A song of ascents. Of David.[a]

124 “If it had not been Yahweh who was on our side,”
do let Israel say,
2 “If it had not been Yahweh who was on our side,
when men rose up against us,
3 then they would have swallowed us alive,
when their anger was kindled against us.
4 Then the waters would have flooded over us,
the torrent would have passed over our soul.
5 Then over our soul would have passed
the raging waters.”
6 Blessed be Yahweh,
who has not made[b] us prey for their teeth.
7 Our soul has escaped like a bird
from the snare of fowlers.
The snare is broken, and we have escaped.
8 Our help is in the name of Yahweh,
maker of heaven and earth. (Psalm 124 Lexham English Bible)

As we continue to ascend to the throne of God we must realize that our hope does not rest in men at all, but in God alone. I believe a companion passage which sheds light on this psalm is chapter 2 from Isaiah, which says,

Isaiah 2
English Standard Version (ESV)

1 The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.

2 It shall come to pass in the latter days
that the mountain of the house of the Lord
shall be established as the highest of the mountains,
and shall be lifted up above the hills;
and all the nations shall flow to it,
3 and many peoples shall come, and say:
“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
to the house of the God of Jacob,
that he may teach us his ways
and that we may walk in his paths.”
For out of Zion shall go the law,[a]
and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
4 He shall judge between the nations,
and shall decide disputes for many peoples;
and they shall beat their swords into plowshares,
and their spears into pruning hooks;
nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
neither shall they learn war anymore.
5 O house of Jacob,
come, let us walk
in the light of the Lord.

6 For you have rejected your people,
the house of Jacob,
because they are full of things from the east
and of fortune-tellers like the Philistines,
and they strike hands with the children of foreigners.
7 Their land is filled with silver and gold,
and there is no end to their treasures;
their land is filled with horses,
and there is no end to their chariots.
8 Their land is filled with idols;
they bow down to the work of their hands,
to what their own fingers have made.
9 So man is humbled,
and each one is brought low—
do not forgive them!
10 Enter into the rock
and hide in the dust
from before the terror of the Lord,
and from the splendor of his majesty.
11 The haughty looks of man shall be brought low,
and the lofty pride of men shall be humbled,
and the Lord alone will be exalted in that day.
12 For the Lord of hosts has a day
against all that is proud and lofty,
against all that is lifted up—and it shall be brought low;
13 against all the cedars of Lebanon,
lofty and lifted up;
and against all the oaks of Bashan;
14 against all the lofty mountains,
and against all the uplifted hills;
15 against every high tower,
and against every fortified wall;
16 against all the ships of Tarshish,
and against all the beautiful craft.
17 And the haughtiness of man shall be humbled,
and the lofty pride of men shall be brought low,
and the Lord alone will be exalted in that day.
18 And the idols shall utterly pass away.
19 And people shall enter the caves of the rocks
and the holes of the ground,[b]
from before the terror of the Lord,
and from the splendor of his majesty,
when he rises to terrify the earth.
20 In that day mankind will cast away
their idols of silver and their idols of gold,
which they made for themselves to worship,
to the moles and to the bats,
21 to enter the caverns of the rocks
and the clefts of the cliffs,
from before the terror of the Lord,
and from the splendor of his majesty,
when he rises to terrify the earth.

22 Stop regarding man
in whose nostrils is breath,
for of what account is he?

First, notice how many themes this passage from Isaiah mentions that we have already discussed in the first four steps of ascent: 1) the latter days (these days), 2) the mountain of the LORD (the mountain we are now ascending just as Moses ascended the fiery mountain long ago), 3) the House of the LORD (we are God’s house), 4) Zion,  5) Jerusalem (like many Old Testament prophesies this refers to New Jerusalem), and 6) Separation (in this chapter verses 2-5 relate to God’s Overcomers in the House of Jacob (believers in the One God) while verses 6-22 concern believers who instead rely upon the world and the ways of the world. This is why it ends with the stark warning, “Stop regarding man in whose nostrils is breath, for of what account is he?”

It is verse 22, just quoted, which really ties Isaiah 2 to Psalm 124 for this song makes it clear that the sojourner relies upon God and only upon God for his deliverance. Had he relied upon man then he would have been caught in man’s snare. But, because he made God his refuge, God delivered him from man’s evil plans.

Anyone watching current events knows that man has now devised and implemented evil plans for the faithful followers of God. These schemes have been secretly conceived and brought to birth for many years now. America, once considered to the be the Christian land of the free, has now become the haunt of every evil demon and human perpetrator of vile deeds. Laws have now been enacted which will allow for our indefinite detention without trial. The stage is set to totally destroy the faithful from the land, but God has another plan.

I choose to trust God for my deliverance from today’s ever-present evil. I choose to take the fifth step up the mountain into God’s consuming fire. And like Isaiah I say to those who would hesitate, “Stop regarding man in whose nostrils is breath, for of what account is he?”