The journey of the pilgrim is not always easy. Whether it be a personal journey, the course of assembly life, or the road a nation follows, there will be obstacles, enemies, opposition, and dangers. To the pilgrim, dangers come from those who oppose the separation of believers from unbelievers. Danger can come from those who plot to hinder and stamp out the impact of the Gospel. Danger can come from uncontrollable circumstances in life or even from nature. This psalm is a reminder, “The Lord is on our side.”
Psalm 123 is a look ahead, and this is a look back at the many ways God has delivered His own. The Jewish nation can look back over many centuries of opposition from Gentile nations. They have been enslaved, captured, and taken from their own land, persecuted just for being who they are, and there have even been attempts to exterminate them. “If it had not been the Lord who was on our side,” they would have vanished as a people into the darkness of history. But the Lord keeps His covenants and will not let them be annihilated.
The word “if” that begins this psalm spells the difference between disaster and deliverance. The Lord Himself makes the difference between success and failure in our lives. He controls the elements, making the difference between profit and loss for a farmer. He knows what gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, and stubble are.
A specific incident likely initiated this song of praise and salvation. Travelers are constantly subjected to danger. These words give assurance and strengthen our trust in the Lord when the going gets tough. The ancient pilgrim who had made his way to Jerusalem sang this song with all the others in that place, with a voice of gratitude for the deliverance he experienced. Danger is a common experience for all pilgrims passing through a foreign land, or even their own country, among people they do not know. “What are you doing here?” “Who gave you the right to come here?” “Who gave you the right to preach the Gospel to us?” These are all common questions asked of those who are “a pilgrim band in a foreign land.”
We can complain and seek to justify ourselves when troubles arise, or sing this song of redemption personally. All pilgrims traveling to the same place will experience the same dangers in one way or another. If the Lord does not intervene in the lives of His people, they will perish. We may not know now, nor may we ever understand, why certain things that seem to make us losers happen to us. But this is not the end of the journey. “When this passing world is done; when has sunk yon glaring sun; when I stand with Christ on high, looking o’er life’s history; then Lord shall I fully know, not till then, how much I owe.”
The last part of this psalm, from verse six on, is a song of thanksgiving more than a song of deliverance. Figures of speech are impressive ways of making a point stick. “As a prey… to teeth;” As a bird out of the snare…,” in these verbal images, the gratitude of the pilgrim is heightened. They lift the mind and heart to intelligently give special praise beyond a simple “Thank you.” Not that “thank you” is not real. Still, there is a sense of heartfelt appreciation when one uses words carefully to give an expression that is out of the ordinary. This takes the thought that, when linked with emotion, it goes through the barriers of normality and complacency to connect with another person's heart.
Recognition of the Lord as the Source of help is taken further by acknowledging His supreme authority as the Creator who became my Savior. When deliverance comes, those who are intelligent spiritually know how important it is to give God all the glory. All glory belongs to Him for our deliverance from dangers seen and unseen. All glory to Him for successes that tend to make us proud of ourselves. All glory belongs to God for our survival and all that means to us, body, soul, and spirit. The Lord deserves our voice of thanksgiving and praise as His people. It is only right to go public in our praise and affirmation of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. “Our help is in the name of the Lord.”
When we feel snared in a situation beyond our capacity to do anything, we need to remember and recognize that the Lord delivered us. He, the Creator, is also the Controller and can solve any problem, deal with any circumstance, and meet any need. In this training time, we call “life,” He allows things that don’t make sense to happen to us. They may not seem fair or needed because they are not good. These learning times come when we listen to His word. When we accept His gracious help and deliverance with thanks, we can learn that the problems of life are given to teach us.
PSALM 124 THE SOURCE v.1-5. Deliverance by God. “If it had not been the Lord…” v.6-8. Thanksgiving to God. “Blessed be the Lord…”