This narration is from a previous version of the study. The text on this page is current.
Psalm 124 is a Psalm of holy memory. Israel looks back and confesses that, if the Lord had not been among them, their enemies would have swallowed them alive. The song moves from teeth and overwhelming waters to a small bird freed from a snare. It ends by blessing the Creator, not by celebrating the people’s strength. The Church learns to remember mercy together.
Psalm 124 (LXX 123) - If It Had Not Been the Lord Who Was on Our Side
Psalm Metadata
| Field | Notes |
|---|---|
| NKJV / Masoretic numbering | Psalm 124 |
| Septuagint / Coptic numbering | Psalm 123 |
| Accepted author | A Song of Ascents. Of David. |
| Period in author’s life | Traditionally Davidic by superscription. No single event can be fixed with certainty, but the Psalm fits remembered rescue from overwhelming hostility and later pilgrim worship. |
| Christ prophecy status | Christological by deliverance pattern rather than a narrow prediction. The Psalm’s rescue through waters, broken snare, and preserved life opens naturally onto Christ’s saving work. |
| Coptic lectionary/service use | Verified: included in the Agpeya at Eleventh Hour (Vespers) and Midnight Prayer - Second Watch under printed Psalm 124. No additional annual, Pascha, or special-service reference is verified in available lectionary references. |
| Numbering issue | This study uses MT Psalm 124 and Brenton LXX Psalm 123. The two numbering systems must be checked for each Psalm rather than generalized as a fixed offset. |
Historical and Scriptural Context
Psalm 124 (LXX 123) follows Psalm 123 (LXX 122), a plea for mercy from people who have endured contempt. Now the people look back on rescue. The community that lifted its eyes in need learns to give thanks.
The Masoretic superscription associates this Psalm with David. Brenton’s superscription names it a Song of Degrees but does not mention David. The Davidic attribution belongs to an ancient title tradition; the Psalm does not identify a particular episode, and the title alone does not establish who composed it.
St Athanasius describes the Psalms as words that become our own prayer, while St Gregory of Nyssa sees psalmody as helping to form a life of virtue. Their reflections concern the Psalter as a whole, but they help us hear how this song trains a thankful heart.
Geographical Significance ⛰️
No city or river is named in the Psalm. As a Song of Ascents, it belongs among songs associated with pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Its landscape is drawn in images: attackers’ teeth, a torrent, and a fowler’s trap. The singers remember a rescue; the Psalm does not describe a particular disaster on the road to Zion.
The Characters 👥
The Lord. Israel’s rescuer, named at both the beginning and the end of the song.
Israel. The covenant people, called to remember their deliverance together.
The hostile men. Those whose anger rises against the people and threatens to consume them.
The waters and the snare. Images that make the danger visible: a torrent sweeps over its victims, and a trap holds a vulnerable bird.
🕯️ Light from the Word
Psalm 123:1-2, if the Lord had not been among us
123:1 A Song of Degrees. If it had not been that the Lord was among us, let Israel now say;
123:2 if it had not been that the Lord was among us, when men rose up against us;
The repeated “if” arrests the song at its beginning. Before the people describe their danger, they name the One who was among them. The call to Israel summons the whole community to speak; this is a shared confession, not a heroic individual’s account. The Psalm answers its question with an actual deliverance, not with guesses about unseen dangers.
Augustine hears an ascent of the heart in this shared song. Theodoret reads its opening as a confession that victory belonged to God, not to the people’s own power. Theodoret understood the song in the light of the return from Babylon; the Psalm itself does not identify that episode.
The Church also hears this opening in the light of the Gospel: the Son of God truly became human, entered death, and rose for our salvation. This is a Christian reading of the Psalm’s deliverance, not a claim that these verses predict one isolated event. Salvation begins in divine nearness.
Lesson Guide
- Key phrases: “If it had not been that the Lord was among us”; “let Israel now say.”
- Emphasize: the people confess their grateful dependence together.
- Avoid: making gratitude to God an excuse to overlook the people who helped.
Psalm 123:3-5, swallowed alive and overwhelmed by waters
123:3 verily they would have swallowed us up alive, when their wrath was kindled against us:
123:4 verily the water would have drowned us, our soul would have gone under the torrent.
123:5 Yea, our soul would have gone under the overwhelming water.
Being swallowed alive and swept beneath a torrent are images of forces that threaten to consume a people. The Psalm is not mild because evil is not mild. Theodoret sees the torrent as hostile nations gathering into a single force, like rainwaters making a flood.
Augustine quotes the Psalm’s words about enemies who would have “swallowed us up quick,” and considers persecution that pressures Christians into idolatry. He remembers martyrs who were killed and yet are with Christ, awaiting the resurrection of their bodies.1 Romans 8:35-39 also names killing while confessing that nothing can separate us from Christ’s love. Deliverance is not a guarantee of bodily safety in every trial. We may pray for protection, grieve harm, and seek safety and care; suffering does not mean that the Lord has abandoned us or that we lacked faith.
The torrent calls to mind Exodus 14, though the Psalm does not say it recounts that crossing. There God leads Israel through the sea and judges Pharaoh’s pursuing army. Augustine compares the torrent with the crossing. Paul, too, recalls the sea and baptism into Moses, then warns against presumption (1 Corinthians 10:1-13). In that light, Christians can hear a baptismal and Paschal echo: in baptism we belong to the crucified and risen Christ and are called to live in repentance and hope.
Lesson Guide
- Key phrases: “swallowed us up alive”; “the torrent”; “the overwhelming water.”
- Emphasize: the reality of overwhelming danger and the need for divine rescue.
- Avoid: minimizing harm or treating suffering as proof of weak faith.
Psalm 123:6-8, the broken snare and the help in the Lord’s name
123:6 Blessed be the Lord, who has not given us for a prey to their teeth.
123:7 Our soul has been delivered as a sparrow from the snare of the fowlers: the snare is broken, and we are delivered.
123:8 Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth.
The Psalm answers danger with blessing. The prey escaped. The snare broke. Theodoret sees the sparrow as a picture of the people’s weakness: they are vulnerable creatures who have been set free. For him, the broken snare also points to the defeat of their enemies.
Augustine turns our attention to another kind of trap: the sweetness of this life can become bait when we pursue it through wrongdoing. He urges, “we must not be enthralled by it, so that when the net is broken, thou mayest then rejoice and say,” and then quotes the Psalm: “The snare is broken, and we are delivered.”2 An ordinary good can become dangerous when our desire for it leads us away from what is right. This is an invitation to examine our own attachments, not an explanation for suffering inflicted on another person.
The final confession names the Maker of heaven and earth. The people’s help comes from the Creator. Receiving human help does not diminish this confession: we can thank God and the people who stand beside us.
Christians can also pray of the broken snare in the light of Christ’s death and Resurrection. In Colossians 2:13-15, forgiveness and victory over the powers belong together. The risen Lord frees us from sin and gives us hope of resurrection; He does not promise that His people will be spared every earthly wound.
Lesson Guide
- Key phrases: “the snare is broken”; “Our help is in the name of the Lord.”
- Emphasize: rescue from both obvious threats and subtle entanglements.
- Avoid: treating freedom as self-generated or merely psychological.
The Church’s Voice in Worship 📖
In the Agpeya, the Psalm appears under the printed heading Psalm 123 (124) at both the Eleventh Hour (Vespers) and the Second Watch of Midnight Prayer. At the Eleventh Hour, thanksgiving for the day’s passage sits beside a prayer for protection from snares during the coming night.
At the Second Watch, the Gospel proclaims Jesus’ forgiveness of the woman who comes to Him in tears, while the prayers ask for mercy, a pure life, and peace. The past rescue celebrated in the Psalm can give us words for trust while we still ask for help. This is a spiritual connection, not a claim about why the Psalm was appointed to these services.
Iconography Connection 🖼️
The crossing of the Red Sea and the Anastasis are fitting iconographic associations for prayer rather than scenes specified by this Psalm. In the Anastasis, Christ raises Adam and Eve from death: an image in which Christians can contemplate the victory of the risen Lord.
Spiritual Fruit 🍇
- Remember a known mercy. Recall a time when you received help; thank the Lord and, if you can, thank the person who helped you.
- Name danger truthfully. Pray for protection and, when possible, seek safety and practical support. You need not call harm good in order to pray.
- Notice a sweet snare. If the desire to be admired has led you to shade the truth, bring that habit to confession and take one honest step today.
- Give thanks together. Pray the Psalm with your household or church community, letting Israel’s shared confession widen your prayer beyond your own story.
- Live in Paschal hope. Bring even an unfinished struggle to the risen Christ; with His help, repentance can begin again today.
Teacher's Notes
- Timing: 10 minutes for the opening confession, 12 minutes for the devouring enemies and waters, 15 minutes for the broken snare and the Lord’s name, 10 minutes for application.
- Where to linger: the sparrow’s weakness, the broken snare, and Augustine’s warning about a sweetness that leads to wrongdoing.
- Key phrase to say slowly: “The snare is broken, and we are delivered.”
- Discussion: invite an example of help or gratitude that is already known; let anyone pass without explanation.
- Pastoral warning: do not promise earthly immunity or imply that those harmed lacked faith; encourage safety, support, lament, and prayer.
Glossary
- Song of Ascents: A pilgrim Psalm associated with going up to Jerusalem and with spiritual ascent.
- Snare of the fowlers: A birdcatcher’s trap, used to picture danger and entrapment.
- Paschal: Pertaining to Passover and its Christian fulfillment in the Passion and Resurrection of Christ.
- Providence: God’s wise care for His creation and His people, even when its working is not visible to us.
Translation and Source Notes
Embedded Scripture is Brenton’s English Septuagint, Psalm 123. The Agpeya edition named below prints the Psalm as 123 (124), with a different English rendering and verse grouping.
Sources
Primary sources: Brenton Septuagint, Psalm 123; Exodus 14; Romans 8:31-39; 1 Corinthians 10:1-13; Colossians 2:13-15.
Patristic sources: St Augustine, Exposition on Psalm CXXIV (Latin CXXIII), §§1-10, in Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, first series, vol. 8; Theodoret of Cyrus, Commentary on Psalm 124, §§1-4, trans. Hill, Fathers of the Church, vol. 102, pp. 288-289; St Athanasius, Letter to Marcellinus, §§11-12; St Gregory of Nyssa, On the Inscriptions of the Psalms, book I, preface and chapters 1 and 3.
Coptic Orthodox / liturgical sources: Fr. Jacob Nadian, Rites: Agpeya Book, Eleventh Hour (Vespers) and Midnight Prayer, Second Watch; Coptic Orthodox lectionary references.
Footnotes
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St Augustine, Exposition on Psalm CXXIV (Latin CXXIII), §§2-4 and 9, in Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, first series, vol. 8, volume text. ↩
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St Augustine, Exposition on Psalm CXXIV (Latin CXXIII), §§8-10, in Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, first series, vol. 8, volume text. The final words cited are Augustine’s quotation of the Psalm. ↩