God With Us
Hello friend,
Take a deep breath with me and let’s sit with Psalm 124 together. This beautiful little song is one of the “Songs of Ascent,” sung by God’s people as they climbed the hills toward Jerusalem for worship. It’s raw, honest, and full of wonder—like a collective sigh of relief after a narrow escape.Here’s the heart of the psalm (ESV):
“If it had not been the Lord who was on our side—
let Israel now say—
if it had not been the Lord who was on our side
when people rose up against us, then they would have swallowed us up alive,
when their anger was kindled against us; then the flood would have swept us away,
the torrent would have gone over us; then over us would have gone the raging waters.”
“Blessed be the Lord who has not given us as prey to their teeth!
We have escaped like a bird from the snare of the fowlers; the snare is broken, and we have escaped!
Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth.”
The Honest Danger
The psalmist doesn’t sugarcoat the threat. He uses vivid, almost terrifying pictures: being swallowed alive, swept away by a raging flood, and trapped like a helpless bird in a hunter’s snare. These weren’t exaggerated fears. Israel faced real enemies—powerful nations, hostile armies, and seasons when it looked like God’s people would be wiped out.Yet the repeated refrain is powerful: “If the Lord had not been on our side…” The psalmist wants us to pause and imagine the alternative. Without God, we would have been finished.
The Grateful Turn
But God was on their side. And because He was, the outcome was completely different. The snare didn’t hold. The flood didn’t win. The teeth of the enemy never closed around them. Instead of despair, the psalm bursts into praise: “Blessed be the Lord!”This is the rhythm of the Christian life, isn’t it? We face real dangers—relational brokenness, health struggles, spiritual attacks, cultural pressures, or our own wandering hearts. Sometimes the waters rise fast. But when we look back, we see the same faithful hand at work.
A Christian Lens
As followers of Jesus, we read this psalm in the light of the cross and the empty tomb. The ultimate “If the Lord had not been on our side” moment happened when Jesus stepped into our place. Without Him, sin would have swallowed us alive. Death would have swept us away forever. The enemy of our souls would have kept us trapped.
But Jesus broke the snare.
He took the flood of God’s judgment in our place.
He rose victorious so we could sing, “We have escaped!”
The apostle Paul echoes this same wonder in Romans 8:31: “If God is for us, who can be against us?” The same God who was on Israel’s side is now unbreakably for everyone who belongs to Christ.
Personal Application
Take a moment right now, friend. Where in your life are you tempted to say, “If the Lord had not been on my side…”? Maybe it was that season of depression when you almost didn’t make it.
Maybe it was the conflict that threatened to tear your family apart.
Maybe it was the quiet temptation that nearly shipwrecked your faith.
Look back and name it. Then speak the truth out loud: But the Lord was on my side. Our help doesn’t come from our own strength, clever strategies, or even the support of good people (though those are gifts). Our help is “in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth.” The Creator Himself is committed to you.
Personal Reflection Questions
Here are a few gentle questions to help you process this psalm more deeply. You might want to journal your answers, talk them over with a friend, or pray through them slowly:
- When you read the vivid images of floods, snares, and being swallowed alive, what current or past situation in your life comes to mind? How does the psalm encourage you in that place?
- Looking back over the last year (or even further), can you identify a specific time when you can truly say, “If the Lord had not been on my side…”? What happened, and how did God show up?
- What “raging waters” or “traps” are you facing right now? How does the truth that “our help is in the name of the Lord” speak to those fears?
- How does remembering Jesus’ victory on the cross change the way you understand God being “on your side”?
- This week, how can you live out the psalm’s spirit of gratitude and praise, even if you’re still in the middle of a difficult climb?
Take your time with these—there’s no rush. The Lord who rescued Israel and raised Jesus delights in walking through these reflections with you.
A Simple Prayer
Lord, thank You for being on our side. When the waters rose and the snare tightened, You were there. We bless Your name! Help us remember Your past faithfulness the next time we feel overwhelmed. Give us songs of gratitude even in the middle of the climb. And remind us again today that because Jesus lives, we have already escaped the ultimate trap. We are safe in You. Amen.
You are loved, you are protected, and you are never alone. Keep climbing, dear friend—the Lord is with you.
ta ethne 