Psalm 124:5

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - Psalms 124:1-8

Psalms 120-124 To Jerusalem for worshipEach of the fifteen Psalms 120:0 to 134 is entitled ‘A Song of Ascents’ (RSV; NIV). These psalms were apparently sung by worshippers from the country areas as they made the journey up to Jerusalem for the various annual festivals.Whether or not the psalms were written for this purpose, they have been arranged in a sequence that reflects the feelings of the travellers. They provide expressions of worship for the travellers as they set out from distant... read more

Thomas Coke

Thomas Coke Commentary on the Holy Bible - Psalms 124:5

Psalms 124:5. Then, &c.— Then it had passed over our soul, even {proud / swelling} waters. REFLECTIONS.—The greater the danger is to which we are exposed, the greater doth the power and grace of our God appear in our rescue, and the more are we indebted to him in love and praise. 1. The enemies of God's church and people are many and mighty; rising up fierce as a lion, and ready to devour them, quick and eager in the pursuit, and raging in their wrath to destroy them. Then in that day of... read more

Robert Jamieson; A. R. Fausset; David Brown

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - Psalms 124:5

5. The epithet proud added to waters denotes insolent enemies. read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Psalms 124:1-5

1. The Lord’s protection of His people 124:1-5David reminded the people that God had been on their side in the battles that might have resulted in Israel’s extinction. If He had not been, they would have perished. He used several graphic images to picture the total annihilation of the chosen people. Israel’s enemies had attacked her viciously many times during her history. read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Psalms 124:1-8

Psalms 124David voiced praise to God for not allowing the pagan nations that surrounded Israel to defeat and assimilate God’s people. read more

John Dummelow

John Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 124:1-8

This Ps. is sung at the Feast of Purim to commemorate the deliverance from Haman. It is a gladsome lyric, thanking Jehovah for escape from heathen destruction, and may well have been composed under the impulse of deliverance from the Babylonian exile. In its formation it illustrates a particular rhythmic effect, viz. the ascending scale of a series of phrases.1. Now may Israel say] what Israel says is Psalms 124:1-5. 3. Quick] RV ’alive,’ as Assyria and Babylon did to many nations. 4. Stream]... read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Psalms 124:5

(5) Proud.—The Hebrew presents a rare form, which is considered indicative of later composition. For the epithet, comp. Æschylus, Prom. Vinct. 717:“And you will reach the scornful river—well it deservesthe name.” read more

William Nicoll

Expositor's Dictionary of Texts - Psalms 124:1-8

Psalms 124:0 When the conflict was over, the venerable Theodore Beza, eighty years old, returned solemn thanks, and gave out the 124th Psalm to be sung. Every year since, on 12 December, it has been sung in Geneva Dr. Tholuck of Halle used to tell an anecdote of his father-in-law. He was a convert from Roman Catholicism; and as it happens sometimes that though the mind may be entirely emancipated, the desire for priestly absolution returns, his son-in-law asked him before he died, if he had any... read more

William Nicoll

Expositor's Bible Commentary - Psalms 124:1-8

Psalms 124:1-8A SEQUENCE may be traced connecting this with the two adjacent psalms. In Psalms 123:1-4, patient resignation sighed for deliverance, which here has been received and has changed the singer’s note into jubilant and wondering praise; while, in the next little lyric, we have the escaped Israel established in Jerusalem, and drawing omens of Divine guardianship from its impregnable position, on a mountain girt by mountains. This psalm is an outgush of the first rapture of astonishment... read more

Arno Clemens Gaebelein

Arno Gaebelein's Annotated Bible - Psalms 124:1-8

Psalm 120-134 The Psalms of Degrees Fifteen brief Psalms follow, called songs of degrees, or, ascents. They were in all probability used by Israel going up to Jerusalem three times a year to celebrate the feasts of the Lord--”Whither the tribes go up, the tribes of the LORD, a testimony for Israel, to give thanks unto the name of the LORD.” They are indeed Psalms of “the goings-up” for we rise higher and higher as we read through them. Prophetically they give us again the steps from trial and... read more

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