Psalm 124 is one of the Psalms of Ascent which were apparently used as a set of traveling songs for pilgrims traveling to Jerusalem.
Like other psalms in this group, Psalm 124 is fairly short, but packed with potent imagery. The theme of the song is God's deliverance of his people from their enemies.
The floods and torrents of the middle verses of the psalm may be poetic language describing the massive armies of the enemy, or they may be intended to evoke the Exodus story. In either case, the language would have been particularly meaningful to travelers threading their way towards Jerusalem on foot, crossing rivers and wadis along the way.
The final poetic image was one of a bird escaping a fowler's snare. Again, everyday imagery is used to describe the poet's feelings about what God has done in the lives of His people.
