Bible Commentaries
Psalms 124

Verses 1-8

PSALM 124

The godly remnant praise the Lord for having answered their prayer, and set them free from captivity.

The last psalm presented the grief of the exile in the land of captivity: this is the joy of the soul that has escaped from bondage and commenced the journey that leads to the city of Jerusalem. There they lift up their eyes in prayer to the Lord; here they praise Him for having acted on their behalf.

(vv. 1-5) The godly acknowledge the Lord's intervention on their behalf. Powerless themselves, in the presence of an enemy that appears all-powerful, they are as those who sink in an overwhelming flood. When, to all appearance, their destruction is imminent, they find the Lord is on their side and is working for their deliverance.

(vv. 6-7) They bless the Lord for not having left them as a helpless prey to their enemies, and for breaking the snares by which they had been held in bondage. In answer to their prayers they can say, “We are escaped.”

(v. 8) Having experienced the delivering mercy of the Lord, they express their confidence in the help of the Lord for all that may yet lie before them.

“Men rose up against us,” they say, and “their wrath was kindled against us,” and we were about to be “overwhelmed.” Then it was - in their extremity - that they found the Lord was on their side.