then they would have swallowed us up alive, when their anger was kindled against us;
David sets before us a known deliverance God wrought for His people, not some future prophecy: when men rose up in wrath, the Lord stood for us. This is the foundation of true thanksgiving, not speculation about what might have been, but reflection on the grace we have already received.
AI summary
Commenting on Psalm 124:1-8
Then they had swallowed us up quick, when their wrath was kindled against us. They were so eager for our destruction that they would have made only one morsel of us, and have swallowed us up alive and whole in a single instant. The fury of the enemies of the church is raised to the highest pitch, nothing will content them but the total annihilation of God's chosen.
Man becomes a wolf to man; tender mercies grow cruel when wrath is kindled. They rose to swallow us alive, as a lion devours a lamb and leaves no relics behind. This was no light peril but the very brink of ruin, and the darker the disease, the greater the Physician's skill in the cure.
AI summary
Commenting on Psalm 124:1-5