What is the meaning of Psalm 124:5? setting the scene Psalm 124 opens with David inviting Israel to ponder where they would be “if the LORD had not been on our side.” The verse in focus—“then the raging waters would have swept us away” (v. 5)—caps a dramatic description of danger. Throughout Scripture, water often pictures overwhelming chaos (Genesis 7:17; Exodus 14:27-28). Here it represents hostile forces that, apart from God’s intervention, would have drowned His people utterly. the threat described • “Raging waters” evokes a torrent in flood stage, unstoppable and deadly (Psalm 69:1-2; Isaiah 59:19). • David couples it with earlier images in the psalm—“men rose up against us…their anger flared against us” (vv. 2-3)—to show that human opposition can be as lethal as a flash flood. • Without the LORD’s help, David insists Israel would have shared the fate of those engulfed at the Red Sea (Exodus 14:27). This is no exaggeration; it is a sober acknowledgment that the covenant people survive only by divine mercy. the rescue declared The verse’s force lies in its hypothetical: “then…would have.” Because God stepped in, the catastrophe never occurred. Similar deliverances fill the biblical record: • The Jordan’s floodwaters stopped for Israel (Joshua 3:15-17). • Hezekiah was spared when Assyria “could not shoot an arrow there” (2 Kings 19:32-34). • The disciples cried out in the storm, and “He rebuked the wind” (Mark 4:37-39). Each instance underscores that God’s people repeatedly face circumstances that should end them—yet do not, because the LORD acts. the ongoing relevance • For believers today, raging waters may appear as persecution, cultural hostility, or personal trials (2 Timothy 3:12; 1 Peter 4:12-13). • The verse invites habitual remembrance: if God had not intervened in our conversion, our family, or specific crises, disaster would have swept us away (Ephesians 2:4-6). • It fuels gratitude and confidence; the God who preserved Israel “from age to age” (Psalm 90:1) still commands the storms we face (Matthew 14:30-32). summary Psalm 124:5 pictures utter ruin—“the raging waters would have swept us away”—to magnify the LORD’s saving power. The line reminds us that enemies and trials can surge like a flood, yet they stop short of victory because God stands with His people. Remembering this truth fosters worship, humility, and unshakeable trust in the One who forever keeps the waters in check. |
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