There are moments when we look back on something we have come through and realize just how close we were to being overwhelmed. We may remember the circumstances, the fear, or the uncertainty, but with the passage of time we can sometimes see something we could not see as clearly in the moment: we were not alone.
Psalm 124 gives Israel a way to remember such a deliverance. David begins with a striking question: “If it had not been Yahweh who was on our side…” What would have happened then?
The answer is sobering. The enemies of God’s people would have swallowed them alive. The waters would have overwhelmed them. The proud waters would have gone over their souls. The danger was not small, and the people were not portrayed as escaping through their own strength or ingenuity.
Instead, the psalm keeps bringing us back to the same truth: Yahweh was on our side.
That is the reason for their song.
David uses two vivid pictures to describe their deliverance. They were like prey that had escaped from the teeth of a predator, and like a bird that had escaped from a fowler’s snare. In both pictures, the outcome seemed almost certain. Yet the snare was broken, and they escaped.
It is easy to look at our own lives and focus on what went wrong, what frightened us, or how narrowly things turned out. Psalm 124 invites us to look at those same moments from another perspective. Perhaps instead of simply saying, “We made it through,” we should say, “Blessed be Yahweh.”
The psalm ends by looking beyond the particular danger that prompted David’s song: “Our help is in Yahweh’s name, who made heaven and earth.”
The God who helped His people then is still the God who made heaven and earth. And ultimately, this song of deliverance points us toward the greater rescue accomplished through Jesus Christ, who delivers His people from the powers of darkness.
Whatever dangers we may face, our hope is not in our ability to escape them. Our help is in Yahweh.
Psalm 124 invites us to look back at the moments when the waters seemed ready to overwhelm us, when the danger seemed too great and escape seemed impossible. Yet somehow, the snare was broken. We escaped.
Perhaps there are times when we look back and realize that what we thought was simply “getting through” was actually the gracious hand of God preserving us.
“Our help is in Yahweh’s name, who made heaven and earth.”
Leave a Reply