Praise for God's deliverance from the fierce hostility of the nations.
Scripture References:
st. 1 = vv. 1-5
st. 2 = vv. 6-8
One of the fifteen "Songs of Ascents" (120-134) the Israelites sang as they went up to worship at the temple in Jerusalem, Psalm 124 praises God for deliverance from the raging hostility of other nations. Thus it stands appropriately next to Psalm 123, which is a prayer for such deliverance. In two well-balanced stanzas, Israel first acknowledges that only the LORD could have delivered them when the "flood" of hostility attempted to “engulf” them (v. 4; st. 1), and then praises the LORD for deliverance (st. 2). The imagery of hostility shifts from that of a threatening flood in the first stanza to that of a fowler's snare and a threatening wild beast in the second stanza. From the closing verse comes the traditional "votum" of Reformed liturgy: "Our help is in the name of the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth." Calvin Seerveld (PHH 22) prepared the unrhymed versification of this psalm in 1981 for the Psalter Hymnal.Scripture References: st. 1 = vv. 1-5 st. 2 = vv. 6-8
Liturgical Use
Contexts of gratitude for God's deliverance.
--Psalter Hymnal Handbook
My Starred Hymns
My FlexScores
My Hymnals
My Purchased Files
