Psalms 124

Chapter context

What is happening in Psalms 124?

prayerpraiselamentkingship

Psalms 124 belongs to the middle movement of the book, especially the section often described as Book V. Psalms is the Bible’s great book of sung prayer, teaching the full range of faithful speech from anguish and repentance to jubilation and doxology. Read this chapter with the wider themes of prayer, praise, and lament in view so the individual verses keep their proper weight.

¹ If it had not been the LORD who was on our side, now may Israel say; ² If it had not been the LORD who was on our side, when men rose up against us: ³ Then they had swallowed us up quick, when their wrath was kindled against us: ⁴ Then the waters had overwhelmed us, the stream had gone over our soul: ⁵ Then the proud waters had gone over our soul. ⁶ Blessed be the LORD, who hath not given us as a prey to their teeth. ⁷ Our soul is escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowlers: the snare is broken, and we are escaped. ⁸ Our help is in the name of the LORD, who made heaven and earth.

Study helps

Glossary

Jerusalem Place v. 1: Biblical settlement. Modern identification: Jerusalem.