Why David Repeated 'If the LORD Had Not Been'

Psalm 124:2 employs a striking repetition: "If it had not been the LORD who was on our side." Martin Luther observed that this rhetorical device serves a vital spiritual purpose. When danger surrounds us, our fear knows no bounds—we sense the full weight of our peril. Yet once deliverance arrives, a curious amnesia sets in. We minimize what we endured, imagining the threat smaller than it truly was. Satan exploits this spiritual forgetfulness, systematically diminishing our awareness of God's grace until the memory of His intervention fades entirely from our hearts.

David, as a shepherd leader, understood this human weakness. His repetition was no accident but a deliberate pastoral tool. By insisting again and again—"If the LORD had not been on our side"—he awakened the people from spiritual drowsiness. The repeated phrase amplified both the magnitude of their former dangers and the magnificence of the Eternal's mishpat (justice and deliverance). This rhetorical strategy kindled fresh thanksgiving, preventing gratitude from evaporating like morning dew.

We must employ David's wisdom regarding our own afflictions. The troubles we have survived deserve remembrance—not to wallow in fear, but to refresh our recognition of divine mercy. When we rehearse how the Lord delivered us, we inoculate ourselves against forgetting His faithfulness.