A Psalm of Rescue
Reading for Monday 3.6–Wednesday 3.8
Life is dangerous, vicious, and too often unkind. But the Creator of all things is for us. The Divine One is on our side, working on our behalf. While Jesus never guarantees our safety, He does guarantee our life. Jesus assures us that our trust anchors itself to a God of fidelity who lovingly works towards our good.
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Psalm 124
A Song of Rescue
1 "Had it not been the Lord who was on our side,"
Let Israel sing it out!
2 "Had it not been the Lord who was on our side
When our enemy rose up against us,
3 Then they would have swallowed us alive,
When their anger was kindled against us;
4 Then the waters would have flooded over us,
The stream would have swept away our souls;
5 the chaotic waters would have swept away our very lives."
6 Blessed be the Lord,
Who did not allow us to be prey for their teeth.
7 We escaped with our lives like a bird from the trapper's snare;
The snare is broken and we escaped.
8 Our help is in the name of the Lord,
Who made heaven and earth.
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A Psalm of Rescue.
David (the credited author of Psalm 124) does not sugar coat it. Had it not been for Yahweh, we would be toast. The psalm knows no other perspective than the first person. The danger and deliverance are both ours. The picture painted by David is one of a helpless prey at risk of being devoured by an enraged monster (v. 3) or swept away by the raging torrent of chaotic floodwaters (vv. 4-5). Confronted by our enemy, we stand no chance.
But all of this danger is hypothetical. As David declares in the beginning, this is what would have been if Yahweh were not by our side. Yet, the ever-faithful Yahweh does not abandon solidarity with God's people. Thus the psalm erupts into praise. "Blessed be Yahweh!" All the credit for deliverance lies at the feet of God. God refused to allow us to become prey.
The final proclamation of deliverance again paints the picture of just how helpless the situation was (v. 7). The vulnerable picture of a bird in a snare drives the point home. We are entirely vulnerable without Yahweh.
The psalm concludes with a beautiful declaration of God's character and God's authority (v. 8). The source of our help, provision, and salvation is no one but Yahweh. Yahweh is our help, no other. Standing as the creator of all things, God has coupled the cosmos' fate to our own.
The non-specific enemy of the psalm is intentional. The psalm's ambiguity allows it to be used in various crises to affirm God's character and disposition towards us. The enemy is unnamed because the enemy does not matter. The one who matters is Yahweh (the LORD in most translations). Thus Yahweh is called by name four times.
God's character and kindness towards us manifest in visible, nameable responses to our crisis. Yahweh is the God of help. We often shy away from trusting God like this. Perhaps afraid of being let down, we keep God at arm's length. We trust that He will deliver the cosmos from death (the ultimate enemy, to be sure) while unsure that He cares enough to be bothered to take on our personal enemies. The unflinching and brash faith of Psalm 124 ought to embolden us to wholly entrust ourselves and our affairs to the creator of all things.
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Reflect with a friend
Take a moment to reflect on a specific time God helped you personally in an unexpected way. How was your faith or disposition towards God impacted?
Are you hesitant to take your personal problems to God? Why do you think this is? What does this reveal about your thoughts about God?
Psalm 124 can and should be seen as a picture of our deliverance from our ultimate enemies sin and death. But how else can the pictures of helplessness, vulnerability, and God’s effective intervention color your faith?
