Catholic Commentary on Psalm 124

"Our help is in the name of the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth." (Psalm 124:8)

If Not for the LORD

Psalm 124 is a community thanksgiving that begins with a conditional: If the LORD had not been on our side, let Israel say, if the LORD had not been on our side when people attacked us. The psalm invites the community to contemplate the alternative, the history that would have happened without God's intervention. The waters would have engulfed them, the torrent would have swept over them, the raging waters. But they escaped like a bird from the fowler's snare. Our help is in the name of the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth. The conclusion circles back to the opening of Psalm 121: help comes from the Maker of heaven and earth, the one whose power over creation makes every human threat manageable by comparison.

The community celebration of deliverance is one of the oldest forms of communal worship. The Catechism calls the Church's communal prayer an anamnesis, a memorial that makes present the saving acts of God and draws the community into gratitude and renewed trust (CCC 1363). Every time the community gathers to say together: if not for the LORD, we were undone, it re-enacts the fundamental act of Israel's faith and claims the same divine protection for the present and future.

Living the Word

Brothers and sisters, think of the closest call of your life, the moment when destruction seemed inevitable and didn't come. The waters that would have swept you away. The snare that could have caught you. Then speak the conclusion of Psalm 124: our help is in the name of the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth. And mean it.

Prayer

Lord God, if you had not been on our side we would have been swallowed alive. Praise be to you, who have not let us be torn by the teeth of our enemies. Our help is in your name, Maker of heaven and earth. We bless your name. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.