What if …
Psalm 124
A song for pilgrims ascending to Jerusalem. A psalm of David.
1 What if the Lord had not been on our side?
Let all Israel repeat:
2 What if the Lord had not been on our side
when people attacked us?3 They would have swallowed us alive
in their burning anger.
4 The waters would have engulfed us;
a torrent would have overwhelmed us.
5 Yes, the raging waters of their fury
would have overwhelmed our very lives.6 Praise the Lord,
who did not let their teeth tear us apart!
7 We escaped like a bird from a hunter’s trap.
The trap is broken, and we are free!
8 Our help is from the Lord,
who made heaven and earth.
That’s a disturbing question: “What if the Lord had not been on our side?” David would have been “swallowed alive”, “overwhelmed” by all sorts of torrents that, thankfully, I haven’t had to face.
But what if God hadn’t come into the world in the person of Jesus, looking for people like me who were lost? What if he hadn’t died for my sins? What if he hadn’t been raised to life and given his Spirit to his followers, ultimately including me? What if hadn’t intervened in history to rescue humanity, including me? I can’t conceive of what my world would have been if God had left out even one of those things.
How else can I respond but “Praise the Lord!” (v6) “We escaped like a bird from a hunter’s trap. The trap is broken, and we are free.” (v7) “Our help is from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.” (v8)
I’m so glad you are the God who rescues. You show mercy and compassion in my helplessness. You rescued me. I can only marvel at you, and your love for me. Thank you, for being on my side, on humanity’s side.
Written by David Cornell