1 IF our God had not befriended,
Now may grateful Israel say,
If the Lord had not defended,
When with foes we stood at bay,
Madly raging,
Deeming our sad lives their prey:
2 Then the tide of vengeful slaughters
O'er us had been seen to roll,
And their pride, like angry waters,
Had engulfed our struggling soul,
The loud waters,
Proud and spurning all control.
3 Praise to God, whose mercy-token
Beamed to still that raging sea:
Lo, the snare is rent and broken,
And our captive souls are free!
Lord of glory,
Help can come alone from thee!
If Our God Had Not Befriended
If Our God Had Not Befriended Song Meaning, Biblical Reference and Inspiration
Charles Wesley's hymn "If Our God Had Not Befriended," based on the lyrics provided, is a powerful reflection on divine protection and deliverance. Rooted deeply in the Old Testament tradition of Israel recounting God's saving acts, the song expresses profound gratitude for having been spared from destruction. The opening lines immediately establish a scenario of extreme peril, where the people faced overwhelming foes, driven by vengeful intent and viewing the vulnerable lives of others as mere prey. This paints a vivid picture of being cornered and at the mercy of powerful, hostile forces, where human strength alone is insufficient for survival.
The second stanza intensifies this imagery by comparing the enemies' rage and pride to a devastating flood. The "tide of vengeful slaughters" and "angry waters" represent the complete engulfment and destruction that would have occurred without divine intervention. The "struggling soul" would have been submerged and overcome by these forces, described as "proud and spurning all control." This highlights the scale of the threat – not just physical danger, but an existential threat that would consume entirely, leaving no hope of escape through human means. The language emphasizes the unstoppable nature of the danger from a human perspective.
However, the third stanza pivots dramatically to acknowledge the source of salvation. It begins with "Praise to God," signifying the recognition that deliverance was solely a divine act. God's "mercy-token" is credited with calming the "raging sea" of opposition, illustrating God's power over seemingly uncontrollable forces. The imagery shifts from being trapped to being freed: "the snare is rent and broken, and our captive souls are free!" This liberation is attributed directly to God's intervention, emphasizing that the people did not free themselves. The concluding lines, "Lord of glory, help can come alone from thee!" serve as a direct declaration of absolute dependence on God for salvation and future help, reinforcing the theme that deliverance from overwhelming odds is a testament to God's unique power and mercy, inspiring both gratitude for past deliverance and trust for the future.
This hymn draws directly from the theme and language of Psalm 124 in the Bible. The psalm begins, "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 people rose up against us, then they would have swallowed us alive... then the flood would have swept us away, the torrent would have gone over us; then over us would have gone the raging waters." The psalm concludes, "We have escaped like a bird from the snare of the fowlers; the snare is broken, and we have escaped. Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth." Wesley's verses closely parallel these verses, translating the psalm's message of national deliverance into a hymn of personal or collective salvation grounded in faith, emphasizing that the help is exclusively from God, "Lord of glory." The release of a song video featuring these timeless lyrics, such as the one noted on 2021-03-29, continues to bring this message of God's protective power and the resultant call to gratitude and trust to new audiences.
