“If the Lord had not been on our side…”
— Psalm 124:1
Psalm 124 begins with a haunting sentence fragment: “If the Lord had not been on our side…” It’s as if the psalmist starts a thought he can barely finish, because the alternative is too terrifying to imagine. What would have happened? What could have happened? The answer is clear: without God, they would not have survived.
This psalm is not theoretical theology. It is lived experience. It is the testimony of people who have been overwhelmed, attacked, outnumbered, and threatened — and yet, somehow, they are still standing.
1. Remembering What Could Have Been
The psalm continues:
“Let Israel say—
If the Lord had not been on our side when people attacked us,
they would have swallowed us alive…” (Psalm 124:1–3)
This is the spiritual discipline of remembering. Not in a morbid way, but in a humble, grateful way.
Many of us can look back and say honestly:
- If God had not been on my side, I would not have made it through that season.
- If God had not intervened, that relationship would have destroyed me.
- If God had not given me strength, I would have given up.
This kind of reflection doesn’t lead to fear — it leads to worship. It reminds us that our survival, growth, healing, and perseverance are not the result of our own brilliance or toughness alone. They are gifts of grace.
2. God Was Not Just Aware — He Was Active
Psalm 124 doesn’t describe a passive God who merely watched from a distance. It portrays a God who rescued, delivered, and intervened.
“The flood would have engulfed us,
the torrent would have swept over us,
the raging waters would have swept us away.” (vv. 4–5)
These are images of unstoppable force — chaos, destruction, and overwhelming pressure. And yet, the psalmist says, God stopped the flood. God broke the trap. God freed His people.
This reminds us of a crucial truth:
God is not just on our side emotionally — He is on our side powerfully.
He does not merely sympathize with our pain. He acts. He rescues. He sustains. He protects.
3. The Trap Was Real — But So Was the Rescue
“We have escaped like a bird from the fowler’s snare;
the snare has been broken, and we have escaped.” (v. 7)
The psalmist doesn’t deny the danger. The trap was real. The threat was real. The enemy was real. But what was even more real was the deliverance of God.
Some of us have lived long enough to say:
- That addiction could have destroyed me — but God broke the snare.
- That bitterness could have hardened my heart — but God softened it.
- That season of despair could have ended me — but God rescued me.
Escape does not always mean the problem disappears. Sometimes it means we walk out alive when we shouldn’t have. Sometimes it means our faith survives when we thought it wouldn’t. Sometimes it means our soul is still intact when everything else was shaking.
4. Gratitude Is the Only Honest Response
The psalm ends with one of the most powerful confessions in Scripture:
“Our help is in the name of the Lord,
the Maker of heaven and earth.” (v. 8)
This is not just poetry — it is theology shaped by experience. The God who made the universe is the same God who stepped into their crisis. The Creator became their Rescuer.
When we truly grasp this, pride has no place. We stop saying, “I made it through,” and start saying, “God carried me through.”
Gratitude is not a personality trait — it is a spiritual response to remembering who God is and what He has done.
5. Your Story Has a Testimony Inside It
Psalm 124 invites every believer to insert their own name:
If the Lord had not been on my side…
Finish that sentence honestly:
- …I wouldn’t still be standing.
- …my marriage wouldn’t have survived.
- …my faith would have collapsed.
- …my future would look very different.
Your story — even the painful parts — carries a testimony. Not a testimony of how strong you are, but of how faithful God has been.
And that testimony matters. Not only to you, but to others who are still in the middle of their storm, wondering if they will survive.
Final Thought
Psalm 124 is not about fear of the past — it is about confidence for the future. The God who was on your side then is still on your side now.
So today, don’t rush past this sentence:
“If God had not been on my side…”
Sit with it. Reflect. Give thanks. And then finish the psalm with confidence:
“Our help is in the name of the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.”
