe_ (App-6) in the repetition at end of Psalms 124:5....