Psalms 124:4
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then the floods would have engulfed us, then the torrent would have overwhelmed us,
Commentaries
Excerpts gathered from published commentaries to ground the reading.
David penned this psalm (we suppose) upon occasion of some great deliverance which God wrought for him and his people from some very threatening danger, which was likely to have involved them all in ruin, whether by foreign invasion, or intestine insurrection, is not certain; whatever it was he seems to have been himself much affected, and very desirous to affect others, with the goodness of God, in making a way for them to escape. To him he is careful to give all the glory, and takes none to himself as conquerors usually do. I. He here magnifies the greatness of the danger they were in, and of the ruin they were at the brink of (Psa 124:1-5). II. He gives God the glory of their escape (Psa 124:6, Psa 124:7 compared with Psa 124:1, Psa 124:2). III. He takes encouragement thence to trust in God (Psa 124:8). In singing this psalm, besides the application of it to any particular deliverance wrought for us and our people, in our days and the days of our fathers, we may have in our thoughts the great work of our redemption by Jesus Christ, by which we were rescued from the powers of darkness. A song of degrees of David.
Open source ↗124:4-5 the raging waters of their fury: The enemies could have overwhelmed the Israelites and wiped them out if the Lord had not been with his people (cp. 69:15; Jer 46:8).
Open source ↗Original language
The Hebrew and Greek words behind this passage, with Strong's numbers — from openscriptures (CC BY-SA).
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Then the angel said to me, “The waters you saw, where the prostitute was seated, are peoples and multitudes and nations and tongues.
Do not let the floods engulf me or the depths swallow me up; let not the Pit close its mouth over me.
I have sunk into the miry depths, where there is no footing; I have drifted into deep waters, where the flood engulfs me.
So shall they fear the name of the LORD where the sun sets, and His glory where it rises. For He will come like a raging flood, driven by the breath of the LORD.
Therefore let all the godly pray to You while You may be found. Surely when great waters rise, they will not come near.
Then after the sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be cut off and will have nothing. Then the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end will come like a flood, and until the end there will be war; desolations have been decreed.
Then one of the seven angels with the seven bowls came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the punishment of the great prostitute, who sits on many waters.
The cords of death encompassed me; the torrents of chaos overwhelmed me.
it is so dark you cannot see, and a flood of water covers you.
Deep calls to deep in the roar of Your waterfalls; all Your breakers and waves have rolled over me.