Psalm 124
Psalm 124 is ascribed to David and describes “The Great Blessing of Having the Lord on Your Side.” In it, the Psalmist bears testimony to the fact that you could have many people on your side and still be ruined. You could have a mother and father on your side and still live in defeat and disaster. You could be very well liked and have many friends who want you to do well, and still end up in hell – both figuratively and literally. The ONLY ONE we must have on our side is the LORD. Only the LORD is capable of defending us against the forces that come against us in this world.
Although no reference is made to any specific danger and deliverance, there is a universality in the language, which makes it suitable for an anthem of the redeemed, in every age and in every clime. There is far more meant by and expressed in this Psalm than simply that God gave the Israelites the victory over their enemies. The Psalm is both a type and a prophecy (a type in Scripture is a person or thing in the Old Testament that foreshadows a person or thing in the New Testament).
It describes the condition of the church in this world—surrounded by enemies, who are implacable in their hatred, maddened by rage, and bent on her destruction. But it also gives assurance of her preservation and continuous triumph because Jehovah is her God. It foretells the future, full, and final destruction of all her enemies.
In this short Psalm, the Psalmist, first, acknowledges the favour received by way of special deliverance (vv. 1-5). Next, he offers his grateful worship in blessing the LORD (vv. 6, 7). Lastly, he declares confidence in the Lord for all future time of trial (v. 8).
The Psalmist first affirms that the LORD is on the side of his people in a spiritual sense, or otherwise, it would be bad for them. What would the people of God have been if the Lord had not been on their side? What would have been their lot if they had been left to their enemies? How would Israel have fared if it had been left to Pharaoh and his host in the time of Moses, or left to the Canaanites in the time of Joshua, or to the Midianites in the time of Gideon? How would Judah have fared if it had been left to the Assyrians in the time of Hezekiah?
He came to only one conclusion: Then they would have swallowed us up. What if they had been left to themselves? His answer is that the stream would have gone over our soul. But the LORD is always on the side of his people. The Psalmist here affirms that Jehovah is on the side of his people in a spiritual sense, or otherwise, it would be bad for them.
God the Father is on their side, just as his love and relationship to them require him to be. He provides for his people’s needs and will not allow any harm to come to them since they are dear to him as the apple of his eye. He grants them his gracious presence, supports them in all their trials, supplies all their needs, keeps them by his power, and preserves them from all their enemies so that they have nothing to fear from any quarter.
Christ is on their side as their Saviour; the One who fights on their side against all their spiritual enemies—sin, Satan, the world, and death. Christ has fought with these enemies and conquered them. He is the Captain of his people’s salvation, their King that protects and defends them here on earth, and is their friend in the court of heaven, where, as their Advocate and interceding High Priest, he pleads their cause against Satan and obtains every blessing for them.
The Holy Spirit is on their side, to carry on his work in them; to assist them in their prayers and supplications; to deliver them from Satan’s temptations; to set up a standard for them when the enemy comes in like a flood upon them; and to comfort them in all their troubles; and to prepare them for, and bring them safe to heaven. If this were not the case, what would become of them?
When all men combined, and the whole race of men seemed set upon stamping out the house of Israel, what would have happened if the covenant Lord had not interposed? No one who could or would help was near, but the arm of the Lord was sufficient to preserve his own against all their enemies.
Next, the Psalmist heartily praises the LORD for not permitting his servants to be devoured when they were between the jaws of the raging ones. Leaving the metaphor of a boiling flood, the Psalmist compares the enemies of Israel to wild beasts who desired to make the godly their prey. Their teeth are prepared to tear to pieces, and they regard the godly as their victims. The Lord is heartily praised for not permitting his servants to be devoured when they were between the jaws of the raging ones.
This implies that no one can harm us till the Lord permits it, and we cannot be their prey unless the Lord gives us up to them, and that is something that our loving Lord will never do.
Explaining further why God deserves our praise, the Psalmist said, our soul is escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowlers. The human soul is compared to a bird because of its weakness, folly, and the ease with which it is enticed into the snare by Satan. Just like Fowlers have many methods of luring small birds into their traps, Satan has many methods of entrapping the souls of men.
The snare may be false doctrine, pride, lust, or a temptation to indulge in a sinful habit, or to despair, or to presume. Some are enticed by evil companions, others are lured by their love for the things of the world; hunger also drives many into the trap, and fear compels many others to fly into the net. Unfortunately, while Fowlers know their birds, and how to take them, the birds do not see the snare so as to avoid it, and, once entrapped, they cannot break it so as to escape from it.
But blessed is the bird that has a deliverer strong and ready to deliver it in the moment of danger. More blessed still is the soul over which the Lord watches day and night to pluck its feet out of the net.
We do not appreciate the mercy of God while we are in the snare and are sometimes so foolish as to deplore the breaking of the Satanic charm. The gratitude comes when the escape is seen, and when we understand what we have escaped from, and by whom we have been set free. Then our Lord has a song from our mouths and hearts as we make heaven and earth ring with the notes, “the snare is broken, and we are escaped.”
We have been tempted, but not taken; cast down, but not destroyed; perplexed, but not in despair; in deaths oft, but still alive: blessed be Jehovah!
What joy there is in the song the lyrics, “our soul is escaped.” We have escaped from our natural slavery to sin; escaped from the guilt, the degradation, the habit, and the dominion of sin. We have escaped from the vain deceits and fascinations of Satan; escaped from all that can destroy us both temporally and eternally. It is indeed a delightful experience.
What a miraculous escape that we who are so easily misled are not permitted to die by the dread fowler’s hand. The Lord has heard the prayer which he taught us to pray, and he has delivered us from evil. The Psalmist couldn’t help repeating the song when he said, the snare is broken, and we are escaped. It is well to dwell upon so great a mercy; what a high favour it is to have it broken before our eyes, so that it has no more power over us.
Finally, the Psalmist declares confidence in the Lord for all future time of trial (v. 8). Our hope for the future, our ground of confidence in all trials present and to come, is in the name of the Lord who made heaven and earth.
Our Creator is our preserver. He is immensely great in his creating work; he has not fashioned a few little things alone, but all heaven and the whole round earth are the works of his hands. When we worship the Creator, let us increase our trust in our Comforter. Since he created everything that we can see, he can certainly preserve us from the evils which we cannot see.
Blessed be his name! He that has fashioned us will watch over us. Yes, he has done so, and rendered us help in the moment of trouble. He alone is our help and our shield. He will, to the end, break every snare.
He made heaven for us, and he will keep us for heaven; he made the earth, and he will succour us until the hour comes for our departure from it. Every work of his hand encourages us to repose our faith and confidence upon him only.
As we round off the year 2024, let us join our hearts together and with one voice cry, “Trust ye in the Lord for ever, for in the Lord Jehovah there is everlasting strength” (Isaiah 26:4-5).
Rev. Kayode Ilupeju,
Good News Baptist Church,
47/49, Olufemi Road,
Off Ogunlana Drive,
Surulere, Lagos.
Tel.: 0803-302-1008
