1If it had not been the Lord who was on our side, now may Israel say;
2If it had not been the Lord who was on our side, when men rose up against us:
3Then they had swallowed us up quick, when their wrath was kindled against us:
4Then the waters had overwhelmed us, the stream had gone over our soul:
5Then the proud waters had gone over our soul.
6Blessed be the Lord, who hath not given us as a prey to their teeth.
7Our soul is escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowlers: the snare is broken, and we are escaped.
8Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth.
📖 Chapter study
Summary
A song of collective gratitude imagining what would have happened 'if the LORD had not been on our side' during a violent attack, comparing the deliverance to a bird escaping the fowler's snare.
Explanation
This fifth 'Song of Degrees,' attributed to David, uses a rhetorical technique of contrast: it vividly describes the disaster that could have happened (being swallowed alive, swept away by the waters) in order to celebrate with even greater intensity the real deliverance God granted. The final image of the bird escaping the broken snare (v.7) is a simple yet powerful metaphor for sudden and complete liberation. The application for today is to practice gratitude by concretely imagining what could have happened without God's help and protection at key moments in life.