Psalms 124:1-8
1 If it had not been the LORD who was on our side, now may Israel say;
2 If it had not been the LORD who was on our side, when men rose up against us:
3 Then they had swallowed us up quick, when their wrath was kindled against us:
4 Then the waters had overwhelmed us, the stream had gone over our soul:
5 Then the proud waters had gone over our soul.
6 Blessed be the LORD, who hath not given us as a prey to their teeth.
7 Our soul is escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowlers: the snare is broken, and we are escaped.
8 Our help is in the name of the LORD, who made heaven and earth.
The journey from the place of exile to the city and Temple of Jehovah has now commenced. The heart of the song is in the words:
Our soul is escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowlers.
Escape brings a sense of the dangers left behind, and therefore a keen appreciation of the fact that Jehovah has been acting as Deliverer:
If it had not been the Lord!
What a tone of joy is in that sigh. We often speak of a sigh of relief, and here is one indeed. The thunder of the threatening flood is heard behind. It was a strong tide against which these pilgrims could have had no might. If Jehovah had not helped, how great would have been the calamity! But He has helped, and the sigh which trembles with the consciousness of past peril, merges into the glad song:
Blessed be Jehovah.
This first experience of escape is ever one of great delight. There stretches before the pilgrim a long road yet, and there will be much searching of heart before the final rest is won; but "the snare is broken, and we are escaped" is a song full of rapture, one that prepares the kart for all that waits for it on the way.