the Week of Christ the King / Proper 29 / Ordinary 34
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King James Version
Psalms 124:1
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A song for pilgrims ascending to Jerusalem. A psalm of David.
What if the Lord had not been on our side? Let all Israel repeat:A Song of Ascents; of David. If it had not been Yahweh who was on our side, Let Israel now say,
A song for going up to worship. Of David.
What if the Lord had not been on our side? (Let Israel repeat this.)A song of ascents, by David.
"If the Lord had not been on our side"— let Israel say this!—A Song of degrees of David. If [it had not been] the LORD who was on our side, now may Israel say;
"If it had not been the LORD who was on our side," Let Israel now say,
A Song of Ascents. Of David.
If it had not been the Lord who was on our side— let Israel now say—The `title of the hundrid and thre and twentithe `salm. The song of grecis `of Dauith. Israel seie now, No but for the Lord was in vs;
A Song of Ascents; of David. If it had not been the LORD who was on our side, let Israel now say;
A Song of Ascents. Of David. If the LORD had not been on our side-let Israel now declare-
(A song by David for worship.)
The Lord was on our side! Let everyone in Israel say:A Song of Ascents; of David.
If it had not been Jehovah who was on our side, Let Israel now say,A song of ascents. By David: If Adonai hadn't been for us — let Isra'el repeat it —
A Song of degrees. Of David.
If it had not been Jehovah who was for us—oh let Israel say—A song of David for going up to the Temple.
What would have happened to us if the Lord had not been on our side? Tell us about it, Israel.A Song of Ascents; of David.
[A song of degrees of Dauid.] If it had not bene the Lord who was on our side: nowe may Israel say:
"If the Lord had not been on our side," let Israel say,
A Song of Ascents. Of David.
If it had not been the Lord who was on our side —let Israel now say—A song of degrees, or Psalme of Dauid. If the Lord had not bene on our side, (may Israel now say)
IF it had not been the LORD who stood on our side, now may Israel say,
What if the Lord had not been on our side? Answer, O Israel!
If it had not been, Yahweh, who was on our side, oh might Israel say:
(123-1) <A gradual canticle.> If it had not been that the Lord was with us, let Israel now say:
A Song of Ascents. Of David. If it had not been the LORD who was on our side, let Israel now say--
If God him selfe had not ben of our side Israel may now say:
If it had not been that the Lord was among us, let Israel now say;
If the Lord had not been on our side—let Israel say—
A song of ascents. Of David.
"If it had not been Yahweh who was on our side," do let Israel say,A Song of Ascents, of David. Except that it was Jehovah who was for us, O may Israel say;
A Song of the Ascents, by David. Save [for] Jehovah -- who hath been for us, (Pray, let Israel say),
If the LORDE had not bene of oure syde (now maye Israel saye) Yf the LORDE had not bene of oure syde, whe me rose vp agaynst vs:
A Pilgrim Song of David If God hadn't been for us —all together now, Israel, sing out!— If God hadn't been for us when everyone went against us, We would have been swallowed alive by their violent anger, Swept away by the flood of rage, drowned in the torrent; We would have lost our lives in the wild, raging water.
"Had it not been the LORD who was on our side," Let Israel say,
"If it had not been the LORD who was on our side," Let Israel now say--
A Song of Ascents, of David.
"Had it not been the Lord who was on our side," Let Israel now say,"Had it not been Yahweh who was on our side,"Let Israel now say,
Contextual Overview
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
The Lord: Psalms 27:1, Psalms 46:7, Psalms 46:11, Psalms 54:4, Psalms 56:9, Psalms 118:6, Psalms 118:7, Exodus 15:1, Isaiah 8:9, Isaiah 8:10, Romans 8:31, Hebrews 13:5, Hebrews 13:6
now may: Psalms 129:1
Reciprocal: Genesis 31:42 - Except 2 Kings 6:27 - whence 2 Kings 9:32 - Who is on my side Esther 9:20 - wrote these Psalms 60:11 - vain Psalms 94:17 - Unless Jeremiah 15:20 - but Daniel 3:23 - fell Acts 26:22 - obtained
Gill's Notes on the Bible
If [it had not been] the Lord who was on our side,.... Or, "was for us" h. The Syriac version is, "that rose up for us"; against their enemies, that rose up against them, as in Psalms 123:2: or, "was with us", as Kimchi and Ben Melech; to help and assist, support and supply, strengthen and defend: or, "was among us", as the Arabic version; as their King, Protector, and Saviour. This implies that he was on their side; was for them, with them, and among them, and took their part against their enemies; see Psalms 118:6; which if he had not done, their case would have been miserable and deplorable; or if any other had took their part, and not he, let them be who they would, angels or men. If God is on the side of us, it matters not who is against us; but if he is not on our side, or against us, it signifies nothing who is for us; see Romans 8:31. It suggests that the case of Israel now was so very forlorn and distressed, that none but the Lord himself could help them. 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; his love and relation to them engage him to be so; hence all those good things that are provided for them, and bestowed on them; nor will he suffer any to do them hurt, they being as dear to him as the apple of his eye; hence he grants them his gracious presence, supports them under all their trials and exercises, supplies all their wants, and 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; he is the surety for them, the Saviour of them; has took their part against all their spiritual enemies, sin, Satan, the world, and death; has engaged with them, and conquered them; he is the Captain of their salvation, their King at the head of them, that protects and defends them here, and is their friend in the court of heaven; their Advocate and interceding High Priest there, who pleads their cause against Satan, and obtains every blessing for them: the Spirit of Jehovah is on their side, to carry on his own work in them; to assist them in their prayers and supplications; to secure 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 under all their castings down; and to work them up for, and bring them safe to, heaven: but were not this the case, what would become of them?
now may Israel say; this was a public case the psalmist here records, in which all Israel were concerned; and whom he calls upon to take notice of it, and directs them what to say on this occasion.
h ×× × "pro nobis", Vatablus.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
If it had not been the Lord who was on our side - Unless it was Yahweh who was with us. The idea is, that someone had been with them, and had delivered them, and that such was the nature of the interposition that it could be ascribed to no one but Yahweh. It bore unmistakeable evidence that it was his work. The deliverance was of such a kind that it could have been accomplished by him only. Such things often occur in life, when the intervention in our behalf is so remarkable that we can ascribe it to no one else but God.
Now may Israel say - May well and truly say. The danger was so great, their helplessness was so manifest, and the deliverance was so clearly the work of God, that it was proper to say that if this had not occurred, ruin would have been inevitable and entire.
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
PSALM CXXIV
A thanksgiving of the godly for extraordinary deliverances, 1-4.
The great danger they were in, 7.
Their confidence in God, 8.
NOTES ON PSALM CXXIV
In our present Hebrew copies this Psalm is attributed to David, ×××× ledavid; but this inscription is wanting in three of Kennicott's and De Rossi's MSS., as also in the Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate, AEthiopic, and Arabic; and in most of the ancient fathers, Greek and Latin, who found no other inscription in their copies of the text than A Psalm of degrees. It was composed long after David's days; and appears to be either a thanksgiving for their deliverance from the Babylonish captivity, or for a remarkable deliverance from some potent and insidious enemy after their return to Judea. Or, what appears to be more likely, it is a thanksgiving of the Jews for their escape from the general massacre intended by Haman, prime minister of Ahasuerus, king of Persia. See the whole Book of Esther.
Verse Psalms 124:1. If it had not been the Lord — If God had not, in a very especial manner, supported and defended us, we had all been swallowed up alive, and destroyed by a sudden destruction, so that not one would have been left. This might refer to the plot against the whole nation of the Jews by Haman, in the days of Mordecai and Esther; when by his treacherous schemes the Jews, wheresoever dispersed in the provinces of Babylon, were all to have been put to death in one day. This may here be represented under the figure of an earthquake, when a chasm is formed, and a whole city and its inhabitants are in a moment swallowed up alive.
