Life comes at you catty-corner sometimes and knocks you into a whole new country.”
–John Deacon (A Man Called Justice)
“O Lord GOD, You have begun to show Your servant Your greatness and Your mighty hand, for what god is there in heaven or on earth who can do anything like Your works and Your mighty deeds?”
“O Lord GOD, You have begun to show Your servant Your greatness and Your mighty hand, for what god is there in heaven or on earth who can do anything like Your works and Your mighty deeds?”
–Deuteronomy 3:24(NKJV)
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6 — Blessed be the LORD, who has not given us as prey to their teeth.
7 — Our soul has escaped as a bird from the snare of the fowlers; the snare is broken, and we have escaped.
8 — Our help is in the name of the LORD, who made heaven and earth. (NKJV)
Psalm 124 is portioned with the Psalms of Ascent, but many believe it was written by David and then used by pilgrims on their journey to Jerusalem. David may have felt like he was trapped and was about to be torn apart. It was an earnest plea from David for help, and he always knew where the help would come from. Alexander Maclaren writes, “One thought runs through it all, that the sole actor in their deliverance has been Jehovah. No human arm has been bared for them; no created might could have rescued them from the rush of the swelling deluge.” G. Campbell Morgan adds to this, “Escape has always come by His action.”
Here we see praise, “Blessed be the LORD…”. Thanks be to God for He again has rescued us. It would do us good to look back on our lives and see the many times that God has rescued us; the times He has intervened on our behalf. As Francis Schaeffer says, “He is the God who is there!” God is with us through the storms of life; He is with us in the thick and thin, in our going out and our coming in. Someone has said that there are two pictures of what may trouble our soul: Sometimes our troubles grind us to powder and sometimes our troubles capture us like a trap or snare. But wait–God is there. “Our help is in the name of the Lord!”
We are not given as prey to the teeth of our enemy. “God controls the jaws gripping you. He won’t let them tear you apart.” (George Wood). I remember long ago, I was riding my tricycle when I was attacked by a large german shepherd. I was maybe four or a little younger. I saw the dog run at me, but there was nothing I could do. The dog tore up my face, and I have no recollection how I was rescued…that is, until I read this Psalm.
When studying for this psalm, I came across a story I would like to relate. In 691 B.C., Sennacherib was in the process of capturing Judah and had trapped the king in the capital city “like a bird in a cage.” The Assyrians surrounded Jerusalem, Hezekiah was caged, but then…Hezekiah prayed. “The Bible says that the angel of the Lord came and decimated the Assyrian army. The Greek historian Herodotus reports that a plague of field mice gnawed the bowstrings of the Assyrians soldiers. Other historians say that the field mice may have started a bubonic plague among the soldiers…” Whatever the actions, the Assyrian troops were gone by morning and the “caged bird” was released. (William J. Petersen)
Why is it that people have so much trouble with the supernatural? God delivered! He is with His people, not only in the Old Testament times, not only in the time of the apostles, but right now–this very moment He is with us. F.B. Meyer states, “All of the help of Omnipotence is pledged on the side of the weakest of the saints. Lean back upon it and be strong.” Our help is from the Lord–the God who is there! I like the prayer of George Wood, “I am praying today that You will help me to realize I will not be gulped down, swept away, torn apart, or trapped by any of the dangers facing me. You are stronger than all the terrors of the trail. I’m going to make it because You’re not going to drop me”.
“He breaks the power of cancelled sin,
He sets the prisoner free;
His blood can make the foulest clean;
His blood availed for me.”
–Charles Wesley
————————————
6 — Blessed be the LORD, who has not given us as prey to their teeth.
7 — Our soul has escaped as a bird from the snare of the fowlers; the snare is broken, and we have escaped.
8 — Our help is in the name of the LORD, who made heaven and earth. (NKJV)
Psalm 124 is portioned with the Psalms of Ascent, but many believe it was written by David and then used by pilgrims on their journey to Jerusalem. David may have felt like he was trapped and was about to be torn apart. It was an earnest plea from David for help, and he always knew where the help would come from. Alexander Maclaren writes, “One thought runs through it all, that the sole actor in their deliverance has been Jehovah. No human arm has been bared for them; no created might could have rescued them from the rush of the swelling deluge.” G. Campbell Morgan adds to this, “Escape has always come by His action.”
Here we see praise, “Blessed be the LORD…”. Thanks be to God for He again has rescued us. It would do us good to look back on our lives and see the many times that God has rescued us; the times He has intervened on our behalf. As Francis Schaeffer says, “He is the God who is there!” God is with us through the storms of life; He is with us in the thick and thin, in our going out and our coming in. Someone has said that there are two pictures of what may trouble our soul: Sometimes our troubles grind us to powder and sometimes our troubles capture us like a trap or snare. But wait–God is there. “Our help is in the name of the Lord!”
We are not given as prey to the teeth of our enemy. “God controls the jaws gripping you. He won’t let them tear you apart.” (George Wood). I remember long ago, I was riding my tricycle when I was attacked by a large german shepherd. I was maybe four or a little younger. I saw the dog run at me, but there was nothing I could do. The dog tore up my face, and I have no recollection how I was rescued…that is, until I read this Psalm.
When studying for this psalm, I came across a story I would like to relate. In 691 B.C., Sennacherib was in the process of capturing Judah and had trapped the king in the capital city “like a bird in a cage.” The Assyrians surrounded Jerusalem, Hezekiah was caged, but then…Hezekiah prayed. “The Bible says that the angel of the Lord came and decimated the Assyrian army. The Greek historian Herodotus reports that a plague of field mice gnawed the bowstrings of the Assyrians soldiers. Other historians say that the field mice may have started a bubonic plague among the soldiers…” Whatever the actions, the Assyrian troops were gone by morning and the “caged bird” was released. (William J. Petersen)
Why is it that people have so much trouble with the supernatural? God delivered! He is with His people, not only in the Old Testament times, not only in the time of the apostles, but right now–this very moment He is with us. F.B. Meyer states, “All of the help of Omnipotence is pledged on the side of the weakest of the saints. Lean back upon it and be strong.” Our help is from the Lord–the God who is there! I like the prayer of George Wood, “I am praying today that You will help me to realize I will not be gulped down, swept away, torn apart, or trapped by any of the dangers facing me. You are stronger than all the terrors of the trail. I’m going to make it because You’re not going to drop me”.
“He breaks the power of cancelled sin,
He sets the prisoner free;
His blood can make the foulest clean;
His blood availed for me.”
–Charles Wesley