Psalm 124:2 NKJV
“If it had not been the Lord who was on our side,
When men rose up against us,
Remembering God’s Deliverance
Abba, I want to take time to remember the lives of those who were lost in the heinous attack on Your people in Australia. I ask that you be with the family members and bring them peace in this time of mourning. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.
My Notes
Scripture
Psalm 124:2 (NKJV) “If it had not been the Lord who was on our side, When men rose up against us,”
David repeats the phrase, “If it had not been the Lord who was on our side,” to stir Israel’s memory and gratitude. Repetition here is not vain—it is a holy reminder. In danger, fear magnifies the threat; once past, we minimize it, forgetting how desperate we truly were. Satan delights in obscuring God’s grace by dulling our memories. Thus, David calls the people to remember their deliverance, lest the sense of God’s mercy fade from their hearts.
The psalmist recalls times when men rose up against Israel—Pharaoh in Egypt, Haman in Persia, or countless enemies united against God’s people. Their strength was great, their hostility fierce, and their intent ruinous. Yet no human ally could have sufficed. Only the Lord’s omnipotent arm preserved His covenant people. The text reminds us: it was not once only, but again and again, that the Lord appeared on Israel’s side.
Notice the humility of the psalmist: he calls the enemies merely “men.” Though mighty and numerous, they are but mortals compared to the eternal God. Against such adversaries, the Lord Himself became Israel’s defender—near at hand, commander-in-chief of their forces, and their very present help.
This verse invites us to imagine: What if the Lord had not been with us? The answer is clear—we would have been overwhelmed. But because He is with us, we are secure. Happy indeed are the people whose God is Jehovah, the all-sufficient One. Let us never cease to honor Him, declaring with Israel: The Lord is on our side!
Meditation Questions
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Recall a time when opposition or hostility seemed overwhelming. How did God intervene?
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Do I tend to minimize past dangers once they are over? How can I better remember God’s grace?
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What “men rising up” in my life today tempt me to fear? How does God’s presence change my perspective?
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How can I develop gratitude and remembrance of God’s repeated deliverances?
Key Takeaways
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Repetition in Scripture is a call to remembrance and gratitude.
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Satan seeks to obscure God’s grace by dulling our memory of past deliverances.
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Human enemies, however mighty, are only “men” compared to the eternal God.
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God Himself is our defender—near, present, and sufficient.
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Imagining life without God’s presence magnifies our gratitude for His faithful protection.
Prayer
Abba, I thank You that You have been on my side when men rose against me. Without You, I would have been overwhelmed, but with You, I am secure. Forgive me when I forget the depth of Your deliverance or minimize the dangers You have carried me through. Help me to remember, to give thanks, and to declare boldly that You are my defender. Strengthen me to trust You in present trials, knowing You are always near. I thank you for this in Jesus’ name, Amen.
Cross References (NKJV)
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Psalm 118:6 – “The Lord is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do to me?”
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Romans 8:31 – “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?”
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Isaiah 59:19 – “When the enemy comes in like a flood, The Spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard against him.”
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Psalm 46:1 – “God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble.”
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Hebrews 13:6 – “So we may boldly say: ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?’”
Proverb for Today
The eyes of the Lord are in every place, Keeping watch on the evil and the good. Proverbs 15:3 NKJV
Closing
Revelation 5:9 NKJV
And they sang a new song, saying:
“You are worthy to take the scroll,
And to open its seals;
For You were slain,
And have redeemed us to God by Your blood
Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation,
Bill
Posted on 12/15/2025 by Bill Stephens
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Summary of Commentaries:
Psalm 124:2 emphasizes Israel’s dependence on God’s intervention when enemies rose against them. Spurgeon highlights that only the Lord’s omnipotence preserved His people from united adversaries. Enduring Word connects this to David’s early reign against the Philistines. Barnes notes the repetition as a “Song of Degrees,” reinforcing gratitude. Gill stresses God’s repeated defense against wicked men, even Pharaoh or Haman. Henry underscores Jehovah’s power as Israel’s commander. Luther and Dyke remind believers to remember past deliverances with thankfulness.
Commentaries:
Charles Spurgeon
“If it had not been the LORD who was on our side, when men rose up against us.” When all men combined, and the whole race of men seemed set upon stamping out the house of Israel, what must have happened if the covenant Lord had not interposed? When they stirred themselves and combined to make an assault upon our quietude and safety, what should we have done in their rising if the Lord had not also risen? No one who could or would help was near, but the bare arm of the Lord sufficed to preserve his own against all the leagued hosts of adversaries. There is no doubt as to our deliverer; we cannot ascribe our salvation to any second cause, for it would not have been equal to the emergency; nothing less than omnipotence and omniscience could have wrought our rescue. We set every other claimant on one side and rejoice because the Lord was on our side.
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Enduring Word
When men rose up against us: There were many times in David’s reign and before when this was true, but perhaps the most likely time referred to here was when the Philistines threatened to overwhelm Israel at the start of David’s reign (2 Samuel 5:17-25). When men opposed the people of God, God stepped in to help. (Guzik)
i. “As a psalm of David, this gives us a rare insight into the early peril of his kingdom, particularly from the Philistines, who had thought to see the last of Israel when they shattered the kingdom of Saul. 2 Samuel 5:17ff. shows how serious the threat was, and how little confidence David placed in his own power to survive it.” (Kidner)
ii. “It is easy to see how a psalm praising God’s protection from the early days of Israel’s national history might be incorporated into the songs pilgrims sang on their way to Jerusalem, which David had made his capital.” (Boice)
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Albert Barnes
If it had not been the Lord who was on our side – Repeating the idea, since the mind was full of it, and carrying the thought forward, this is one of the instances of an ascent of thought in these psalms, from which it has been supposed that the title “Songs of Degrees” was given to this collection. See, however, Introduction to Psalms 120:1-7.
When men rose up against us – When we were assailed by our enemies. On what occasion this occurred, it is now impossible to determine.
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John Gill
If [it had not been] the Lord who was on our side,…. This he repeats both for the confirmation of it, and to excite the attention of the Israelites to it, as well as to observe that it was not once only, but again and again, many times the Lord appeared to be on their side. The Targum renders it, “the Word of the Lord;” the essential Word, the Son of God; and so in Psalm 123:1, in the king’s Bible;
When men rose up against us, wicked men; though no hard epithet is given in the text, however just. The enemies of God’s people are only called “men” by them, to show their meekness and patience; it is in the singular number, “when man rose up”; hence Aroma interprets it of Pharaoh king of Egypt; and R. Obadiah of Haman: but it might be better interpreted of the man of sin, the man of the earth; who, at the head of his antichristian party, has rose up against the saints, oppressed them, and threatened them with utter ruin, 2 Thessalonians 2:4. Though it is best to understand it of a body of men; of men not mean, but mighty; not few, but numerous; and who united as one man against the people of God, and rose up against them in an hostile manner; being full of enmity to them, and bent upon their ruin.
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Matthew Henry
Of the goodness of God, by which they were rescued from the very brink of ruin: “The Lord was on our side; and, if he had not been so, we should have been undone.”
1. “God was on our side; he took our part, espoused our cause, and appeared for us. He was our helper, and a very present help, a help on our side, nigh at hand. He was with us, not only for us, but among us, and commander-in-chief of our forces.”
2. That God was Jehovah; there the emphasis lies. “If it had not been Jehovah himself, a God of infinite power and perfection, that had undertaken our deliverance, our enemies would have overpowered us.” Happy the people, therefore, whose God is Jehovah, a God all-sufficient. Let Israel say this, to his honor, and resolve never to forsake him.
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Miscellaneous Comments
“If it had not been the LORD,” etc. This repetition is not in vain. For whilst we are in danger, our fear is without measure; but when it is once past, we imagine it to have been less than it was indeed. And this is the delusion of Satan to diminish and obscure the grace of God. David, therefore, with this repetition stirreth up the people to more thankfulness unto God for his gracious deliverance, and amplifies the dangers which they had passed. Whereby we are taught how to think of our troubles and afflictions past, lest the sense and feeling of God’s grace vanish out of our minds.
—Martin Luther.
“Men rose up against us.” It may seem strange that these wicked and wretched enemies, monsters rather than men, should be thus moderately spoken of, and have no other name than this of men given them, which of all others they least deserved, as having in them nothing of man but outward show and shape, being rather beasts, yea, devils in the form and fashion of men, than right men. But hereby the church would show that she did leave the further censuring of them unto God their righteous Judge; and would also further amplify their wickedness, who being men, did yet in their desires and dispositions bewray a more than beastly immanity and inhumanity.
—Daniel Dyke in “Comfortable Sermons upon the cxxiiii. Psalme,” 1617.
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