Papal Commentary on Psalm 123 (124)

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“The Lord Watches Over and Saves the Just Man”

VATICAN CITY, JUNE 22, 2005 (Zenit.org).- Here is a translation of the address Benedict XVI gave during today’s general audience, which he dedicated to comment on Psalm 123(124).
  1. We have before us Psalm 123(124), a canticle of thanksgiving intoned by the whole praying community, which raises praise to God for the gift of deliverance. At the beginning, the Psalmist proclaims this invitation: “Let Israel say” (verse 1), stimulating all the people to raise a lively and sincere thanksgiving to God the Savior. If the Lord had not been on the side of the victims, they, with their limited forces, would have been powerless to free themselves and their adversaries, like monsters, would have torn and shattered them to pieces.
Although thought has been given to a particular historical event, such as the end of the Babylonian exile, it is more probable that the psalm is an intense hymn to thank the Lord for having overcome the dangers and to implore him for deliverance from all evil.
  1. After the initial reference to some “men” who assailed the faithful and were capable of “swallowing them up alive” (see verses 2-3), the song has two passages. In the first part, the raging waters dominate, symbol in the Bible for devastating chaos, of evil and of death: “the waters would have engulfed us, the torrent overwhelmed us; seething waters would have drowned us” (verses 4-5). The Psalmist now feels the sensation of being on a beach, having been miraculously saved from the impetuous fury of . . . .
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