Psalm 124 - Being on God's Side

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.

New International Version (NIV) 

This is another Psalm of Ascent and it proclaims the fact that the Lord had been on Israel’s side. I love how it starts with a negative if/then supposition: if the Lord had not been on their side then a terrible devastation would have overcome them. What specifically? These verses give a pretty good picture of the Exodus. You know the story, especially the part about the parting of the Red Sea that is here depicted. If God had not been on their side then “the flood would have engulfed us, the torrent would have swept over us, the raging waters would have swept us away”.

It is good to have God on your side. But hold on a minute; think about this: do you believe God is always on your side? Or is it more likely that sometimes He will be on your opponent’s side? If you always want God on your side then here’s the solution: Be on God’s side.

Though the psalmist declares that the Lord is on their side I think we can also conclude that because the Israelites followed God’s instructions for how to be delivered from their captors that they were on God’s side. What do you think? Are you following God's word?