578_Our help is in the name of the Lord (Psalm 124) Psalm 124 If it had not been the Lord who was on our side— let Israel now say— 2 if it had not been the Lord who was on our side when people rose up against us, 3 then they would have swallowed us up alive, when their anger was kindled against us; 4 then the flood would have swept us away, the torrent would have gone over us; 5 then over us would have gone the raging waters. 6 Blessed be the Lord, who has not given us as prey to their teeth! 7 We have escaped like a bird from the snare of the fowlers; the snare is broken, and we have escaped! 8 Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth. When Israel declared independence on May 14, 1948, the nation had barely been born before it was thrown into a fight for its very survival. Within hours, five surrounding armies—Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, and Iraq—launched a coordinated attack. Many military strategists predicted the newborn state would not survive a week. Israel had only a few thousand soldiers, most of them farmers and teenagers. They lacked weapons, ammunition, tanks, and even proper uniforms. Many had not yet received basic training. By every human measure, Israel should have been crushed before it ever had a chance to exist. But again and again, stories emerged of battles turning unexpectedly, of enemy movements failing at crucial moments, of small Israeli units holding off armies many times their size. One such event took place on the Jerusalem front. A small group of young Israeli fighters held the position at Gush Etzion, facing the powerful Arab Legion. They were hopelessly outnumbered and outgunned. As the Legion advanced, the defenders sent desperate radio messages: “We are down to our last bullets.” Yet somehow, for hours, they held back an army trained and equipped by the British Empire. One Israeli fighter said later, “We didn’t win because we were strong. We won because we had no choice but to trust that God was with us.” Even secular observers admit that Israel’s survival in 1948—and in several subsequent wars—was “highly improbable.” Former prime minister David Ben-Gurion famously said, “In Israel, in order to be a realist, you must believe in miracles.” Those words echo what David wrote centuries earlier in Psalm 124: “If it had not been the Lord who was on our side…” David invites us to imagine Israel’s story—ancient or modern—without God’s intervention. Without Him, they would have been swallowed alive. Without Him, the floods of opposition would have swept them away. Without Him, the raging waters would have drowned their hope. This is one of David’s Songs of Ascent—a pilgrim song meant to be sung on the journey to Jerusalem. As travelers climbed hills and walked through valleys, they were reminded of this truth: their existence was not a result of their own strength. Their survival was not because of their armies or clever strategies. Their story was written by the hand of the Lord.
