Sunday, June 29, 2014

A Meditation on Psalm124:1-3

If it had not been the LORD who was on our side," Let Israel now say—“If it had not been the LORD who was on our side, When men rose up against us, then they would have swallowed us alive, When their wrath was kindled against us. (Psalm 124:1-3)

I have mentioned on previous posts that in the Book of Psalms you find the songs of the Warrior King. I have also said that singing the Psalms contributed to the Scots' character as formidable warriors.

With that in mind, consider the following excerpt as a meditation on the Scripture portion quoted above:

In the year 1582, this psalm was sung on a remarkable occasion in Edinburgh. An imprisoned minister, John Durie, had been set free, and was met and welcomed on entering the town by two hundred of his friends. The number increased till he found himself in the midst of a company of two thousand, who began to sing as they moved up the long High Street, "Now Israel may say," etc. They sang in four parts with deep solemnity, all joining in the well known tune and psalm. They were much moved themselves, and so were all who heard; and one of the chief persecutors is said to have been more alarmed at this sight and song than at anything he had seen in Scotland. (Andrew A. Bonar, in Christ and His Church in the Book of Psalms, 1859)

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