TITLE. A Song of degrees of David. Of
course the superfine critics have pounced upon this title as
inaccurate, but we are at liberty to believe as much or as
little of their assertions as we may please. They declare that
there are certain ornaments of language in this little ode which
were unknown in the Davidic period. It may be so; but in their
superlative wisdom they have ventured upon so many other
questionable statements that we are not bound to receive this
dictum. Assuredly the manner of the song is very like to
David's, and we are unable to see why he should be excluded from
the authorship. Whether it be his composition or no, it breathes
the same spirit as that which animates the unchallenged songs of
the royal composer.
DIVISION. This short Psalm contains an
acknowledgement of favour received by way of special deliverance
(1-5), then a grateful act of worship in blessing Jehovah (6,
7), and, lastly, a declaration of confidence in the Lord for all
future time of trial. May our experience lead us to the same
conclusion as the saints of David's time. From all confidence in
man may we be rescued by a holy reliance upon our God.
EXPOSITION
Verse 1. If it had not been the Lord who was on our
side, now may Israel say. The opening sentence is abrupt,
and remains a fragment. By such a commencement attention was
aroused as well as feeling expressed: and this is ever the way
of poetic fire—to break forth in uncontrollable flame. The
many words in italics in our authorized version will show the
reader that the translators did their best to patch up the
passage, which, perhaps, had better have been left in its broken
grandeur, and it would then have run thus:—"Had it not
been Jehovah! He was for us, oh let Israel say! Had it not been
Jehovah! He who was for us when men rose against us." The
glorious Lord became our ally; he took our part, and entered
into treaty with us. If Jehovah were not our protector where
should we be Nothing but his power and wisdom could have guarded
us from the cunning and malice of our adversaries; therefore,
let all his people say so, and openly give him the honour of his
preserving goodness. Here are two "ifs, "and yet there
is no "if" in the matter. The Lord was on our side,
and is still our defender, and will be so from henceforth, even
for ever. Let us with holy confidence exult in this joyful fact:
We are far too slow in declaring our gratitude, hence the
exclamation which should be rendered, "O let Israel
say." We murmur without being stirred up to it, but our
thanksgiving needs a spur, and it is well when some warm hearted
friend bids us say what we feel. Imagine what would have
happened if the Lord had left us, and then see what has happened
because he has been faithful to us. Are not all the materials of
a song spread before us? Let us sing unto the Lord.
Verse 2. If it had not been the Lord who was on our
side, when men rose up against us. When all men combined,
and the whole race of men seemed set upon stamping out the house
of Israel, what must have happened if the covenant Lord had not
interposed? When they stirred themselves, and combined to make
an assault upon our quietude and safety, what should we have
done in their rising if the Lord had not also risen? No one who
could or would help was near, but the bare arm of the Lord
sufficed to preserve his own against all the leagued hosts of
adversaries. There is no doubt as to our deliverer, we cannot
ascribe our salvation to any second cause, for it would not have
been equal to the emergency; nothing less than omnipotence and
omniscience could have wrought our rescue. We set every other
claimant on one side, and rejoice because the Lord was on our
side.
Verse 3. Then they had swallowed us up quick, when
their wrath was kindled against us. They were so eager for
our destruction that they would have made only one morsel of us,
and have swallowed us up alive and whole in a single instant.
The fury of the enemies of the church is raised to the highest
pitch, nothing will content them but the total annihilation of
God's chosen. Their wrath is like a fire which is kindled, and
has taken such firm hold upon the fuel that there is no
quenching it. Anger is never more fiery than when the people of
God are its objects. Sparks become flames, and the furnace is
heated seven times hotter when God's elect are to be thrust into
the blaze. The cruel world would make a full end of the godly
seed were it not that Jehovah bars the way. When the Lord
appears, the cruel throats cannot swallow, and the consuming
fires cannot destroy. Ah, if it were not Jehovah, if our help
came from all the creatures united, there would be no way of
escape for us: it is only because the Lord liveth that his
people are alive.
Verse 4. Then the waters had overwhelmed us.
Rising irresistibly, like the Nile, the flood of opposition
would soon have rolled over our heads. Across the mighty waste
of waters we should have cast an anxious eye, but looked in vain
for escape. The motto of a royal house is, "Tossed about
but not submerged": we should have needed an epitaph rather
than an epigram, for we should have been driven by the torrent
and sunken, never to rise again. The stream had gone over our
soul. The rushing torrent would have drowned our soul, our hope,
our life. The figures seem to be the steadily rising flood, and
the hurriedly rushing stream. Who can stand against two such
mighty powers? Everything is destroyed by these unconquerable
forces, either by being submerged or swept away. When the
world's enmity obtains a vent it both rises and rushes, it rages
and rolls along, and spares nothing. In the great water floods
of persecution and affliction who can help but Jehovah? But for
him where would we be at this very hour? We have experienced
seasons in which the combined forces of earth and hell must have
made an end of us had not omnipotent grace interfered for our
rescue.
Verse 5. Then the proud waters had gone over our
soul. The figure represents the waves as proud, and so they
seem to be when they overleap the bulwarks of a frail bark, and
threaten every moment to sink her. The opposition of men is
usually embittered by a haughty scorn which derides all our
godly efforts as mere fanaticism or obstinate ignorance. In all
the persecutions of the church a cruel contempt has largely
mingled with the oppression, and this is overpowering to the
soul. Had not God been with us our disdainful enemies would have
made nothing of us, and dashed over us as a mountain torrent
sweeps down the side of a hill, driving everything before it.
Not only would our goods and possessions have been carried off,
but our soul, our courage, our hope would have been borne away
by the impetuous assault, and buried beneath the insults of our
antagonists. Let us pause here, and as we see what might have
been, let us adore the guardian power which has kept us in the
flood, and yet above the flood. In our hours of dire peril we
must have perished had not our Preserver prevailed for our safe
keeping.
Verse 6. Blessed be the Lord, who hath not given us as
a prey to their teeth. Leaving the metaphor of a boiling
flood, he compares the adversaries of Israel to wild beasts who
desired to make the godly their prey. Their teeth are prepared
to tear, 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. It implies
that none can harm us till the Lord permits: we cannot be their
prey unless the Lord gives us up to them, and that our loving
Lord will never do. Hitherto he has refused permission to any
foe to destroy us, blessed be his name. The more imminent the
danger the more eminent the mercy which would not permit the
soul to perish in it. God be blessed for ever for keeping us
from the curse. Jehovah be praised for checking the fury of the
foe, and saving his own. The verse reads like a merely negative
blessing, but no boon can be more positively precious. He has
given us to his Son Jesus, and he will never give us to our
enemies.
Verse 7. Our soul is escaped as a bird out of the
snare of the fowlers. Our soul is like a bird for many
reasons; but in this case the point of likeness is weakness,
folly, and the ease with which it is enticed into the snare.
Fowlers have many methods of taking small birds, and Satan has
many methods of entrapping souls. Some are decoyed by evil
companions, others are enticed by the love of dainties; hunger
drives many into the trap, and fright impels numbers to fly into
the net. Fowlers know their birds, and how to take them; but the
birds see not the snare so as to avoid it, and they cannot break
it so as to escape from it. Happy is the bird that hath a
deliverer strong, and mighty, and ready in the moment of peril:
happier still is the soul over which tim Lord watches day and
night to pluck its feet out of the net. What joy there is in
this song, "our soul is escaped." How the emancipated
one sings and soars, and soars and sings again. Blessed be God,
many of us can make joyous music with these notes, "our
soul is escaped." Escaped from our natural slavery; escaped
from the guilt, the degradation, the habit, the dominion of sin;
escaped from the vain deceits and fascinations of Satan; escaped
from all that can destroy; we do indeed experience delight. What
a wonder of grace it is! What a miraculous escape that we who
are so easily misled should not have been permitted to die by
the dread fowler's hand. The Lord has heard the prayer which he
taught us to pray, and he hath delivered us from evil.
The snare is broken, and we are escaped. The song is worth
repeating; it is well to dwell upon so great a mercy. The snare
may be false doctrine, pride, lust, or a temptation to indulge
in policy, or to despair, or to presume; what a high favour it
is to have it broken before our eyes, so that it has no more
power over us. We see not the mercy while we are in the snare;
perhaps we are so foolish as to deplore the breaking of the
Satanic charm; the gratitude comes when the escape is seen, and
when we perceive what we have escaped from, and by what hand 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! This song might well have suited our whole
nation at the time of the Spanish Armada, the church in the days
of the Jesuits, and each believer among us in seasons of strong
personal temptation.
Verse 8. Our help, our hope for the future, our
ground of confidence in all trials present and to come. Is in
the name of the Lord. Jehovah's revealed character is our
foundation of confidence, his person is our sure fountain of
strength. 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. Did he
create all that we see, and can he not preserve us from evils
which we cannot see Blessed be his name, he that has fashioned
us will watch over us; yea, he has done so, and rendered us help
in the moment of jeopardy. He is our help and our shield, even
he alone. 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 ripen it until the hour cometh for our
departure. Every work of his hand preaches to us the duty and
the delight of reposing upon him only. All nature cries,
"Trust ye in the Lord for ever, for in the Lord Jehovah
there is everlasting strength." "Wherefore comfort one
another with these words." The following versification of
the sense rather than the words of this psalm is presented to
the reader with much diffidence:
Had not the Lord, my soul may cry,
Had not the Lord been on my bide;
Had he not brought deliverance nigh,
Then must my helpless soul have died.
Had not the Lord been on my side,
My soul had been by Satan slain;
And Tophet, opening large and wide,
Would not have gaped for me in vain.
Lo, floods of wrath, and floods of hell,
In fierce impetuous torrents roll;
Had not the Lord defended well,
The waters had o'erwhelm'd my soul.
As when the fowler's snare is broke,
The bird escapes on cheerful wings;
My soul, set free from Satan's yoke,
With joy bursts forth, and mounts, and sings.
She sings the Lord her Saviour's praise;
Sings forth his praise with joy and mirth;
To him her song in heaven she'll raise,
To him that made both heaven and earth.
EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS
TITLE. The title informs us that this sacred march was
composed by king David; and we learn very clearly from the
subject, that the progression referred to was the triumphant
return of the king and his loyal army to Jerusalem, upon the
overthrow of the dangerous rebellion to which the great mass of
the people had been excited by Absalom and his powerful band of
confederates.—John Mason Good.
Whole Psalm. This psalm is ascribed to David. No
reference is made to any specific danger and deliverance. There
is a delightful universality in the language, which suits it
admirably for an anthem of the redeemed, in every age and in
every clime. The people of God still live in a hostile
territory. Traitors are in the camp, and there are numerous foes
without. And the church would soon be exterminated, if the
malice and might of her adversaries were not restrained and
defeated by a higher power. Hence this ode of praise has never
become obsolete. How frequently have its strains of adoring
gratitude floated on the breeze! What land is there, in which
its outbursting gladness has not been heard! It has been sung
upon the banks of the Jordan and the Nile, the Euphrates and the
Tigris. It has been sung upon the banks of the Tiber and the
Rhine, the Thames and the Forth. It has been sung upon the banks
of the Ganges and the Indus, the Mississippi and the Irrawady.
And we anticipate a period when the church, surmounting all her
difficulties, and victory waving over her banners, shall sing
this psalm of praise in every island and continent of our globe.
The year of God's redeemed must come. The salvation of Christ
shall extend to the utmost extremities of earth. And when this
final emancipation takes place, the nations will shout for joy,
and praise their Deliverer in psalms, and hymns, and spiritual
songs.—N. McMichael.
Whole Psalm. In the year 1582, this psalm was sung on
a remarkable occasion in Edinburgh. An imprisoned minister, John
Durie, had been set free, and was met and welcomed on entering
the town by two hundred of his friends. The number increased
till he found himself in the midst of a company of two thousand,
who began to sing as they moved up the long High Street,
"Now Israel may say, "etc. They sang in four parts
with deep solemnity, all joining in the well known tune and
psalm. They were much moved themselves, and so were all who
heard; and one of the chief persecutors is said to have been
more alarmed at this sight and song than at anything he had seen
in Scotland.—Andrew A. Bonar, in "Christ and
His Church in the Book of Psalms," 1859.
Verse 1. The Lord...on our side. 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 taken 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 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 in all their castings down; and to work them up
for, and bring them safe to heaven: but were this not the case,
what would become of them!—John Gill.
Verse 1. Israel. The "Israel" spoken
of in this psalm may be Israel in the house of Laban, in whose
person the Midrash Tehillim imagines the Psalm to be said. There
are certainly some of its phrases which acquire an appropriate
meaning from being interpreted in this connection.—H.T.
Armfield.
Verses 1-4. Such abrupt and unfinished expressions in
the beginning of the psalm indicate the great joy and exultation
that will not suffer the speaker to finish his sentences.—Robert
Bellarmine.
Verses 1-2. The somewhat paraphrastic rendering of
these verses (with the unnecessary interpolation of the words in
italics in the Authorised Version) greatly weaken their force
and obscure their meaning. There is far more meant and expressed
than simply that God gave the Israelites the victory over their
enemies. The psalm is typico prophetic. It sets forth the
condition of the church in this world, surrounded by enemies,
implacable in their hatred, maddened by rage, and bent on her
destruction. It 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. It
reechoes the song sung on the shores of the Red Sea. In it are
heard the notes of the New Song before the great white throne.
The praise and thanksgiving are to hwhy, the revealed oyhla,
whose "eternal power and Godhead are understood by the
things that are made:"—to, hwhy, the revealed ydvla, whom
the fathers knew as the Almighty, from the great things which he
did for them:—to hwhy, the God who has made a covenant with
his people, the Redeemer. It is ladvy, the chosen people of God,
the holy nation, the peculiar treasure to him above all peoples,
and thus become, as the Rabbins say, "Odium generis gumant,
"against whom oda (not men, but man collectively) rose up
and sought to destroy. It is ladvy, God's chosen, the people of
the covenant, that with the full delight of a personal "my,
"joy in God and sings, "But that Jehovah, was zgl,
ours!" Tame and frigid is the rendering—"was on our
side." Jehovah was theirs; that, their safety: that, their
blessedness: that, their joy.—Edward Thomas Gibson,
1818-1880.
Verses 1,2.
1. God was on our side; he took our part, espoused our cause,
and appeared for us. He was our helper, and a very present help,
a help on our side, nigh at hand. He was with us; not only for
us, but among us, and commander-in-chief of our forces.
2. That God was Jehovah; there the emphasis lies. If it had
not been Jehovah himself, a God of infinite power and
perfection, that had undertaken our deliverance, our enemies
would have overpowered us. Happy the people therefore whose God
is Jehovah, a God all sufficient. Let Israel say this to his
honour, and resolve never to forsake him.—Matthew Henry.
Verses 1, 2, 8. These three things will I bear on my
heart, O Lord: "The Lord was on our side, "this for
the past: "The snare is broken, " for the present;
"Our help is in the name of the Lord, "this for the
future. I will not and I cannot be fainthearted, whether in my
contest with Satan, in my intercourse with the world, or in the
upheavings of my wicked heart, so long as I hold this
"threefold cord" in my hand, or rather, am held by
it.—Alfred Edersheim.
Verse 2. If it had not been the LORD, etc. This
repetition is not in vain. For whilst we are in danger, our fear
is without measure; but when it is once past, we imagine it to
have been less than it was indeed. And this is the delusion of
Satan to diminish and obscure the grace of God. David therefore
with this repetition stirreth up the people to more thankfulness
unto God for his gracious deliverance, and amplifies the dangers
which they had passed. Whereby we are taught how to think of our
troubles and afflictions past, lest the sense and feeling of
God's grace vanish out of our minds.—Martin Luther.
Verse 2. Men rose up against us. It may seem
strange that these wicked and wretched enemies, monsters rather
than men, should be thus moderately spoken of, and have no other
name than this of men given them, which of all others they least
deserved, as having in them nothing of man but outward show and
shape, being rather beasts, yea, devils in the form and fashion
of men, than right men. But hereby the church would show that
she did leave the further censuring of them unto God their
righteous Judge; and would also further amplify their
wickedness, who being men, did yet in their desires and
dispositions bewray a more than beastly immanity and
inhumanity.—Daniel Dyke (—1614?) in "Comfortable
Sermons upon the 124th Psalme," 1617.
Verse 3. Then they had swallowed us up quick.
The metaphor may be taken from famished wild beasts attacking
and devouring men (comp. v. 5); or the reference may be to the
case of a man shut up alive in a sepulchre (Pr 1:12) and left
there to perish, or (Nu 16:80) swallowed up by an earthquake.—Daniel
Cresswell.
Verse 3. Then they had swallowed us up. The word
implies eating with insatiable appetite; every man that eateth
must also swallow; but a glutton is rather a swallower than an
eater. He throws his meat whole down his throat, and eats (as we
may say) without chewing. The rod of Moses, turned into a
serpent, "swallowed up" the rods of the Egyptian
sorcerers. The word is often applied to express oppression (Ps
35:25): "Let them not say in their hearts, Ah, so would we
have it: let them not say, We have swallowed him up": that
is, we have made clear riddance of him; he is now a gone man for
ever. The ravenous rage of the adversary is described in this
language.—Joseph Caryl.
Verse 3. Quick. Not an adverb, "quickly,
"but an adjective, alive. As greedy monsters, both of the
land and of the deep, sometimes swallow their food before the
life is out of it, so would the enemies of the Church have
destroyed her as in a moment, but for divine interposition.—William
S. Plumer.
Verse 3. Objection. But what may the reason thereof
be? May a man say, that thus the godly shall always prevail and
be never overthrown by their enemies, but overcome them rather?
Experience doth teach us that they are fewer in number than the
wicked are, that they are weaker for power and strength, that
they are more simple for wit and policy, and that they are more
careless for, diligence and watchfulness than their adversaries
be: how, then, comes it to pass that they have the upper hand?
Answer. The Prophet Ezra doth declare it unto us in the 8th
chapter of his prophecy, and the 10th verse thereof, it is in
few words "because the Lord is with them and for
them."
For, first, he is stronger than all, being able to resist all
power that is devised against him and his, and to do whatsoever
he will both in heaven and earth.
2. He is wiser than all, knowing how to prevent them in all
their ways, and also how to bring matters to pass for the good
of his people.
3. He is more diligent than all, to stand, as it were, upon
the watch, and to take his advantage when it is offered him, for
"He that keepeth Israel doth neither slumber nor
sleep."
4. Lastly, he is happier then all to have good success in all
his enterprises, for he doth prosper still in all things which
he doth take in hand and none can resist a thought of his; yea,
the very "word which goeth out of his mouth doth accomplish
that which he wills, and prosper in the thing where unto he doth
send it." In war, all these four things are respected in a
captain that will still overcome: first, that he be strong;
secondly, that he be wise; thirdly, that he be diligent; and,
lastly, that he be fortunate; for the victory goeth not always
with the strong, nor always with the wise, nor always with the
diligent, nor always with the fortunate; but sometimes with the
one of them, and sometimes with the other: Out look, where all
four do concur together there is always the victory, and
therefore seeing all of them are in God, it is no marvel though
those whose battles he doth fight, do always overcome and get
the victory.—Thomas Stint, 1621.
Verses 4, 5. A familiar, but exceedingly apt and most
significant figure. Horrible is the sight of a raging
conflagration; but far more destructive is a river overflowing
its banks and rushing violently on: for it is not possible to
restrain it by any strength or power. As, then, he says, a river
is carried along with great impetuosity, and carries away and
destroys whatever it meets with in its course; thus also is the
rage of the enemies of the church, not to be withstood by human
strength. Hence, we should learn to avail ourselves of the
protection and help of God. For what else is the church but a
little boat fastened to the bank, which is carried away by the
force of the waters? or a shrub growing on the bank, which
without effort the flood roots up? Such was the people of Israel
in the days of David compared with the surrounding nations. Such
in the present day is the church compared with her enemies. Such
is each one of us compared with the power of the malignant
spirit. We are as a little shrub, of recent growth and having no
firm hold: but he is like the Elbe, overflowing, and with great
force overthrowing all things far and wide. We are like a
withered leaf, lightly holding to the tree; he is like the north
wind, with great force rooting up and throwing down the trees.
How, then, can we withstand or defend ourselves by out' own
power?—Martin Luther.
Verses 4, 5. First the "waters"; then
"the stream" or torrent; then "the proud waters,
"lifting up their heads on high. First the waters overwhelm
us; then the torrent goes over our soul; and then the proud
waters go over our soul. What power can resist the rapid floods
of waters, when they overspread their boundaries, and rush over
a country? Onward they sweep with resistless force, and men and
cattle, and crops and houses, are destroyed. Let the impetuous
waters break loose, and, in a few minutes, the scene of life,
and industry, and happiness, is made a scene of desolation and
woe. Perhaps there is an allusion here to the destruction of the
Egyptians in the Red Sea. The floods fell upon them, the depths
covered them: they sank into the bottom as a stone. Had God not
stretched forth his hand to rescue the Israelites, their enemies
would have overwhelmed them. Happy they who, in seasons of
danger, have Jehovah for a hiding place.—N. McMichael.
Verse 5. Then the proud waters had gone over our
soul. The same again, to note the greatness both of the
danger and of the deliverance. And it may teach us not lightly
to pass over God's great blessings, but to make the most of
them.—John Trapp.
Verse 5.
"When winds and seas do rage,
And threaten to undo? me,
Thou dost their wrath assuage,
If I but call unto thee.
A mighty storm last night
Did seek my soul to swallow;
But by the peep of light
A gentle calm did follow.
What need I then despair
Though ills stand round about me;
Since mischiefs neither dare
To bark or bite without thee?"
—Robert Herrick, 1591-1674.
Verses 6, 7. Two figures are again employed, in order
to show how imminent was the destruction, had there been no
divine interposition. The first is that of a savage beast which
was formerly used. But an addition is made, to describe the
urgency of the danger. The wild beast was not only lying in wait
for them; he was not merely ready to spring upon his prey; he
had already leaped upon it: he had actually seized it: it was
even now between his teeth. What a graphic description! A
moment's delay, and all help would have been in vain. But
Jehovah appears on the ground. He goes up to the ferocious
beast, and takes out the trembling prey from between his bloody
jaws. The danger is imminent; but nothing is too hard for the
Lord. "My soul is among lions." "What time I am
afraid I will trust in thee." "He shall send from
heaven, and save me from the reproach of him that would swallow
me up." The second figure is that of a fowler. The fowler
has prepared his snare in a skilful manner. The bird enters it,
unconscious of danger: the net is thrown over it; and in an
instant its liberty is lost. There it lies, the poor bird, its
little heart throbbing wildly, and its little wings beating
vainly against the net. It is completely at the mercy of the
fowler, and escape is impossible. But again the Lord appears,
and his presence is safety He goes up to the net, lifts it from
the ground; the bird flies out, lights on a neighbouring tree,
and sings among the branches. "Surely he shall deliver thee
from the snare of the fowler." God rescues his people from
the craft and subtlety of their enemies, as he does from their
open violence.—N. McMichael.
Verses 6, 7. We were delivered,
1. Like a lamb out of the very jaws of a beast of prey: God
"hath not given us as a prey to their teeth";
intimating that they had no power against God's people, but what
was given them from above. They could not be a prey to their
teeth unless God gave them up, and therefore they were rescued,
because God would not suffer them to be ruined.
2. Like "a bird, "a little bird, the word signifies
a sparrow, "out of the snare of the fowler." The
enemies are very subtle and spiteful, they lay snares for God's
people, to bring them into sin and trouble, and to hold them
there. Sometimes they seem to have prevailed so far as to gain
their point, the children of God are taken in the snare, and are
as unable to help themselves out as any weak and silly bird is;
and then is God's time to appear for their relief; when all
other friends fail, then God breaks the snare, and turns the
counsel of the enemies into foolishness: "The snare is
broken, and so we are delivered."—Matthew Henry.
Verse 7. Our soul is escaped as a bird out of the
snare of the fowlers, etc. Various snares are placed for
birds, by traps, birdlime, guns, etc.: who can enumerate all the
dangers of the godly, threatening them from Satan, and from the
world? Ps 91:3: Ho 5:1.—"We are delivered, "not by
our own skill or cunning, but by the grace and power of God
only: so that every device is made vain, and freedom is
preserved.—Martin Geier.
Verse 7. Our soul is escaped as a bird out of the
snare of the fowlers, etc. I am quite sure that there is not
a day of our lives in which Satan does not lay some snare for
our souls, the more perilous because unseen; and if seen,
because perhaps unheeded and despised. And of this, too, I am
equally sure, that if any one brings home with him at night a
conscience void of offence towards God and man, it is in no
might nor strength of his own, and that if the Lord had not been
his guide and preserver he would have been given over, nay, he
would have given himself over, as a prey to the devourer's
teeth. I believe there are few even of God's saints who have not
had occasion, in some season of sore temptation, when Satan has
let loose all his malice and might, and poured in suggestion
upon suggestion and trial upon trial, as he did on Job, and they
have been ready to faint, if not to fall by the ways then,
perhaps, in a moment when they looked not for it, Satan has
departed, foiled and discomfited, and with his prey snatched out
of his hands, and they, too, have had gratefully to own,
"Our soul is escaped as a bird out of the snare of the
fowlers; tie snare is broken, and we are escaped." Yes!
depend upon it, our best and only hope, "is in the name of
the Lord, who made heaven and earth."—Barton Bouchier.
Verse 7. Our soul is escaped as a bird. The
snare of the fowler was the lime-twigs of this world; our soul
was caught in them by the feathers, our affections: now, indeed,
we are escaped; but the Lord delivered us.—Thomas Adams.
Verse 7. As a bird out of the snare of the fowlers.
The soul is surrounded by many dangers.
1. It is ensnared by worldliness. One of the most gigantic
dangers against which God's people have specially to guard—an
enemy to all spirituality of thought and feeling.
2. It is ensnared by selfishness—a foe to all
simple-hearted charity, to all expansive generosity and
Christian philanthropy.
3. It is ensnared by unbelief—the enemy of prayer, of
ingenuous confidence, of all personal Christian effort. These
are not imaginary dangers. We meet them in everyday life. They
threaten us at every point, and often have we to lament over the
havoc they make in our hearts.—George Barlow, in a "Homiletic
Commentary on the Book of Psalms," 1879.
Verse 7. The snare is broken. It is as easy for
God to deliver his people out of their enemies' hands, even when
they have the godly in their power, as to break a net made of
thread or yarn, wherewith birds are taken.—David Dickson.
Verse 7. The snare is broken, and we are escaped.
Our life lieth open always to the snares of Satan, and we as
silly birds are like at every moment to be carried away,
notwithstanding the Lord maketh a way for us to escape; yea,
when Satan seemeth to be most sure of us, by the mighty power of
God the snares are broken and we are delivered. Experience we
have hereof in those who are inwardly afflicted and with
heaviness of spirit grievously oppressed, that when they seem to
be in utter despair, and ready now, as you would say, to perish,
yet even at the last pinch, and in the uttermost extremity
cometh the sweet comfort of God's Holy Spirit and raiseth them
up again. When we are most ready to perish, then is God most
ready to help. "Except the Lord had holpen me, "saith
David, "my soul had almost dwelt in silence." And this
again do we mark for the comfort of the weak conscience. It is
Satan's subtlety whereby commonly he disquiets many, that
because carnal corruption is in them he would therefore bear
them in hand that they are none of Christ's. In this he plays
the deceiver; he tries us by the wrong rule of perfect
sanctification; this is the square that ought to be laid to
Christ's members triumphant in heaven, and not to those who are
militant on earth. Sin remaining in me will not prove that
therefore I am not in Christ, otherwise Christ should have no
members upon earth; but grace working that new disposition which
nature could never effect proves undoubtedly that we are in
Christ Jesus.—Thomas Stint.
Verse 8. Our help is in the name of the LORD, who
made heaven and earth. He hath made the earth where the
snare lies, so that he can rightfully destroy the snare as laid
unlawfully in his domain; he hath made the heaven, the true
sphere of the soaring wings of those souls which he has
delivered, so that they may fly upwards from their late prison,
rejoicing. He came down to earth himself, the Lord Jesus in
whose name is our help, that lie might break the snare; be
returned to heaven, that we might fly "as the doves to
their windows" (Isa 60:8), following where lie showed the
way.—Richard Rolle, of Hampole (1340), in "Neale
and Littledale."
Verse 8. Our help is in the name of the Lord.
The fairest fruits of our by past experience is to glorify God
by confidence in him for time to come, as here.—David
Dickson.
Verse 8. The Lord who made heaven and earth. As
if the Psalmist had said, As long as I see heaven and earth I
will never distrust. I hope in that God which made all these
things out of nothing; and therefore as long as I see those two
great standing monuments of his power before me, heaven and
earth, I will never be discouraged. So the apostle: 1Pe 4:19,
"Commit the keeping of your souls to him in well doing, as
unto a faithful Creator." O Christian! remember when you
trust God you trust an almighty Creator, who is able to help,
let your case be never so desperate. God could create when he
had nothing to work upon, which made one wonder; aud he could
create when he had nothing to work with, which is another
wonder. What is become of the tools wherewith he made the world?
Where is the trowel wherewith he arched the heaven? and the
spade wherewith he digged the sea? What had God to work upon, or
work withal when he made the world? He made it out of nothing.
Now you commit your souls to the same faithful Creator.—Thomas
Manton.
Verse 8. The Romans in a great distress were put so
hard to it, that they were fain to take the weapons out of the
temples of their gods to fight with them; and so they overcame.
And this ought to be the course of every good Christian, in
times of public distress, to fly to the weapons of the church,
prayers and tears. The Spartans' walls were their spears, the
Christian's walls are his prayers. His help standeth in the name
of the Lord who hath made both heaven and earth.—Edmund
Calamy.
Verse 8. The French Protestants always begin their
public worship with the last verse of this Psalm, and there is
no thought more encouraging and comfortable.—Job Orton,
1717-1783.
Verse 8. Our help is in the name of the Lord,
etc. These are the words of a triumphing and victorious faith,
"Our help standeth in the name of the Lord, which made
heaven and earth": as if he said, the Maker of heaven and
earth is my God, and my helper. We see whither he flieth in his
great distress. He despairs not, but cries unto the Lord, as one
yet hoping assuredly to find relief and comfort. Rest thou also
in this hope, and do as he did. David was not tempted to the end
he Should despair; think not thou, therefore, that thy
temptations are sent unto thee that thou shouldest be swallowed
up with sorrow and desperation: if thou be brought down to the
very gates of hell, believe that the Lord will surely raise thee
up again. If so thou be bruised and broken, know it is the Lord
that will help thee again. If thy heart be full of sorrow and
heaviness, look for comfort from him, who said, that a troubled
spirit is a sacrifice unto him: (Ps 51:17) Thus he setteth the
eternal God, the Maker of heaven and earth, against all troubles
and dangers, against the floods and overflowings of all
temptations, and swalloweth up, as it were with one breath all
the raging furies of the whole world, and of hell itself, even
as a little drop of water is swallowed up by a mighty flaming
fire: and what is the world with all its force and power, in
respect of him that made heaven and earth!—Thomas Stint.
HINTS TO THE VILLAGE PREACHER
Verse 1. The LORD who was on our side. Who is
he? Why on our side? How does he prove it? What are we bound to
do?
Verses 1-3. Regard the text,
1. From the life of Jacob or Israel.
2. From the history of the nation.
3. From the annals of the church.
4. From our personal biography.
Verses 1-5.
1. What might have been.
2. Why it has not been.
Verses 1-5.
1. What the people of God would have been if the Lord had not
been on their side.
(a) What if left to their enemies? Ps 124:2,3. Israel left to
Pharaoh and his host in the time of Moses: left to the
Caananites in the time of Joshua: to the Midianites in the time
of Gideon: Judah to the Assyrians in the time of Hezekiah:
"Then they had swallowed us up," etc.
(b) What if left to themselves? "The stream had gone
over our soul": Ps 124:4, 5.
2. What the people of God are with the Lord on their side.
(a) All the designs of their enemies against them are
frustrated.
(b) Their inward sorrow is turned into joy.
(c) Both their inward and then outward troubles work together
for their good.—G. R.
Verse 2, 3.
1. To swallow us alive—the desire of our wrathful enemies.
2. To save us alive—the work of our faithful God.
Verse 6.
1. The Lamb.
2. The Lion.
3. The Lord.
Verse 6.
1. They would gladly devour us.
2. They cannot devour unless the Lord will.
3. God is to be praised since he does not permit them to injure
us.
Verse 6.
1. The ill will of men against the righteous.
(a) For their spoliation.
(b) For their destruction: "As a prey to their teeth."
2. The goodwill of God. "Blessed be the Lord, "etc.
(a) What it supposes—that good men, in a measure and for a
time, may be given into the hands of the wicked.
(b) What it affirms—that they are not given entirely into
their hands:—G.R.
Verse 7.
1. The soul ensnared.
(a) By whom? Wicked men are fowlers. By Satan. "Satan,
the fowler, who betrays Unguarded souls a thousand ways."
(b) How? By temptations—to pride, worldliness, drunkenness,
error, or lust, according to the tastes and habits of the
individual.
2. The soul escaped: "Our soul is escaped, "etc.
"The snare is broken, "not by ourselves, but by the
hand of God.—G.R.
Verse 7.
1. A bird.
2. A snare.
3. A capture.
4. An escape.
Verse 8. Our Creator, our Helper. Special comfort to
be drawn from creation in this matter.
Verse 8.
1. The Helper: "The Lord, who made heaven and earth,
"who in his works has given ample proofs of what he can do.
2. The helped. "Our help" is,
(a) Promise in his name.
(b) Sought in his name: these make it ours.—G.R.
Verse 8.
1. We have help. As troubled sinners, as dull scholars, as
trembling professors, as inexperienced travellers, as feeble
workers.
2. We have help in God's name. In his
perfections—"They shall put my name upon the children of
Israel." In his Gospel—"A chosen vessel to bear my
name." In his authority—"In the name of Jesus Christ
rise up, "etc.
3. Therefore we exert ourselves.—W.J.
WORKS UPON THE HUNDRED TWENTY FOURTH PSALM
Comfortable sermons upon the 124 psalme.
Being thankfull Remembrances for God's wonderfull deliverance of
us from the late gunpowder treason. Preached before the Lady
Elizabeth Her Grace, at Combe. By Daniel, Dike, Bachelor in
Divinity... London; ...1635 also 1617. Quarto. Of no
value whatever.
An Exposition on the 124, 125, 126.
Psalmes called the Psalmes of Degrees, or The Churches
Deliverance. Plainly set forth for the benefit of God's Church.
By Thomas Stint.... London: 1621. 8vo.
Excessively rare.