This Ps. is sung at the Feast of Purim to commemorate the deliverance from Haman. It is a gladsome lyric, thanking Jehovah for escape from heathen destruction, and may well have been composed under the impulse of deliverance from the Babylonian exile. In its formation it illustrates a particular rhythmic effect, viz. the ascending scale of a series of phrases.
Related Commentaries of Psalms 124:1
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.