In this week’s study from Tehillim / Psalms 124:1-8, the psalm opens saying א שִׁיר הַמַּעֲלוֹת לְדָוִד לוּלֵי יְהֹוָה שֶׁהָיָה לָנוּ יֹאמַר-נָא יִשְֹרָאֵל: A song of ascents. Of David 124:1 ‘Had it not been the Lord who was on our side,’ Let Israel now say, (NASB) The psalmist asks the question, had the Lord not been on our side, to get us thinking about what life would be without the Lord. The Psalm continues saying, ב לוּלֵי יְהֹוָה שֶׁהָיָה לָנוּ בְּקוּם עָלֵינוּ אָדָם: ג אֲזַי חַיִּים בְּלָעוּנוּ בַּחֲרוֹת אַפָּם בָּנוּ: 124:2 ‘Had it not been the Lord who was on our side When men rose up against us, 124:3 Then they would have swallowed us alive, When their anger was kindled against us; (NASB) The concept being put forward here is that Evil men do not understand justice, and for such persons, the fellow man is in danger of being consumed in the flames of one’s sin. The Psalm describes this in the following way, ד אֲזַי הַמַּיִם שְׁטָפוּנוּ נַחְלָה עָבַר עַל-נַפְשֵׁנוּ: ה אֲזַי עָבַר עַל-נַפְשֵׁנוּ הַמַּיִם הַזֵּידוֹנִים: 124:4 Then the waters would have engulfed us, The stream would have swept over our soul; 124:5 Then the raging waters would have swept over our soul.’ (NASB)
Read more here: Tehillim 124-Part1
