The Church Year and the Lectionary Commentary – 26th Ordinary (Day 2)

Psalm 124

124 If the Lord hadn’t been for us—
    let Israel now repeat!—
²     if the Lord hadn’t been for us,
        when those people attacked us
³ then they would have swallowed us up whole
        with their rage burning against us!
⁴ Then the waters would have drowned us;
    the torrent would have come over our necks;
⁵     then the raging waters would have come over our necks!

⁶ Bless the Lord
    because he didn’t hand us over
    like food for our enemies’ teeth!
⁷ We escaped like a bird from the hunters’ trap;
    the trap was broken so we escaped!

⁸ Our help is in the name of the Lord,
    the maker of heaven and earth.

Psalm 124 from The Message:

124 ^1-5 If God hadn’t been for us
    —all together now, Israel, sing out!—
If God hadn’t been for us
    when everyone went against us,
We would have been swallowed alive
    by their violent anger,
Swept away by the flood of rage,
    drowned in the torrent;
We would have lost our lives
    in the wild, raging water.

⁶ Oh, blessed be God!
    He didn’t go off and leave us.
He didn’t abandon us defenseless,
    helpless as a rabbit in a pack of snarling dogs.

⁷ We’ve flown free from their fangs,
    free of their traps, free as a bird.
Their grip is broken;
    we’re free as a bird in flight.

⁸ God’s strong name is our help,
    the same God who made heaven and earth.