God Burst Through

Psalm 124:1-5

A song for the ascent to Jerusalem. A psalm of David.

1If the LORD had not been on our side—

let Israel now say—

2if the LORD had not been on our side

when people rose up against us,

3they would have swallowed us alive

because of their burning anger against us.

4The waters would have engulfed us;

a torrent would have overwhelmed us.

5Yes, the raging waters of their fury

would have overwhelmed our very lives.

It’s hard to know when this psalm was written, but the first five verses remind us of an incident in King David’s life.

He had just been acclaimed king of the entire nation of Israel. Then the Philistines amassed their armies and spread out across the valley of Rephaim. From there they could invade south to where David had his headquarters in Hebron, or they could invade north to where most of the Israelite tribes were located. Or both.

Newly crowned king, David hadn’t had a chance yet to recruit a national army, so he was greatly outnumbered. If the Lord hadn’t been on his side, he and the struggling nation would have been “swallowed alive.”

“What should I do?” prayed David. After getting his directions from God, David used his small troop of guerrilla soldiers and devastated the Philistines in a surprise attack.

David’s reaction is interesting (2 Samuel 5:20): “The Lord has done it!” David exclaimed. “He burst through my enemies like a raging flood!” But wasn’t David the general? Weren’t his guerrilla troops the victorious army? Yes, but David knew the limits of his own power. If God hadn’t been running the show, the outcome would have been totally different. So David gave credit where credit was due.

Look back over the successes of your life during the past week. Who got the credit?

We are daily led by one who never lost a battle,

And our adversary is a conquered foe;

We are more than conquerors through our Captain’s triumph;

Let us shout the victory as we onward go.

A. B. SIMPSON

Bible Networking

Verses 4-5 depict a conquering army, rolling to victory. For a similar picture, see Isaiah 8:7-8.

Notable Quotable

“What an If is this [verses 1-2]! One shudders to think what and where we might have been without the delivering, preserving hand of our God.”

F. B. MEYER