Author - Jacques Van Zyl (Hope Church Sutton)
Psalm 124
A song of ascents. Of David.
1 If the Lord had not been on our side—
let Israel say—
2 if the Lord had not been on our side
when people attacked us,
3 they would have swallowed us alive
when their anger flared against us;
4 the flood would have engulfed us,
the torrent would have swept over us,
5 the raging waters
would have swept us away.
6 Praise be to the Lord,
who has not let us be torn by their teeth.
7 We have escaped like a bird
from the fowler’s snare;
the snare has been broken,
and we have escaped.
8 Our help is in the name of the Lord,
the Maker of heaven and earth.
Reading some of the commentary written about Psalm 124, there are many
indications that King David wrote this after Israel’s defeat of the Philistines.
Looking at the language used, I saw a strong resemblance to the Exodus from
Egypt took place 1446 BC (1), David wrote this Psalm around 400 years later during
1,000 BC (1). The events leading up to Israel’s exodus are celebrated even today
during the Jewish Passover, hence it is not impossible that King David may have
drawn a parallel between his circumstances and those of his forefathers 400 years
earlier in Egypt who were in a similar challenging situation. After all, it is still the
same living God, making and keeping His promises to His people throughout all of
history.
It was clear to me that the same way God saved Israel from the Egyptians by letting
them walk through the Red Sea and flooding the Egyptians, he would not allow
David to be swept way (v5) similar to the way the Egyptians where swept away by
the Red Sea.
The other striking point is it seems like David and the Israelites where threatened
and the odds were heavily against them, however a greater power stepped in on
their behalf and rescued them by breaking the snare (v7) – clearly a Divine
intervention by a Divine God.
(1) https://biblehub.com/timeline/
Outnumbered but not overpowered. Cheers Jacques.