Psalm 124 - Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth.

 

Psalm 124 a Psalm of David commentaries by Dennis Edwards

124:1-5 If it had not been the Lord who was on our side, now may Israel say;  If it had not been the Lord who was on our side, when men rose up against us: Then they had swallowed us up quick, when their wrath was kindled against us: Then the waters had overwhelmed us, the stream had gone over our soul: Then the proud waters had gone over our soul.

The Bible often uses the metaphor of overflowing waters to represent the overwhelming psychological battles we are confronted with in life. Many times, these battles are the results of slanderous attacks against us or against our character or reputation. In Psalm 69, David uses the same imagery.

Psalm 69:1-4a “Save me, O God; for the waters are come in unto my soul. I sink in deep mire, where there is no standing: I am come into deep waters, where the floods overflow me. I am weary of my crying: my throat is dried: mine eyes fail while I wait for my God. They that hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of my head: they that would destroy me, being my enemies wrongfully, are mighty,”

We see David is experiencing the waters of discouragement from the slanderous attacks on his person. In verse seven he explains that he is being reproached.

Psalm 69:7 “Because for thy sake I have borne reproach (or criticism): shame has covered my face.”

In Revelation 12 when the Antichrist is persecuting the followers of Christ, we read the following:

Revelation 12:15 “And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood.”  

The imagery is the same where we see the serpent casting forth a flood of lies against the believers. He is trying to deconstruct their belief system, to get them to doubt what they have believed. If anyone has gone through a media storm, or had their business go through one, they will understand the depth of anxiety one faces in such situations. Words are real things. They bless, or they curse. Jesus said that we will give account for every idle word, for by our words we will be justified, and by our words we will be condemned. Solomon wrote that death and life are in the power of the tongue.

Psalm 46 is another Psalm where we see the imagery of overflowing waters bringing destruction.

Psalm 46:1-3 “God is our refuge and our strength, a very present help in times of trouble. Therefore, we will not fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains fall into the midst of the sea; though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shale with the swelling thereof. Selah.”

Even though the waters of slanderous lies are trying to flood into our soul through the words of the Press, our enemies, our spiritual enemy, or even our own loved ones; we will not lose hope and faint in our minds. God has promised to be a refuge and a very present help in those times of trouble, the times when the waters are overflowing into our soul and causing us to almost drown in discouragement and anxiety and unbelief.

Jonah had had the same experience where he had fallen into condemnation through his disobedience to the Lord. Having been swallowed by a whale, he spent three days and nights wallowing in despair. Finally, he rebuked the lies of the enemy and proclaimed, “Salvation is of the Lord.” He stopped observing the lies of the enemy and remembered the Lord’s mercy. He called out to God in his distress, and the Lord heard him. The whale vomited Jonah onto dry land and Jonah was soon onto the mission he had refused to yield to previously.

In Isaiah we find an encouraging promise from the Lord, that He will be with us in our times of trouble.

Isaiah 43:2 “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow you: when you pass through the fire, you shall not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon you.”

Psalm 124:6-8 Blessed be the Lord, who has not given us as a prey to their teeth. Our soul is escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowlers: the snare is broken, and we are escaped. Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth.

I have an interesting testimony about the above Psalm. In July of 1990, five missionary families living together in a communal setting were detained by the Barcelona police in an early morning raid. They were accused of fraud, of being an “illegal association,” which at that time included ETA - a terrorist group, and of not having their children enrolled in the local school system. Their children were removed and placed into government facilities for abandoned children. There had been no warning or government interaction with the missionary community before the raid.

Meanwhile, in the press, the missionary families were accused of abuse of minors, and of belonging to a sex-cult, our defrauding their friends and contacts. The government declared the adults would most likely get 20 years or more a piece in prison for their crimes.

It was at that time, when three of the women from the group, went on a fundraising trip to another part of Spain, to Zaragoza. As was often the case on such “faith-trips,” they trusted God for their lodgings. In Zaragoza, they ended up meeting and staying with a woman who was studying to become a nun. As was the custom of the missionary women, they would have a time of devotion and prayer before starting the day. The novice nun, likewise had her own time in a similar manner. 

The missionary women were struggling under the cloud of slander they were facing. They were having a hard time to get on their feet and do their fundraising. They were questioning their own belief system. The novice nun was not oblivious to their psychological condition. One morning, she came and shared the above Psalm with them. She told them that she didn’t know what they were going through, but God had showed her to share that Psalm with them.

Just as the Psalm states, "If it had not been for the Lord, that was on their side, when men rose up against them, they would have been swallowed up quickly. The waters would have overwhelmed them and gone into their souls." But it was not so, because the Lord was on their side. In spite of the power of the Barcelonian government and the help of the mainstream media, the Lord made a way of escape. He broke the snare of the enemy.

One year after the children were abducted by the welfare department of Barcelona, they were returned to their parents. Four years later, both the Penal Court and the Constitutional Court found their parents innocent of all charges. Their help had been in the name of the Lord, who had made heaven and earth. They cried and the Lord heard them, and delivered them out of all their afflictions, just as the above Psalm predicted.