Psalm 124:7 NKJV
Our soul has escaped as a bird from the snare of the fowlers;
The snare is broken, and we have escaped.
The Snare is Broken
My Notes
Psalm 124:7 (NKJV)
“Our soul has escaped as a bird from the snare of the fowlers; The snare is broken, and we have escaped.”
David now shifts from the imagery of floods and beasts to the delicate picture of a small bird—weak, easily frightened, easily deceived, and easily trapped. “Our soul has escaped as a bird from the snare of the fowlers.” What a humbling comparison. We are not lions breaking chains, nor eagles soaring above danger—we are small birds, vulnerable and often unaware of the traps set around us.
Fowlers study their prey. They know how to bait, how to hide the net, how to lure with sound or food. In the same way, Satan and the world craft snares suited to our weaknesses. Some are drawn in by companionship, others by pleasure, others by fear, others by hunger of soul. The traps vary, but the danger is the same.
And like the bird, we often do not see the snare until we are caught.
Yet the verse does not end with captivity—it ends with escape. Not because the bird was clever. Not because the bird was strong. Not because the bird saw the danger in time.
The snare was broken. And only God can break the snare.
This is the miracle of grace:
-
When worldliness tries to suffocate the soul – God breaks the snare.
-
When selfishness narrows the heart – God breaks the snare.
-
When unbelief clouds prayer and confidence – God breaks the snare.
-
When temptation grips like glue – God breaks the snare.
There are sins we cannot free ourselves from. There are patterns we cannot break. There are traps we cannot escape. But the hand once nailed to the cross still breaks snares today.
Sometimes the enemy seems to succeed. We feel caught—helpless, ashamed, stuck. But it is then that God appears. When all human help fails, when the soul is tangled and weary, God steps in, shatters the trap, and lifts us out.
What a wonder of grace—that we who are so easily misled have not perished in the fowler’s net. What a mercy—that temptation has not destroyed us. What a testimony—that we have been tempted, but not taken; cast down, but not destroyed.
“The snare is broken, and we have escaped.” This is the anthem of every rescued soul.
Questions to Meditate on
-
What snares—visible or invisible—has God broken in my life?
-
Where do I feel trapped today? How might God be inviting me to trust His power to break the snare?
-
Which “fowler’s snares” (worldliness, selfishness, unbelief, fear, temptation) most threaten my soul?
-
How can I develop a greater awareness of spiritual traps and greater dependence on God’s deliverance?
Key Takeaways
-
We are like small birds—weak, easily frightened, easily trapped.
-
The enemy sets subtle snares, but God sees every one of them.
-
Escape is never by our cleverness or strength, but by God’s grace alone.
-
The breaking of the snare is a miracle of divine intervention.
-
Every believer can say: “We have escaped—not because of us, but because of Him.”
Prayer
Abba, thank You that when I was caught in snares I could not break, You broke them for me. Thank You for rescuing me from temptations, fears, sins, and traps that would have destroyed my soul. Keep me watchful, humble, and dependent on Your grace. Break every snare that still clings to me, and teach me to walk in the freedom Christ purchased. Guard me from the fowler’s teeth and from his nets. I thank you and ask you for this in Jesus’ name, Amen.
Cross References (NKJV)
-
Psalm 91:3 – “Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler And from the perilous pestilence.”
-
Psalm 25:15 – “My eyes are ever toward the Lord, For He shall pluck my feet out of the net.”
-
Psalm 57:4 – “My soul is among lions; I lie among the sons of men Who are set on fire, Whose teeth are spears and arrows, And their tongue a sharp sword.”
-
1 Peter 5:8 – “Your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.”
-
2 Corinthians 4:8–9 – “We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed—”
-
John 8:36 – “Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.”
Proverb for Today
The spirit of a man is the lamp of the Lord, Searching all the inner depths of his heart. Proverbs 20:27 NKJV
Closing
And I heard another from the altar saying, “Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are Your judgments.” Revelation 16:7 NKJV
Bill
Posted on 12/20/2025 by Bill Stephens
Follow me on X – @billstephens_59
Follow me on Truth – @billstephens1959
Please enter your email and click subscribe to be notified whenever I submit a new post.
Summary of Commentaries:
The commentaries on Psalm 124:7 emphasize the soul’s escape from danger as a bird freed from a fowler’s snare—weak, easily deceived, and unable to free itself. Spurgeon highlights Satan’s many traps and the miracle of God’s rescuing grace. Enduring Word notes the soul’s trembling helplessness and God’s power to deliver from any sin. Gill and Henry stress that enemies often seem to prevail, yet God breaks the snare and overturns their schemes. Deliverance is entirely God’s work, never our own.
Commentaries:
Charles Spurgeon
“Our soul is escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowlers.” Our soul is like a bird for many reasons, but in this case, the point of likeness is weakness, folly, and the ease with which it is enticed into the snare. Fowlers have many methods of taking small birds, and Satan has many methods of entrapping souls. Some are decoyed by evil companions, others are enticed by the love of dainties; hunger drives many into the trap, and fright impels numbers to fly into the net. Fowlers know their birds, and how to take them; but the birds see not the snare so as to avoid it, and they cannot break it so as to escape from it. Happy is the bird that hath a deliverer strong, and mighty, and ready in the moment of peril: happier still is the soul over which the Lord watches day and night to pluck its feet out of the net. What joy there is in this song, “our soul is escaped.” How the emancipated one sings and soars, and soars and sings again. Blessed be God, many of us can make joyous music with these notes, “our soul is escaped.” Escaped from our natural slavery; escaped from the guilt, the degradation, the habit, the dominion of sin; escaped from the vain deceits and fascinations of Satan; escaped from all that can destroy; we do indeed experience delight. What a wonder of grace it is! What a miraculous escape that we who are so easily misled should not have been permitted to die by the dread fowler’s hand. The Lord has heard the prayer which he taught us to pray, and he hath delivered us from evil.
“The snare is broken, and we are escaped.” The song is worth repeating; it is well to dwell upon so great a mercy. The snare may be false doctrine, pride, lust, or a temptation to indulge in policy, or to despair, or to presume; what a high favor it is to have it broken before our eyes, so that it has no more power over us. We see not the mercy while we are in the snare; perhaps we are so foolish as to deplore the breaking of the Satanic charm; the gratitude comes when the escape is seen, and when we perceive what we have escaped from, and by what hand we have been set free. Then our Lord has a song from our mouths and hearts as we make heaven and earth ring with the notes, “the snare is broken, and we are escaped.” We have been tempted, but not taken; cast down, but not destroyed; perplexed, but not in despair; in deaths oft, but still alive: blessed be Jehovah!
______________________________________________________
Enduring Word
As a bird from the snare: “The comparison of the soul to a bird is beautiful [Psalm 11:1]. It hints at tremors and feebleness, at alternations of feeling like the flutter of some weak-winged songster, at the utter helplessness of the panting creature in the toils.” (Maclaren)
iii. “Fowlers have many methods of taking small birds, and Satan has many methods of entrapping souls. Some are decoyed by evil companions, others are enticed by the love of dainties; hunger drives many into the trap, and fright impels numbers to fly into the net.” (Spurgeon)
iv. “As the bird could not get out of the snare, so the soul cannot escape from temptation; but God can bring it out, and he works the rescue. Hear this, ye that are slaves to drunkenness: God can deliver you. You that have fallen into licentiousness hear it – God can deliver you. Whatever the sin that has birdlimed [trapped] you, that gracious hand which once was nailed to the cross can set you free.” (Spurgeon)
v. “Save us, O God, from the rage and the subtlety of our spiritual adversary; save us from his teeth, when he would devour; from his snares, when he would deceive.” (Horne)
vi. Here are two more poetic pictures of that which may trouble our soul:
· Sometimes our troubles grind us to powder.
· Sometimes our troubles capture us like a trap or snare. (Guzik)
______________________________________________________
John Gill
Our soul is escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowlers,…. The people of God are like little birds, being harmless and innocent, singing forth the praises of God for his goodness to them; as also because weak and unable to resist their foes; and worthless in themselves, like sparrows, as the word here used signifies; and are fearful and timorous, and flee at the least apprehension of danger, Psalm 102:7. Satan, and wicked men under his influence, are like fowlers who lay snares for them, to draw them into sin, into immorality and error, in order to bring them to ruin and destruction; hence we read of the snare of the devil and of wicked men, 1 Timothy 3:7, 2 Timothy 2:26; and who form plans and lay schemes to oppress and destroy them; but through the wisdom given them to discern these devices and stratagems, and through the power of divine grace, accompanying them, they escape what was intended for their hurt, and particularly in the following manner:
the snare is broken, and we are escaped; measures concerted by wicked men are broken, their schemes are confounded, their devices are disappointed, so that they cannot perform their enterprise; and by this means the saints escape the evils designed against them, the afflictions of the world, and the temptations of Satan.
______________________________________________________
Matthew Henry
Like a bird, a little bird (the word signifies a sparrow), out of the snare of the fowler. The enemies are very subtle and spiteful; they lay snares for God’s people to bring them into sin and trouble, and to hold them there. Sometimes they seem to have prevailed so far as to gain their point. God’s people are taken in the snare, and are as unable to help themselves out as any weak and silly bird is; and then is God’s time to appear for their relief, when all other friends fail; then God breaks the snare, and turns the counsel of the enemies into foolishness: The snare is broken, and so we are delivered. Isaac was saved when he lay ready to be sacrificed. Jehovah-jireh-in the mount of the Lord it shall be seen.
______________________________________________________
Miscellaneous Comments
“Our soul is escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowlers,” etc. Various snares are placed for birds, by traps, bird-lime, guns, etc., who can enumerate all the dangers of the godly, threatening them from Satan, and from the world? Psalm 91:3: Hos 5:1.—”We are delivered,” not by our own skill or cunning, but by the grace and power of God only: so that every device is made vain, and freedom is preserved.
—Martin Geier.
“As a bird out of the snare of the fowlers.” The soul is surrounded by many dangers.
1. It is ensnared by worldliness. One of the most gigantic dangers against which God’s people have especially to guard—an enemy to all spirituality of thought and feeling.
2. It is ensnared by selfishness—a foe to all simple-hearted charity, to all expansive generosity and Christian philanthropy.
3. It is ensnared by unbelief—the enemy of prayer, of ingenuous confidence, of all personal Christian effort.
These are not imaginary dangers. We meet them in everyday life. They threaten us at every point, and often have we to lament over the havoc they make in our hearts.
—George Barlow, in a “Homiletic Commentary on the Book of Psalms,” 1879.
Leave a Reply