If the Lord had not been by our side
Psalm 124
A Song of Ascents. Of David.
1 If it had not been the Lord who was on our side
—let Israel now say—
2 if it had not been the Lord who was on our side,
when our enemies attacked us,
3 then they would have swallowed us up alive,
when their anger was kindled against us;
4 then the flood would have swept us away,
the torrent would have gone over us;
5 then over us would have gone the raging waters.
6 Blessed be the Lord,
who has not given us as prey to their teeth.
7 We have escaped like a bird from the snare of the fowlers;
the snare is broken, and we have escaped.
8 Our help is in the name of the Lord,
who made heaven and earth.
The psalm plays with the double reality of actual pilgrims who are walking and the reality of being a human being who is on a journey through life.
On pilgrimage, when travelling in places we don’t know, when facing new situations in life, the risks seem bigger, the threats large, the dangers almost insurmountable. But as David, to whom this psalm is attributed, would remind us the LORD – Yahweh – is by our side. Through other dangers in life, through other moments in our lives, God has been with us to protect us and to bring us through secure. [I am avoiding the word “safe” because that implies there will never be new dangers, or new risks. And that is not true, life will confront us with new challenges, new risks, new threats – the truth is that God will be by our side in each new challenge.]
Vs. 2 is clear – enemies did attack. It was not that life was free from threat, rather that God was there to prevent disaster when the enemies attacked. And while David would be thinking a military threat – “enemies” is certainly wider than that and would include cancer, job loss, workplace harassment, and so on. God acted so that the enemy did not destroy, did not devour, Surely God has been our help, and we have escaped destruction. [Our death is not a defeat for God, it is not God failing to keep God’s promise. Our deaths take place in the face of the fact that God raises the dead to life in the resurrection. For death cannot destroy the soul, that God will hold secure.] Thanks be to God for the rescue he offers us.
PRAYER:
O Lord, if you had not been with us, we would not have made it this far. If you had not been with us, we would have been destroyed long ago. O Lord, our help is in you alone. In Jesus’ name. Amen.